It's not about legitimizing any of these theories, it's about how obsessive some people can be and how far they'll go towards "proving" whatever they believe. Then again, maybe Kubrick was playing around with the theme of genocide and the number 42, who knows?
shareI agree. These people reminded me of the religious devotees who see the blessed virgin in a potato chip.
shareThese people reminded me of [...] religious devotees
It's not about legitimizing any of these theories, it's about how obsessive some people can be and how far they'll go towards "proving" whatever they believe. Then again, maybe Kubrick was playing around with the theme of genocide and the number 42, who knows?
Not all these theories are equally goofy. I agree with the guy who talked about the "weight of the past". The movie does make a lot out of the "white man's burden" with American and English men feeling the need to repress and control native Americans, blacks, women and children. It's also one of the best movies ever about time and space where all time seems to occupy the same space, which seems vast, but is really limited, so the movie is both agoraphobic and claustrophobic at the same time.
The moon landing theory, some of the numerology theories, and the guy who considers a folder on a desk to be an erection are pretty crackpot. But people who are obsessive about ANYTHING can be very annoying. I have a couple thousand movies I have recorded, downloaded, or bought that I haven't got around to watching yet, so it's beyond me why some people need to buy seven different editions of the same movie (no matter how good it is) and obsessively pour over it frame by frame. Still, it's better to be an obsessive Kubrick fan than a "trekkie".
The only theory that really stuck to me was The main motif of the violent nature of mankind throughout history. The symbolism of the Native Americans and Nazi Germany make sense in the context of the film, and it was the only theory I really bought. Some of these, however, were really bogus. But yeah, Room 237 seemed to be an almost humorous account of the amount of work that people will put in in order to understand an artist's vision better. Knowing how Kubrick operates, there was definitely a hidden meaning behind the general narrative. The apollo stuff was a little off kilter to me, as well as the "impossible window".
shareThat doesn't make sense. The obsessive people are the voices of the film including it's director. Are you saying they are analyzing or parodying themselves?
Unless you are suggesting we watch this like it's Reefer Madness; laugh at them not with them kind of thing?
Exactly. It amazes me how many people -- some of them actually pretty smart (like Stephen King himself) -- don't understand this documentary at all.
First thing to realize: The documentary is NOT about The Shining.
The Shining is just the example being used to show how people can build cases to convince themselves of things they want to believe by cherry-picking and interpreting information. The Shining was just an example because they had to pick something, and it's a more fun and interesting (and less contentious) topic than what people usually do this about: politics or religion. The documentary could have been about people's 9/11 theories, or Waco theories, or moon-landing theories, or basically any kind of weird conspiracy that people have over-interpreted and convinced themselves of. It could easily have been about the Wizard of Oz/Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon thing. They just happened to use The Shining because it was more fun.
If you come to this movie expecting to learn actual things about The Shining, then you're going to go away mad, because all the theories are crackpot and ridiculous.
If you come to it wanting to see how the human mind works and can gin up all kinds of wacky beliefs based on selective interpretation... then you can get a lot out of this movie. It's brilliant.
But, it's got almost nothing to do with The Shining.
We can debate until the cows come home what this film is about. What it IS is a terrible horrible boring piece of $hit. It's poorly made, neither interesting nor amusing. It's not clever, and there CERTAINLY isn't a lot to 'get out of this movie'. It's just a ROTTEN AND BAD FILM. Period.
Anyone who ENJOYED this film isn't qualified to review anything else. Ever.
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Life is simple. We are the ones who make it complicated.
Anyone who ENJOYED this film isn't qualified to review anything else. Ever.Another statement of censorship.
In the midst of winter I found there was, within me, an invincible summershare
You clearly don't have an understanding of what censorship is. I'm not saying you CANNOT post here. I'm saying anyone who thinks this is a masterpiece isn't QUALIFIED to review anything else. That's my OPINION. It's not me saying "YOU CAN NEVER POST HERE", or "POSTS LIKE THIS SHOULD BE REMOVED". It's me stating my opinion. Learn the difference.
Keep on showing your own ignorant ass by incorrectly ascribing censorship where it doesn't exist.
I'm pretty sure it's the other clown - who is ACTUALLY abusing the reporting procedures here and engaging in ACTUAL censorship by having my posts removed.
Pot - meet kettle.
Now, you DO know what a pot and kettle are, don't you? I have to ask because your little penis is getting all hard trying to mis-apply irony to me and my user name.
Next.