MovieChat Forums > Room 237 (2012) Discussion > Three Possibly Legitimate Things

Three Possibly Legitimate Things

posted 11 years ago by drjekell
2 replies | jump to latest

While I enjoyed hearing all of these crazy theories, I didn't think most of them had any validity. However, there were two things that I think might have had some merit.

1. Seeing a minotaur in the poster of the skier is ridiculous, but there's probably something to the fact that Kubrick was playing off the myth by featuring a crazed Jack chasing Danny through the maze. He would obviously be aware of the mythology, so it could be a slight reference.

2. The carpet changing between shots when the ball is rolled to Danny. It seems unlikely that this would be a simple continuity error because they would have had to have filmed him from two different directions. It's probably one of those things where it makes the viewer feel uneasy even if they don't consciously realize why.

3. The fade at the end between the group picture and the close-up of Jack where he momentarily has a Hitler-like mustache... I think it's possible this was intentional. The film is about evil after all. And it was pretty clear earlier that they had purposefully lined up the fade so that the ladder matched the hotel.

On a side note, I thought the most hilarious thing was when the person talked about Jack quoting the Big Bad Wolf and how, even though it might have been improvised, it was still an interesting choice. How can something an actor improvised fit into your picture of the director's hidden intentions?

[–] Sergeant343 11 years ago

1. The entire hotel was also a maze if you think about it.
2. Sometimes there are re-shoots or the are filmed separately and that could explain the opposite direction.
3. Don't think Stanley Kubrick would be a one to throw in a Hitler reference for no good reason. If there were other references to Hitler in the film then maybe, but one at the very end with no build-up is more does not make any sense. I could say I see Charles Chaplin instead of Hitler, that mustache is not purely his own.

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[–] TooDarnLoud 10 years ago

I think the carpet was definitely legitimate. They deliberately set up the shot where the ball rolls towards Danny to travel right inside the dark "road" area of the pattern, which I actually thought was some kind of sexual imagery. (ie. the hexagon shape was like a womb/uterus) though I have no idea why that might be the case, but I'm sure theres some connection to the theory of Danny's possible sexual abuse (something annoyingly, not touched on much in this - not even the bear imagery that is rampant, including Danny's stuffed bear with the eyes the same shape as the elevator signs).

The other thing I thought was very odd was the window. That woman is right, they are walking through the Colorado lounge, presumably at the centre section of the hotel, and theres this room with a big sunlight window. Unless the hotel was H-shaped, but then the sun was coming in as bright as the windows at the sides of the lounge. Not that I think it validates any particularly theory, but it certainly is odd.