“The way to criticize a movie is to make another movie,” Jean-Luc Godard famously asserted.
The makers of Room 237 have taken that advice to heart. This intriguingly obsessive documentary about Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining will make you look at the epic horror film with very different perspectives, even if some of these bold arguments are a little out there and unpersuasive.
As disembodied voices dissect various elements of the film (we never see them on-camera as they talk), Room 237 rotates between clips of The Shining (including behind-the-scenes footage) and various other Kubrick movies to old newsreel footage and moments from numerous other titles, with some clever amalgamation of some thrown in for good measure.
Let’s be clear about one thing. You need to see The Shining first. Thankfully, I’d seen it on Christmas Eve last year so it was still fresh in my mind. (It is genuinely unsettling.) As the disembodied voices take us through specific scenes – sometimes in real time, sometimes in slow motion, sometimes in freeze frames, sometimes repeatedly – they point out unusual things you may very well have missed.
For instance, there’s a scene where Danny Torrance, the little boy with the imaginary friend, is playing with his toys in the lobby of this fabulous resort his parents have been assigned to look after during the winter off-season. All of a sudden, a ball rolls toward him. Notice the pattern of the carpet. When Danny stands up, now notice the carpet again. The design has been flipped in reverse.
Here’s another example. After we first meet Danny, he’s brushing his teeth in the family bathroom. As the camera slowly moves towards him in the hallway, you see his bedroom door. There are stickers all over it. Take particular notice of Dopey, one of the Seven Dwarfs. In a later scene, when he’s being examined for illness, look closely at the door again. No Dopey.
There’s more, way more. Jack Nicholson’s character, Jack Torrance, the troubled, abusive alcoholic novelist trying and failing to write a new manuscript (he only manages one line repeated endlessly), has an unusual typewriter. It’s German with an eagle symbol. At one point, without any warning or notice, it changes colour.
When Jack goes in to the office for his job interview, the employee sitting next to him is wearing solid pants. Then, in other shots, he wears striped ones.
What’s going on? Did Kubrick get sloppy with continuity or did he have something else in mind? The movie convincingly argues for the latter. The Torrances are trapped in an actual nightmare where marvellous improbabilities abound. (Where’s the cord on that TV? Does it run on batteries?) Certainty is an illusion.
Before The Shining, Kubrick made the war epic Barry Lyndon. One disembodied voice asserts that he was a “bored genius” when he made that film, that it was too straightforward and pretty. It didn’t challenge him as a filmmaker.
So, when he decided to do a very loose adaptation of Stephen King’s novel (the famous maze was an invention for the film), he went out of his way to know everything about Colorado (where the film is set) and added so many layers of details that decades after the movie’s original theatrical release, obsessives are still spotting curious things they missed during earlier screenings. (The movie begins with a big-ass disclaimer pointing out that nobody associated with The Shining including Warner Bros. who released it endorses any of the views expressed.)
He also became fascinated with subliminal advertising even going so far as to seek out information directly from those who employed this technique in their commercials.
Here’s my favourite example used in The Shining. At the end of the film, there’s a dissolve of an old framed photo shown in two different close-ups. If you pause the transition at just the right moment, it looks like Jack Nicholson is sporting a Hitler moustache. One overly imaginative invisible commentator suggests with a straight face that you can see Kubrick’s face in the clouds during the breathtaking opening credits sequence but I think he’s full of shit. I sure as hell didn’t spot it.
As recounted in The Shining, The Overlook Hotel was built on sacred Native American land, a burial ground. There’s an infamous recurring scene where a river of blood suddenly pours out of an elevator and into the lobby. The hotel manager notes early on that the workers had to fight off pissed off Indigenous warriors in order to finish the construction. One commentator suggests that the blood is coming directly from the dead buried right under the hotel whenever the elevator goes all the way to the bottom floor. Because of how you see the river being released (it squeezes itself out of the side) it also serves as a vivid metaphorical reminder. Though we may try to ignore the genocides of the past, they can never be truly concealed.
When Room 237 is not asserting that the film is about the bloody legacy of American settler-colonialism (hard to argue with that when you consider all the symbolism), it’s pointing out weird connections to The Holocaust. I mentioned the German typewriter earlier. The eagle symbol was appropriated by the Nazis. The more Jack Torrance types on it, the more genocidal he becomes. I wouldn’t dare spoil all the other fascinating details of this particular theory.
However, I have to mention this other one which is nuts. One commentator who might require a thorough mental examination believes that Kubrick faked the footage of the historic Apollo 11 moon landing, even though he believes the mission itself was real. How does he arrive at this conclusion? Well, there’s the 2001 connection. Plus, he thinks the Apollo footage was done through a technique called “front projection”. (He claims experts back him up but they’re not named nor do they appear in the film.)
Furthermore, in The Shining, Danny is wearing an Apollo 11 sweater. The ball that gets thrown to him leads him to Room 237 which he argues is the “moon room” based mainly on two things: 1. the distance between Earth and the moon is 237,000 miles and 2. the tag on the door that says “ROOM No.”. He finds the small “o” to be curious.
There’s much more but it’s obviously nonsense. Near the end of the film, the invisible commentator reveals himself to be rather paranoid. I don’t think the IRS gives a shit about your crackpot assertions. That said, you can’t say his misguided comments aren’t humourously imaginative.
Perhaps the most surreal moment in Room 237 is an experiment. One commentator decided to have the beginning and the ending of The Shining playing simultaneously through a technique known as superimposition. The results of this crazy idea are fascinating and spooky but also suggest a lack of a social life.
There are so many far-out ideas and revelations in Room 237 (The Shining’s connections to 2001 and other Kubrick films, Disney’s animated Three Little Pigs and other fairy tales, the number 42, that skiing poster, Jack reading Playgirl in the hotel lobby) that it manages to make you appreciate Kubrick’s achievement that much more, even if he didn’t necessarily intend what the commentators believe he did. Although The Shining got terrible reviews during its initial release (pause that article to read a brutally succinct assessment of Shelley Duvall’s deeply underrated performance as Mrs. Torrance), like 2001 which initially faced similar resistance from professional critics, it has since become a towering influence on cinema and pop culture in general. (For instance, when I was a college DJ, on our playlist there was an actual alternative rock band called Mrs. Torrance.)
Unlike the two survivors in the film, those who repeatedly watch The Shining looking for alleged secrets not yet exposed, like the mysterious, passionately devoted commentators in Room 237, will find themselves trapped in a “dream world” they can never truly escape. How fitting that a perfectionist filmmaker obsessed with every small detail has inspired the most devoted of his supporters to excavate them with the same dedication.
Dennis Earl
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Sunday, February 18, 2018
7:21 p.m.
THE WRITINGS OF DENNIS EARL 
Unofficial 2018 Winter Olympics Awards
Worst Decision By The IOC Since Awarding Hitler The Summer & Winter Olympics
Instead of banning the entire country for its systemic abuse of illegal performance enhancing drugs during the 2014 Sochi games, the cowards of the International Olympic Committee allowed some Russian athletes to compete but not under their own flag (they had to use the five-ringed Olympic banner as a substitute), they had to be referred to as Olympic Athletes of Russia and whenever they won Gold (which only happened twice) the Russian anthem would not be played.
Somewhere out there, Nikolai Volkoff is quietly weeping.
Most Surprising Doping Violation
Russian curler and Sam Rockwell clone Alexander Krushelnitsky who flunked two drug tests (he tested positive for polonium which allows more oxygen to flow in the blood and greatly improves your strength) and was stripped of the Bronze medal he won with his wife Anastasia Bryzgalova in the debuting Mixed Doubles curling event. As a result, Norway, the team they beat for it, are now recognized as the 3rd place finishers in the tournament. Who knew you needed an extra edge for sweeping a slow-moving stone?
Best Cheerleader Not Sent By North Korea
Cheryl Lawes, the proud mom of Canadian Mixed Doubles gold medallist Kaitlyn Lawes, who was often seen during her matches with teammate John Norris whistling and cheerfully whooping it up in the stands.
Most Unintentionally Prescient Surname
Emma Miskew, a member of the Canadian womens’ curling team who were shockingly eliminated from the round robin marking the first time since the return of the sport to the Olympics that the Great White North won’t take a medal from this event.
Best Tribute To Chris Jericho
The “Clipboard of Power” held by an Olympic official at the top of the hill during the big air events. He just made the list!
Please Buy Him A Shirt Already
Tonga’s flag bearer Pita Taufatofua once again marched out to the opening ceremonies (and posed on stage during the closing ceremonies) shirtless and overly oiled. We get it. Put your clothes back on.
If At First You Don’t Succeed, Fail, Fail Again
Dutch long track speed skating behemoth Sven Kramer has won Olympic Gold in the 5000 metres and the team pursuit but has long coveted winning the toughest distance of them all, the 10000 metres. In 2010 during the Vancouver games, his coach misdirected him to the wrong lane causing him to be disqualified. At Sochi four years later, he finished second capturing the Silver.
Would 2018 be any different? Nope. Kramer would finish off the podium in sixth. Now 31, this is likely his final Winter Olympics.
Cheekiest Way To Get A Curse Word On Live TV Without Opening Your Mouth
After every jump, Swiss big air snowboarder Sina Candrian would cheerfully show this message on the palm sides of her fingerless gloves: “Fuck yeah!”
Most Enduring Winter Olympics Mystery
All the beautiful, talented women competing in curling. I’m not complaining.
Most Surprising Curling Fan
Mr. T who declared his love for the sport on Twitter and on CBC Radio. Curling is cool, fool.
Best Belated Audition For A Role As A Villain In The Hunger Games
The flamboyant, poofy-haired NBC figure skating colour commentator Johnny Weir.
Most Welcome Political Development
The thawing of tensions between the Koreas. North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un sent his sister to Pyeongchang to invite the South Korean President to visit. Korean athletes marched in the opening ceremonies under a unified flag, the first time in over a decade. The womens’ hockey team featured players from both countries. The handshake at the opening ceremonies. Here’s hoping this all leads to the official end of the Korean War.
Still The Worst Way To Settle A Tie
The shootout in hockey which eliminated the American men from medal contention and cost the Canadian women the Gold medal. What’s wrong with sudden death overtime?
Most Unlikely Moment To See A Squirrel
During one of the round of eight match-ups in the womens’ parallel giant slalom event, a furry friend nearly got run down by one of the competitors while going for a brisk run on the snow.
Worst Timing For An Olympic Update
On several occasions during Canadian coverage on CBC and specialty partners TSN and Sportsnet, an update graphic would appear right over another graphic detailing stats of a competing athlete and/or information about the event taking place. Very annoying and just plain dumb. What’s the point of posting stats if you can’t fucking see them?
Best Recovery From An On-Site Injury
Canadian freestyle snowboarder Laurie Blouin suffered a terrible injury when she crashed during a training run which resulted in a black eye. Thankfully avoiding a concussion, she was able to get some rest before entering her delayed slopestyle event. With the black bruising now faded to yellow, she went on to win Silver.
Worst Disappointment After Said Recovery
During the debuting big air competition, Blouin wiped out so hard in her first jump, she didn’t attempt her remaining two, taking her out of medal contention.
Most Enthusiastic Coach
The exhuberant Chinese aerials coach who cheered every time one of his athletes nailed their jump in aerials which was often.
Worst Response To A Journalist’s Question
When asked by ABC News reporter Matt Gutman whether he felt the settlement he reached with a former bandmate regarding his repeated abuse and sexual harassment of her would “tarnish his legacy”, American Gold medallist in the halfpipe Shaun White dismissed the serious blight on his record as “gossip”. Gutman later noted on Twitter that fellow sports journo Chris Brennan had observed that no female journalists were permitted to even pose direct inquiries of their own. White later apologized for his word choice but not for the actual harassment and abuse. Maybe he should change his nickname to The Rotten Tomato.
Most Surprising Controversy
Whether Canadian curler Rachel Homan was right to remove that burned stone from the house in the 5th end during a round robin match with Denmark.
Most Gracious Display Of Sportsmanship
The Top three finishers in the 15K cross country race waited until every single competitor crossed the finish line. When the final skier, Mexican German Madrazo, who has only been skiing for a year and only on snow for a few months, crossed the finish line, they scooped him off his feet and carried him like a king in a touching display of solidarity and support.
Second Most Gracious Display Of Sportmanship
The German mens’ hockey team, initially crushed by their overtime loss to the Russians (sorry, the Olympic Athletes of Russia) in the Gold medal match, ended up posing with the gracious winners for photos on the ice after both teams received their medals.
Most Surprising Musical Selection For A Figure Skating Routine (tie)
German Paul Fentz skated to Paul Anka’s swing cover of Oasis’ Wonderwall while Hungarian Ivett Toth used an amalgamation of AC/DC’s Back In Black and Thunderstruck. Is a Nine Inch Nails ice dance routine coming soon?
Most Unfair Treatment Of An Olympic Medallist
Thanks to a disqualification of a South Korean athlete who initially finished second in a photo finish in the 500 metres final, French Canadian short track speed skater Kim Boutin was bumped up from 4th place to 3rd resulting in her first medal, a Bronze. South Koreans weren’t happy and absurdly took out their frustration on Boutin on social media. (Shouldn’t they be more upset at the officials who actually made the call?) Things apparently got so bad she first locked down her accounts and then deleted them altogether. Boutin would have the last laugh, however. She would go on to win another Bronze and a Silver, without controversy, and was chosen as the flag bearer for Canada in the closing ceremonies. Suck it, haters.
Does Kesha Know She Has A Sister?
Austrian snowboarder Anna Gasser who won the Gold medal in big air.
Most Shocking Upset
After disposing of Sweden in the quarterfinals, Germany went on to humiliate Canada 4-3 in the semifinals of mens’ hockey. Thanks, Gary Bettman.
Best Vindication After Being Screwed Out Of A Medal In A Previous Olympics
In Sochi, Russia four years ago, Canadian luger Alex Geogh finished fourth but because of a Russian doping violation she was bumped up to third. As a result, she was expecting to receive a Bronze medal. But after the decision was reversed, she went back to her original position.
In 2018, Geogh would not be denied. Not only would she win Bronze in the womens’ event she would also capture Silver as part of the team relay. Her first podium finish marked the first time a Canadian luger of any gender had won an Olympic medal in this discipline.
Most Unlikely Rap Fan Named After A Female Body Part
Slovenian snowboarder Tit Stante who wants the authorities to release the incarcerated Meek Mill already.
From A Hospital Bed To A Bronze Medal
Almost a year ago, Canadian snowboarder Mark McMorris was fighting for his life in a hospital bed after hitting a tree while riding with his friends and shooting footage in Whistler, British Columbia. According to Wikipedia, “McMorris suffered a fractured jaw, a fractured left arm, a ruptured spleen, a pelvic fracture, rib fractures and a collapsed left lung.” He would ultimately recover following two “successful surgeries”.
Although he wasn’t able to win a medal in big air, he did manage to snag the Bronze in slopestyle after briefly leading the competition. This marks the second straight Olympics he has won 3rd in this event.
Meanwhile, the Polish-born Canadian Wojtek Wolski was playing hockey in Europe in late 2016 when he went headfirst into the boards resulting in a serious concussion and a broken neck. While hospitalized, he was first told he would heal in four weeks. Then, the doctors corrected themselves. It would actually be four months.
During the mens’ hockey tournament in Pyeongchang, Wolski was a breakout star for Team Canada. Despite the shocking loss to Germany in the semis, Canada would recover to take the Bronze away from the Czech Republic.
Best Helmet Design
The Iron Man helmet worn by South Korean luger Yung-Sun Bin who went on to win his country’s first ever medal in the sport, a Gold.
Most Selfless Motivation To Win An Olympic Title
German figure skater Bruno Massot made a mistake during the short program of the pairs competition and felt so bad about it during a press conference afterward, he promised that he wouldn’t let his Ukranian-born partner Aliona Shavchenko go home without a Gold medal. A three-time Olympian, Shavchenko had only managed to win Bronze in two of those games. After setting a record with their score in the long program, Massot made good on his word. Erupting into tears upon learning the good news (he had already bowed to her on the ice following their performance), the pair finished first. As a result, at age 34, Shavchenko became the oldest woman to win figure skating Gold.
Most Overexposed Canadian Broadcaster
Fake laugher Craig McMorris, Mark’s older brother, who did colour commentary for slopestyle & big air, did a recurring segment with fellow Canadian athletes involving tea drinking and karate and co-hosted CBC’s overnight coverage of the games with Kelly Van Der Beek. That’s too much McMorris. He’s not as funny as he thinks he is.
Most Cringeworthy Moment
All the wipeouts in skiing, moguls, big air, halfpipe and slopestyle.
Is That His Favourite Led Zeppelin Song?
CBC cross country commentator Nigel Reed who made at least two on-air references to Over The Hills And Far Away.
Weirdest Method Of Removing Injured Skiers & Snowboarders
Whenever someone would crash hard in the snow and not get up, medical stuff rushed in to put the seriously hurt athlete in an orange body bag, then place them in a sled which was attached to a snowmobile and dragged away. Was The Undertaker the driver?
Most Remarkable Fact About The 2018 Canadian Olympic Team
They were able to win 29 medals (11 Gold, 8 Silver, 10 Bronze), their highest count in a single winter games ever, without winning Gold in mens’ and womens’ hockey and mens’ and womens’ curling. That’s a deep squad.
Dennis Earl
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Monday, February 26, 2018
3:50 a.m.
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on February 26, 2018 at 3:50 am Comments (1)