In Carrol's The Paradox of Horror, she brings about the point of "how to make a monster". She states that monsters can be different in regards to how they scare, or threaten; that it has to destroy, whether its fatal physically, morally, or societal. She then states:
The Shining plays a major role in having a threatening monster(s). The story revolves around a small family stranded in a hotel locked away by winter storms. The hotel is haunted and is basically playing terrifying mind games with the family. The two most important characters: the father, Jack, being an alcoholic and a major anger streak, and the son, Danny, who is telepathic, become the most affected. The hotel wants Danny, which causes a lot of strife for the father, who becomes jealous."However, in order to be threatening, it is sufficient
that the monster be physically dangerous. If it produces further anxieties that
is so much icing on the cake. So the creators of art-horror must be sure that the
creatures in their fictions are threatening and this can be done by assuring that
they are at least physically dangerous. Of course, if a monster is
psychologically threatening but not physically threatening—i.e., if it’s after
your mind, not your body—it will still count as a horrific creature if it inspires
revulsion." -Noel Carrol
There are a lot of ghosts in the hotel, causing mental distress for the family, but in the sense of who, or what, is the monster of the story, it would be the hotel itself. It isn't physical but it turns the dad into the physical being that is threatening. There are differences between the book and film, which can lead the audience astray to Stephen King's meaning of a monster. The father isn't supposed to be an evil person, he becomes entranced by the hotel and uses the fathers weaknesses against him. Having a building as the major antagonist is so fascinating in itself, because it takes the idea of what a monster has to be, and construes the idea. Who are we supposed to be afraid of? Who is the real monster? Examining the film while keeping Carrol's statement in mind, I question these things. I question if the true monster is the hotel, or the father.I believe Stephen King wanted the hotel to portray horror in a strange way, and if that's the case, I don't necessarily believe that the monster has to be physically dangerous. The hotel couldn't actually touch the family, which is why the hotel had basically "possessed" the father. The ultimate goal is that the hotel wanted the family dead, and to absorb Danny's powers.
Personally, I recommend reading the book. Even Stephen King was unnerved by the film, believing that a lot of the direction that the film took, ignored the key undertones that the book had, which made the story far more intense. A huge issue is that Jack Nicholson was given the role, and he makes the father character seem mad from the get-go, but the father is actually a sympathetic character, almost a Byronic hero in the sense that he is flawed, and the hotel used that against him, but his intentions were well at first.
I think it is an interesting idea that Jack nicholson's character was left exposed because of his flaw. His flawed nature is what allowed him to be possessed by the hotel. I think a notion that is expressed in this movie is that there is a latent monster inside of us cause by our visible flaws to the outside world. The scary part about that it means we're all open to supernatural influences just waiting to exploit those flaws. A big part of what makes moves frightening is that the expose vulnerability in ourselves. They make us wonder whether or not we could survive in such a situation or if we'd make the same mistakes.
ReplyDeleteI find it interesting that you bring up the diminished role of the hotel in the film compared to the book because I don't necessarily think it's true. While the Overlook definitely works through Jack, it also seems to have a mind of its own.
ReplyDeleteCarroll sets up a couple of parameters for a monster, and the Overlook in Kubrick's film fits the "revolting" aspect without issue. But it isn't until one watches the film several more times that they begin to pick up the physical aspects of the hotel.
Kubrick seems to have taken special care to make sure the Overlook Hotel doesn't make sense. Hallways disappear and reappear, doors move, rooms and windows let out in places that don't make sense. From a filmmaking standpoint, it's a good way to creep out your audience without them noticing. From a narrative standpoint, it changes the Overlook from a rather static structure into a real monster, a House of Leaves.