|Magical Mystery Media 24| Faked Moon Landing, Native American Genocide, Kubrick as Rorschach: ROOM 237

WHAT’S IT ABOUT?

Stanley Kubrick’s THE SHINING is: a) a confession of his participation in the hoaxed Apollo moon mission; b) a treatise on the genocide of the Native Americans; c) a meditation on the holocaust; d) all of the above; e) a frickin’ horror movie.

New favorite word: apophenia.

Rodney Ascher’s ROOM 237 is: a) a cautionary tale about the dangers of overeducation; b) an insufferable exercise in pedantry and pop analysis; c) a boring, lazy excuse for a documentary; d) all of the above; e) … let’s stop there.

ROOM 237 serves up a collection of analyses of Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 adaptation of Stephen King’s THE SHINING. What’s its point? Well, the answer to that question is about as elusive as the answers to the various questions raised in Ascher’s film. Among the theories tossed around in this thing:

THE SHINING is really about the genocide of the Native Americans.
It’s really about the holocaust.
It’s really Stanley Kubrick’s way of confessing to having hoaxed the moon landing.
It’s really a retelling of the Greek myth of Theseus and the Minotaur.
It’s really a neo-Freudian psychosexual drama.
It’s really FROZEN. (Actually, this theory wasn’t in the movie, but I just had to include it here.)

WHAT DID WE THINK?

It was okay. As with Ascher’s THE NIGHTMARE, this was just a collection of anecdotes with no attempt to actually synthesize the presented information. There’s no editorial point of view – unless you buy this person’s take. Really, it comes off as lazy and a missed opportunity. Competently produced, but lacking something.

Or it’s a genius meta-commentary on the human mind’s need to find meaning in all things – including this film.

Here are some links for your perusing enjoyment:

ROOM 237 (Blu-ray)

‘The Shining’: The Craziest Theories Behind the Film

8 Greatest ‘The Shining’ Conspiracy Theories, Because Some Believe ‘Frozen’ Is The Same Movie

Why Stephen King Is Utterly Wrong About ‘Room 237’

The 10 Most Outrageous Theories About What The Shining Really Means

Podcast 3 – KUBRICK’S ODYSSEY: Stanley Kubrick and the Great Moon Hoax