family anxiety in The Shining
Okay, every week I apologize for my posts being unorganized, but my brain is literally scrambled eggs at this point of quarantine. This will hopefully make a decent amount of sense!
The Shining focuses on familial anxieties, largely by twisting the traditional family routine and norms by the end of the film. A portion of the film captures the Torrances living "normal" life together, Danny playing with trucks and Wendy bringing him breakfast in bed. These things are all tainted: Danny is being influenced by an alternate identity and the kitchen she cooked in was previously shown in a scene where the idea of "the shining" was revealed (Wendy also locks Jack is storage there later). Jack is also repeatedly shown typing on a typewriter in similar scenes, showing his true distance from the rest of the family, and isolation turned to madness. Their distance as a family is shown through the physical space of the Overlook, as Danny is shown biking around and the great hall is shown in many shots.
Similar to the Babadook, a source of anxiety seems to be from the "knowing child", since Danny has visions unknown to the adults and can communicate mentally, which is viewed as threatening especially to Jack.
I think the scene in the car where they're talking about cannibalism was interesting in the context of these observations.
The Shining focuses on familial anxieties, largely by twisting the traditional family routine and norms by the end of the film. A portion of the film captures the Torrances living "normal" life together, Danny playing with trucks and Wendy bringing him breakfast in bed. These things are all tainted: Danny is being influenced by an alternate identity and the kitchen she cooked in was previously shown in a scene where the idea of "the shining" was revealed (Wendy also locks Jack is storage there later). Jack is also repeatedly shown typing on a typewriter in similar scenes, showing his true distance from the rest of the family, and isolation turned to madness. Their distance as a family is shown through the physical space of the Overlook, as Danny is shown biking around and the great hall is shown in many shots.
Similar to the Babadook, a source of anxiety seems to be from the "knowing child", since Danny has visions unknown to the adults and can communicate mentally, which is viewed as threatening especially to Jack.
I think the scene in the car where they're talking about cannibalism was interesting in the context of these observations.
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