All this talk about authorial intent, and how easily is can be misconstrued reminded me of an article I read in film magazine Sight and Sound months ago. The article outlined a new film about Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining. The 2012 film Room 237 (directed by Rodney Ascher) is a documentary about some of the most outlandish theories on Kubrick’s classic. Five interviewees describe what they gleam from the film, each with a radical and seemingly unbelievable interpretation of his work. They each read props, cues, narrative and dialogue in different ways, bending them to match their point of view.

One claims The Shining is an allegory for the Holocaust. His evidence being: Nicholson uses a German typewriter, Danny (the son) wears a t-shirt with ’42’ on the front – apparently a direct reference to 1942, and all of the numbers shown in the film add to 42. Wow that’s some conclusive shit.

The intepretations only get better from there, with another asserting the film is clearly a confession from Kubrick that not only was the moon landing was faked, but that he was one of the megabrains behind it (this is based largely on Danny’s Apollo 11 sweater, oh and not to mention that “room” is almost an anagram of “moon”…). While another interviewee is adamant that no, it is a reference to the genocide of Native Americans.

Jesus, I’d hate to think what these people read into my blog posts.

For more info on each theory, check out The Daily Beast (S+S is a subscription website/magazine)