The Bear Scene In The Shining Movie May Symbolize Sexual Abuse. Film scholar Rob Ager delved into what Kubrick may have been implying with The Shining bear scene, and has provided one of the most thorough explorations.
What was the point of the furry scene in The Shining?
As far as what some of the fan theories are about the bear scene, some say it's one of the many clues behind the true relationship between Danny and his father. The imagery of the bear suggests that the animal is symbolic of Jack's predatory control over his family and the sexual abuse of his son.
The one major consistency seems to be that most agree the main animals for these sections are the bear (Wendy), the wolf (the Overlook), the bird (Danny), and the buffalo (Jack). Though there are exceptions to that rule too.
Topiary animals refer to the animal-shaped hedge trimmings found at the Overlook Hotel in the 1977 novel and 1997 miniseries versions of The Shining. The 1980 film version replaces the topiary animals with a topiary hedge maze due to the limitations of special effects at the time.
The boiler and the pressure building inside it represent the emotional and psychic pressure building inside Jack and the Overlook. Like the physical pressure in the boiler, this symbolic pressure "creeps." Jack is only vaguely aware of the pressure building in him as his days at the Overlook progress.
THE SHINING:I found out why Wendy can see the bear man.
What does the woman in the bathtub mean in The Shining?
After reading an article about the design of Room 217/237 in the Kubrick film, I noted an explanation of the woman in the bathtub, Lorraine Massey, as being someone who lusted after bellboys and killed herself out of disgusted shame by wrist-slitting.
The second and most likely, suggests that the film represents genocide of Native Americans. When the hotel manager gives the Torrance family a tour, he mentions that the Overlook sits atop an Indian burial ground.
One of the most frequent questions I've received about The Shining is “What does the guy in the bear costume mean?” The popular interpretation is that the scene is a throwback to a subplot of Stephen King's book, in which a party guest in a dog costume has a homosexual relationship with one of the hotel's former owners ...
In the book, the man dressed in a suit is actually Horace Derwent, the mysterious owner of the Overlook Hotel, and the man in the costume (which is a dog in the book) is Roger, a one-time lover of his. The novel provides Roger and Horace's story as an example of atrocities that have happened in the hotel.
The combination of isolation, monotony, creative frustration, and supernatural forces extract Jack's insanity. As the insanity sinks in he strays from his male roles as provider and attempts to murder his wife and son.
Spiked with sexual innuendo, this conversation holds several clues to the truth behind the relationship between Danny, his father and the imagery of the bear, with many suggesting that the animal is symbolic of Jack's predatory control over his family and sexual abuse of his son.
Why is there a picture of Jack at the end of The Shining?
This scene has been interpreted in many ways, and one of the most popular explanations is that it represents the hotel “absorbing” Jack's soul. Although this makes sense, Kubrick himself has said the photo actually suggests Jack being a reincarnation of an earlier official at the hotel.
Moments later, he would improvise the “Here's Johnny!” line, which was a reference to the intro of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. Interestingly, Kubrick originally shot the scene with a fake door, but Nicholson – who once trained as a fire marshal – chopped it down too quickly.
Jack becomes obsessed enough with the hotel's sordid past that he wants to write a book about it. He makes a long-distance call to the hotel's manager, Stuart Ullmann, and antagonizes him with this knowledge. Eventually, he goes mad thanks to the influence of the hotel's ghosts and attempts to kill Wendy and Danny.
So on one level the twins represent Danny, perhaps accompanied by his imaginary friend. Rather than seeing the past, he is anticipating his own potential murder / abuse. He also saw the twins in his first shining vision, while looking into a mirror.
Wendy is implied to have an active imagination, as she's seen reading throughout The Shining and Jack mentions that she's a fan of horror stories, and this, along with traumatic experiences and her already fragile mental state, could have deeply messed with her perception of the world around her.
The ending of The Shining, particularly the photo of Jack in the 1921 ballroom, suggests that Jack is a reincarnation of a former hotel employee, although this explanation is not explicitly stated in the film.
At the hotel, Jack begins to display the telltale signs of drinking that Wendy has come to know so well. He constantly wipes his mouth with a napkin and chews Excedrin one after another.
Simply put, this The Shining analysis posits that the film is just as much about the genocide of Native Americans as it is about ghosts haunting the hotel. The aforementioned Room 237 doc covers this theory and the following video digs even deeper into this Native American genocide interpretation.
Jack Torrance: [typed] All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.
It is stated that the Overlook Hotel was made out of evil because it is composed of negative influence from a history of deaths, giving it moral agency issues. Its history of crime caused by the negativity is also confirmed, unlike the 1980 film adaptation and 2019 sequel.
In the film, Jack Torrance vividly interacts with a bartender named Lloyd, who appears to serve him drinks, even though the hotel is otherwise empty. This hallucinatory experience is a clear indicator of his disturbed mental state.
