‘The Shining’ Is Coming To Ridgefield: What Secrets Will You Find Behind Room 237?

This Wednesday night The Ridgefield Playhouse will be screening the classic 1980 film 'The Shining' for one time only. If you plan on going, get ready. You are about to view this film in a way you never have before.

According to the 2012 documentary 'Room 237' (available on Netflix and YouTube) there are several messages carefully placed throughout 'The Shining' by the late enigmatic director Stanley Kubrick. Among those alleged messages refer to subjects such as the genocide of Native Americans, the Holocaust, sexuality, and even the mythological creature known as Minotaur. But it's the Apollo 11 theory that intrigues me the most.

One of the theorist interviewed for 'Room 237' alleged that, through a series of carefully placed messages, Kubrick is purging himself of the guilt he felt for directing the footage distributed by NASA to publicize the Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969. The theorist refers to the Apollo 11 sweater worn by the boy Danny as maybe the most obvious hint. But that's not all. Below is a clip from the documentary that further delves into the Apollo 11 theory:

The Apollo 11 theory is revisited one last time later in the documentary:

It's interesting to look back on 'The Shining' and wonder why Kubrick decided to turn this Stephen King book into a movie. According to the Apollo 13 theorist Kubrick used the movie for one reason and it wasn't to capitalize on the money-making horror genre. He was, rather, using it as a vehicle to plant several messages in a way that would challenge and maybe even perplex viewers. It's also quite compelling to note that the book version does not include a maze but Kubrick's version does. Was the maze another carefully placed symbol of Kubrick's intent to challenge us?

"We are dealing with a guy who has a 200 IQ," said the Apollo 11 theorist. "I believe he was bored. He (Kubrick) began working on a new kind of film, a film that had never been made before. A film that was made by a bored genius who had thoroughly emptied the jug of everything that could be done in film making and he was looking for the next thing. What he did was he began reading 'Subliminal Seduction' and a number of other books which were about how advertisers were injecting subliminal images into advertising to sell products. Kubrick went to these advertisers and he asked them what their methods were and then he took those methods and applied them to 'The Shining'."

Are these theories simply the result of over active imaginations or was Stanley Kubrick really a brilliant man whose own imagination has led us into a maze of secrets we've only begun to uncover? You be the judge Wednesday night.

You can listen to Eric Senich live on Saturdays from 10am to 3pm on 95.1 FM. You can also listen online by clicking here or by downloading the radioPup app for your mobile device.