Room 237

There's a moment in Richard Linklater's Slackers when a guy asks his friend what he's up to. "Oh, just working on my Kennedy assassination collection." That's the spirit of Room 237, a documentary about the obsession of certain folks with Stanley Kubrick's The Shining, which I saw a few days ago but I sure missed a lot.

The film, which has certain strengths and incredible weaknesses, is entertaining in a certain way. It reminded me of when I went to a UFO conference and listened to a woman speak. When she mentioned she had been abducted by aliens on several different occasions, I had to resist laughing out loud. Some of the theories about the film presented here are pure poppycock, others are a little more grounded, but they all make sense to the people who are presenting them.

The film, directed by Rodney Ascher, has a plus in that it actually uses footage from The Shining and several other Kubrick films, plus other generic horror films (there's one that I couldn't identify that shows teenagers watching a movie). If they hadn't gotten the rights there's no movie. On the other hand, it has a cheesy overall look to it, and the "talking heads" are not shown (perhaps to protect their identities). One guy is obviously on the phone and is interrupted by his kid. I suppose they didn't think to start over and edit.

So here are some of the theories. One guy posits that the film is about the genocide of the American Indians. Another thinks its about the holocaust. Another thinks its about sex. Another thinks its about Kubrick's shooting the fake moon landing footage. All of these are based on certain details that seem to suggest something, but are a trick of the mind. It's called apophenia--the seeing of patterns where none exist.

That these people are probably wrong is because they are at cross purposes--it can't be about all of these things. It's like everybody's religion can't be right. For example, two of these people cite the same shot, in the pantry. One sees a can of Calumet baking powder, with an Indian head on it. This means the movie is about Indians. In the same damn shot there's cans of Tang, which means that it's about the moon landing. Well, it can't be both.

The holocaust theory is mostly based on the frequent sightings of the number 42, because it was 1942 that the Nazis launched the final solution. Well, 42 was also Jackie Robinson's number, so maybe it was about him. There is also a German typewriter and Jack wears a t-shirt with an eagle on it. Pretty weak stuff.

The craziest yet most entertaining is the moon landing guy. He "proved" that the moon landing footage was fake (although he says he's not saying we didn't go to the moon) and is sure that Kubrick shot it. Some of his clues are pretty out there, but the fact that Danny at one point wears an Apollo 11 sweater is pretty interesting. They all point out that Kubrick was maniacal about detail, and clearly that sweater was chosen for a reason. But I can't support that the moon landing footage was fake, so there.

There are some things pointed out in the film that I think Kubrick may have intended, but in a vague sense of disorientation. It's pointed out that the manager's office, the way the hotel is laid out, couldn't possibly have a window in it. There are few things that could be continuity errors, such as a disappearing chair and a disappearing dopey decal, that stick in the mind. And why, in a scene where Jack is reading a magazine, would it be a Playgirl? Could it really be that he is a secret boy lover? No.

The craziest thing is when the film is shown twice, one forwards and once backwards, superimposed over itself. This creates all sorts of things that seem to have meanings, but don't, and is the best example of apophenia (a similar phenomenon is when people play Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon while watching The Wizard of Oz). In fact, I'm surprised no one has tried that with The Shining. Maybe not Dark Side of the Moon, but something else, like Brain Salad Surgery.

I did like the way the film showed how certain shots echo other moments from Kubrick films, and one fellow's theory, that the movie is about how the past impinges on us, makes sense, though it's not very controversial. And I have to tip my hat to the kind of obsession that these people bring to it, watching this movie over and over again. I guess someone has to do it.