Whereas director Stanley Kubrick’s Stephen King adaptation The Shining is widely known as a horror traditional, it’s not often seen for its secondary style — The Shining is a Christmas film. Whereas The Shining is quite a bit darker and scarier than most festive choices, as a narrative of a household pressured to work collectively to outlive a harsh winter, it’s perfect Christmas viewing. This may increasingly or will not be intentional on the a part of the author and director Stanley Kubrick, however The Shining however shares lots of the weather that make vacation films so beloved and, as such, might be added to the pantheon of traditional Christmas horrors.
Christmas means one thing completely different to everybody, which is why films like Die Laborious and Black Christmas get thrown into wild debates over whether or not they are often thought-about vacation fare based mostly on their content material. The Shining falls into the identical class, and like Die Laborious, there are some clear indicators that present The Shining is a Christmas film. Particulars just like the setting, the costuming, and even the general narrative trace that it is a vacation movie, meant to be watched with the likes of A Christmas Story and Elf all the identical. Here is each little bit of proof to shut the controversy on whether or not The Shining is a Christmas film.
Why The Shining Is A Christmas Film
For many years, the controversy about what constitutes a “Christmas film” has lit up remark sections yearly throughout the Web. Whereas Netflix’s Vacation Film Universe implies that sugary cinematic confections like The Princess Swap sequence are unquestionably categorised as Christmas films, different initiatives make the time period more durable to outline. The query of whether or not a violent, hard-R motion film or grotesque slasher might be known as a Christmas film is difficult, since many of those style choices have festive settings and yuletide components however go in opposition to the spirit of the season.
On this be aware, Stanley Kubrick’s iconic Stephen King adaptation The Shining is an inarguable horror traditional. Nonetheless, relying on the time period’s definition, The Shining can also be a Christmas film — regardless of what some readers might assume. Proof that the blackly comedian psychological horror has earned its standing as a Christmas film will not be instantly apparent, however the mixture of a snowy setting, a narrative of a household struggling via hardship collectively, and the addition of horror to what may have been a candy story make Kubrick’s The Shining an unlikely, however simple, Christmas film. There are various factors supporters of The Shining on Christmas film lists use to again their argument, and under are all the explanations The Shining belongs to the vacation season defined.
Christmas Horror Is A Cinematic Custom
The largest roadblock to claiming that The Shining is a Christmas film comes from its style. It’s a bleak, brutal horror film — the kind of movie that few viewers would instantly affiliate with the vacation season. Nonetheless, from slashers like Santa’s Slay and Silent Night time Lethal Night time, to extra family-friendly fare like Krampus and Gremlins, Christmas cinema has all the time been welcoming of each good cheer and grotesque horror alike. The enforced cheeriness of vacation settings contrasts completely with darker themes, which means The Shining is way from the primary entry within the horror style to subvert conventional Christmas film tropes. Very like how Shane Black’s Christmas motion films set gunfights and bloody brawls in opposition to a backdrop of snow and Christmas lights, The Shining shares its snow-struck winter setting with numerous traditional darkish vacation films, from director Bob Clark’s traditional proto-slasher Black Christmas to Kubrick’s personal anti-Christmas Christmas film, Eyes Extensive Shut. Being a horror film does not low cost The Shining from Christmas film lists — it is an argument for its inclusion.
The Shining’s Snowy Winter Setting
Not solely does the Overlook spend everything of The Shining blanketed in snow, however the one purpose Jack will get a job there’s as a result of the haunted resort wants a winter caretaker. From its opening scenes onward, The Shining facilities round snow, winter, and household—all traditional Christmas motifs, right here subverted past recognition. It could be onerous to image the Overlook Lodge seen in The Shining and Dr. Sleep as a welcoming or heat location, however the setting forces the Torrance household to spend time collectively and bond as a household. Admittedly, this doesn’t go to plan and leads to a darker, gorier ending than that of most Christmas films, however the story of a mismatched household being snowed right into a secluded resort and compelled to spend the vacations taking part in good is one that might play out as a standard Christmas comedy within the fingers of one other director.
The Shining Is A Household Story
When King noticed Kubrick’s film, he was famously irritated by the modifications made to his novel The Shining, and the alterations in Kubrick’s model of the story serve to make the film extra of a darkish spin on normal festive movie tropes. For instance, the later Shining tv miniseries that King scripted within the ’90s performs down Jack’s unhinged habits till properly into his keep within the Overlook and presents a extra sympathetic view of his gradual psychological collapse. In distinction, Kubrick’s film makes it specific that Jack is on the verge of a significant breakdown from the opening scene onwards and The Shining then slides step by step into being an especially darkish comedy whereby viewers are pressured to look at as, little by little, his grip on his sanity loosens additional. Not like King’s story, Kubrick’s model of The Shining doesn’t play out like a portrayal of a troubled man step by step succumbing to insanity.
As a substitute, The Shining’s story of a household being torn aside by isolation and ensuing insanity performs out like a darkish subversion of traditional Christmas comedies whereby long-suffering dads are pushed loopy by their youngsters and spouses. Not like the underrated Distress, this Stephen King adaptation doesn’t encourage viewers to narrate to its protagonist or view him as a put-upon hero. As a substitute, in contrast to Nationwide Lampoon’s Christmas Trip, 4 Christmases, or any variety of different Christmas household comedies, Jack Torrance’s breakdown isn’t offered as relatable or innocent to the viewers, however slightly as a terrifying and inescapable menace to his household. There may be undoubtedly much more happening in The Shining, with some critics studying it as a darkish satire of America’s colonial historical past, however even these deeper themes reinforce its standing as a subversive spin on the standard festive movie.
The Costume Design Is Christmassy
The Shining takes place over the Christmas holidays within the lifeless of winter, which means there are lots of Christmas sweaters within the movie. Knit sweaters are a large a part of Danny and Jack’s wardrobe within the Stephen King adaptation, even when many of the film is about indoors. The costume design is paying homage to many a Sears Christmas catalog from yesteryear, normally that includes shiny joyful, and smiling households donned in matching vacation garb — although the Torrance household is something however joyful. That being mentioned, you definitely would not know that based mostly on their wardrobe. Whereas their clothes is not overtly Christmas-themed with bells or conventional inexperienced and crimson coloring, the picture of the numerous knit sweaters that Danny wears merely screams Christmas, and Wendy’s multitude of jumpers do not assist both. It most likely wasn’t intentional on Stanley Kubrick’s half, however the wardrobe in The Shining positively provides to the idea that the horror flick is a vacation movie.
The Shining Subverts Christmas Film Cliches (& Every little thing Else)
The thrust of The Shining’s plot — caught together with his household in freezing winter, a put-upon dad struggles to maintain it collectively — is an ordinary Christmas film setup. Themes that crop up all through The Shining’s darkish, twisty story — Jack craving for an easier time, youngsters disobeying their mother and father, the hero turning to drink in frustration — are all components that could possibly be performed for laughs in a lighter, extra hopeful film. Nonetheless, Kubrick’s film as an alternative subverts these photos to create an altogether darker and extra advanced story whereby the previous isn’t the panacea that patriarchs dream of, the beloved father is a murderous monster, and his frustration together with his household boils over into tried homicide as an alternative of being a cute punchline. Thus, The Shining acts as a subversion of conventional Christmas films and, in consequence, might be listed alongside the numerous different traditional Christmas horror films as a festive scare-fest.
