Text: The Shining 1980 (feature film)
Reading: Representation of Women
Kubrick is known to be an artistic and ingenious man, a legendary figure in the film industry. Like all great figures of history, Kubrick had a different take on the world. He ultimately understood that man were capable of great things, both good and bad. Unfortunately Kubrick chose to see the world from a cynical point of view. This really actually isn’t a misfortune but in fact reality and he has displayed this through his films.
Apart from showcasing the evils of man and their monstrosity in his films, he gave a representation of women that would have sent pro-feminists all around the world into a fit. This is evident through out all his films, with the various reprenstation that he gives them.
Having brought up during the early 1920s, this had an effect on the upbringing of Stanley Kubrick. It was during this pivotal time that the recognition of women was brought up and their role in society developed further. It is most likely this issue of women’s right that played an influence in the way he sees females.
In the Shining, Wendy plays wife to Jack Torrance and mother to Danny. Stanley Kubrick’s choice of Shelly Duvall has attributes to her physical appearance. She looks very thin, frail and gaunt throughout the entire movie. Her physical strength is weak as displayed by the ‘shakiness’ of her hand while swinging the bat at Jack. This suggests that Kubrick wanted viewers to see that women are physically the weaker sex. Scientifically true and proven, Kubrick enforces this idea towards the audience.
Apart from being physically weaker than her spouse, Wendy is essentially afraid of her husband. Whenever Jack raises his voice at Wendy, she would jerk her shoulders and her lips would twitch. In the Director’s cut of ‘The Shining’ we see a scene in which Kubrick tells Wendy to ‘jump’ slightly during the confrontation with Jack in the hall. Shelly’s acting was controlled by Kubrick carefully to display her fear of her husband. Signaling that the husband is in control and in power of her.
Male dominance. Jack is constantly in control of Wendy right from the very start, with the whole idea of staying at the Overlook for months. He is the breadwinner of the family, as I would take, as there has been no mention of Wendy having a job throughout the entire film. She had no say in the decision of spending their time in an isolated region. She simply willingly follows him into their eventual horrific experience. Jack controls her essentially and she willingly submits.
This is further highlighted by the fact that despite having been told of the ‘incident’ that took place in the Overlook previously, Jack made no mention of this to his wife. In the face of Stuart Ullman, Jack lies that “As far as my wife is concerned, I’m sure she’ll be absolutely fascinated by it she’s a confirmed ghost story and horror film addict”. Wendy was never informed and the situation kept a secret. As we all know, secrets should never be kept in a good relationship and as far as Kubrick was concerned, Wendy and Jack did not have one.
Love; there was no display of affection between the couple through the entire movie. The marriage was weak and the only love perhaps that they both shared was for their son, Danny; which slowly deteriorated over time for Jack. There is no scene of them sleeping together apart from the knowledge that they did share a room. No sexual intercourse took place during their stay and for most of the time they were separated, with Jack in the hall and Wendy either looking after Danny or wandering the Overlook. This segregation of the female from the male shows that Jack was not interested in a ‘weak’ female who was neither sexually or physically attractive.
This is further evident in room 237 when Jack makes a move for the young nude blonde ghost in the toilet. He never kissed Wendy but he was readily eager to give the ghost a passionate kiss while caressing her waist. Her attractiveness and beauty drew Jack towards her and he would readily have slept with her. Wendy on the other hand is not beautiful and hence failed to please Jack. This blonde here displays the power of the female with their ability to make the opposite sex lust for them.
It is not just in ‘The Shining’ that Jack portrays beautiful women as objects of sexual desires. He does this in many of his other films such as a ‘Clockwork Orange’ where a scene of Alex having a sex marathon with 2 beautiful girls that he picked up at the record shop and also when Alex rapes the wife of an old man. During his initial rehabilitation, catcalls were made at his nurse in a bid to get her to sleep with him. The women here are seen as tools of pleasure and exist nothing more than to satisfy the urges and need of a man. Not just any female thou but one that is physically attractive and an eye pleaser.
Despite the negative representation of females in ‘The Shining’, Kubrick still made it clear that they had a very vital play in their role as mothers. Protectors of their child, Wendy was an extremely defensive mother who cared tremendously for Danny. When discovering that Danny was hurt, she immediately blames it on Jack and calls him a ‘bastard’ for harming her child. Her emotions for her child are shown here and her protective instincts kick in.
Asking to allow a doctor to see Danny, Wendy was readily all right to sacrifice their stay at the Overlook to see that her child’s needs are met. When trapped in the room, Wendy grabbed Danny and rushed into the toilet to escape through the windows. She chooses Danny over her safety and wanted to ensure that he lives. The selfless Wendy puts Danny as priority and Kubrick’s representation of females here is that of a ‘motherly’ role. Which is a good representation with the selfless acts of courage and bravery.
Wendy is the last person standing and is saved from a horrific death; Kubrick makes this specific that the only reason for her survival was due to her role as a mother and the commitment that she should ensure to her child. Her survival is not because she is clever or strong but essentially because Kubrick believes that women should be the ones who take care of the children and his ‘indirect’ message to the audience is that the use of a female is nothing more than just confined to that of a mother.
I would like to have said that there is a balance between the representation of women and men throughout Kubrick’s film but it is clearly evident that the scale is tilted and favorable towards one side. It is for this very reason; many feminists choose Kubrick’s work as a topic of controversy to argue their cases.
It is still realistic though and I strongly believe in his idea that men will forever play a dominant role in society and women will always be represented on the lower scale despite how much development and contributions they have and will be making towards humanity.
Mohamed Sahdique Caubang
Words: 1139
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