THE SHINING (1980)
Another podcast excursion into the Media Hauntological, this time focusing on The Shining, the 1980 masterpiece by... well, by several people, including but not limited to Stanley Kubrick. (See also a triumvirate of brilliant women: Diane Johnson, Wendy Carlos, and Shelley Duvall.)
This time George and I are joined by Kit Power. Because we've decided we hate Elliot. No, no, no. I kid. If the Joker ever tries to corrupt one of us, it'll be Elliot, because he's the best of us. Truth is, George and Kit and I have long been planning a Shiningcast, since long before George, Elliot and I launched the project that I, to the silent embarrassment of everyone else involved, insist on calling It *IS* The Same Log.
And here it is. Just for you, my patrons. And Kit's Patrons. For now, anyway.
Luckily, it fits very well into the running thread of IITSL. By agreement with Elliot, George and I went ahead with Kit, and this episode slots nicely into the series.
It's a long, long episode in which we mostly talk about the film but also talk a lot about the novel, some about the TV miniseries, and even a little bit about Doctor Sleep (book and movie). As well as the usual manifold digressions.
Content warnings for discussion of very difficult subjects, and also for gushing because this is very very my favourite movie.
Comments (3)
What an interesting conversation. I've read "It" half a dozen times since I was a teenager, and the base-superstructure thing had never occurred to me. I'll never look at it the same way again.
Re. the time for Native attacks being over by the time the hotel is being built. I read that as a crass marketing spiel the hotel manager uses to sell the hotel. I have a failed attempt at a bachelor in graphic design, and marketing people love that sort of story telling, selling the brand kind of bullshit.
I feel it fits very well: first the steal your land and kill your ancestors, then they make up some bullshit to sell their hotel to tourists that ties it in to the myth of the founding of the country. Pure American capitalism, desperate to invent an ancient legacy for a very young country with a Problematic start