As much as I like nature and bein out in the sticks and wut not, them first few shots of the film where it was just hoverin’ over landscapes really set an ominous tone. It reminded me of the first several pages of the “Fall of the house of Usher” where the narrator went into dark descriptions of the house and property. We as the viewer and reader received descriptions of the setting in which the action wus gonna take place. And ill tell you what, if I ever laid a finger on my son, like Jack Nicholson did, my wife woulda slapped me so hard, I woulda fell asleep for a longer time than Rip Van Winle. Then again, I aint a ghost like Nicholson’s character was, so I can see why his wife was scared of him. Ya see, we know that he is a ghost because of the use of mirrors in the film. In every scene, and I mean every daggum scene, that there is a mirror, a ghost is present. Most of the time, Nicholson is communicatin’ with a ghost, but in the end we discover that he is a reincarnated crazy guy, which makes him a ghost as well. Mirrors and doubles are ay common in Gothic Literature as well. In “The Fall of the House of Usher,” Usher has a twin sister, that is a double in and of itself. Also, the cook in The Shining, you know the colored feller... Oh pardon me, I mean, African American Feller, sorry about that... He could communicate with the supernatural. The colo- I mean, African American Character that can communicate with the supernatural is all over the place in Chesnutt’s “Po’ Sandy.” We see a whole buncha Gothic traits in The Shinning
-Mirror scene wit' da Keeper's ghost
-Another mirror scene wit' dat dere creepy ole' lady's ghost
Change the oil, Plow the soil,
Sean Prince
Hi Sean,
ReplyDeleteAfter re-reading your "About Me" and re-reading both of your posts, I am interested in hearing about your plan for the rest of your posts. I felt that in your "About Me" section, you would mostly focus the reader's attention on characters from pieces of Gothic literature. Although you certainly have been doing that, your focus also seems to be on major characteristics as a whole that appear throughout Gothic literature. Maybe you could include that somewhere in your "About Me" if that is the direction you will be continuing to take.
I also really enjoy your signature at the end of each post; you should definitely keep that up! It really embodies who you are as a person and as a writer.
In this particular post, you could add a picture and description of your favorite scene in "The Shining" where mirrors are displayed and dig deep into the scene for the reader. Even in the end of the movie, I didn't view Nicholson's character as a full-blown ghost, so I was very interested when I read that you felt he was a ghost because of all of the mirror scenes.
Sean, I really like what you've done with this review of The Shining. The redneck theme is also really clever. It's written in a way, where I could actually hear this in a conversation that someone could be having with a good ol' boy sitting in bar drinking whiskey and rye.
ReplyDeleteI like the length of the review, the way it's written combined with your redneck theme makes it compelling and is also not too drawn out. If anything, it could leave the readers wanting more.
If anything could be added, I would just say maybe to play with the idea of adding a favorite scene or a scene that was just like really odd and talk about it.
Other than that I think this is awesome. I hope to see more like this.
Interesting comparison between the beginning description from the narrator of Usher and the beginning scenes of The Shining. Very true.
ReplyDeleteGood review. Gets your point across well without being too lengthy and wordy or boring. I also enjoy reading other's ideas about films! Very interesting points about how you thought he was a reincarnated ghost.
Finally, like the sign offs. Adds a lot of personality to the blog!
Thanks everyone! Sorry for the delay again. I will definitely add pictures and perhaps video clips, if applicable, in my next couple of posts.
ReplyDeleteGood onya for adding the scene images.
ReplyDeleteThe one with old lady is pretty horrendous and works well in terms of what Jack may have been into. it leaves the viewer with the thought " I can't un-see this." It's flat-out nasty.
Nice work, dude !