Stanley Kubrick’s sublime The Shining breaks all of the rules. It breaks the rules of adaptation by completely upending the plot and meaning of Stephen King’s original book. The plot of the movie doesn’t really even make sense from a story point of view. King’s book is very much about telekinesis inside people and inside the Overlook Hotel. The hotel wants the boy Danny because his powers are so great. In their way is the mother Wendy, strong and protective, who will keep them from getting the boy. They use recovering alcoholic Jack, a writer, to kill off the mother and bring the boy into the fold.
A couple reactions: Most of the best directors UP UNTIL NOW have been men; mostly because of opportunities, etc. That will change, I imagine, in the coming decades.
But I also think there is a growing revolt against the New Puritans. Just as McCarthyism led to a left-wing social movement in the '60s and '70s, I think our modern ideological tyranny will lead to a social pushback that will result in a new flowering of freedom and liberty.
So I would say don't give up on cinema just yet. ;-)
The Horror Movies I Love are Frozen in Time
A couple reactions: Most of the best directors UP UNTIL NOW have been men; mostly because of opportunities, etc. That will change, I imagine, in the coming decades.
But I also think there is a growing revolt against the New Puritans. Just as McCarthyism led to a left-wing social movement in the '60s and '70s, I think our modern ideological tyranny will lead to a social pushback that will result in a new flowering of freedom and liberty.
So I would say don't give up on cinema just yet. ;-)