#36: The Shining: Scatman Crothers Nearly Saves The Day

Stanley Kubrick's film The Shining is about a guy who loses his mind in a really big hotel. It's also about a woman who loses her mind in a big hotel, a child who has pretty much already lost his mind, and Scatman Crothers. Scatman plays cook Dick Halloran, a source of light amidst ever-increasing darkness, until that darkness, in the form of Jack Nicholson, swings an axe into Scatman's chest. Then Scatman dies, and there is no more hope.  This is a movie that frightened us both as children and adults. It is difficult to say why, apart from the fact that it's really scary. Why did Kubrick make this movie? Did he just want to scare the bejesus out of everyone? What does the word "bejesus" even mean? Is Kubrick a sadistic jerk? A man with profound insight into the uncanny? A devotee of Carl Jung? The man who staged the moon landing? The Shining asks these questions and many more.  Join us for this snob that meanders throughout the Overlook Hotel, through its strange geometry, through Room 237, and even through the entity known as Scatman Crothers. We hope that you don't become terrified of the two little dead girls wearing dresses and standing still, or at the thought of them currently standing right next to you and staring at you. We all know that's the certain path to total madness.