1969: A Space Fallacy - Chapter Three of Three
The Dark Side of the Moon.
Stop this crazy ride, already!
If you’re still on board then congratulations; we’re about to head home. A reminder first that this hasn’t been to try and convince you they didn’t land on the Moon (but as said by Jim Carrey, it is quite the “fish story”) but instead act as more of a dissertation posing the question “if they did fake people walking on the Lunar surface, how much credibility is there to the notion it was Kubrick who helped them achieve it and eventually felt the need to admit to his guilt publicly in some way?”. A small Rabbit Hole mystery mixture of Conspiracy Theory and Pop Culture for you to venture into.
And that brings us to the last few significant elements (there are still other things in the movie to be found which some suggest are meaningful) from ‘The Shining’ cited in this thesis for your consideration.
5. Twins
One of the notable differences between the book and the movie, is where Kubrick made the ghosts of the Grady sisters, twins. There was a small gap in age in the book, but Kubrick decided he wanted twin girls dressed in blue instead. Why? Okay admittedly ghost twin girls are a scarier sight (I’m not sure why but I think you’d agree) than ghost sisters of different ages, but is that the only reason?
If we’re looking for possible (obvious) Moon references, there’s another fitting explanation. The twins represent ‘Gemini’:
…which of course was the name of the space program before Apollo, which is known for suffering the first critical in-space system failure of a US spacecraft which threatened the lives of the crew! The Grady Twins were ill-fated children, whose ghosts speak to Danny Torrance (who we’ll get to shortly) beckoning him to come play with them. It’s as though they appear as a sign of his potential fate; just another feeding of The Beast™️ like they before him. An apparitional destiny awaiting once they’ve been despatched with.
6. Room 237
Another big change from the book and the movie is the hugely haunted room both Jack and Danny visit during the story. In the book King makes it Room 217, based on the room he stayed in at the Stanley Hotel which the fictional ‘Overlook Hotel’ is based on. In the movie Kubrick makes it Room 237. It’s an odd thing to change so again people theorise as to the reason.
The *official* story is that the Timberline Lodge (used for some of the outside establishing shots of the hotel for the movie) were concerned people would be too afraid to stay in Room 217 so asked it to be 237 (because there is no Room 237 there). Though allegedly there’s no evidence that such a conversation ever took place at the time and it would surely be out of character for Kubrick to care about such a pearl-clutching demand. In the documentary ‘Room 237’ I’ve mentioned previously, it’s said this is a lie by Kubrick because the lodge already didn’t have a Room 217 to begin with. However I’ve found this image so it appears to exist (at least now that is…and it’s the most sought after one of course):
…you may notice the key-tag for it is 237 here because they made it a somewhat tourist attraction (so much for allegedly being worried it would affect business!) and we’ll get onto that in a second.
Okay so what if this change had another meaning instead? Well perhaps it actually symbolises the ~237,000 miles the Moon is said to be from Earth and so that room is the metaphorical mission? Interesting coincidence otherwise.
Getting back to the key…here it is in the actual movie:
…with ROOM & N as capital letters, of which it is easy to envisage “MOON” or even “MOON ROOM”. You may need to rearrange some letters or look at them in reverse etcetera…but it’s not like that wasn’t used already in the book (rearranged) and movie (reversed reflection) because “REDRUM” as often recited and written by Danny, is actually “MURDER” (as revealed to his Mother Wendy after seeing it in the mirror).
Of course you could also spell the word “MORON” from the letters on the key-tag which might have been put there by Kubrick to mock those of us theorising such things admittedly - or maybe the general public for believing everything they’re told by their TV’s and Governments? 😉
It’s also been suggested previously it’s perhaps the Stage/Studio number assigned to Kubrick for filming the Moon Landing™️ (hence he’s called it the “MOON ROOM” in the movie) but I have no evidence to back that claim up of course. Regardless, you absolutely can see “MOON” there in some fashion. By itself I’d say it’s meaningless; just a case of pareidolia. Though the way it is so obviously displayed to the audience and taking everything else into consideration too, it certainly feels like something.
7. Danny
The above brings us to what is by far the most compelling bit of “evidence” Kubrick used ‘The Shining’ to tell people, in his own way, he helped create a hoax (for whatever reason that may be, if that were the case). Save the best for last, as they say.
As the camera tracks Danny exploring the hotel on his Lunar Buggy Go Kart, you’re treated to seeing an absolutely delightful awful carpet designed in the (yep you guessed it) 1960’s. Some suggest the design is reminiscent of NASA Launch Pads:
That claim seems rather tenuous at best (the 1960’s connection aside). Though let’s not forget ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ imagery:
But then factor into what could be considered the Smoking Rocket of the piece…the scene where Danny is knelt on one of the “launch pads” and you watch him stand up:
AND HE’S WEARING AN APOLLO 11 JUMPER!
Yes it’s theorised this is just clear symbolism of the Apollo 11 rocket blasting off and Kubrick telling you what he did. Danny enters the “MOON ROOM” (Room 237) and comes out attacked, bruised, and his jumper torn…as if to signify the toll taken for participating in a hoax/showing they intended to go to the Moon but failed/symbolising what would happen if they were to venture past Low Earth Orbit (take your pick really).
To be honest the jumper scene is almost TOO on-the-nose. Along with everything else it’s almost looking like an “Orgy of Evidence” (as you might hear in fictional crime shows and movies); as in it’s a staged crime scene to throw off the scent or frame someone. Either way, it certainly seems like all of this stuff is intentional.
Plus, later on in the movie there’s a scene where Jack launches a tirade against Wendy (who at this point is confused and terrified about recent events) which sounds like the type of conversation Kubrick could have had with his wife if she had found out he was helping fake the US landing people on the Moon (or just the kind of inner struggles he had with his own conscience). I’ll pick out some lines to help you get the gist:
“Have you ever thought for a single solitary moment about my responsibilities to my employers?”
“Does it matter to you at all that the owners have placed their complete confidence and trust in me, and that I have signed a letter of agreement, a contract, in which I have accepted that responsibility?”
“Has it ever occurred to you what would happen to my future, if I were to fail to live up to my responsibilities?”
If you take the caretaker role of the Overlook Hotel that Ullman trusted Jack with, and replace it with a fake space film that the US President/Government trusted Kubrick with, this rant absolutely sounds like someone whose nerves are wracked over it all. And potentially a warning to his wife (or himself) to just keep quiet because of the possible repercussions with letting the beans spill. After all, you can’t just back out of a deal with the Devil.
666, the number of the beast
Conclusion:
Okay okay, so could it really be true? In my mind it is without a doubt that Kubrick is telling the audience multiple things with ‘The Shining’. Various themes and stories all overlapping. For example it seems pretty clear-cut that Jack also symbolises the Minotaur from Ancient Greek Mythology.
Though to reiterate my point about multiple meanings existing all at once and even intertwining like a piece of the thread Theseus used to navigate back out of the Labyrinth, I could bring up that in Crete the Minotaur was known by the name ‘Asterion’ which literally means “starry” (so another space connection) and further posit that the scene of Jack peering over the model of the Hotel’s actual maze is itself also symbolic of Kubrick looking at models of the Moon and Spaceships on set.
Buzz Aldrin himself said nobody actually watched the landing “live”; they think they did, but in reality they only listened to it on the radio and then later saw animations. Et Voilà! Mandela effect (which needs an article of its own) style mismemory formed. You see even the Minotaur element can be argued to be linked to the Moon hoax theory.
At the very least Kubrick might have helped create that animation if not a whole lot more - as mentioned previously maybe they really did land on the Moon but for whatever reason have no footage or dare not show it because of something they found there. The latter Conspiracy Theory, one of Secret Alien Bases and the like, is ironically something most people would rather accept and believe than them just not going there to begin with. So much predictive programming has led people to a state where they’d likely instantly believe an Alien invasion was occurring if their TV’s just told them so, rather than simply suspect people are behind the show. Which is odd considering they adhere to Occam’s Razor the other times it suits their worldview (so especially when it helps “debunk” the possibility of a conspiracy for example). Cognitive Dissonance and lack of consistency knows no bounds I suppose. What a job They’ve done, huh?
Of course, as already mentioned, there is a slight trap with things like this where you can ultimately see what you want to see. Doing an analysis from a completely neutral point of view is extremely difficult (especially when it regards questioning a monumental event that has been drummed into everyone). But there is just so much here to back up this theory. Casual dismissal of it as “hogwash” would be disingenuous and simply revealing of someone’s own bias too. It’s easy to say, but I believe if you fed all of this into AI (which wasn’t restricted by the Jailers rules and already pre-programmed to serve Them) it would reach the same conclusion as I (and perhaps you) have regarding whether it’s possible (or even highly likely) the Apollo 11 Moon mission footage was faked specifically with the assistance of Kubrick…
…and that is a planet sized “YOU’RE GOD DAMN RIGHT IT IS!”.
Ultimately I believe there are essentially only 3 options here;
Nothing to it and total coincidence/straw clutching
Kubrick’s messages were real, but him trolling us
Kubrick’s messages were real, and telling the truth
…so which of those do you think it is? Did you start on one of these and you’ve now shifted after reading this?
Once again it is certainly true that if you look hard enough, test enough, you’ll find the thing you’re desperate to uncover. But personally I can’t just attribute away all of this to coincidence. I’m also yet to see any proper attempt at a debunk. Instead all you find is websites saying “of course it isn’t true” without any other context or reasoning. Just “nah no way lol!”. That is not a debunking. Regardless, I think many will agree Kubrick’s work is that of genius with all kinds of meanings likely existing all at once, and therefore it’s deserving of exploration.
It’s also worth remembering that “conspiracy theories” don’t always have to be correct. Often they might just be on the right track. Other times completely wrong. But the important thing, if you’re so inclined, is to ponder and question the nature of your reality. Think about things yourselves. Don’t even blindly take my word for it, much less Theirs.