8 Crazy Theories About The Shining

goldroom

2. IT’S ABOUT THE GOLD STANDARD!
Speaking of U.S. currency, one of the most outlandish theories — even in this context — attempts to posit that the “Gold Room” in the Overlook Hotel (the enormous ballroom where Jack encounters the ghosts of former guests) suggests that Kubrick was taking America to task for abandoning the gold standard. The theory is further fueled by the appearance of the black and white photograph at the end, which shows Jack at a party in 1921. The man directly behind Jack in the picture looks exactly like former president Woodrow Wilson, who signed the Federal Reserve Act and started to move the dollar away from the gold standard.