What is the significance of Room 237?
BEST EXPLANATION: In his novel on which the film is (rather loosely) based, author Stephen King reveals that Room 217 (the number was changed for the movie) was the scene of a suicide—and that those with a set of special psychic powers are able to see an older lady in a bathtub. Halloran, the hotel chef leaving for the winter, tells Danny Torrance (who shares his powers of “shining”)—to avoid the room.
No such back story is given in the movie: we simply understand that Room 237 is inhabited by a malevolent womanly spirit—who tries to strangle young Danny, and, later, terrorizes his father.
Earlier this year, a documentary titled Room 237 presented some rather intriguing theories about the film’s (hidden?) meanings—from Holocaust parable to Native-American allegory—spun by a thriving subculture of Shining fanatics.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3t60oY0TbTU]