Rodney Ascher's 2012 documentary Room 237 has nine segments which each attempt to investigate and find meaning from obscure details in Stanley Kubrick's The Shining.

Among the notable theories listed in the film are Kubrick's intention to highlight the genocide of Native Americans and the directors involvement in assisting the U.S. government by staging the video used to simulate the Apollo moon landing. Ummmm, okay buddy, and my penis is shaped the way it is because it was intended to fit in my toaster.

It's hard to watch the film without feeling some sympathy for whatever ailments plague the "theorists" and have subsequently encouraged them to spend hours upon hours combing through Kubrick's 1980 masterpiece. That said, I've spent hours and hours commenting on a sports blog under a pseudonym so who am I to judge. I also currently have a pony tail, so take from that what you fancy.

I have just tonight watched Room 237 for the first time and whilst shaking my head in disbelief for the majority of the film, there was one moment where I had a revelation of sorts.

During a segment of the documentary, one of the contributors makes some rather blasphemous attempts to find meaning behind the Room 237 in the Overlook Hotel. The room, initially shrouded in mystery, turns out to be a focal point of the film, including one of the more memorable scenes. As many a conspiracist is wont to do, this particular gentleman uses both numerology as a means of explaining some of Kubrick's ulterior motives and attempts to find further meaning through the lettering on the key tag in the image below.


Said gentleman/nut-job focuses on the words "ROOM Nº" and using an advanced means of extrapolation assumes that the archaic representation of the word "number" must be because Kubrick only intended to highlight the R O O M and N. Why, you ask? Well, according to the aforementioned gentleman/nut-job, it is proof that Stanley Kubrick helped produce the footage used to convince the American people that the Apollo 11 had in fact landed on the moon, because if you move the letters around, it spells "moon". He doesn't mention the purpose of the R, and why should he, it only takes away from the "legitimacy" of his claims.


Guess what else those five letters spell, MORON.

Seems fitting on a day like today.