The Shining - The Bear Man Theory

The Shining (1980) is full of allegory and mystery, but none are as “wild and potentially insidious” as the meaning behind the bear-man sceneJack Wilhelmi, The Shining's Bear Man Is The Film's Biggest Mystery: Here's What It Means, Screen Rant, April 2023 https://screenrant.com/shining-movie-bear-man-suit-mystery-explained/. The WikiKnight Group provides an analysis of this scene and links the sequence to a character pathology; specifically, Wendy Torrance and PostTraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
Following a physical examination of Danny, where he is seen covering his genitals with a Teddy Bear above his right shoulder, Wendy reports a history of physical abuse in the home, “Anyway, something good did come out of it all (Jack dislocating Danny’s shoulder) because he said, “Wendy, I'm never gonna touch another drop and if I do you can leave me” Screenplayed: The Shining (1980) https://screenplayed.com/scriptlibrary/2018/3/14/the-shining . Many interpret this scene as Wendy minimizing Jack’s physical abuse (“Well, it's just one of those things”). A deeper dive into Wendy’s defense (minimization, denial, repression) is provided by Rob Ager Mazes, Mirrors, and Denial, Chapter 16: Danny’s ordeal https://www.collativelearning.com/the%20shining%20-%20chap%2016.html. When Ullman and Bill Watson approach Jack in the lobby of the Overlook on Closing Day, Jack is reading Playgirl Magazine with a story of the January 1978 issue including “INCEST: Why parents sleep with their children.”   
The reasons why Wendy would repress the thought of her husband sexually abusing their son are multifactorial and beyond the scope of this formulation. What is important is understanding that Wendy has no memory of witnessing the abuse. The “loss of forgetfulness,” defined as anamnesis by Philip K. Dick (1974), that Wendy experiences at the end of the film may be referred to as “seeing ghosts,” exorcizing her demons,” “having skeletons in her closet,” aptly depicted in the bear-man scene. The scene may also be symbolic of a flashback to the abuse, a sign of PTSD. 
The above formulation links one of three hotly debated scenes in The Shining to a character pathology (Bear Man-Wendy Torrance-PTSD). For analysis of another controversial scene, check out our Wiki Knights formulation here.
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