Bill studies the photographs of Nick Nightingale's pickup band. Nick's form (above) is sort of strange: his back is straight and arm is straight, but his head is lowered. From a distance, or seen in the top picture, Nick's figure looks like an "OK" hand sign, or, the number "6."
In his tirade against Wendy, Jack will flash the "OK" sign three distinct times, stressing the three words "Single" "Moment's" and "Thought," as in, "Have you ever had a single moment's thought about my responsibilities?" Jack says he is under pressure from his "employers." Perhaps Nick is under pressure from Ziegler & Co. to continue performing at the ultra-secret, creepy masked balls.
Though the "OK" sign is not actually a sign for "6," it gives the appearance. Jack flashing the "OK" three times could lead one to suggest the theme of evil is being alluded to. Going back to Nick, since the "OK" sign has a long history of meaning "perfect," or "correct," Nick's six-esque pose could suggest his cleverness, and possibly his deviance.
Furthermore, Jack's omniscient, or God's-eye-view of the hedge maze in which Wendy and Danny walk, may also hold a clue as to the "Number of the Beast" motif. Critics and Kubrick-philes have suggested the center rectangle mimics the flat top of a pyramid. The angular and geometric patterns of the maze echo the Native American designs in the Overlook Hotel, suggesting a theme of the discovery of the New World. Like the Pyramid of the Sun at Teotihuacan, the ancient Aztec city, the ruins of which are located just outside of present-day Mexico City, the sides of the pyramid are stepped. Wendy's tiny figure, which is red, may even be thought of as a drop of blood.
Movies like Mel Gibson's 2006 Apocalypto offer, in post-Matrix fashion, recreations and dramatizations of Aztec life, including but not limited to, human sacrifices taking place atop pyramids before large crowds. To my knowledge, this is accurate, just like the ancient Mexican ball-game, ulama, in which a severed head was sometimes, in ritualistic manner, used as the ball - like a very old mix between basketball and soccer. It may be a stretch - but what isn't? - but there's something very violent about Jack's throwing the ball at the tapestry-covered-wall in the enormous great hall. Violence, it may be suggested, especially human violence, is ancient, and present in even the most innocuous things, like tennis balls.
The ball that appears in Danny's "missile pad" play area on the hexagonal rug, we're led to believe, is the same ball that rolled away from Jack's final toss, earlier. Danny will enter Room 237 and later appear bruised and tattered. Jack will enter Room 237 and find the beauty/hag. This relates to the dual-nature of sex and violence, as overtly explored in A Clockwork Orange. There's also the Jack-as-colonialist denigrating indigenous cultures by throwing the ball mockingly at an enormous Indian tapestry. But this perspective has been exhausted, therefore, I'll consider it not germane to my post.
No, the post mostly concerns imagery and photography. A close-up of the "maze-as-pyramid" always had me thinking the Nazi "SS" or Schutzstaffel logo, particularly because of the angular "runic" font or typeface used. The font seems to have gained ironic influence in industrial, hardcore, punk, and metal music scenes, and other subcultures in general. The angular, primitive script again ties back to ancient cultures and charged symbology. But, one problem is that there are three S's present. Of course, read as "6s," we would see the number of the beast. Wendy and Danny "cross" the number, just as they "cross" Jack unknowingly, igniting Jack's homicidal beast-like rage. Even if we didn't read three sixes, we could read six diagonal lines of light breaking through the inner walls. I'll note also that there appears to be six walls in the rectangular "inner sanctum:" two end pieces which look like the letter "C," and four slimmer, center walls.
Inflamed purveyors and protectors of social justice and cancel culture (and by extension, equality, equity, tolerance and diversity) now would probably be pleased to see evidence of Jack flashing the "OK" sign, as this would reinforce the (false) notion that the "OK" sign is a symbol used by white supremacists. Of course, this symbolic gesture was a hoax that has actually caused real people to suffer consequences upon unknowingly (or ironically) flashing it. Who knew that all those fat Italian chefs on pizza boxes were actually white supremacists?
