Something Like Jack

​Early last December, The Shining — Stanley Kubrick’s haunting film adaptation of Stephen King’s novel—returned to theaters in IMAX for the first time. As a self-respecting movie lover, I bought a ticket immediately. In the days leading up to my Monday evening screening, I fell down the inevitable rabbit hole of film trivia and re-discovered a short 1980 documentary that I had long forgotten; Making the Shining. 

Directed and edited by Vivian Kubrick, Kubrick’s youngest daughter, Making the Shining is a thirty-five minute documentary that documents just that— the making of The Shining. It should come as no surprise that one of the most unnerving films ever committed to screen, directed by one of cinema’s most obsessive auteurs, was no walk in the park to make. It was born from a legendarily difficult production process. The documentary captures flashes of that madness in real time. I highly recommend it for any serious movie buff.

However, it’s within that madness that I came across a fairly simple, yet grossly overlooked practice that I’ve indulged in for a few years now. It’s a practice that I’ve recommended to nearly every working professional I know and one that’s fairly easy to adapt. In fact, it’s one that was ingrained into almost every single one of us as a child but took Jack Nicholson for me to see it in an elevated light; it’s the simple practice of brushing one's teeth. 

“I’ll brush my teeth for you, Viv.” says Nicholson not more than two minutes into the opening of the documentary. “I always brush my teeth before I report back to work.”

“Why?” asks Vivian from behind the camera. 

“Consideration for my fellow co-workers.”

I mean, come on.

It’s not the brushing itself that took me aback, but the awareness behind it. Before stepping back onto a set filled with lights, cameras, pressure, tempers, egos, and exhaustion, Jack took thirty seconds to make himself easier to work with. That’s not vanity. That’s professionalism. Instead of even allowing the possibility of discomfort, friction, or inconvenience to present itself, you anticipate it and proceed accordingly. Sure, one could see it as a simple matter of personal hygiene, but I chose to see it as something more. It's why I keep a toothbrush in my backpack when I travel, and why I brush my teeth before every workout class, gym session, and professional engagement. Partly out of consideration for others. Wholly for the sake of professionalism. And, if I’m being honest, because I’d like to be a little something more like Jack.