candy colored clown

This piece will examine, both academically and informally, the role of dual identities, repressed desires, and the subconscious in various forms of media. These psychological concepts—primarily influenced by Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung—will serve as the lens through which I explore and compare these works. My goal is to understand how creators use psychoanalytic ideas to depict complex psychology, rather than provide an expert analysis. I am not a psychologist or psychology student and only possess a basic understanding of Freud and Jung, informed by light research. These frameworks will support my interpretation of the selected media.

The works included are a broad observation on the films by David Lynch, specifically: Blue Velvet, Lost Highway, and Twin Peaks. There will also be brief mentions of Eraserhead. Another point of interest is the 1999 release: Garage: Bad Dream Adventure, in which I will be using the updated release from 2022. I will also be exploring a few entries of the Silent Hill series, where I will focus specifically on Silent Hill 2 and the character Heather Mason, from Silent Hill 3. None of these pieces are directly related to one another; however, there are consistent points of interest in each that loosely connect them. There is no denying the influence of Freud and Jung on these works, alongside David Lynch’s influence on horror in general. I have picked these as case studies because they all tell very different psychological stories.

The main observations being made will revolve around the subconscious and its influence on identity, desire, and gender. Alongside this, I will also explore how the subconscious works alongside surrealism.

Freudian theory often revolved around repressed sexuality:

“Freud focused on the inner conflict between repressed desires and internal censorship. In fact, all of this is a continuation of his earlier theories on the defence against intolerable ideas, resistance and repression. He also wrote at that time that repression was a central discovery and formed the point of departure for further theorizing. What is being repressed? The simplest answer was “sexuality”.” (Westerink, 2013, pp. 57).

This evolved into seduction theory, i.e. you hate your father because you want to fuck your mom.

Jung seemed to focus on dreams and the imaginations of his patients. Stating:

“The dream is, so to speak, a pure product of the unconscious. The alterations which the dream undergoes in the process of reaching consciousness, although undeniable, can be considered irrelevant, since they too derive from the unconscious and are not intentional distortions. Possible modifications of the original dream-image derive from a more superficial layer of the unconscious and therefore contain valuable material too. They are further fantasy-products following the general trend of the dream.” (Chodorow, 1997, pp. 84).

Both agreed on the unconscious mind and the roles of the ego, id, and the superego despite their falling out.

The ego, id, and superego are all facets of personality formation. In simple terms, these theories propose distinct roles for each part in shaping individuals.

Ego: How a person deals with reality, functioning in the conscious and unconscious, developing from the id to control the id. This makes the id acceptable in society.

Id: The part of a person’s personality present from birth, forming in the unconscious and basic instincts.

Superego: This is like a person’s conscious, this is the moral standards one person will hold themselves to, perfect and civilized behavior.

Lynch, Garage, and Silent Hill all tell deeply psychological stories. These stories feel dream-like when experiencing them. This is where we get to the fun part!

Surrealism originally was an art-movement intended to release the unconscious mind. Something that is surreal seems illogical or bizarre. Lynch uses this practice, then applies his own visual and tonal style to it. If you have ever heard an annoying person say “Lynchian” in reference to anything weird 1) they’re probably totally wrong. 2) Lynch’s unique style does deserve its own title. His blend of surrealism with Americana and emphasis on the darkness that lurks beneath the surface is unique to him. Lynch intentionally uses dreamlike imagery in his work, juxtaposing it with the mundane. There is also a deep focus on the menacing and the uncanny in how these stories are told.

David Lynch constantly talked about ideas and dreams. Lynch describes ideas as if they were fish. Baiting them and catching them. Even stating if he were to lose an idea, he would kill himself. Lynch has also spoken about ‘dream-logic’. That cinema can replicate the dreams you have, then maybe his films were dreams Lynch had. Considering Lynch’s background as a painter originally, I always consider this in his filmmaking. Many of his films use this surreal, dream-logic to evoke specific emotions. Lynch evokes emotions the same way a painting would. Perhaps he makes films as if he were painting, which could be why they are so surreal. Many of his films leave viewers unsettled or confused, but perhaps that is the intention. If the viewer has felt something from a David Lynch film, David Lynch has achieved his goal. Yes, Lynch’s films are incredibly surreal, but that isn’t to say they lack story. They’re incredibly rich in story, even if they aren’t told linearly or in ways a viewer would typically expect. Many of these stories explore the duality of people and society, abuse and trauma; he focused on things lurking behind what we see every day.

Although his stories are not directly Freudian, his characters sometimes exhibit these behaviors. Often, these characters struggle with their ego/superego and their id. Many of these characters have dual identities, not only figuratively but also literally.

Case studies:

Laura Palmer: Laura Palmer serves as the main mystery to Twin Peaks. Her character, brutally murdered, is remembered as the homecoming queen by her community. Despite this she was a sex worker, cocaine addict, and a victim of sexual and physical abuse. She details in her diary experiences with Bob, Bobby, Leo, and Ronnette. Not to mention, several unnamed characters and an entire list (~30 people?) of initials of those who slept with her. Laura mentions that she enjoys what she does, but feels immense guilt for it. She writes:

“But I am Laura. I am sad. God, I am sad again! Why? I miss laughter and a day where time is spent with my friends who don’t care what I think of late at night, with my hands buried between my legs, ashamed, and of how I wish that my other hand would simply pull the trigger.” (Lynch, 1990, pp.103).

Throughout her diary, another voice comes through, Bob’s, but she actively writes in her diary, arguing and fighting against Bob. Not only is she dealing with her own inner turmoil, but Bob is consistently invading her mind.

On another note, I believe Laura is also extended into two other characters: Maddy Ferguson and Carrie Page. Maddy is Laura’s cousin and closest family member. Throughout her time in the series, she mentions how everyone compares her to Laura.

"All I did was come to a funeral. And it's like I fell into a dream. It's like people think I'm Laura. And I'm not!"

Carrie Page, on the other hand, only appears in the series at the end of The Return. Her character is revealed to be an alternate Laura, looking exactly like her but older. Dale Cooper attempts to go back and save Laura, but Carrie doesn’t know anything about Twin Peaks. Once he takes her to the house, which is no longer owned by the Palmers, Cooper asks what year it is. Carrie hears Sarah call out to Laura and screams.

Maddy’s connection to Laura is very different than Carrie’s, who is implied to be Laura in another universe, because they are not the same person. Maddy is simply an extension because she’s also portrayed by Sheryl Lee, and the other characters focus on their likeness. She is also murdered by Bob in season 2 before she returns home, due to her likeness to Laura.

Leland Palmer/Bob: Leland Palmer is revealed to be Bob in episode 16, revealing that he regularly raped and then murdered his own daughter. However, this is shown to be beyond his control; the series directly implies that Bob is an entity beyond Leland. This isn’t entirely the case, because Leland still raped and murdered his daughter. Bob’s representation can be interpreted as two things: a source of familial trauma, i.e., Leland himself had his own ‘Bob’, or Leland acted on his own accord and abused his role as a father.

Lynch’s women and men are written very differently; most often, men are shown how they can abuse and hurt women. Whereas women are not shamed for their abuse but suffer at the hands of men.

One thing is for certain: Bob is a representation of evil. As Albert puts it:

"Maybe that's all BOB is. The evil that men do,"

Renee Madison/Alice Wakefield and Fred Madison/Pete Dayton: Renee Madison is Fred’s wife in Lost Highway, after the strange man leaves Fred’s house at the party. It is revealed that Fred brutally murdered his wife. After Fred’s ‘transformation’ into Pete Dayton, he is involved with Alice Wakefield. Alice is a woman who looks exactly like Renee; it is even stated that the two are identical.

Alice’s role is very different from that of the previously mentioned Laura. She does suffer at the hands of men; she is also another sex worker, but her lines, “You’ll never have me,” only further serve as punishment to Fred. (Keep Lost Highway on your mind when discussing Silent Hill 2).

After Fred is imprisoned for the murder of Renee, he miraculously changes into Pete Dayton. Pete and Fred look nothing alike; however, it is explicitly clear that the two are the same. Pete is a car mechanic who gets close to Dick Laraunt and, in turn, begins an affair with Alice. However, Fred doesn’t remain as Pete. By the end of the film, Fred is just himself once again. Pete was either a physical manifestation or entirely imagined by Fred. This opens the question, was Alice identical to Renee? Renee never returns after her initial murder, symbolizing that Fred’s want for her will never happen.

Dorothy Vallens/Jeffrey Beaumont/Sandy Williams: Jeffrey Beaumont, Sandy Williams, and Dorothy Vallens find themselves in a ‘love triangle’, sort of dynamic. Sandy and Dorothy contrast each other. Dorothy is an older, sexually active singer (although she is heavily sexually abused by Frank Booth), while Sandy is a recent high school graduate, fulfilling a ‘dutiful’ daughter role with a football boyfriend. Jeffrey finds himself between the two. He regularly sleeps with Dorothy, who asks him to hit her, while also growing close to Sandy. Jeffrey and Sandy end up together anyway, and Dorothy is also reunited with her son. Jeffrey’s relationships with these women are more reflective of the overall narratives of the film.

He flirts with the seedy underbelly of Lumberton, constantly trying to solve the mystery. In turn, he is entangled in it, fucking Dorothy, and even when refusing to hit her, he caves in and does it anyway. Sandy is closer to the quaint normality that Lumberton possesses, the Lumberton we are initially introduced to.

Gender and identity go hand in hand, especially when observing the subconscious. Why do we exhibit the gender we perform? Why do we treat the opposite gender one way and the other another? Is our performance subconscious, or do we purposefully act on it? One thing that is very clear within our society is that our personal experiences with gender shape our subconsciousness.

We can see this exhibited in how cisgender men may view or treat the bodies of women and female anatomy. Many cis-men find menstruation disgusting; many of those cis-men also believe they have the right to female bodies. Some even absolutely despise women, fully believing they are entitled to rape and traffic female bodies as they see fit. Some men physically cannot look at a woman without seeing an object.

This is not something that can be debated in my opinion. Either you perpetuate and allow this to happen, which means you don’t see the issue. OR you suffer or have a heart deep down to just empathize with a woman for one second.

Either way, all these works do examine gender in this way. Women suffer in these works, but that suffering isn’t to be fetishized. They are to call your attention to it and make you question, What the fuck is wrong with you?

Garage:

“The first thing you see in GARAGE is your own horrible reflection. Your pale, swollen, amphibian visage in a filthy mirror. Your head, bulbous and glassy-eyed, is affixed to a machine body, which runs along rails on the floor. You don't know how you got here, and you do not recall having such a grotesque excuse for a body. If there is one cold comfort, no one else in this world seems to mind your appearance: everyone looks like they just flopped out of a formaldehyde jar as well. To them, this cesspool is perfectly normal.” (Kotzer, 2023)

Garage is a 1999 point and click game, wherein a character named Yang undergoes experimental therapy. Developed by surrealist artist Tomomi Sakuba, this game was once considered lost media. Its original Japan-only run was limited to 3,000 copies, but was re-released and updated in 2022. This version differs slightly, making questlines more obvious and adding several endings.

The player then finds themselves in said Garage, you play as a little bio machine that must manage your fuel, ego, and money. The point and click mechanic works primarily in how the player moves, as they are stuck to tracks and have limited motion. The only major mechanic in the game is fishing, which helps your machine get ‘stamps’. At its surface, it is a game about consumerism and ‘the grind’, how people, even little bio machines, must work repeatedly to maintain a living. The player’s supplies are ever dwindling, requiring you to buy more ego recovery, more fuel, and get upgrades so the machine doesn’t die.

The entire Garage isn’t real; however, it is entirely made up in Yang's head while he undergoes therapy. This is deeply influenced by Carl Jung’s work; the entire area is influenced by Yang’s subconscious. This can be seen as a reflection of Tomomi Sakuba’s own subconscious; possibly, he, too, pulled from his own dreams to create the game before us. Much of the imagery present is uncanny and nightmarish; it implies something, but seems too foreign.

The designs in Garage must also be playing on our subconsciousness. The machines often have these fleshy and foetal faces stuck onto a fully mechanical body; their designs are very reminiscent of Eraserhead’s baby. The female machines are much more obviously female; they have bigger chests signifying breasts, and bigger midsection areas that are reminiscent of a pregnant belly.

Ego and Milky Fuel

When observing ego, what even is it? Taken from Freud and Jung’s ideas, it is something the player must constantly refuel. It slowly dwindles over time. As it gets lower, the machine becomes “word lost,” and other machines will no longer understand what the player is saying. The ego mechanic makes the player, you, yourself. If the player fully runs out of ego, the player dies.

Fuel, however, is much easier to understand. The player’s machine must rely on fuel to move around, but it is titled “Milky Fuel”. Trust me, it gets a bit nasty from here. Milky fuel is obtained from female machines around the garage. The female machines are given crabs and frogs to help produce the fuel; male machines need to “stir their stomach” with some ... appendage... and then the female machines will fuel the machine from their breasts. The production of milky fuel creates sewage as a byproduct, where crabs and frogs live. When looking at this more literally, milky fuel can be several things: cum, breast milk, or libido. The entire process of getting fuel is playing with the subconscious ideas people have about sex. To many, it is a human need; therefore, it is a need here in the garage.

Yang and Shen

The protagonist is split into two machines: Shen and the player (also referred to as Babu). Shen is a machine that tried to murder the player after dismantling several female machines and shadows. Shen denies any escape from the garage and puts the female machine, named Juice, through extreme modifications. He did this to restrict Juice’s ego level, but the entire ecosystem relies on Juice’s production of sewage and fuel. Yang’s ego level was so high that several machines were born of it. Shen is the alter ego of Yang. Shen saved the player’s machine from the sewage, but also wanted to dismantle it. The only confrontation is to kill him. With the upgrades necessary, this is possible to do.

Shen’s attempt to kill the shadow as well leaves it in the sewers below the player’s room. Upon finding the shadow, it is weak and grey. It begs to be kept alive and asks: “find my sneakers”. To find the shadow, the player must speak to Psyche and Lou first.

Fragments of Lou

The names Psyche, Juice, and Lou are mentioned constantly throughout the game. Simply speaking, they are all the same. Psyche is the shadow belonging to Juice and Lou. Juice is much like Yang/Shen/the player, as her ego level is so high that she’s able to manifest other machines. Upon the player's introduction to Psyche, also passing by other shadows in the process, Psyche asks for her dream diary. In return, she will tell the player to get a boat from Lou.

Lou is a machine that lives at the back of the ego clinic; her body is too weak to function on its own outside the clinic. The player’s introduction to Lou is them walking in on her being raped by another machine. The only way to get Lou to communicate at all is to play her music. The introduction to Lou eventually leads you to Juice, a mangled and modified female machine locked in the laboratory.

Juice reveals that she is Lou. That Lou is her real name, that her ego and suffering were so strong that she split into several machines. Behind the machines, there is a real girl named Lou. A tortured and bullied girl whom Yang loved. Through both Lou and Yang’s fragmented diaries, it’s revealed that Lou is dead, and Yang blames himself for it. This guilt led Yang to undergo the experimental garage therapy. The player comes to learn they are trapped in the garage until they open the floodgate.
*Note: I couldn’t find anywhere to fit this in, but Lou and her several machines are very reminiscent of the Laura Palmer section. Although Garage doesn’t pull much narratively from Twin Peaks, they are incredibly similar.

It is often speculated that the other female machines, particularly the ones in Milky Fuel Station #1, are also a part of Juice. Upon entering the lighthouse, the player is initially met with three other female shadows that are not Psyche. Each shadow lines up with the machines in the fuel station. There are several different interpretations of this. Each of the girls has vastly different personalities, either representing different parts of Lou or different phases of life Lou lived through. Much of how Lou is represented in the garage, either as Juice, Psyche, or any of the other girls, it’s a reflection of how Yang saw her.

Survivors Guilt

Yang is drowning in guilt; it is revealed that Lou was so abused that she begged Yang to abuse her as well. It got to a point where Yang could not take the begging anymore and hurt Lou in some way.

Lou writes:

“Hit me. Don’t hit me. Be angry. Don’t be angry. Forgive me. Accept me. Hug me. Torment me. Please suffer. Love me… It was if we were killing each other. While we were torn apart by sadness and desire.”

Yang felt so guilty that he degraded himself in his diary and notes. The garage breaks up Yang into several fragments, where the machine named after him wants him dead. Shen provides a role like the id, saving the player but also representing the traumatic experience. Yang being able to kill his traumatic experience and hear that Lou loved him allowed him to escape.

Shen leaves this letter behind for Yang:
“I have long wished for you to surpass me. I have always wished you would go to places I was never able to go… Why you? Why not me? But the devastating truth is, there is no possibility left in me. I am just an empty shell. There is no violence left in me. And that was not all. I am a hindrance to you. You won’t be able to accomplish what you’re capable of as long as I exist.”

Exploring the Subconscious as Therapy

The concept of an experimental therapy that immerses the user into a reflection of their subconscious and dreams is very reminiscent of Jung’s work. Yang’s worldview is incredibly bleak, as the world is degrading around him, and although some machines are friendly, they are standoffish. The world is full of notes that reflect Yang’s mental state, contemplating suicide in some of these notes. However, this is not only a specific representation of just Yang’s mind but a reflection of society as well. Much of how garage’s society works reflects our real world, brutally capitalist and patriarchal. The female machines are looked down upon, often only serving the role of wife or “prostitute” when working at the fuel stations. Not only is it reflecting Yang’s inner trauma and work through his loss of Lou. He’s also exposing his dark truths of his inner mind, particularly around work and women.

We don’t entirely know Yang outside of this, but there is a clear political commentary being made. Outside of Japan, the country is known for its overbearing office culture and the strange laws around sex work. Undoubtedly, there are other young men who feel the same way about capitalism and women as Yang. Not only is Yang made to work through his trauma regarding Lou, but recognizes the issue in how he views women in general.

The last thing the player sees after opening the floodgate and escaping the garage is only a field. A grey, cloudy sky over somber, yellowing grass, a faint melody shared between Lou and Yang plays as the credits roll.

Silent Hill

“Do I look like your girlfriend?”

It’s no secret that the Silent Hill series is heavily inspired by the works of David Lynch; shots and plot devices are used heavily throughout the games. Not to mention the atmosphere that heavily resembles Twin Peaks. Much of the dialogue, themes, and surreal storytelling lean into this as well. Many of the games explore martyrdom, crime, doppelgangers, everymen, and psychological horror.

The Silent Hill series is named after the town it takes place in; however, the town itself is alive beyond what the player first sees. These two versions of Silent Hill, the iconic foggy “real” world and the rusted, dilapidated, and sometimes bleeding “otherworld”. The Silent Hill series (specifically looking at 2 and 3) uses the town itself as a representation of the protagonists’ minds.

The foggy Silent Hill everyone associates with the series is what players are always introduced to when entering the town. Neither James nor Heather fully understands why they are in Silent Hill. Initially used to hide the rendering of SH1, the fog can then literally be interpreted as a “brain fog”. The town is empty, except for the few others in the protagonist’s situation. Other than those few people, the town is littered with monsters. But these monsters barely take up any space; much of the time, the player is encouraged to run past them, and the only real confrontation happens in tight halls or the otherworld. For the most part, the player is alone.

In Silent Hill’s ‘otherworld’, it’s significantly more hostile. This otherworld is implied to be seen only by one person, and it is dependent on the psychology of the person. This is apparent when looking at Angela in Silent Hill 2, where she sees the town as constantly burning down around her, or flesh-covered walls surrounded by pistons. Stating: “For me, it’s always like this.”. This is also referenced to some degree in Silent Hill 3, where Vincent asks Heather: “They look like monsters to you?”. However, these two interactions are very different. Angela’s character is a sexually abused teenage girl who cannot escape her past, and Vincent is a follower of the same religion that is oppressing Heather and attempting to manipulate her. Angela is trapped in Silent Hill, and Vincent worships it.

Alessa vs Heather vs Cheryl

The story of Alessa, Cheryl, and Heather spans across two games. I find them to be very similar characters to Laura, Maddy, and Carrie, although Carrie was added years after the release of these games. In short:

Alessa Gillespie: The daughter of Dahlia Gillespie, a cult leader who intends to bring paradise through the Order. Alessa was abused by her mother for the cult so that she could rebirth God. Alessa’s suffering and the cult are responsible for why Silent Hill is the way it is. Due to this suffering, Alessa reincarnated half of her soul as a baby to preserve her happiness.

Cheryl: The baby that Alessa reincarnated herself into was found and adopted by Harry Mason. 7 years later, Cheryl is called back to Silent Hill by her other half, which is the events of the first game. With the good ending, Alessa reincarnates Cheryl and herself, making her soul whole, into a new baby. This baby would be Heather.

Heather: Heather Mason was the new baby at the end of Silent Hill. Harry Mason struggled with adopting Heather, unsure if he would ever really have his daughter back. By the events of Silent Hill 3, she is 17 years old, living in Portland (or possibly NYC, it’s unconfirmed), and unaware of the events of the first game. Heather is approached by Claudia Wolf, a woman who was friends with Alessa and is a new priestess with the same goals as Dahlia.

Heather is the final reincarnation of Alessa and Cheryl, and even says she will start going by Cheryl by the end of the game. There are several things to point out:

Cheryl and Alessa are two halves of one person.
Heather is the reincarnation of them both.

This is pointed out in a song on the soundtrack for Silent Hill 3 titled: “Letter- from the Lost Days”. The song is written as a letter from Alessa to her future self, Heather. Writing: “What a pair, me and you,”. So, although I’ve established three different people, you could argue there is only two.

Throughout Silent Hill 3, Heather also comes face to face with Alessa, and to some extent herself. First, she regains memories of Alessa shown through the town of Silent Hill, then has to fight the Memory of Alessa, and then the final boss. The Memory of Alessa boss is a distorted, rotting clone of Heather found in Silent Hill’s Amusement Park. After defeating the boss, she leaves this message behind:

“It would be better for "myself" to die. After all, it's nothing to be afraid of... That child... that demon... When I think of the endless pain it will bring when it is birthed... I decided that, instead of the suffering and cruelty I endured in that sick room... That I would like to bestow a more gentle and peaceful death on "myself". Why do "I" resist? I never thought of "myself" as such a fool...”

Heather responds:

“Alessa... I guess it's kinda strange for me to call you that, since you are me. But y'know what? "You" and I don't think alike, after all... And it's not that I don't remember that sick room either...”

The second encounter comes at the end, when Claudia births God instead. God is depicted as a skeletal woman resembling Alessa. This is because Claudia associates God with Alessa, creating God in Alessa’s image. This is also probably due to the Order granting sainthood to Alessa, as she was the intended mother of God.

Heather’s story heavily mirrors her father's after he is revealed to be dead. These two fights are clear callbacks to the original Silent Hill, where Harry Mason fights a form of God and Cybil in the amusement park.

Maria vs Mary

Maria and Mary are the catalysts of Silent Hill 2. Mary was James’ wife, who died three years prior. As James looks for his wife he runs into Maria, stunned by her similarities to Mary.

“No.... my late wife. I can’t believe it... You could be her twin. Your face, your voice... Just your hair and clothes are different.”

Maria’s role is very similar to Alice Wakefield’s of Lost Highway and is presented in the same way. Both James and Pete/Fred manifested separate, identical women to manage their guilt. Both women are also manifested to reflect the wants of these men. Both Alice and Maria are blonde doppelgangers who dress more promiscuously and can be perceived as more confident and seductive. Unlike Alice, the players are informed as to why Maria exists in the first place.

In the director’s cut of the game, the Born From A Wish DLC is added. The player wakes up as Maria in Heaven’s Night club, implying that she works there, possibly as a sex worker. She’s alone and afraid until she encounters Ernest Baldwin in his mansion. After fulfilling his quest, he warns her of her fate. He tells her about James saying: he’s looking for “the you that isn’t you,”. The DLC ends there, with Maria leaving to find James.

Much of her time spent with James is just protecting her and making sure she stays alive. However, she dies in front of James before his final confrontation with her in Toluca Lake Prison. Here, she plays with James as her memories and Mary’s overlap. She flips between two personalities, her and Mary. Her ‘sexiness’ and appeal to James is also ramped up in these scenes, telling him she will be whoever he wants her to be and touching him.

Maria dies a few more times. Once James makes it to her cell, she’s dead from the same disease that killed Mary. She is also killed shortly before the final Pyramid Head fight, where James admits his guilt, saying he doesn’t need the town anymore.

Although Maria is shown to be a manifestation of James’ guilt made by the town, she can leave in one of the endings. This ending, simply titled the ‘Maria’ ending, is achieved by staying close and forming a “bond” with Maria.

The final boss fight changes; instead of fighting Maria, dressed as Mary, James kills Mary all over again instead. Although it is only implied to be Mary, the difference is clear between the two boss fights. Mary is seen lying on the bed in the arena. She says that she can never forgive James, that she knew he hated her, and asks, “That’s why you needed this Maria person?”. When fighting Maria disguised as Mary, she mirrors her introduction, looking over into the town. After killing Mary, this is also another point where Maria’s intended purpose becomes very clear; she coughs, just as Mary would when she was sick.

Innocent Husband vs Murderer

Our introduction to James paints him as an innocent widower, unlike Lost Highway, where it’s revealed early on that Fred murdered Renee. That doesn’t change their shared qualities. Both suffer from dissociative fugue:

“Dissociative fugue is characterized by the sudden, unexpected travel away from home or one's customary place of daily activities, with inability to recall some or all of one's past. As in the previous disorder, amnesia is present, causing a sense of confusion about personal identity. On occasion, patients assume a new identity.” (Maldonado, 2007)

Although the audience witnesses Fred’s dissociation halfway through the film, James suffers from it before his introduction. This introduces the player to what seems like a depressed, grieving man who went looking for the wife he misses. The entire game does this, convincing the player of this even when specific details don’t line up. James and Fred also exhibit this by suddenly leaving. Fred transforms, gets out of prison, and goes to LA, James packs up and suddenly drives to Silent Hill.

The murders of both Mary and Renee are revealed in the exact same fashion, through a videotape. After finding the tape that James left in Silent Hill on his last visit with Mary, it shows that James smothered his sick wife with a pillow. Both these tapes are filmed from an omnipotent force; in Lost Highway, it is filmed by the Mysterious Man but left unanswered in Silent Hill 2. James was so distraught by his actions that he convinced himself that Mary had died 3 years ago, and not the week leading up to the game.

Throughout the game, James exhibits that he really isn’t sure as to why he is in Silent Hill, if what is happening is real, and very little care for the outcomes of going somewhere so dangerous. Laura and Angela can sense that James is a bad man, acting hostile towards him, without knowing what he did.

The town directly pulls from his mind, creating monsters that are intended to torment him, to make him remember.

Monsters as a representation of the subconscious in SH

The town taking from the psyche of those there, each person experiences and sees a different Silent Hill. This is reflected in the monsters of Silent Hill, as they vary in different games and between people. Although the player doesn’t see much of Eddie and Angela’s view of Silent Hill, we see some parts. Angela sees some of the same monsters as James, especially when observing the ‘Abstract Daddy’, but what the player sees is how James interprets her monster.

Using Abstract Daddy as an example, the monster is intended to be a representation of the sexual abuse that Angela suffered. It’s two fleshy figures stretched onto a metal frame, shaped like a bed. One of the figures overpowers the other, which very clearly draws on Angela’s trauma. However, the version of it we see in the game is based on James’ perception of it. He understands what the monster represents to Angela, but Silent Hill shows his own interpretation of it. Knowing the end of the story, the figure can be reminiscent of James smothering Mary with the pillow, as shown in the videotape.

The monsters of Silent Hill 2 are the most iconic, but they are only present in that game because of James. Images of sexy nurses, mannequins, lying figures, and Pyramid Head are only there because of James. Between the second and third game, these monsters are vastly different. Although one is shared stylistically, the Mandrin and the Closer, there are differences between them.

The monsters of Silent Hill 2 are very explicitly feminine and sexual, drawing on James’ objectification of women and his sexual frustration. In contrast, Silent Hill 3’s monsters are not so explicitly sexual. Some are reminiscent of fairytale creatures, much like Silent Hill 1, some are very reminiscent of men; some have very vaginal imagery present. Silent Hill 3 uses the childhood fears of Alessa and the fears of 17-year-old Heather Mason.

When observing James walking alone in the game, there’s not nearly as much anxiety. Heather walking home at night is much scarier and strikes some players close to home because they have been in the same experience as her. It’s even revealed she has a taser, given to her by her father to protect herself. Silent Hill 3 utilizes a very feminine experience that many players wouldn’t catch on with. Monsters like the Insane Cancer and Split Worm draw on the fears some women have. Many women fear the men they see, especially at night. The Insane Cancers reflect this with their hulking, masculine appearance. The Split Worm is literally a penis monster, reflecting on the fears of sex and pregnancy many young women have.

Once Heather enters Brookhaven Hospital upon her arrival in Silent Hill, she is stalked by a character the player never sees. She also receives creepy phone calls, must deal with a creep like Vincent, and is being forced into pregnancy. Where James sees manifestations of his subconscious, trying to force him to face his crimes, Heather’s fears are reflected. Silent Hill 3 entirely builds on real fears women have, up to forcing pregnancy, where Heather’s only way to prevent it is to take a little red pill and puke up the foetus of God.

The endings for these protagonists are vastly different. Team Silent’s Mashiro Ito considers every ending of Silent Hill 2 to be true. Although this is up to player interpretation, James’ story can end in complete misery of killing himself. The town floods regularly, and in the final cutscene, he says:

“Now I understand. The real reason I came to this town. I wonder what I was afraid of. Without you, Mary, I’ve got nothing. Now we can be together…”.

He starts his car and drives off the observation deck that introduced us to him. After Angela gives James the knife, Pyramid Head gets one himself. Angela and her knife (especially if inspected enough) remind James that his intentions in Silent Hill were to kill himself.

Heather has one ending: she survives and leaves with Douglas. It’s bittersweet, the last thing the player sees of Heather is her at Harry Mason’s grave.

Final Thoughts

The work of David Lynch, Garage, and the Silent Hill series does a wonderful job of shattering psyches. Although these works are not directly tied to one another, their overlaps are unique and present very interesting ideas of the subconscious. All three of these pieces utilize surrealism to explore the subconscious in storytelling. These stories reflect the audience’s own fears and desires; on a subconscious level, there’s something wrong with everyone. It’s clear that trauma can sabotage the subconscious in strange ways.

It’s very interesting that all these pieces are built on different ideas of gender and abuse, how these things interact with the subconscious. These pieces can also express the subconscious of the audience and the creator as well, considering that dreams have such a significant impact. Freud and Jung wanted to explore the subconscious, but it’s clear that it can be a much darker place than assumed.

I’m finding this to be very difficult to end. It’s been so fun diving into things I genuinely love, and I hope I’ve presented my ideas well. I really appreciate everyone who’s taken the time to read such a long essay. I love you.