This article contains spoilers for Silent Hill 2, including some of the game’s ending.
In my disturbing dreams, I saw that stupid, selfish parking maniac, James Sunderland. That’s not the case with Silent Hill 2, but I can’t stop thinking about the terrible, terrible parking of the protagonist James.
As with many things, this disturbing revelation started on Twitter.I can’t tell you how many times I’ve played Konami and silent teamfamous survival horror, but I’m guessing it’s already in the double digits. During that time, I never thought about the way James got out of his car, straddling a space that clearly meant a bigger vehicle.
but thanks this tweetarguing that the recently announced remake has “fixed James’ horrific parking problem from the get-go,” and I absolutely can’t ignore it, and it’s driving me down a mental rabbit hole as murky as the fog-filled streets of Silent Hill.
Admittedly, poor parking does make me nervous. As Alice Cooper sings, “It’s just the little things that drive me nuts,” when I see a car parked on a marker, my instinct is to pull it close enough to As far as they have to squeeze in through the passenger door.
Is this a funny little thing? Yes. Will it leave me with a warm, fuzzy glow? Yes. So when this revelation took hold, I started looking at James differently. My hatred started small, but the more I thought about him being disrespectful, the bigger it got.
Forget about any pillow-related offenses he may have committed, poor parking is the real crime. Maybe the real reason Pyramid Head is following James is because he wants him to move his car. He just couldn’t balance his pointed traffic guard hat.
With all this new knowledge and a lot of resentment, I chose to replay Silent Hill 2 just to make sure I wasn’t overly nervous. It didn’t help. I forgot that James’ car door was open, so I had other things to think about as I left the overlook seating area and walked down the forest trail.
Usually, I wonder, even though I’ve played the game to death, if this is going to be the time when something jumps out of the forest and rushes at me. Instead, I’m internally dissatisfied with James’ lack of consideration. Yes, James should be mourning – but I’m still baffled by the thought process that led to this parking disaster.
“Wait…” You might be thinking…”Isn’t Silent Hill completely abandoned?” You might think so, but it’s normal that Silent Hill is still inhabited. Foggy Silent Hill and otherworldly Silent Hill are nightmarish stuff, but there’s also an ordinary, densely populated Silent Hill.
And, given that Silent Hill 2’s Maria ending shows James’ car sitting in fog-free Silent Hill, at least one scene exists in the normal world. Maybe a family of four stopped, longing for a break, only to find there was nowhere to put their mobile home. Forget Silent Hill 2’s Born from a Wish plot, how about an add-on where I can wander around town and find a garbage truck and park it in the back of his car? Take that, you guilty, shaggy bastard.
At least, that’s how I’ve seen James’ selfishness and/or lack of parking skills in the past. Either he’s too incompetent to park in a regular space, or he chooses to actively be an ass. I even imagine being in the water ending with James crashing through someone’s boat before landing on Toluca Lake.
But then, I thought of something. What if I didn’t think too much about it, I just didn’t understand it deeply? After all, Silent Hill 2 is full of little details. Some are meant to upset you, while others are clues about what really happened to James.
Take, for example, the corpse you encountered at the Wood Side/Blue Creek condo. At first glance, they committed suicide, and another lost or guilty soul was summoned to Silent Hill. But the body, though covered in blood, was James’ own. Then there’s the symbolism of the various monsters you encounter. They were summoned, or at least shaped, by James’ subconscious, revealing more about James than he was willing to admit. What if his space occupation was equally telling?
The In Water ending is the generally accepted canonical ending, certainly Silent Hill 4. So, in a way, he knew he wasn’t going to use his car more. If he comes back without it, he will find other ways to end his life.
So James’ careless parking might actually be that way — he doesn’t care, and it’s not just because he’s mourning the loss of his wife Mary. Although he didn’t admit his guilt until long, long after the game, he subconsciously felt that he deserved to be tried. He’s not going to come back, not really. Actually, now that I really think about it, assuming he’s a total jerk is the less frustrating option.
Whether I’m analyzing James Sunderland’s parking crimes or not, at least until the Silent Hill 2 remake comes out, it bothers me. As for the remake, despite @Shanksspeare’s assertion, there is still some diagonal overhang, which raises its own problems. Is this just a coincidence? Or did Bloober decide to mirror the parking atrocities of the original Silent Hill 2 to a lesser extent? Either way, I can already feel my eyes twitching.
