Them Silent Hill movies
I stumbled across a tumblr rant about the first SH movie. And I agree on all points made..
uh.
Yeah let me go ahead and just say -TRIGGER WARNING- Spoilers too. This is gonna get rough, folks.
Ok.
Man, where do I even start. OOH. Right. Men. I read that originally, there were not going to be any men in the movie. Rose's husband and the detective were just sort of shoehorned in there as an afterthought. So we go from a single dad going into town alone to search for his daughter (Silent Hill the game), to mom going into town alone to search for her daughter, while her husband runs around uselessly and digs up hamfisted exposition (Silent Hill the movie).
For fuck's sake.
Sean Bean is such a versatile actor. He can be good, he can be evil, he can CARE ABOUT HIS DAUGHTER (yes he does that in other features). But in the SH movie, he has been relegated to Angry Helpless Dad who cares less about his daughter and more about his precious wifu. As you all know, the brilliant minds behind this movie did not think that it was plausible for a man to Care about his Daughter or to Be Scared By Things. Nope, only WOMEN Care About Things, and being scared by things means SHRIEKING and CRYING and RUNNING AROUND and women definitely do that, all the time, because Women are Scared of Things.
Eeegh.
I can't use this word enough: Subtlety.
Subtlety. The Silent Hill series, gamewise, has shit tons of it (at least, the ones made in Japan do). Layers upon layers of symbolism and hidden meanings. Emotions of the characters becoming apparent to the audience not solely through their expressions, but also through the context of their presence in the expertly-crafted atmosphere.
Then we have the movie. "Gee, how can we make the little girl's life seem more tragic? I know! Throw some brutal rape into her backstory. And while we're at it, let's have the main female antagonist brutally raped by barbed wire at the end, for no reason!" I can't stand it when rape is tacked on to a story as cheap shock value. Alessa's story in the game was plenty tragic enough. It's all about how it's handled! There really, REALLY does not need to be any rape thrown in there. She was born for the sole purpose of completing a ritual to summon a demon, no one in the town's weird cult gave a shit about her outside of that, she was bullied endlessly in school, and- oh right, her mom locked her in the house and then set it on fire. Yeah, I think that's good enough. And as for the end.. (gamewise) badguy being dragged into fiery damnation by zombie!Lisa is a brutal enough punishment. (and moviewise) Barbed wire in the vagina is just horribly excessive and pointless. So thanks for that, America.
Oh and thanks for killing Cybil twice in the movie. Assholes. I literally could not believe that part. She's beating the shit out of those guys with her nightstick, WITH EASE. Gangly, pasty cult members versus strong-as-hell Officer Bennett. No chance in hell they would overpower her. In fact, she absolutely kills one of them at one point; they show the back of his head exploding as she slams her nightstick against it, so. Yeah then she abruptly just GIVES UP for NO REASON after Rose gets on the elevator. She doesn't even look tired! She's just like 'Well I don't feel like living anymore, so.. here guys, beat the hell out of me for five minutes.' No reason. Just shock/sad value. "Oh nooo look, Cybil's getting beaten mercilessly, what a noble (POINTLESS) self-sacrifice." And then at the end, "Oh nooo Cybil's getting burned at the stake mercilessly." More cheap shock/sad value. 'NOPE, CAN'T FEEL BAD FOR A FEMALE UNLESS THEY'RE BEING BEATEN, RAPED, OR OTHERWISE KILLED. AND BY THE WAY, THE BEST WAY FOR US TO FEEL BAD ABOUT A MALE IS TO KILL/RAPE HIS WOMAN.' Because obviously men don't have Feelings outside of that. Thanks.
A lot of this could be subjective. But then you consider the running themes in popular media of 'Let's make the audience feel sad by having the female character be raped or killed' and 'let's have a powerful female lead.. but then have her be punished for her strength by being raped and/or killed'. It's so AGGRAVATING now, because when I see a female death scene or hear plot points involving sexual assault in a female character's history, I automatically roll my eyes and say 'Great, should have seen THAT coming,' without considering 'Hey, maybe there WAS a point to that, maybe the writer/director wasn't just tacking it on for shock value'. Because that's all it has been in so many cases- shock value and cheap tragedy. Just awful.
On a brighter note. Apparently the next SH movie is going to be written and directed by Michael J. Bassett. Don't know if want. BUT he can't possibly do any worse than Avery and Gans did with the first movie. So. There's that, at least.
Here's all I ask for, though: Please do not give Heather a love interest. Just don't. Don't make Vincent her love interest. Don't make Douglas her love interest. DO NOT GIVE HER A LOVE INTEREST. SHE DOES NOT NEED A LOVE INTEREST. SHE DOES NOT HAVE ONE IN THE GAME.
Heather is a strong-willed, independent female protagonist. Just let her do her thing. She is allowed to be scared and strong-willed at the same time. Harry Mason was scared shitless in SH1, but he pressed on in the search for his daughter. Perfect example. So just.. let Heather be like she was in the game. Use subtlety to your advantage, Mr. Bassett. Heather does not need to run and shriek and fall down every three seconds. She can do other things. She can look uncomfortable, or horrified, or determined.
Oh and for fuck's sake, NO PYRAMID HEAD. I shouldn't even have to explain why Pyramid Head should NOT BE IN THE MOVIE. He is the manifestation of James Sunderland's sexual repression and anger. Somehow I don't think that Heather Mason has been harboring subconscious urges to stab nurses in the face with her dick. So if I see PH walking around in the next SH movie, I am going to take a massive shit and start throwing it at the screen. You will not believe my rage.
Also: NO RAPE. IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK FOR? IS IT?! "Sorry, couldn't not put rape in one or two scenes. Literally couldn't think of any other way to make the audience go 'Wow that's horrible/sad.'' THERE ARE OTHER THINGS THAT ARE HORRIBLE AND SAD, JUST.. STOP USING RAPE, JEEZ. It's insulting how desensitized we're even becoming to the concept thanks to how often it just gets tossed around in media! It's like the hundredth time Goku bites the dust in Dragonball Z! 'Oh man, Goku's dead. Shame. Mm hmm.' 'Oh man, that woman got raped. Yeah. Hmm.'
DON'T.
Just.
Don't.
Women have plenty of other legitimate fears. If I see Heather running away from Pyramid Head going 'AAAAH HIS BIG KNIFE, GET IT AWAY FROM MEEE' I'm going to take TWO massive shits and start throwing them at the screen. And HOLY SHIT, men are entirely capable of CARING FOR THEIR DAUGHTERS. I really, really want to see that! Because Harry cared SO MUCH for Cheryl in the games, and Cheryl/Heather likewise loved her dad more than anything else in the world! Let the main themes revolve around his unyielding love and care of his daughter, her fear of losing him, her anguish when he is murdered by the cult, and her fury as she takes vengeance upon his murderers.
DO THAT. THAT. If they can do that, EFFECTIVELY, I will take THREE MASSIVE SHITS and then CRAM THEM BACK INTO MY ASSHOLE.
uh.
Yeah let me go ahead and just say -TRIGGER WARNING- Spoilers too. This is gonna get rough, folks.
Ok.
Man, where do I even start. OOH. Right. Men. I read that originally, there were not going to be any men in the movie. Rose's husband and the detective were just sort of shoehorned in there as an afterthought. So we go from a single dad going into town alone to search for his daughter (Silent Hill the game), to mom going into town alone to search for her daughter, while her husband runs around uselessly and digs up hamfisted exposition (Silent Hill the movie).
For fuck's sake.
Sean Bean is such a versatile actor. He can be good, he can be evil, he can CARE ABOUT HIS DAUGHTER (yes he does that in other features). But in the SH movie, he has been relegated to Angry Helpless Dad who cares less about his daughter and more about his precious wifu. As you all know, the brilliant minds behind this movie did not think that it was plausible for a man to Care about his Daughter or to Be Scared By Things. Nope, only WOMEN Care About Things, and being scared by things means SHRIEKING and CRYING and RUNNING AROUND and women definitely do that, all the time, because Women are Scared of Things.
Eeegh.
I can't use this word enough: Subtlety.
Subtlety. The Silent Hill series, gamewise, has shit tons of it (at least, the ones made in Japan do). Layers upon layers of symbolism and hidden meanings. Emotions of the characters becoming apparent to the audience not solely through their expressions, but also through the context of their presence in the expertly-crafted atmosphere.
Then we have the movie. "Gee, how can we make the little girl's life seem more tragic? I know! Throw some brutal rape into her backstory. And while we're at it, let's have the main female antagonist brutally raped by barbed wire at the end, for no reason!" I can't stand it when rape is tacked on to a story as cheap shock value. Alessa's story in the game was plenty tragic enough. It's all about how it's handled! There really, REALLY does not need to be any rape thrown in there. She was born for the sole purpose of completing a ritual to summon a demon, no one in the town's weird cult gave a shit about her outside of that, she was bullied endlessly in school, and- oh right, her mom locked her in the house and then set it on fire. Yeah, I think that's good enough. And as for the end.. (gamewise) badguy being dragged into fiery damnation by zombie!Lisa is a brutal enough punishment. (and moviewise) Barbed wire in the vagina is just horribly excessive and pointless. So thanks for that, America.
Oh and thanks for killing Cybil twice in the movie. Assholes. I literally could not believe that part. She's beating the shit out of those guys with her nightstick, WITH EASE. Gangly, pasty cult members versus strong-as-hell Officer Bennett. No chance in hell they would overpower her. In fact, she absolutely kills one of them at one point; they show the back of his head exploding as she slams her nightstick against it, so. Yeah then she abruptly just GIVES UP for NO REASON after Rose gets on the elevator. She doesn't even look tired! She's just like 'Well I don't feel like living anymore, so.. here guys, beat the hell out of me for five minutes.' No reason. Just shock/sad value. "Oh nooo look, Cybil's getting beaten mercilessly, what a noble (POINTLESS) self-sacrifice." And then at the end, "Oh nooo Cybil's getting burned at the stake mercilessly." More cheap shock/sad value. 'NOPE, CAN'T FEEL BAD FOR A FEMALE UNLESS THEY'RE BEING BEATEN, RAPED, OR OTHERWISE KILLED. AND BY THE WAY, THE BEST WAY FOR US TO FEEL BAD ABOUT A MALE IS TO KILL/RAPE HIS WOMAN.' Because obviously men don't have Feelings outside of that. Thanks.
A lot of this could be subjective. But then you consider the running themes in popular media of 'Let's make the audience feel sad by having the female character be raped or killed' and 'let's have a powerful female lead.. but then have her be punished for her strength by being raped and/or killed'. It's so AGGRAVATING now, because when I see a female death scene or hear plot points involving sexual assault in a female character's history, I automatically roll my eyes and say 'Great, should have seen THAT coming,' without considering 'Hey, maybe there WAS a point to that, maybe the writer/director wasn't just tacking it on for shock value'. Because that's all it has been in so many cases- shock value and cheap tragedy. Just awful.
On a brighter note. Apparently the next SH movie is going to be written and directed by Michael J. Bassett. Don't know if want. BUT he can't possibly do any worse than Avery and Gans did with the first movie. So. There's that, at least.
Here's all I ask for, though: Please do not give Heather a love interest. Just don't. Don't make Vincent her love interest. Don't make Douglas her love interest. DO NOT GIVE HER A LOVE INTEREST. SHE DOES NOT NEED A LOVE INTEREST. SHE DOES NOT HAVE ONE IN THE GAME.
Heather is a strong-willed, independent female protagonist. Just let her do her thing. She is allowed to be scared and strong-willed at the same time. Harry Mason was scared shitless in SH1, but he pressed on in the search for his daughter. Perfect example. So just.. let Heather be like she was in the game. Use subtlety to your advantage, Mr. Bassett. Heather does not need to run and shriek and fall down every three seconds. She can do other things. She can look uncomfortable, or horrified, or determined.
Oh and for fuck's sake, NO PYRAMID HEAD. I shouldn't even have to explain why Pyramid Head should NOT BE IN THE MOVIE. He is the manifestation of James Sunderland's sexual repression and anger. Somehow I don't think that Heather Mason has been harboring subconscious urges to stab nurses in the face with her dick. So if I see PH walking around in the next SH movie, I am going to take a massive shit and start throwing it at the screen. You will not believe my rage.
Also: NO RAPE. IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK FOR? IS IT?! "Sorry, couldn't not put rape in one or two scenes. Literally couldn't think of any other way to make the audience go 'Wow that's horrible/sad.'' THERE ARE OTHER THINGS THAT ARE HORRIBLE AND SAD, JUST.. STOP USING RAPE, JEEZ. It's insulting how desensitized we're even becoming to the concept thanks to how often it just gets tossed around in media! It's like the hundredth time Goku bites the dust in Dragonball Z! 'Oh man, Goku's dead. Shame. Mm hmm.' 'Oh man, that woman got raped. Yeah. Hmm.'
DON'T.
Just.
Don't.
Women have plenty of other legitimate fears. If I see Heather running away from Pyramid Head going 'AAAAH HIS BIG KNIFE, GET IT AWAY FROM MEEE' I'm going to take TWO massive shits and start throwing them at the screen. And HOLY SHIT, men are entirely capable of CARING FOR THEIR DAUGHTERS. I really, really want to see that! Because Harry cared SO MUCH for Cheryl in the games, and Cheryl/Heather likewise loved her dad more than anything else in the world! Let the main themes revolve around his unyielding love and care of his daughter, her fear of losing him, her anguish when he is murdered by the cult, and her fury as she takes vengeance upon his murderers.
DO THAT. THAT. If they can do that, EFFECTIVELY, I will take THREE MASSIVE SHITS and then CRAM THEM BACK INTO MY ASSHOLE.