A VCR. It's Old But Usable: New Insight On The Timeline
Posted: 19 Oct 2007
Upon replaying SH1 for the millionth time, something jumped out at me that concerned me a little about the timeline of SH: The "old but usable" VCR in Alchemilla Hospital.
Silent Hill 1 takes place in 1983. I wondered to myself: Were VCR's available and widely used in 1983? Had they been out long enough for one to not only be owned by Alchemilla in 1983, but had they been around long enough for someone to examine one and say that it's old?
We also know that Alessa's burning took place in 1976. Lisa was apparently roped into looking after her almost immediately after this, as her presense in Silent Hill Origins is quite pronounced. We will not know this for sure until Origins is released. My point here is: if Lisa started looking after Alessa immediately in 1976, when would she have had access to a camera and videocassette to tape her confession? This question perhaps holds the key to answering the question of how long she realistically looked after Alessa. There are some who argue she couldn't possibly have lasted seven years looking after Alessa, and therefore must have died some time ago. There are some who argue that she looked after Alessa right up until shortly before SH1.
Considering this was before I was born, I had no idea of the answer to the VCR/VHS question. It turns out that VCR technology has been around since the mid-50s, but was so expensive that generally no one owned it. It was not until the late 70s that VHS was introduced and VCRs became affordable and widespread. So, it is indeed possible that Alchemilla acquired a VCR in the late 70s, making it possible for the one Harry finds in 1983 to be "old but usable". This of course also seems to indicate that Silent Hill as Harry sees it is indeed manifested in the present, and not a manifestation of the past, as it would not be feasible to say that a VCR was old if Silent Hill as we see it is the 1976 version.
This then brings us to the Lisa question. While Alchemilla could have had a VCR in 1976, when Lisa started looking after Alessa, it is not realistic to say that Lisa could have recorded her confession anywhere near that time period. Besides the damning evidence of Lisa's aging between Origins and SH1 (her hair is longer and her face looks mid-20s in SH1. Also note that her hair is its present length in the videotape), there is also the problem that video camcorders were not available in the 70s.
It was not until 1982 that JVC introduced the VHS-C format. This led to the home camcorder boom in the 80s. In 1983, Sony released the first Betamax camcorder, and JVC released its own VHS-C camcorder a few months afterwards. It would appear that Lisa would not have easy, affordable access to a camcorder to make her confession until 1982 or 1983, the same year Silent Hill 1 takes place.
It seems, then, that it's likely that Lisa did, indeed, look after Alessa for seven years, right up until the events of SH1. If, as has been hypothesised, Lisa was the one who took Cheryl to the side of the road in 1976, she was not discovered and murdered by Kaufmann immediately. Again, note the appearance of Lisa in her argument with Kaufmann in the opening montage. If Lisa did this, she was not discovered to have been the culprit. It becomes unlikely that Lisa did this, as I presume Kaufmann and Dahlia were keeping a very close eye on her. It is therefore likely that it was either Alessa herself or Travis O'Grady who is responsible for Cheryl making her way to the highway.
This brings up more troubling questions. Lisa is visibly distressed by the uncurable condition of Alessa when she records the videotape. If we agree, based on this discussion, that Lisa recorded the confession in 1982 or 1983, and Origins takes place in 1976, this brings two problems to light. First of all, Lisa absolutely must survive Origins for it to be canon. Second of all, and perhaps most troubling, consider this. Lisa is seen in the early shots of Origins in the abandoned movie theatre, in Foggy Silent Hill, interacting with O'Grady. If Lisa is present in Alessa's alternate realities in 1976, and intertwined in the horrors of Origins, why does she seem so distressed years later by Alessa's condition? Presumably she either comes to learn a great deal about Alessa in Origins or at the very least experiences things in Origins that would make the entire "blood and pus oozing through" issue pale in comparison. There's also the issue of why Lisa is commenting on this seven years after beginning her coerced treatment of Alessa. Something about it just doesn't sit right.
Origins must therefore be extremely delicate in its usage of Lisa in 1976 for many things in SH1 to remain consistent.
That all said, there still remains the very plausible possibility that Team Silent didn't know exactly when they wanted SH1 to occur when they originally released it, and that the 1983/1976 dates were retconned into the timeline after the fact. This may allow for some inconsistency in the technology and timeline of Origins and SH1. Without going back and remaking SH1, there's nothing they can do to remove any parts of SH1 that, after 2-4/Origins are released, conflict with the timeline.
Discussion?
Silent Hill 1 takes place in 1983. I wondered to myself: Were VCR's available and widely used in 1983? Had they been out long enough for one to not only be owned by Alchemilla in 1983, but had they been around long enough for someone to examine one and say that it's old?
We also know that Alessa's burning took place in 1976. Lisa was apparently roped into looking after her almost immediately after this, as her presense in Silent Hill Origins is quite pronounced. We will not know this for sure until Origins is released. My point here is: if Lisa started looking after Alessa immediately in 1976, when would she have had access to a camera and videocassette to tape her confession? This question perhaps holds the key to answering the question of how long she realistically looked after Alessa. There are some who argue she couldn't possibly have lasted seven years looking after Alessa, and therefore must have died some time ago. There are some who argue that she looked after Alessa right up until shortly before SH1.
Considering this was before I was born, I had no idea of the answer to the VCR/VHS question. It turns out that VCR technology has been around since the mid-50s, but was so expensive that generally no one owned it. It was not until the late 70s that VHS was introduced and VCRs became affordable and widespread. So, it is indeed possible that Alchemilla acquired a VCR in the late 70s, making it possible for the one Harry finds in 1983 to be "old but usable". This of course also seems to indicate that Silent Hill as Harry sees it is indeed manifested in the present, and not a manifestation of the past, as it would not be feasible to say that a VCR was old if Silent Hill as we see it is the 1976 version.
This then brings us to the Lisa question. While Alchemilla could have had a VCR in 1976, when Lisa started looking after Alessa, it is not realistic to say that Lisa could have recorded her confession anywhere near that time period. Besides the damning evidence of Lisa's aging between Origins and SH1 (her hair is longer and her face looks mid-20s in SH1. Also note that her hair is its present length in the videotape), there is also the problem that video camcorders were not available in the 70s.
It was not until 1982 that JVC introduced the VHS-C format. This led to the home camcorder boom in the 80s. In 1983, Sony released the first Betamax camcorder, and JVC released its own VHS-C camcorder a few months afterwards. It would appear that Lisa would not have easy, affordable access to a camcorder to make her confession until 1982 or 1983, the same year Silent Hill 1 takes place.
It seems, then, that it's likely that Lisa did, indeed, look after Alessa for seven years, right up until the events of SH1. If, as has been hypothesised, Lisa was the one who took Cheryl to the side of the road in 1976, she was not discovered and murdered by Kaufmann immediately. Again, note the appearance of Lisa in her argument with Kaufmann in the opening montage. If Lisa did this, she was not discovered to have been the culprit. It becomes unlikely that Lisa did this, as I presume Kaufmann and Dahlia were keeping a very close eye on her. It is therefore likely that it was either Alessa herself or Travis O'Grady who is responsible for Cheryl making her way to the highway.
This brings up more troubling questions. Lisa is visibly distressed by the uncurable condition of Alessa when she records the videotape. If we agree, based on this discussion, that Lisa recorded the confession in 1982 or 1983, and Origins takes place in 1976, this brings two problems to light. First of all, Lisa absolutely must survive Origins for it to be canon. Second of all, and perhaps most troubling, consider this. Lisa is seen in the early shots of Origins in the abandoned movie theatre, in Foggy Silent Hill, interacting with O'Grady. If Lisa is present in Alessa's alternate realities in 1976, and intertwined in the horrors of Origins, why does she seem so distressed years later by Alessa's condition? Presumably she either comes to learn a great deal about Alessa in Origins or at the very least experiences things in Origins that would make the entire "blood and pus oozing through" issue pale in comparison. There's also the issue of why Lisa is commenting on this seven years after beginning her coerced treatment of Alessa. Something about it just doesn't sit right.
Origins must therefore be extremely delicate in its usage of Lisa in 1976 for many things in SH1 to remain consistent.
That all said, there still remains the very plausible possibility that Team Silent didn't know exactly when they wanted SH1 to occur when they originally released it, and that the 1983/1976 dates were retconned into the timeline after the fact. This may allow for some inconsistency in the technology and timeline of Origins and SH1. Without going back and remaking SH1, there's nothing they can do to remove any parts of SH1 that, after 2-4/Origins are released, conflict with the timeline.
Discussion?