Trauma_ wrote:
Then why did he think he was looking for his dead wife? He only really expressed any remorse after realizing what he'd done.
...Because he forgot about it. This is why his objective was to find his wife, not the tape, despite the fact that her body was in the back seat.
To me, at least, he never forgot. If he did, he would feel no remorse, like you said. If that's the case, then what the point of even being punished? You can't feel guilty for something you don't remember doing, right? If James really forgot (As opposed to my belief that he's merely repressing this terrible memory), then why is he being punished for?
He remembers the tape, because he remembers what's recorded in it, as we can see in the flashback when he meets Maria.
He also remembers the town's executioners from the past, he saw in his first visit three years prior the events of the game. That's why Red Pyramid Thing appears, you see.
Are you an adherent to the idea of the Maria ending being the orthodox one by any chance?
I believe that all ending all equally true. Except the joke ones, of course. All the them show an aspect of James. In Maria ending, the part of James that wanted to be with Maria takes over his will.
I do not believe for a second that he wanted to be with Maria.
"I wanted to see you, even a illusion of you! That's why I came here!"
"Maria, I want you. I want yo with me - What about Mary - It's ok, I have you"
He doesn't even mention the tape. He simply focused his gaze towards the hotel, because- you know... they stayed there?
Then why a fraction of the tape appears at this particular moment when he remembers the hotel? Bugger. Seemed to me that he remembered that time when he forgot the tape in the hotel.
No, not really. It's generally the people that overplay the sexual themes the most that have some issues of their own to work through. Who says he went an entire 3 years without sex anyways? She was only diagnosed with the condition 3 years ago, it doesn't necessarily indicate that it advanced to the stage where Mary became an unfuckable puddle of viral goo.
Overplay, really? There's nothing to overplay. The game is full of sexual references. The mannequins, Lying Figure and the Bubble Head Nurses sexy legs, Maria's endless sexual innuendos, Red Pyramid Thing and all the raping. Even Lost Memories states it. Hell, even Silent Hill wiki (which particularly I don't like very much)
has a article talking about it
Here's the last piece of the puzzle, since you've ignored the obvious. The original scenario called for each of the characters to have their own doppelgangers. Many of these elements were discarded, but also carried over to future titles. Yes, this includes James, Eddie, and Angela. Though they simply correspond to the patients in the doctors memo.
According to
Lost Memories: Silent Hill Chronicle
name: Maria
age: 25
sex: f
job: dancer
profile: A woman who bears an uncanny resemblance to Mary, although
her personality and taste in clothing are completely opposite. For
some reason, she tags along with James.
creator's comment
In the original scenario, the heroine also had an existence characterized
by a double personality. The first personality is "Mary," so for the
other, the name "Maria" is derived from that.
Whoa, there. You can't use stuff the creators scrapped. It's like stating that Elle is Laura because that was the original intention.
The fact that you have a hard time understanding that Maria is partly constructed from Mary's psychic energy is absolutely bizarre. This has been the general consensus for quite a few years now. James may have been the catalyst for her existence, but to deny that there's a bit of Mary in here is strange.
Really? 'Coz I never heard about it before.
AuraTwilight wrote:
It can call forth the living, why not the dead? Ghosts exist, as Ernest proves. Why can Mary not be drawn to the town by her regrets and attachments to the people she left behind, both of which went to Silent Hill, before moving on to whatever is waiting for her?
That's the thing: I don't believe in ghosts. I believe Ernest in BFAW is just a bunch of echos of intense feelings "emanated" by the Ernest guy during years of seclusion in his manor. He's sorrow with his daughter, his obsession with the White Oil, etc...
mikefile wrote:Ghosts are an existing thing in Silent Hill. True. But their involvement in the story development is minimal. There's a fraction of Mary inside Maria, but a fraction not substantial enough to act self-consciously. Maria's personality and choices are a result of James mixed up feelings.
What I'm saying is that Mary's "ghost" can "possess" Maria, yes, but that's simply the town's way of recycling and using various elements and essences to accomplish what it has to accomplish: lead James to the truth, making him come to terms with himself. The town might have recycled Mary's psychic presence to push James along the path, but in the end, it's mostly thanks to James. The town created something that James needed in order to keep on going. But that something is still James' construction. Mary's presence or not, it's irrelevant, as it all comes down to the significance of the task, not the metaphysical matter. Just like the town's power... We know what it does and how it acts, but not what it actually is, because that's not of any relevance to the plot.
The same conclusion can be drawn from Homecoming's bosses. Are the bosses projections of the guilt felt by the parents or simply ghosts of children executing their revenge. For instance, Margaret escapes Asphyxia's assault. She's the only one to survive her punisher. Why? If the monster was Nora's ghost, why didn't it simply kill her like the rest of them did, despite Margaret's state of mind. I'd say because Margaret "controls" it. She doesn't feel responsible for the happenings that took place in Shepherd's Glenn. Therefore, whether there are fractions of living essences within manifestations or not, it's not of primal relevance.
Thank you, you just relieved a huge weight form my shoulders. If Maria does carries a memory from Mary, it's just too small, since Maria is doing exactly the opposite of what Mary would want. I like to believe Maria is just 100 percent there for James and him only. She's part of James, embodies his feelings, and is ready to give James what he want. She even appeals to him: "I will never yell at you, and make you feel bad. That's what you wanted!".
I just think everything that happens in the game is just revolving around James. Even Eddie, Laura and Angela, plot wise, they just reflect what James can become (Maria, Leave and In Walter ending, respectively). Maria's not there to exercises Mary's revenge, but to punish James and bring him to a resolution of his choosing. That's the beauty of the thing. If Mary's spirit is somehow in Silent Hill is just irrelevant to James.