161 - Silent Hill 2 (feat. Aysha U. Farah)
Added 2024-10-23 07:30:02 +0000 UTCAysha U. Farah (Life is Strange: Double Exposure) and the lads have some restless dreams and see the titular town of Konami’s 2001 horror classic: Silent Hill 2. Topics include the history of Team Silent, the difficulties of tank controls, and how to cope when you’ve found yourself at the bottom of five holes in a hell of your own making.
Aysha U. Farah: Website // Twitter // Instagram
Second Star to the Left: Scout-explorer Gwen Hartley has five years to explore and prepare her planet for settlement. With no aid but her robots and the anxious voice of her long-distance scout-minder Bell Summers in her ear, she’s hoping to be ready for anything.
Media Referenced in Episode:
Silent Hill 2. Konami. 2001.
Creating Silent Hill 2 | How 'Team Silent's Failure Became a Horror Classic | Game Documentary
“E3 2001: Silent Hill 2 Interview” by IGN Saff. IGN. May 17th, 2001.
“Interview with Silent Hill 2’s Artist Takayoshi Sato” by IGN Staff. IGN. August 11th, 2001.
TWOAPW theme by Brendan Dalton: Patreon // brendan-dalton.com // brendandalton.bandcamp.com
Commercial: “Holes” // Written by A.J. Ditty // Featuring Brian Alford as “James Sunderland” and A.J. Ditty as “Alan/Max/Sam”
Comments
Hey Josh, just wanted to say thanks for trusting us with such a painful memory. The entire section, starting well before that, already had me in tears, but that really hit me in a way that no other episode has. I've been one step removed from that trauma so far, but I've seen what it does to my loved ones, and it was a good reminder of the patience and understanding I should always be practicing for such periods.
CS
2024-11-03 19:25:51 +0000 UTCThe episode does mention euthanasia (well, “eugenics”) but doesn’t really go into assisted suicide. I’m not familiar enough with the game to know if the plot leaves open the possibility of Mary having (effectively) committed assisted suicide, but yeah that’s a whole ‘nother can ‘o worms…
Elsie Hupp
2024-10-28 20:50:02 +0000 UTCAs a counterpoint to “hating your dying spouse”, an example that immediately came to mind for me was Julianne Moore’s character in Magnolia, who married for money but fell in love with her rich husband who is now dying. https://youtu.be/abrw7Wt9YTQ (To be fair, this is on a longer time-scale, so things still have room to go downhill after she falls in love but before he actually dies. But she seems less narcissistic to begin with.)
Elsie Hupp
2024-10-28 20:47:19 +0000 UTCOne thing I wish y'all touched on more was the ambiguity of the game. It's clear that guilt is a central theme. What isn't clear is the exact point from which that guilt stems. A huge thing for me is, what was James thinking at the moment he did what he did. Did Mary ask him to? Was he doing it because he wanted to get rid of her? The game never tells you, and I think the answer is: yes. It was a bit of compassion, a bit of anger. It wasn't just one motivation. It was many. I've given hospice care to someone I loved who died of cancer, while working a job. You are there, always. You have to wake up out of a dead sleep to help them go to the bathroom, or help with their pain medication. You feed them. You clean them. You *love* them, and they love you. At the same time, it is physically and mentally exhausting. You both have good and bad days. You both lash out. You will have perfectly normal, human thoughts stemming from frustration- and you will *hate* yourself for it. After a while, the only way you can continue to deal with it is withdrawing in on yourself- and I think that's why the game starts where it does, why James' dialogue is as strong as it is. He's dazed. He's in a fugue. He isn't just numb, he's cut a part of himself away like a lizard shedding its tail to survive. I would love to see a documentary or something that viewed this game through the lens of people who have experienced things close to what James has ( not necessarily the murder bit ). You could make something beautiful, brutal, honest, and touching. Something human. Something that confronts a part of life that none of us really want to- what it's like to lose someone, day by day.
Noblesse Oblahaj
2024-10-27 16:18:24 +0000 UTConly this podcast could review a 23 year old game and make the connective tissue a reference that will be indecipherable by Christmas
Andrew Mackay
2024-10-25 04:57:05 +0000 UTCHave you guys seen the movie Eyes Without a Face? I feel like it’s also a good depiction of narcissistic misogyny.
Elsie Hupp
2024-10-25 04:48:02 +0000 UTCJosh - thanks for sharing your story. My best friend killed himself when we were 21, I'm 51 now and it's still right there. Hearing others talk about it helps every one of us out here, so again - thank you. Peace and love to you all.
Adam Kelly
2024-10-25 03:38:22 +0000 UTCWhen you have a video game episode, since I am not a game person, I tend to ignore the parts about the mechanics of the game and just think of it like you were telling me a story. I listened to this episode too late at night, and between the vulnerability of you all talking about your personal experiences and the general horribleness of all the endings. got kind of sad and freaked out. It got really existential. Thankfully, the dog ending cheered me up, and I can go to bed feeling hopeful from Josh’s inspirational message at the end. Good luck climbing out of your holes everyone!
Elizabeth Power
2024-10-25 03:06:07 +0000 UTCMuch love to you, josh ❤️
Bigfoot's Hotwife
2024-10-25 01:58:36 +0000 UTCWas not expecting an IMMEDIATE Homestuck jumpscare in the Silent Hill episode. My fault though, since it *is* the scary month.
Beau Baker
2024-10-24 22:56:47 +0000 UTCMy wife and I just had a miscarriage, so hearing the this episode hits a lot, but it's put a lot of good perspective that my angry and bitter brain needed to hear. Thank you guys
Mordred Hansen
2024-10-24 20:24:04 +0000 UTCI don't think Eddie is fatphobic. I think that they were definitely gesturing at the 'sin' of gluttony, but... It feels more like he is an impulsive, self-destructive person quite literally wallowing in his own filth. I would also say that him being a larger, rounder guy adds to the very deliberate character design of someone who is still a kid, immature. Round belly. Striped shirt. Backwards hat. The character wouldn't have hit the same as a skinny guy.
Noblesse Oblahaj
2024-10-24 13:13:53 +0000 UTCImagine how fucked this game would be if it was written by David Cage.
Noblesse Oblahaj
2024-10-24 12:22:39 +0000 UTCThis one really needed and [extremely loud incorrect buzzer noise]
Jordan Y Clementi
2024-10-24 02:43:11 +0000 UTCThank you Josh for your vulnerability on this episode. Some really awful shit went down this week around my family. Your willingness to share and message of hope at the end mean a lot.
im so daddy i havent slept in a year
2024-10-23 23:12:53 +0000 UTCEddie's intro audio was so rough I thought it was the interstitial at first
John Her
2024-10-23 19:41:16 +0000 UTCI got my BFA from UNM and one of my instructors was Joel Peter Wilkin’s assistant. She’s a sculptor and would make a lot of his props because not all of his subject were real or cadavers (though for sure they would go down to Mexico to use real bodies). But she told me he asked for a realistic infant’s genitals and she made him some and he said they didn’t look correct to reality. She asked him how would he know that? They never went forward with that composition. A truly fucked up guy. But there is no such thing as objective morality in art and I do kinda love his work.
Devon Made Me Do It
2024-10-23 17:51:54 +0000 UTCThey were and I am permanently damaged.
Josephine
2024-10-23 16:55:13 +0000 UTCA ghost horse next to a gallows? I guess he was hung like a stallion?
Dergon
2024-10-23 16:51:49 +0000 UTCThe interstitials on this one are gonna be crazy.
2007 Christian Rock
2024-10-23 15:35:10 +0000 UTCWhen Brian said the monsters had a big caked up ass, and then AJ mentioned the monsters all come from some aspect of James, I was really hoping Brian was gonna say yeah and James liked big caked up asses.
Dergon
2024-10-23 15:00:41 +0000 UTC"We're going to be thinking too deeply about Silent Hill" yes Yes YES
Nick Gully
2024-10-23 14:23:05 +0000 UTCYou approach the locked fridge inside Brookhaven Hospital. The muffled voice inside gets louder: "...and so really the snow in Silent Hill is actually falling ash! Because the town is based on the real life town of..." You back away slowly, leaving the fridge locked.
Dergon
2024-10-23 14:12:00 +0000 UTCIn my mind, the holy trinity of "Where's my wife?" fits is James Sunderland, Alan Wake and Ethan Winters (from Resident Evil 7 and Village).
Leo Curtis
2024-10-23 13:09:34 +0000 UTCAlso, because you can't mention maine without mentioning Steven king, I live two blocks over from his house. That fence has a kill count.
Camoose
2024-10-23 12:17:43 +0000 UTCGreeting from your one maine viewer. Love you guys. If you want a haunting song about a maine ghost town, check out "Below" by Slaid Cleaves.
Camoose
2024-10-23 12:13:12 +0000 UTC*wake up and check my phone*: oh cool a Silent Hill episode *walk outside*: huh it's really foggy ohnoooooo
BarFly
2024-10-23 11:49:44 +0000 UTC
