The first Silent Hill game arrived on PlayStation back in 1999, and frankly, scared the living shit out of many who played it. Still, over two decades later, many fans are trying to chase the feeling that the original games gave them, myself included, and I played them over a decade after their release. They may be timeless, but many fans still want more. Back when Silent Hills was announced in 2012, set to feature the work of Hideo Kojima and Guillermo Del Toro, fans were understandably excited. Even moreso when P.T. was unveiled in 2014, and later revealed to be the demo for Silent Hills. This, obviously, fell through for multiple reasons. Still, fans continue to hold out hope for another instalment, and there have been many rumours that have kept us ticking along in the meantime. However, we need to clear up some misunderstandings surrounding the original games first. A film followed the original games in 2006. Director, Christophe Gans, seemingly took the film in a different direction, however. The story of Silent Hill was there – albeit loosely – but many changes were made which have led to continuous misconceptions regarding the games. In a recent string of tweets, it’s become apparent that Silent Hill creator, Masahiro Ito, is growing increasingly tired of fans thinking they know it all. While there’s a whole breadth of Silent Hill fans that really do know Silent Hill inside and out, many are still confusing the games with the films, to it’s creators dismay. Misconceptions happen, and if you’ve seen the film more recently than you’ve played the games, I can understand the confusion. Although, Ito has repeatedly addressed the same misbeliefs on Twitter time and time again, and it’s time to truly set the record straight. Ito’s first tweet on the topic dates back to 2019, where he declares that “In the game, it’s SNOW. In the film, it’s ASH. Just to clarify, there was no town which inspired the design of the SH town in the GAME. TBH… I get really tired of this.” So, this clearly was not the first time the mix-up was raised to Ito. Later, in 2021, another user (in a since deleted tweet) suggested that the falling debris in the Silent Hill games was ash, to which Ito replied “Are you a member of Team Silent? I was the art director and designer of the environments and creatures, but I’ve never met you. It’s SNOW.” It’s clear that Ito’s patience is wearing thin on the topic, and who can blame him? He’s only had to deal with these misconceptions about his creation since 2006… These misunderstandings continue into this year, too, with Ito taking to Twitter the past three days to clarify once more that it’s snow in his games, and how tired he is of saying that. I wasn’t even alive during the creation of the original Silent Hill game, and even I get tired of the misunderstandings. So, there’s really no words to summarise how fed up Ito must be, especially in light of his recent tweets about the creation of Pyramid Head. Pyramid Head as a monster has also been privy to some misinterpretation over the years, but these aren’t a result of the film. Whilst we’re here, let’s set that record straight on that, too. In Silent Hill 2, a scene is shown in which Pyramid Head can be seen to abuse two mannequins. “That doesn’t mean rape,” said Ito on Twitter in 2020. “I wanted to depict that Pyramid Head is trying to remove the visions from James’ mind. Those mean L-Figure, BH Nurse, etc. PH tries to make him face up to the fact. This means his conflict in his mind. He still afraid to face to it at that time so he shoots a gun in the closet.” Of course, some of the in depth symbolism and psychology in Silent Hill can be confusing. Ito admits “I can understand this looking sexual though,” in response to his own tweet. Alas, it makes little sense to Ito that “rape or sexual frustration are spread just like a canon.”
A summary of common Silent Hill misconceptions that Masahiro Ito is tired of tweeting you about
In the games, it’s snowing outside – it is not falling ash. In the games, you’re seeing fog, not smoke. Silent Hill is not based on Centralia, Pennsylvania (as the film suggests) or any real location. It’s set in a small U.S. town, but there is no real place or time assigned to the games. The red rust seen in the games is not a default. The rust is intended to be a representation of Alessa’s mind. However, it was misused in later games as a result of the popularity of the film. The coal mine fire that many remember is exclusive to the films, and never happened in the games. In Silent Hill 2, Pyramid Head abuses two mannequins. While the activity looks sexual, Ito confirms that it isn’t, and acts as more of SH’s detailed symbolism.
A huge thanks to user Darkknight2149 on ResetEra, who rather valiantly compiled every tweet and interview excerpt in a bid to set the record straight amongst fans, and for Masahiro Ito.
