The other day I was talking to my friend about the SH2 Remake, specifically about our first playthroughs. We were talking about the endings we got (I got the “In Water” ending the first time) and how we felt about them which inevitably lead to us talking about the final encounter with Maria. In that conversation, I expressed that I felt bad for Maria and the situation that she was in and how I felt that she was a character whose very existence was mired in tragedy. This opinion really surprised my friend who went on to explain that they hadn’t felt that way at all and more felt that Maria was closer to a villain if anything that you shouldn’t garner sympathy for. Other people I talked to also voiced this opinion that Maria is purely a creation of Silent Hill sent to temp or torment James and manipulate him into choosing her over Mary and leading him away from real healing; just another obstacle for him to overcome. Which, in many ways is true, she’s doing everything in her power to get James to want her the way that he wants his wife. She constantly employs subtle and not-so-subtle manipulation tactics to that end like with her interactions at the strip club. But it’s not because she’s an unthinking creation of Silent Hill, it’s because she literally has no other choice but to do so.
It was my understanding that from what both the original SH along with its “Born from a Wish” scenario and the remake convey, that Maria is an independent and feeling individual who has been trapped in an awful situation with no means of escaping beyond fulfilling the role she was created for. Like, she wakes up in a terrifying foggy town with monsters all over the place and all she knows is that this man that’s coming is the only one who could possibly take her from this place and truly save her. That she was made for him. But the moment James gets there he wants literally nothing to do with her for the most part with the exception of one ending. There’s that scene in the hospital where she bumps into James and she’s so relieved to see him and, after mistaking her for Mary, he just so heartlessly is like, “well anyway I’m glad you’re safe”. No wonder she blows up in that scene and it’s one of many where he just treats her with so much indifference.
Overall, while I do think that she was created as an obstacle to sway James from a path of healing, I do think that she’s also so much more than only an obstacle. She’s a living and feeling being who truly just wants to be free from this horrible hell she was born into. She longs for love from a man who has no interest in giving it to her and would rather leave her behind despite her willing to do whatever it takes to please him. There’s such an interesting tragedy at play with her circumstance that just adds to the story of a game I already find incredible and the acting in the remake just sells it even more for me. If anything, these differing opinions just speak to how differently the games story can be interpreted due to the way it handles its endings through an invisible system watching all the little ways you play and just by the great quality of writing they have too.
But what do you guys think about Maria? I want to know what your consensus was on your first playthroughs or after some reflection. It was just surprising to hear that people just disliked her so much, at least the few I talked to.