Silent Hill

I recently watched Silent Hill, intrigued at the thought of having a women hero who holds her own in a monstrous world, accompanied by a super tough we-are-going-to-hint-she's-a-lesbian cop because she has short hair, but never actually say it. But I think dyke cops are acceptable stereotypes now, like the fashion savvy queer-eye-for-the-straight-guy, gay man. They are fine as long as they are helping normal people out, but don't put them in the role of wife or mother or all hell will break loose. Speaking of, I was hoping this movie would be a little different with two women as the leads, but unfortunately, it was predictable to a T. Originally in the video game, the character was a man, searching for his lost daughter in a creepy haunted town. When writing the script the creators of the movie decided to change character to a woman because they felt that it just made more sense that way. Meaning that the character as written conformed to the stereotype of woman as a mother and it was believable to have a hysterical woman try to save her child, but less believable for it to be a man. I think I would have preferred a man in this lead, just to, I don’t know, break from conformity. Scary, I know.

So, what we are left with is the same old hysterical mother trying to save daughter from nightmarish monsters and the pseudo lesbian cop kicking ass and protecting or saving the mom at any chance she gets. Conforming with conventions (the precedent set by the Alien movies), the lesbian, who does not accept the normal role in society of mother/wife, must die, in this case sacrificing herself so the real mother/daughter may be reunited. *In essence, as in past action movies, the tension caused by the presence of a woman hero at the center of the action movie must be allayed by placing her in acceptable roles such as a mother or wife (evident in Aliens with Sigourney Weaver being introduced as a mother and then adopting an abandoned child), with an overt sexuality making her available to a heterosexual male audience (Tomb Raider) or through the use of comedy (not really applicable in Silent Hill). More on this to come…


On a side note, why are lesbians, or tough “dyke” ladies in films always cast by the most conventionally beautiful women (at least in their headshot)? Is it because Hollywood lesbians must conform to get jobs or is it more acceptable for straight women to play the lesbian character so as to cause the least amount of tension amongst the straight audience through deviation from the norm?

This mildly entertaining flick didn’t really do anything out of the ordinary and overshadowed its great sets and costumes with an overuse of computer generated effects. A break from convention in anyway would have made it memorable, but nonetheless I’d likely see the sequel when it makes it to DVD.

*Add quotes from my reading to strengthen these points.