498 Words About: James’s Reflection in Silent Hill 2
Screenshot provided by Moby Games.
Much to the annoyance of my girlfriend, I hate mirrors. This is an inconvenience to her because she would like one flipping full length mirror to see herself in whenever we go out to dinner. But as I point out to her, mirrors suck and leave me paranoid.
They also remind me of Silent Hill 2.
The opening sequence of Silent Hill 2 is iconic and has inspired more YouTube click-bait fodder than whether or not Megaladons still exist. The sequence shows James Sunderland staring pensively into a bathroom mirror. His face is hidden in shadow, and while he stares he makes a motion with his hand. With palm pointed inward towards his face he moves his arm down while his fingers curl inward into his palm. The gesture itself looks like he is grasping at something unseen, while the rest of his body remains stationary and unmoving.
The camera cuts and James closes his eyes and takes a deep breath.
At this point players will assume control of James, and Silent Hill 2 begins.
I wasn’t using hyperbole when I noted that there is an absurdly multitudinous amount of content online about this scene; the most popular typically involves breakdowns of the sequence to show that James’s model is staring in the direction of the viewer. While many fans have enjoyed the speculation that this implies James is aware of the player, I find myself stuck on the gesture itself.
I meditate and practice mindfulness exercises because I have clinical depression as well as difficulty processing reality. As much as the breathing itself is important, I find making small gestures with my hands is just as necessary to center me and remind me exactly where I am.
Screenshot provided by Moby Games.
Silent Hill 2 is a videogame which is entirely about a man entering a realm that twists and warps reality around people, manifesting their fears, anxieties, guilt, and negative emotions into concrete realities. When the player meets Angela and Eddie they see how Silent hill has created worlds specifically for them. As James navigates an apartment complex, a hospital, a historical society, and a hotel the world is steadily festering around him; walls are cracked and floors are dirty and covered with refuse. James is a man who is losing where he is as the spaces where he was before are falling into disrepair.
Reality, as he’s known it, is crumbling beneath and around James.
It’s all of maybe 30 seconds, but this first sequence is an important thematic element because it establishes James’s emotional unraveling as he enters Silent Hill looking for his wife who’s supposed to be dead. My effort in this essay is not to dismiss the arguments online about what this sequence “means.” Rather I just want to observe that the most horrific component of James’s gesture is that it feels painfully familiar.
I’ve looked in mirrors, desperate to find affirmation that reality is whole, but ever and always I’m just left defeated and more nervous.
Joshua “Jammer” Smith
5.26.2025
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