Hello everyone.
I am new to this website but have been playing Silent Hill since the original release on PS1 in the late 90s.
I have recently been looking through theories for hidden meanings in the Silent Hill games and looking at the analysis of Silent Hill 2 in particular.
I have noticed that there are a number of items and incidents in the Silent Hill series are very much Anti-US (in subtle ways), and thus I want to have a pop at the "Miriam K. - Traitor" gravestone in the cemetery at the end of the Prison/Labyrinth stage of Silent Hill 2.
Since nobody can find a decent reason for who Miriam K. is or why she is a traitor, allow me to give you an idea that is the most sensible that I can think of:
Who is Miriam K? - Miriam Kapili Kekāuluohi Likelike (1851–1887) was a Princess of the Kingdom of Hawaii. She was known as Princess Kaiulani (Hence Miriam K.) and was mother of the last monarch of Hawaii before the monarchy was overthrown by the United States.
Why was she a traitor though??? - There are a couple of reasons for this so I will break them down into easy to understand reasons:
i - She isn't a traitor to Silent Hill, she is a traitor to her own people (Hawaiian natives) and to Japan! Why Japan? Well she had a chance to marry a Japanese Prince, thus merging the two royal families. This would have brought Hawaii under Japanese control. Unfortunately, the Prince apparently had another woman to marry and thus the marriage never happened and Japan never got to control Hawaii.
ii - Secondly, Miriam was apparently very sympathetic to the United States and in particular the social elite of that time. She apparently frequently visited the US to hang out with her social equals and other famous people of the era, and spent her money on luxury clothes and such from Europe.
iii - Her apparent suicide (a few years before the "invasion") could be seen as a weakening of the bloodline and protection of the royal house. Her daughter was later to become Crown Princess under the rule of her Auntie (Miriam's Sister).
iv - Hawaii was later annexed by the United States and of course used as a platform (base) of operations during the "liberation"/war in the Pacific against Japan. Thus it might be considered that Miriam K. is seen as a traitor to Japan, either through being a US sympathiser or by selfish suicide that 'might' have helped the collapse of the monarchy which then brought about annexation and the use of the islands as a US base in WWII. Had Hawaii remained a neutral territory, it would likely have been taken over by Japan by force (if not marriage) and used as a base for the (then superior) Japanese Navy to strike mainland USA.
v - The overthrow of the Monarchy in Hawaii is often recognized as the first act of US imperialism and a precursor to it's future foreign policy(ies).
This isn't the only Anti-US propaganda in the game, but perhaps one of the most significant!.
Thanks for reading. I hope this article has been of interest to you, whether you agree or not.
Dave.
EDIT - 2nd September 2014 - 3PM GMT -
Of further note, Silent Hill 2 was set in 1993, the 100th anniversary (centenary) of the United States overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii. In 1993, US President Bill Clinton signed (into law) the Apology Resolution. To save me from typing it all out, check it out on Wikipedia. Here is the first paragraph...
"United States Public Law 103-150, informally known as the Apology Resolution, is a Joint Resolution of the U.S. Congress adopted in 1993 that "acknowledges that the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii occurred with the active participation of agents and citizens of the United States and further acknowledges that the Native Hawaiian people never directly relinquished to the United States their claims to their inherent sovereignty as a people over their national lands, either through the Kingdom of Hawaii or through a plebiscite or referendum" (U.S. Public Law 103-150 (107 Stat. 1510)). The resolution has been cited as a major impetus for the Hawaiian sovereignty movement, and has been the subject of intense debate."
Now tell me that Silent Hill 2 is just a videogame.... it's got sweet sod all to do with a ghost story, just like Stanley Kubrick's version of "The Shining" (another Anti-US filled piece of media).