WTF giant head!? D:

[SkyMadeOfCrowes]

LiveThruThis said this:


The hospital room w/ the giant Eileen head.... What's the meaning/symbolism here?

The FAQ thread says something about "maybe Henry gets to hear this more in the future" or something of that nature. No offense, Conquerer [sic], but that's not really an answer!

I'm just playing this game for the first time on my new HDTV. I'm hearing a lot of details in old games that I hadn't before. Previously, I had not heard ALL the sound effects in in this room. I kept pausing the game to figure out if the sexual sounds were coming from the TV or through the walls!! Suddenly, I think I understood the meaning.

My thinking is that its symbolic of the voyeurism/curiosity that Henry has for Eileen. Its established early on that they don't know each other well, but obviously there'd be SOME level of attraction there, she's a pretty girl in skimpy clothes. The level is about Henry wanting to find her, so she looms large in his mind & therefore has a large physical presence in this room.

The eyes twitch & follow him, I think partially just to be creepy, but also to symbolize the voyeuristic nature of having neighbors. People in apartment buildings tend to have a certain level of curiosity about each other, though the transient nature of rental property might keep them from really finding out much. There's a certain level of intimacy involved with living next to someone. You hear the phone ring, you hear them singing, crying, arguing, more intimate things, etc. So, I think the eyes kinda symbolize this???

Then there's the sounds. Again, when I first played this game on an old-fashioned 19" TV, I only heard the loud, repetitive "Uhh...Uhh...Uhh". Its very rhythmic & I don't think I'd call it "overtly sexual". Now, on HD, I hear a lot more! There is moaning & squealing, etc that can only be considered sexual. I've been told by male friends that men often have sexual thoughts about women that they're not even particularly attracted to, or sometimes even intrusive sexual thoughts at times when they feel they shouldn't be thinking them. Which brings me to my next thought about this...

Is some guilt going on here? The real Eileen is in the hospital after an attempted murder. The giant Eileen-head reflects this because her face is clearly injured. Could the giant head symbolizes guilt over his sexual attraction to a woman who is suffering immeasurably? Possibly he finds this attraction to be inappropriate or intrusive at the time?

LOL This has turned into a long post! Maybe I've thought WAYYYYY too much about this. But, really, that's what I love about the SH series! Its so psychological, and all the enemies/characters have significance.

So what are some other thoughts about the giant Eileen head??

PS. Does anyone notice when Henry first approaches the lit-up X-ray board, and sees all the pics & notes about Eileen's injury that the word "vagina" is written on the board? I watched this clip twice & thought I saw it twice. Anyone else see this? *shudder*

[SkyMadeOfCrowes]

Karmarx (Me) said:

You know, Elieen's head is a matter I've always engaged curiosity about.

And I got really interested in your point of view about the "guilt factor in response to the sexual desire", I played this game a lot of times, and everytime something new pops in my head.

There was this one particular time when I reach the hospital world, I took a break and took some "substances", and so my mind kinda opened and created many theories and conceptions.

The one that to me had the most weight, was a link of uncertainty between Eileen and Henry, in behalf of Hnery, this link can be noticed in a similar (But more developed) way that he pretty much approached to every other victim, a matter of conscern (For example, Braintree in the electric chair).

As for Eileen, the whole party thing and the fact that she was the first to notice Henry not leaving his room, if you look at her when she's looking at the peephole, there is some worry in her face. I compare this face and other 2 in the hospital. (The Head and Eileen as she wakes up). The Head could represent how she flet when she was attacked, injured and her eyes all twitchy could mean the inability to understand the situation, and also, it could mean R.E.M. too, which leads us to when she wakes up.

When poor Eileen wakes and sees Henry, she acts in a defensive way, in fear, this has a lot to do with she being recently attacked. But it could possibly mean that in some way, she "saw" Henry through the Giant Head.

Also the Head being there could be a symbol of Henry's growing conscern to Eileen (Or maybe some way of knowledge torture in a similar fashion as seeing the other victims suffering). And from seeing the "Are you still Alive?" scene and Henry's apparently instinctive impulse to have Eileen behind him when seeing Joseph, it could mean he was growing affectionate towards her, which leads to a bigger brand of suffering through the Giant Head.

Perhaps this relationship between them has always prompted me to get the Escape ending. Always

[WebZombie]

I always thought the giant head was associated with Walter. He seems to be a misogynist thanks to his mother and Cynthia therfore taking great pleasure in the abuse of women, even to the point of sadism, he was probably experienceing sexual pleasure as he beat Eileen to a bloody pulp which might explain why the ginat head is all beaten up and why sexual noises can be heard.

[SkyMadeOfCrowes]

That is also quite a possibility

[MunirBinJulaihi]

Sorry to bringing this old topic up, but speaking of Eileen's giant head, the first time I encountered was that the camera's position is changed, and I thought it could be a trap but when I heard this "moaning" sound, I was like, "Is it just me, or did I hear someone making out?" And this word just came on my mind, [spoiler]SEX.[/spoiler]

I just run through and found this freakin' head in front of me and I screamed a bit and closed my eyes, thinking that, that huge head's gonna EAT ME or something! But when I open my eyes, it doesn't do anything. She just kept staring at me. Ooh... that part's creepin' me a bit.

[hairymason]

It's there so I can crank one off to the moaning sounds, Okay, prolly not. It's a big ass head because she has to come big to make Henry forget sexy ass Cynthia. I'm not into cartoon or cgi chicks cause they don't exist. But damn she is one hot stack of pixles. Really though, I think it's just a big ass head that scares you stupid when it first appears, then creeps you out once you stop screaming like a little girl.