ALAN WAKE / ALAN WAKE’S AMERICAN NIGHTMARE
As far as my research tells me, both Alan Wake (2010) and Alan Wake’s American Nightmare (2013) were both frequently criticized on release for being sexist. There were plenty of people on both sides of the argument, but many claimed that the female character’s present in these games were being used by Alan as mere plot beats in his unravelling story—instead of treated as people. While I don’t personally agree with some of these arguments (for example, people claiming that AW1 is sexist because of its use of the damsel in distress trope with Alice), I do think that this conversation is very interesting and was something I had definitely noticed myself.
In Alan Wake’s American Nightmare, I was pretty surprised with the portrayal of its female side characters. They are very sexualized in their designs and actions, and aren’t treated very well by our protagonist, Alan Wake. The Astronomer, Rachel Meadows, wears a tight, black dress, and black heels under her lab coat—being very reminiscent of over-sexualized scientist or teacher tropes. The Filmmaker, Serena Valdivia, was enchanted by Mr. Scratch (Alan’s “Evil Twin”) and throws herself at Alan, believing him to be Mr. Scratch. She flirts and grabs at him, and is made the butt of the joke for acting this overtly sexual… against her will, mind you. The mechanic, Emma Sloane, is the least offensive character I think. She wears a white crop top and blue mechanic’s coveralls tied around her waist. She is portrayed as an airhead or “spacey”, as well as spiritual, which also puts her in a position for Alan to poke fun at her. I don’t know, Alan, you’re in a dimension made of darkness making your stories come to life… maybe let the girl believe in crystals.
All three of these characters are used by Alan in order for him to reach his goal, and they’re pretty easily disregarded as plot elements by him. Serena acts the same in every loop, Rachel provides Alan with pieces of the manuscript, and Emma dies in all but the last loop of the story. These characters don’t exist outside of how they help Alan, and they really do feel more like plot markers than tangible people. This argument gets difficult, however, due to the in-universe setting. Alan and these three women are in the Dark Place, part of a failed attempt at escaping. Keeping this in mind, we can’t even be sure if they’re real or ACTUALLY plot points created by Alan to traverse the Dark Place.
Also within Alan Wake’s American Nightmare, is the character of Mr. Scratch. This character’s entire existence leads me to believe that the misogynistic undertones of Alan were intentional. Mr. Scratch is Alan’s “Evil Twin”, but differs wildly from Alan Wake 2’s Scratch. Mr. Scratch is a charming, suave, womanizing version of Alan. He has slicked back hair and wears a nice suit, sending Alan videos of him torturing people or fantasizing about taking Alice from him. Mr. Scratch manipulates and seduces people to spread the Darkness to them, most of his victims being women. All of the female companions you meet have encountered and were enamoured by him and his charm. When going on about Alice, Mr. Scratch talks about her like she is an object to be won in order to spite Alan. Mr. Scratch is proven to be a part of Alan, his irrational/darker side, so the way he acts must reflect something of Alan. In viewing how he treats Alice, Alan is being confronted by this misogynistic part of him.
I didn’t notice anything too egregious in Alan Wake (2010), besides maybe the treatment of Rose Marigold. Rose is a teenage girl who is a huge fangirl of Alan’s. You hear Alan’s inner monologue regarding his opinions on Rose, and they’re… less than nice. Rose is called an "airhead" or Alan's "least favourite type of fan". Alan and the residents of Bright Falls see her as stalkerish, weird, and obsessive, a very over-exaggerated version of the fangirl trope--which, I don't even think she is. She gets excited when she meets her favourite author, and has photos of him on her wall... I feel like this is normal teenage girl stuff. She is taken by the Darkness and is used to get to Alan, something that canonically has lasting effects on her to this day. In an interview after the events of Alan Wake 1, a traumatized Rose breaks down crying, asking "why is it so dark?" and claims that she can't be in the daylight anymore. She is a character for Alan to poke fun at, and the other Bright Falls residents to call strange. She is taken by the Darkness to further Alan’s story, and isn’t mentioned much afterwards.
While I believe most of this writing was purposeful, you could blame all of these issues on the classic early 2010s portrayals of women and I really wouldn’t disagree with you. Most importantly though, I believe Remedy recognized these issues and incorporated them into Alan’s character, using the narrative of Alan Wake 2 to denounce some of these past writing choices. We’ll never know if this was an intentional development throughout the games or a future fix-it attempt, but I think it worked quite well either way.
ALAN WAKE 2
Alan Wake 2 takes a very obvious tonal shift in the treatment of its female characters. Most notably, we have a secondary, female protagonist—one whom the game begins with, and follows for the first few chapters. Alan Wake 2 took Alan’s misogyny and completely turned it on its head. Alan is still quite sexist in some of his actions, whether subconscious or not, but his own narrative unfolds in a way that dunks on misogynists. I feel like this theory is proven by the sheer amount of men who refused to play this game, and seriously call it "Alan Woke" as an insult (which is hilarious btw, I'll give them that).
In Alan Wake 2, there are plenty of female characters that contribute to this narrative in big ways. However, there are three major characters that I'm going to cover here—Saga Anderson, an FBI agent and a new addition to the franchise, the returning eccentric waitress Rose Marigold, and Alan’s wife Alice Wake. These three women are the literal and metaphorical punching bags of Alan’s actions. Saga’s daughter dies, her husband despises her, and her partner is taken by the Darkness due to Alan’s writing. Her investigative trip to Bright Falls turns into a fight for her life, as well as the lives of those around her. Rose is still permanently dealing with mental affects of the Darkness that possessed her back in 2010. Alice lost Alan to the Darkness, and was tormented by his anger through the veil of the Dark Place for years.
It is no secret that Saga Anderson is my favourite character in Alan Wake 2, possibly the entire franchise. This game feels like it is intended to be Saga’s story, with Alan included to help connect the pieces. She gives us a unique perspective… one of a woman of colour, and especially, one of a victim of Alan’s desperate attempts to escape the Dark Place. Saga is many things, but notably extremely grounded. This trait alone makes her an almost anti-Alan, who we know to be drowning within his own issues and unable to find footing as he spirals deeper into darkness. Being self-assured is a very strong trait in a narrative like this, making Saga a rock to hold onto for many around her--especially Alan. Even though I am explaining how Saga helps Alan, make no mistake believing that she only contributes to his story. Saga isn't here just to help Alan and be discarded, as many female characters in the past have been. She wants her family back, and will stop at nothing to save them and her partner, Alex Casey--Alan just happens to be the source of these issues. She owes Alan nothing, and he owes her everything. She takes charge, making Alan write a story that is beneficial to everyone. Saga is truly the hero of this story, and exists completely outside of Alan. This is her story.
Rose helps both Saga and Alan quite a bit. She leaves supplies and encouraging notes to Saga, and saves Alan from the Darkness. She claims to have never stopped looking for him. Outside of this, though, she is a waitress at the Oh Deer Diner and a caregiver at the Valhalla Nursing Home. While she is still largely dedicated to helping the heroes, she still does plenty on her own. My favourite aspect of Rose in Alan Wake 2 is the shift in how her "fangirling" over Alan is treated, since we really only see it from Saga's perspective. Rose accidentally leaves Alan Wake themed fanfiction around within her care packages, which Saga reads. If you read a few of these pages, Saga says she's... actually kind of invested in the story. She has no derogatory comments about the writing, or the fanart you can find later within the story. This is such a great change from the constant berating Rose received in the original, with two women supporting each other instead of Alan being a grade-A hater all the time.
Alice's role in the story is one that is largely revealed in the NG+ of Alan Wake 2, The Final Draft. She aids both Saga and Alan. Alice was tormented by Alan from within the Dark Place, and when she had finally had enough, she jumped into Cauldron Lake (the portal to the Dark Place) to help him. She was fuelled by a desire to help Alan, but also a desire to rid herself of the nightmares she experienced everyday. In The Final Draft ending, after being shot with the bullet of light, Alan sees Alice as his forehead is still illuminated. She smiles, and says "At last", and he replies with "Thank you, my love". Alice is the key to everything. She got him to a place of higher knowledge, a step up in the constant downward spiral. The Dark Presence was born from his complicated love with Alice, Alan says so himself. Specifically, it was born when they fought all those years ago and she was dragged into the Dark Place. It started with Alice, and as they both live lifetimes within this dimension and grow as people, it will end with Alice's influence.
For most of the game, Alan is almost entirely unaware of the positive influences these women have on him, and instead goes to Tom Zane for help in escaping the eternal spiral. Zane is in the same spot in the Dark Place, practically rock bottom, as he has been trapped for over fifty years. He seeks to escape as well, and plans to use Alan to do it. He very clearly does not have Alan's best interests in mind, getting him wasted during their first meeting. Alan struggling with addiction and substance abuse in the past in a big part of his character, and Zane is someone who encourages this behaviour to numb the pain and supposedly write better (that's what you get for trying to make art with a poet from the 70's). Not only that, Zane partners with Scratch to write Initiation. Zane admires Scratch's ambition, and with the creation of Initiation, ultimately makes Alan's journey a lot harder. Still, loop after loop, Alan is stuck relying on Zane. He doesn't trust him, or even like him, but he is the only source available. Besides, who knows more about the inner workings of the Dark Place than the guy trapped for five decades? This is directly contrasted by Saga escaping the Dark Place within minutes using genuinely good tactics. Who knew you needed to be of sound mind and wrangle your thoughts into submission, instead of getting so wasted that you forget your problems exist? Facing your insecurities head-on is a big part of Alan Wake 2, and I think there's actually photo of Tom Zane in the dictionary under the word "Avoidance".
Overall, Alan Wake 2 seeks to fix the treatment of female characters from the older instalments in the franchise. The women in this game, Saga, Rose and Alice especially, are the reason Alan is even able to consider escaping the Dark Place. They all help Alan in their own ways, but aren't without their own character development outside of him. They are realistic, multi-dimensional characters that are pillars of the narrative, but aren't discarded once they have contributed their piece. They ARE the story now, and I can't admire the folks at Remedy enough for the shift in these themes.
Alan said himself "No one is safe in a good horror story, certainly not the protagonist". He is not safe from the horrors of the Dark Place, and he is DEFINITELY not safe from me looking way too deep into his character flaws. By the end of Alan Wake 2, I believe he is changed in his thinking though. He thanks Rose, apologizes to Saga, and gives Alice the respect that she deserves. He has been through hell, repeatedly, but has finally realized that he may need a little guidance along the way--and the women around him are more than capable.
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