Amanda Young
Amanda Young is a female film character who features in Saw.
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Biography
Amanda Young
She was a victim of the Jigsaw Killer who was a man that abducted people he saw as being unappreciative of their lives and forced them into death traps.
Amanda would later claim that this encounter ultimately saved her life, and this was what caused her to join John.
Her first task was kidnapping Adam Stanheight, and shortly after he failed his test and was left for dead, she gave Adam a mercy killing out of guilt, to end his suffering.
After Matthews failed his test and was left for dead, he escaped and engaged in a vicious fight with Amanda, demanding to know the whereabouts of his son. Amanda eventually subdued Matthews and escaped. As Amanda walked away, Matthews taunted her, saying that she's "not Jigsaw." and that she's nothing.
Amanda eventually went on to design her own traps, though unlike John's in which the subject had a chance of surviving if they followed the rules, hers were inescapable. Distraught, a now dying John decided to give Amanda one last chance to prove that she had what it takes to carry on his legacy. As he lay on his deathbed, John ordered Amanda to kidnap surgeon Lynn Denlon, who was tasked with keeping him alive until another subject, Jeff Denlon, completed his test. During this time, Amanda became upset upon seeing John being operated on and was hostile towards Lynn especially when he told Lynn that he "loved" her, when in fact he was delirious and hallucinating about his ex-wife, Jill Tuck. It was later revealed that Amanda, in the stress of her situation, had resumed her self-mutilation. Amanda was instructed by John to read a letter that was left for her, the contents of which remained unknown to both of them. Upon reading it, Amanda broke down in tears. When Amanda announced that Jeff had finished his test, John ordered Amanda to let Lynn go. Amanda refused, saying that Lynn hadn't learned anything and didn't deserve to go free. John pleaded with Amanda to let her go, but Amanda ignored him and shot Lynn. At this point, Jeff entered the room and shot Amanda in the neck. As Amanda bled to death a tearful John revealed to Amanda that Jeff and Lynn were husband and wife, and that she was being tested all along to see if she willed for Lynn to live. He explained that by making her traps unwinnable, her subjects were merely victims, and she wasn't testing anyone's will to live, thus defeating John's original purpose.
Young was depicted as ignoring John's modus operandi by creating inescapable traps that kill the subject regardless of whether or not they successfully complete their test. She also displays tendencies of cutting herself under stress. The dying John decides to put Amanda through a test to see if she is still stable enough to carry on his work by having her work with Dr. Lynn Denlon to keep him alive while she oversees the tests of Jeff Denlon. Amanda acts abusively toward Lynn, jealous of the attention John is giving her, even having a fight with her at one point. At one point, she goes into another room to find an envelope that John told her about before his surgery; she finds a letter inside it which causes her even more distress and, upon reading its contents, she breaks down and cries. While John is being operated on, he becomes delirious and professes his love for his ex-wife Jill Tuck, but which Amanda mistakes as an undeserved professed love for Lynn. Amanda becomes angry and refuses to remove the shotgun collar from Lynn, which will kill her if John flatlines. A heated argument about John's ethics and whether or not Lynn learned anything ensues, revealing that Amanda made her traps inescapable because she felt that the victims wouldn't have learned anything from the test they were put through, and ending with Amanda shooting Lynn in the abdomen just as Jeff walks in. Jeff witnesses this and shoots Amanda in the neck. As she dies, a saddened John explains the nature of her test – Lynn and Jeff are in fact husband and wife – and expresses disappointment at her effectively defeating the point of his actions by giving her victims no chance to learn from their tests.
Overview
Personality and attributes
She came to see John as a leader, a teacher, and a father figure, and agreed to become his apprentice and eventually successor.
Powers and abilities
Amanda eventually went on to design her own traps, though unlike John's in which the subject had a chance of surviving if they followed the rules, hers were inescapable.
Notes
- Amanda Young was created by James Wan and Leigh Whannell with her being portrayed by actor Shawnee Smith where she appeared in the setting of the Saw universe.
- In an interview in the Irish Journal of Gothic and Horror Studies, Jake Huntley wrote, "The difficulty Amanda has in locating herself within the symbolic order is evident in the dénouement of Saw III. In a flashback scene she commits a mercy killing of Adam and is then attacked by the maimed Eric Matthews. Her face running with blood from their fight (reminiscent of Jigsaw's blood mask as he lies prone throughout Saw I), Amanda walks away from the injured detective until he begins shouting after her that she's "nothing" and "you're not Jigsaw." These taunts are what provoke a response. In the present of Saw III Amanda confronts Lynn and Jigsaw whilst brandishing a gun, angry and jealous over Jigsaw's apparent fondness for the physician, demanding to know why Lynn is so important to him, complaining that Lynn is "nothing" and "worthless" and crying that she (Amanda) doesn't mean anything to Jigsaw. "Nothing", "not Jigsaw" and "not important" become the signification closing in around Amanda – yet her demand "Fix me, motherfucker," is a mimicking of Jigsaw's continual ambiguity of speech as it carries the implication of her past drug addiction before she knew Jigsaw. Even at such a critical moment, jostling a gun between the terrified Lynn and the terminal Jigsaw, Amanda's desire to identify with her mentor remains."
In other media
Video games
- In Dead By Daylight, Amanda Young appeared as a playable character in the setting of the 2016 video games DLC pack "The Saw Chapter". She wore a pighead mask and appeared as a killer known only as The Pig.
Comic Books
- In Saw: Rebirth, Amanda Young appeared in the setting of the comic prequel one-shot made by IDW Publishing.
Appearances
- Saw: (2004)
- Saw II:
- Saw III:
External Links
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