As with other recent entries--do not use avoidance constructs like "I agree completely" or variations thereof in your response posts.
Thursday, November 8, 2012
Blog Post #7: Silence of the Lambs
As with other recent entries--do not use avoidance constructs like "I agree completely" or variations thereof in your response posts.
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Though described as a monster Hannibal's roll in helping solve the Buffalo Bill case deviates you from this prior understanding of him. Also Hannibal's monstrosity does surface once again towards the end of the film, but at the very end Hannibal also gets his revenge. This is unlike any other monster in a film making you once again deviate from the thought of him as monstrous. The film Silence of The Lambs is homage to the horror film in general because through Clarice's visits with Hannibal what fear can be defined as is addressed. Within these visits the monster inside the mind is the main subject in three different ways. The first way is talking about how Buffalo Bill "thinks" he is a transvestite and "I'm sure he thinks he's a lot of things" says Hannibal. Bill is acting out in monstrous ways because within his own mind he finds these actions necessary in order to satisfy himself. Secondly is Clarice herself and the memories from her childhood acting as the monster. You can almost conclude she has picked her career field because the monstrous memories from the farm and the need to be able to stop something from being killed. She does this and thats where the name of the movie comes from because afar stopping the murder the screaming lambs from the farm have been silenced. Lastly is the monster within Hannibal's mind which is never directly discussed, the monster is just shown through the actions you know he has taken in the past. In my opinion he can read into himself to well and it has driven him insane, why he is eating people I do not know. The monster of the mind being presented through so many characters all on different planes or sides is what can complicate where the monster lies. This is because it is not a "monster" they're are multiple "monsters".
ReplyDeleteHannibal never really appears monstrous to us until the end of the film because he does nothing except try to help Clarice solve the Buffalo Bill case. Buffalo Bill is seen as the obvious monster throughout the film because of his constant kidnapping and ultimately killing of innocent women. Buffalo Bill does not set out to purposely kill the women, their death is just a result of him starving them and then pealing off their skin. Buffalo Bill feels the need to make himself a women suit out of the skin of real women to somehow satisfy his needs inside of his mind that go along with him being a transvestite.
DeleteHannibal Lecter is described to us as a monster in the beginning of the film The Silence of the Lambs. Once Hannibal takes on an active role in trying to solve the Buffalo Bill case he does not appear as monstrous in our eyes. Clarice visits with Hannibal multiple times and although he was unsure at first whether he wants to help her he eventually begins to form a trusting relationship with her and never attempts to put her in any danger. However, at the end of the film Hannibal's monstrosity resurfaces when he kills two security guards and peals off one of their faces and pretends to be him so he can escape from his maximum security jail cell. Once in the ambulance Hannibal reveals his true identity and attacks the ambulance drivers as well. The monster inside the mind is addressed through Buffalo Bill attacking and ultimately killing innocent women because he thinks he is a transvestite and he feels the need to make himself a woman suit with actual women skin. Clarice also has a monster inside her mind which consist of images and voices of her childhood experience of lambs screaming and being slaughtered before her eyes. Her monster disappears at the end of the film once she captures Buffalo Bill and saves the innocent life of the woman he kidnapped. The lambs were silenced in her mind after she finally saved an innocent life after all those years. Lastly, Hannibal also has a monster within his mind because of his past actions which ultimately led to him being locked up in a maximum security prison. The film complicates the demarcations of where the monster lies because the monster is present in three different people and it acts in three very different ways.
ReplyDeleteI think your point about him being involved with the police is correct. We start to see him as the "good guy" for awhile until his monstrous side comes out again. I'm not sure how the images in Clarice's head tie into the monster however. I think that this gives her motivation in order to solve the Buffalo Bill crimes. She is motivated to solve and stop these "monsters." I think that during the film she forms her relationship with Hannibal and forgets that he is just as dangerous as Buffalo Bill. I thought this was interesting and as you describe she forms a trusting relationship with this "psychopath." her captain even warns her about him but she disregards this and in the end she does not get hurt by this relationship.
DeleteAs an audience we are confused as to who is the monster throughtout the film because it can be multiple people. However, you did a good job explaining how the monster in the mind can be spotted in both Hannibal Lecter and Clarice. As you pointed out, the quite obvious monster is Hannibal at the end when he kills the gaurds and uses their skin to make body suits. When the murders have been stopped, the monster in the mind of Clarice has also been stopped. You also pointed this out which is good.
DeleteI think that in a lot of films, it's easy to get confused on who the actual monster is. Theought Silence of the Lambs, its portrayed that Hannibal Lecter is trying to help and isnt the monster he used to be. But as you pointed out, the monster can emmerge at any time. I liked the explanation and detail you gave to make your valid points.
DeleteIn Silence of the Lamb, Hannibal Lecter is introduced early in the movie as a "psychopath." This sets us up to believe that he is a person to be feared. But as the movie goes on, we are introduced to "Buffalo Bill" who for some reason seems scarier than Hannibal Lecter. The character "Buffalo Bill" is making suits out of human's skin and killing innocent people to do so. For me, this immediately seems strange and makes him a monster to me. However, thinking about Hannibal Lecter, he is a cannibal who eats humans. I think it is interesting how by the end of the movie, "Buffalo Bill" becomes the person we fear. I think this is for two reasons. The first is that "Buffalo Bill" does not seem sane throughout the movie. Every time we see him, he seems to be up to something and it distracts us from Hannibal. I think it is interesting how we can become distracted by someone because they seem to be odd or different. Neither Hannibal or "Buffalo Bill" are normal but by the end of the movie, we view Hannibal as the "more sane." I think the second reason that we view him as less of a psychopath by the end is because he helps the police department catch "Buffalo Bill." Even though Hannibal has eaten a police officer in order to escape, he is still "better" than "Buffalo Bill" because he has assisted in the capture of him. I think that this theme can be seen that we are oblivious about the monsters that we come into contact with everyday. As seen in Silence of the Lambs, Clarice Starlings is initially afraid of Hannibal. But by the end of the movie, they have formed a friendship because of his assistance with the police. This can be related to how everyday we talk to people who we consider to be our "friends" but we do not know everything about them. This movie brings up the point that we can be so distracted by what we view as a "monster" that we are distracted from those around us who are equally as dangerous.
ReplyDeleteThere is a connection between the "catch" of Buffalo Bill and Hannibal seeming less dangerous. I think that since he is involved in society and we see how he thinks and his interactions with humans he seems more human. Compared to Buffalo Bill who is being chased and is not as involved throughout the story, making him seem less human and more monstrous.
DeleteIn the movie "Silence of the Lamb", we see that it is not completely clear in where that monster lies. Through out the movie the monster seems to be in three different people. Hannibal, Buffalo Bill, and Clarice see to have a monster with in them. First, we can clearly see the monster in Hannibal because at the beginning he is seen as a psychopath and is feared. Also he helps solve the Buffalo Bill case which seems to make us shy away from the previous interpretation we had of him. We also see the monster come back in him when he kills the two security guards and skins one of their faces and makes it his and sneaks out of jail. We also see the monster appear in Buffalo Bill. We see this when he makes the suits out of human skin. We can also see this because of his past and that those memories create a monster in him. Lastly, we see a monster in Clarice. This is because her memories of lambs being slaughtered creates a monster with in her. Thus the name of the movie "Silence of the Lamb". We can clearly see why this film complicates the clear demarcations of where the monster lies.
ReplyDeleteAlthough your points are valid, I think that there is more to Clarice's background other than just the slaughtering of the lambs. I believe the death of both of her parents played a big role in the creation of what she became. Dr. Hannibal Lecter's cooperation in the finding of "Buffalo Bill" does give us a different impression of him, but his true character shows at the end of the movie.
DeleteI don't believe that Claris is on of the monsters in this film. Yes she did have monstrous things happen to her throughout her life but they don't make here the monster. Watching the lambs get slaughtered doesn't make her a monster, she did try to save one. Well she did for a while then when she got caught by the sheriff of the town he took her back and then the lamb was slaughtered. If she was a monster then I don't believe that she would have been able to help save both Catherine and Precious.
DeleteI feel that Clarice is not necessarily a monster directly, but the mental battle of silencing the slaughters of the lambs is. This somewhat clouds her judgement, and makes it harder for her to solve the crimes. Hannibal is a clear monster because he is a psychopath, and Buffalo Bill is a sick murderer who skins innocent security guard workers. Yes she did save Catherine and Precious, but based the mental instability she is a monster.
DeleteAt the beginning of Silence of the Lambs, the most obvious monster is "Buffalo Bill." After Clarice gets called into Jacks office when she is running through the woods, she notices all of the pictures on the wall of people "Buffalo Bill" has skinned and murdered. These pictures represent the beginning of an uncontrollable monstrous form who's motivation comes from the desire to transform into the other sex. Clearly "Buffalo Bill" is a diverse monster yet he is the most obvious. Although he is the most obvious monster, its not clear weather he is the true monster or not. The reasoning behind Clarice's decision to become a part of the FBI is a monster in itself. Both of her parents died before she was 11 years old and she was sent to her with her uncle. While there she experience more death and more killing through the lambs on the farm. She was so devastated by this that she ran away only to be caught down the road. Last but certainly not least, Dr. Hannibal Lecter is the expected monster but his true monstrous form does not show until the end of the movie. Through all of the visits Clarice has with Lecter her main objective is to obtain information about "Buffalo Bill." Although she is unaware, he is taking full advantage of her and the situation he is put in. He gives her the information that she wants but when he is transferred and when the opportunity for him to escape appears, he does not let it pass him up. So the following makes it hard to understand where the monster truly lies, killings by "Buffalo Bill", Clarice's childhood, and the ability to deceive by Hannibal Lecter.
ReplyDeleteIn the beginning of the film Hannibal Lecter seems to be the monster within the film. As the story progresses the audience sees Buffalo Bill emerge to be the more dangerous of the two. As Hannibal becomes more involved with assisting in the catch of Buffalo Bill, he is seen as less and less of a monster because he is "helping" to find the "bad guy." As Clarice visits Hannibal the audience sees how he manipulates her into revealing her past and makes her tell her of her traumatic experiences with the lamb slaughter house. Hannibal is not only a monster for his past but for the way he interacts and manipulates humans which he is involved with. The film shows respect toward the monster inside the mind by showing how complex the mind really is. There is much more to a monster than just wanting to kill, there is twisted ways in which they can go about what they do and the reasons behind it. For example, Buffalo Bill wanting to be make a woman suit out of real human flesh. This film shows the mind of the monster and how it comes to its conclusions about its decisions leading to the unspeakable crimes. The film also complicates the way in which the monster is represented. In the beginning it is Hannibal, then it shifts toward Buffalo Bill. The film uses interactions with society to give the appearance of safety. The more Hannibal is involved in the capture the more the shift of the monster is directed towards Buffalo Bill. No matter which way the shift goes both are monsters and have committed horrific crimes.
ReplyDeleteThe Silence of the Lambs is thriller film with numerous monster type villains. The first monster the audience is made aware of is Dr. Hannibal Lecter. The audience is forced to view “man” as monster because of the multiple acts of violence and murder committed consciously by Dr. Lecter. Dr. Lecter is a psychiatrist, thus invoking the thought of man’s thoughts being evil. He develops a relationship with Clarice Starling, a FBI agent in training, in which only she understands his motives. The problem is that Dr. Lecter seems to be a quiet, polite, and well-educated man, however; he has the capacity to kill people by tearing at their flesh and eating it. The film forces the viewer to come to terms with evil being apart of mankind and even within ourselves. Dr. Lecter is just like everyone else but has a darker side, which enables Starling to pursue Buffalo Bill.
ReplyDeleteAt first glance, it seems strange that Dr. Lecter would be willing to assist Starling. However, Dr. Lecter understands the capacity to do evil and passes this knowledge unto Starling. His mind and thinking allows for Starling to overcome her own personal problems, as well as, to aid in the capturing of Buffalo Bill. On the other hand, Buffalo Bill represents to overall evil demonstrated in the film. He is a transsexual and most people look to him as being lower class or even a scapegoat for their problems. Buffalo Bill hunts women in order to create his woman identity. Although Buffalo Bill is eventually killed and the “huntings” cease to occur, the film takes a deep look into what it means to be or see evil. Evil has a way of being around us and within us at the same time. If people are not careful, they can overlook the signs and fall victim to monstrosity’s wrongdoings.
Silence of the Lambs has two main monsters in it. At first we are only sure of the one monster, Buffalo Bill, but as the story continues and we get more involved with Hannibal Lecter we find that he also is a monster. We were more focused on Buffalo Bill during the film since that is what the movie seemed to be about, but if we clearly watched the action of Lecter then we would find him to be out of place. It was known from the get go that he had eaten people and that’s why he was in glass box. From the look of it, it could have been that he was “normal”, we knew that he wasn’t from the way that he moved around and noticed little things that others would simply pass up, such as when Claris cut herself, he noticed when she had stopped bleeding and made sure that she knew that he knew. All the little things in this movie point to how he is one of the monsters. Buffalo Bill was out main monster since he was killing and skinning women. We were not sure of his motive in the beginning of the movie as of to why he was skinning them. As the movie progress we found that he was trying to make a woman’s body suit so that he could wear it around and be accepted by the people.
ReplyDeleteThis film complicates who the monster is because it goes between two different people. We never saw the monster side of Lecter only of Bill, in the end is when we really find out that there are two monsters.
The way that this film complicates who the monster is makes it more interesting and keeps us entranced into the movie. If we knew that Bill was the guy that we were after and didn’t have a person to show us into the mind of Bill then it would just be another serial killer. Having Lecter guide Claris is what gave more depth into seeing the lives of the monsters.
Even though the film “The Silence of the Lambs” is full of horror and monstrosity, it is often unclear who or what is exactly the monster. Hannibal Lector is literally called a monster by Dr. Chilton and is definitely portrayed as one in the beginning of the film. However as the film progresses, the idea of Hannibal Lector as the monster becomes questionable. We are introduced with a character that rivals the monstrosity and savagery of Hannibal Lector – “Buffalo Bill”. Buffalo Bill becomes sort of the antagonist of the film and is shown as a target and as being evil.
ReplyDeleteHannibal Lector eventually offers help to the capture of Buffalo Bill and becomes sort of an unlikely hero. However, his monstrosity is brought back into question when he commits two murders. The film definitely complicates a search for the true monster because it presents us with two obvious villains. However, I believe that there is more evidence in favor of Buffalo Bill being the monster.
I like how you started off with questioning who really was the monster. It is true that either person could be the monster at one point, towards the end I do agree that Buffalo Bill is the monster. Either way, Hannibal and Buffalo Bill could be at fault because they both committed crime.
DeleteI think "Buffalo Bill" has more evidence towards him being the monster only because of how much of the content showed him throughout the film. He was shown more often to sort of keep us away from thinking of Hannibal, but I do think Hannibal is a big monster through out the film. Although he does have some "helping" factors to him, he always seems to prove himself as a monster somehow (the security guard scene).
DeleteIn the movie "Silence of the Lamb", it is somewhat unclear as to where the monster lies. First it introduces us Hannibal Lecter and he seems to be the monster initially. However, we soon learn about a man named Buffalo Bill who seems to be more monstrous than Hannibal. Hannibal is described as a psychopath, where as Buffalo Bill is a man that goes around killing people and making skin suits and masks out of their dead bodies. These two sort of fight or battle one another for the main role of the monster. But Hannibal is a monster in the mind, where as Buffalo Bill has the incidents of physical destruction. Finally, the last member that competes for that monstrous role is Clarice. This happens due to her recollections of the lambs being slaughtered when she was younger. In turn, this creates a monster within her. Hannibal never really appears to be a monster until the end, because he is helping Clarice with the Buffalo Bill case throughout the film. Even though the movie’s clear monster is Buffalo Bill, it is safe to argue that the other two main characters could be monsters within their own minds. They sort of compete for the role of the monster without directly doing it, and in turn, this complicates any clear demarcations of where the monster lies
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting how you referred to Hannibal being monstrous mentally and Buffalo Bill being monstrous physically and through physical acts. I feel that this is pretty accurate, however it should not be overlooked that Buffalo Bill is also a monster in the mind. Also, Hannibal committed many physical acts of murder, so it can really go either way.
DeleteClarice as the monster is also an idea worth mentioning. Possibly she could represent societies' views towards the characters of Hannibal Lector and Buffalo Bill.
I mixed up Buffalo Bill and Hannibal, my apologies. Hannibal did the killing of the guards and went to jail for it and escaped. This event is where the monster in him reappears.
DeleteBoth Hannibal Lecter and Buffalo Bill are early spectated to be the true monsters in the film. However, I do not consider Clarice's thoughts to be monstrous. I consider her thoughts to be flashbacks of traumatic events that happened in her life. Clarice is able to use those flashbacks as a way to keep herself in focusing on capturing Buffalo Bill.
DeleteIn the beginning of the film Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal Lecter seems to be the monster within the film. Hannibal Lecter is introduced early in the movie as a "psychopath,” that’s why I say he’s the monster. As the story progresses the audience sees Buffalo Bill emerge to be the more dangerous of the two. As Hannibal becomes more involved with assisting in the catch of Buffalo Bill, he is seen as less and less of a monster because he is "helping" to find the "bad guy." The character "Buffalo Bill" is making suits out of human's skin and killing innocent people to do so, which makes “Buffalo Bill” scarier than Hannibal. To give the appearance of safety, the film uses interactions with society. Buffalo Bill starts getting blamed more and more when Hannibal is involved in the capture. No matter which way the shift goes both are monsters and have committed horrific crimes.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that Buffalo Bill is the more dangerous out of the two. Hannibal Lector is far more of a threat than Bill. Bill can mutilate the body, but Hannibal can mutilate the mind. He can manipulate people so well that he caused the man in the cell next to him to swallow his own tongue in order to commit suicide. Unlike Bill, Hannibal is very calculating and he isn't afraid to wait for his chance to strike, no matter how long it might take. He is extremely intelligent and just as menacing as Bill and that makes him much more terrifying.
DeleteI think "Buffalo Bill" has more evidence towards him being the monster only because of how much of the content showed him throughout the film. He was shown more often to sort of keep us away from thinking of Hannibal, but I do think Hannibal is a big monster through out the film. Although he does have some "helping" factors to him, he always seems to prove himself as a monster somehow (the security guard scene).
ReplyDeleteIn “Silence of the Lambs” the monster seems to come out crystal clear in the beginning, but then starts to get complicated towards the end. We think the crazy mind of “Hannibal Lector” is the monster, but after introduced to “Buffalo Bill” things start to get more complex. We see “Buffalo Bill” slaughter women and a make human suits out of their skin. We seemed to be taken away from the fact that Hannibal could be the crazy one, because we are so distracted by “Buffalo Bill’s” horrors along with Hannibal’s “nice ways” of helping Clarice discover the murders. And after Hannibal reminds us of his monstrous ways through the security guard scene, we are reminded how horrific he really is. There is confusion discovering who the monster is between Hannibal and “Buffalo Bill,” but there is also Clarice. Her memories of the lambs create a monster within. There are so many options of who and what the monster might be throughout this film and these are possibilities to why.
ReplyDeleteThe monster inside the film can get a little confusing as the film progresses. In the beginning of the film, Hannibal tries to help Clarice find Buffalo Bill but when Hannibal kills the two guards while escaping from the prison, we are reminded about why Hannibal is a monster. Buffalo Bill distracted us from Hannibal because Hannibal was trying to help Clarice find Buffalo Bill, a serial killer that preys on women. The true monster in the film can become very complicated since there are more than one monster present in the film.
DeleteThe film The Silence of the Lambs explores the themes of monstrosity by using two different serial killers to explore this issue. At first viewers are led to believe that Hannibal Lecter is a monster because he is facing a lengthy prison sentence for murder and committing acts of cannibalism. As the film progresses viewers are led to believe that "Buffalo Bill" is the true monster because of his many murderous acts towards numerous women. However, by the end of the film the true actually monster lies in the both criminals’ thoughts. Lecter often said that people often covet what they see. If a person covets something evil, they will achieve evil. This idea is shown in brutal actions of both criminals. The movie makes it seem as the criminals’ actions were monstrous when it was really their thoughts.
ReplyDeleteIts confusing to say that there is only one moster in this film where there is a couple of them. After your comment it makes you think that its possible for anyone to really be a monster due to your thoughts. But I think what really makes a monster is weather or not you act on those thoughts. In any case you can say everyone is a monster because we all have evil thoughts and that the people who act out these thoughts are not monsters but just humans acting on natural feelings/thoughts.
DeleteIn the film "The Silence of the Lambs", there is more than one monster presented inside the film. The three monsters in the film are Hannibal, Buffalo Bill and Clarice. Hannibal is the first monster we encounter in the film because Hannibal is a serial killer and is considered a "psychopath." Hannibal is being incarcerated and Clarice interviews Hannibal because Clarice needs to track down Buffalo Bill, a serial killer. Hannibal escapes from his cell and kills two guards while in the process which brings back the monster inside of him. As the story progresses, Buffalo Bill is seen as a monster becuase he kills women and skins their corpses so he can make a woman suit. We also see Clarice as the monster because of the memories she has of the lambs. This complicates things because we can not figure out who the true monster of the film is. All three characters have the monster inside them.
ReplyDeleteIt seems harsh to describe Clarice as a monster when the film places her as the main character, or protagonist. Although she stole a lamb when she was younger, it does not seem quite accurate to say that this action was monstrous. I would suggest Hannibal and Buffalo Bill are the most evident monsters in the film. Hannibal uses mind games and tricks to get his ways while Buffalo Bill uses more physical means. Both of these men use tactics to victimize other women. Hannibal forces Clarice to play "20 Questions" with him, while Buffalo Bill stocks and captures women. It appears evident that the real monster is instead inside the minds of these two men and women help bring about the monstrosity.
Deletei cant find ways to justify Clarice as a monster. her role as the protagonist and detective in this film leads me to believe that she couldn't be a monster. Even though she ran away when she was a girl i dont think that makes her a monster. Buffalo Bill and Hannibal Lector are the two obvious monsters. they both use mind games to get what they want. Buffalo Bill makes himself look injured to get help moving a chair and kidnaps a girl. Hannibal uses mind games to get in Clarice's head talking about her past. i dont think of Clarice as a monster. i only see Buffalo Bill and Lector as monsters.
DeleteClarice does not seem to be a monster due to her memories of the lambs, she just seems to be tormented by them because she feels like she should have tried to save innocent creatures from being killed, which she does by stopping Buffalo Bill in the film. Still the two monsters in the film, Buffalo Bill and Hannibal Lecture do cause confusion about who the true monster of the fill is.
DeleteI do not see Clarice herself as a monster, but rather the nightmares she has from that fateful night back at her aunt and uncle's ranch. She wishes she could have saved the lambs, and she now suffers from that remorse. In the same way, she wishes she could have saved Buffalo Bill's victims before it was too late, and seeing the skin suit is a reminder of how she and the FBI couldn't solve the case in time. Hannibal Lecter is much more of a monster for his abilities to mess with people's minds so subtly and lay their innermost thoughts out on the table.
DeleteIn most horror films, you have a clear idea of who the good and bad guys are. In Silence of the Lambs, that line is muddied by Hannibal Lector. The obvious good guy in the film is Clarice and the Obvious bad guy is Buffalo Bill, but where does that leave Hannibal? Before we even meet him, he is described as a crazed lunatic. But when Clarice visits him in his cell block, he is stoic, polite, and intelligent, thus confusing how we are supposed to perceive him. He offers Clarice his help in capturing Buffalo Bill in exchange for her personal experiences, and ultimately his help leads Clarice to Buffalo Bill's house. By the end of the film, you not only fear Hannibal Lector but you also admire his intelligence and his ability to escape a maximum security prison. And shouldn't feeling anything other than repulsion of Hannibal's actions make us a monster too? This film does a wonderful job of turning the tables on our own minds and making us empathize with the character we are supposed to hate the most.
ReplyDeleteI love how you talked about how the film works on our minds. It really does make us question ourselves. Lecter is obviously a monster, yet we still are able admire his intelligence. I think that kind of freaks us out a little bit and if that was what the makers of the film were trying to do, they did a good job. This film not only makes us afraid of Buffalo Bill and Hannibal Lecter, it makes us afraid of ourselves as well.
DeleteHannibal Lector reveals the gray areas of what defines a monster. Although Lector is a cannibalistic serial killer he is helpful to the capture of Buffalo Bill. His ability to gain insight into the childhood of Clarice shows his intellectual power over others which makes him so dangerous. Although he puts off a normal, polite front his inhumane tendencies never leave him and after he escapes from the prison he victimizes Dr. Chilton, returning Lector to his monstrosity. I believe Lector always was a monster and our ability to perceive him otherwise is due to the fragile state of the mind.
DeleteEven though Hannibal is polite when Clarice visits him you can still tell he's a monster. You are able to tell that Hannibal has characteristics that are different than normal individuals and before Clarice enters the psychologist shows her a picture of what he did to someones face when the restraints were taken off for a small amount of time. I don't think you really loose sight of him as a monster until the second visit and then so on throughout the movie. His monstrous characteristics are then revisited when he escapes and when he says "I'm having dinner with an old friend." In my opinion though Hannibal helps solve the case, by the end of the movie it is clear that he is a monster and that what he went to jail for was not something that he would ever stop doing.
ReplyDeletethis is suppose to be a reply to McKenna Fryman
DeleteHannibal Lecter is described as a monster in the beginning of Silence of the Lambs, however his position in helping solve the Buffalo Bill case makes you see differently. In our eyes he does not seem monstrous. At the end of the film when he kills the security guards and uses their skin as masks, Hannibal’s monstrosity is once again shown to the audience. Overall, Silence of The Lambs is homage to the horror film. The monster inside the mind is addressed once Clarice visits with Hannibal multiple times. They talk about how Buffalo Bill thinks he is a transvestite. Since he thinks he is a transvestite, he goes around killing woman to satisfy his need of making a body suit with the women’s skin. Clarice also has a monster inside the mind. This is memories of her childhood experience. Her childhood memories consist of lambs being slaughter right in front of her. However, after stopping the murders the lambs in her mind have been silenced. This is where the name of the movie comes from. Throughout the movie it is really hard to determine who or what the monster really is. There are multiple possibilities that surface during the movie.
ReplyDeleteThe way in which Hannibal Lecter helps helps with Buffalo Bill case does make me see him in a much different way. He seems less frightening and more sane. Starling's childhood experience of lambs seems quite dim however in her mind it has a huge effect. It is almost like she went to be an FBI agent to silence the lambs and erase her childhood
DeleteIn watching the film Silence of the Lambs one realizes there is a strange ambiguity that develops when the monster aids in the pursuits of the protagonist. When Hannibal Lector’s character helps Clarice in her attempts to catch the serial killer Buffalo Bill, his role as a murderous and cannibalistic monster is downplayed. The fact that he is helping Clarice in a way de-monsterizes him because monsters are rarely ever seen as helpful. The idea of him as a monster does resurface however at the end of the film when Lector begins following Chilton after ending his phone conversation with Clarice. Another monster is present throughout this film however in the serial killer Buffalo Bill. Here Bill embodies the classic monstrous character through his skinning of women in order to make a woman suit. His acts are so unimaginable and inhuman that it’s nearly impossible to see him as anything other than a monster. A less obvious monstrous role in the film is depicted in Clarice’s childhood. When she witnesses the horrors of the slaughterhouse Clarice herself is faced with yet another monster.
ReplyDeleteThe film is about trying to capture Buffalo Bill before he kills agains and what better way to capture a killer who likes to take peoples skin and wear it then consult a cannibal named Dr. Hannibal Lecter. Hannibal Lecter is the true monster in the story but at times its hard to realize that because he is trying to help the police in finding Buffalo Bill. Hannibal killed and eat people which is a monstrous thing to do but does he try to redeem himself by helping Clarice in her investigation? Hannibal is a monster but that isn't seen again until the end of the movie where you see Hannibal follow Chilton after he gets off the phone. I think its clear to say that Hannibal is the monster of the film because of what he did and continues to do but does have a humanistic side because he helped capture Buffalo Bill.
ReplyDeleteI understand when you say that Hannibal is a true monster, but I also think that Buffulo Bill should be too considering the fact that he is the monster the movie is focused on trying to catch. I think killing people to eat them, and killing people to skin them are just as bad and crazy in their own way. That's why I think that there is no clear monster in this movie, that both Hannibal and Buffulo Bill are just as a monster as the other. The mother puts two monsters together in one movie in order to confuse the audience about who the real monster is.
DeleteLecter is obviously a monster. He would not have been held in such a high security facility if he wasn't a monster. However, when Buffalo Bill is introduced we can clearly see that he is a monster as well. It is when Lecter begins to aid Clarice in finding Buffalo Bill that the lines are blurred. Over the course of Clarice's visits with Lecter, he begins to seem a little less monstrous. During the time period when Clarice is visiting Lecter, we are shown scenes of Buffalo Bill. This makes him seem like more of a monster and it also makes it seem as though Lecter is less of a monster. Lecter's cooperation with Clarice eventually allows him to be moved to a facility that is less secure than the one he was in for most of the film. It's when Lecter escapes and later calls Clarice that we are truly reminded that Lecter is a monster. It could even be argued that Lecter is more of a monster than Buffalo Bill. Lecter makes it clear to Clarice in the phone call that he does not plan to stop doing the very thing that got him put into jail in the first place.
ReplyDeleteIn the movie, “The Silence of the Lambs” there are numerous monster. As the movie begins, we are introduced to Hannibal Lecter as a psychopath. With this being done we are in the mindset that he is the one we are going to fear throughout this movie. As the movie goes on, Starling discreetly introduces Buffalo Bill and asks if he knows about him. We soon begin to fear buffalo bill more because of the uncertainty of who it is. Despite the fact that Hannibal Lecter is a psychopath, he helps Starling figure out who Buffalo Bill really is which takes the level of fear we have in him down greatly. Starling even said herself that Hannibal Lecter would not go after her because he has a sense of respect for her. Buffalo Bill is a monster because he kills humans and then takes their skin and makes suits out of it. Hannibal is a cannibal who eats humans, which is something we should fear of him, however the uncertainty of who Buffalo Bill is and when he will strike puts fear into our bodies.
ReplyDeleteThe film, Silence of the Lambs, begins by being very clear that Hannibal “the Cannibal” Lecture is a monster as one character even says in the film. The creators give him a gruesome sounding name and make him much more menacing than the other serial killer, “Buffalo Bill.” Hannibal actually eats people alive; Bill cuts them apart after death. The name Hannibal Lecture just seems to spew evil while the name Buffalo Bill sounds like a cartoon character. Despite these differences in the evil of these two killers the film portrays Bill as the villain and Hannibal as a good guy who helps on the case and just wants to get out of his jail cell. It portrays Bill as a very disturbed and evil human being, while it portrays Hannibal as a different species all together. It seems like when Hannibal kills someone, he cannot help himself it is just part of what he is, a cannibal; while when Buffalo Bill kills someone it is a horrible deed done by a disgusting human being. So I believe the film makes Buffalo Bill the true monster and Hannibal a cannibal who eats humans because it is in his nature to do so even though his crimes are much more gruesome than Bill’s.
ReplyDeleteIn the begging of Silence of the Lambs we see Hannibal lector as the monster but as the film goes on we see that Buffalo Bill is the real monster Clarice is after. Needless to say Hannibal Lector is still a monster. Through out the movie he seems to be helping Clarice but in the one guard scene where he kills a bunch of people shows his monstrous powers. Since he is also a doctor he is extremely smart and can think of ways to tear a person down into doing what he wants them to do. Buffalo Bill is seen as a monster because of the evil things he is doing. He is kidnapping, killing and skinning women for the sole purpose of creating his own women suit. Hannibal Lector isn’t seen as a monster as much because he is helping Clarice try and solve the murder case.
ReplyDeleteIn the movie “Silence of the Lamb” we see two different obvious characters that could be pinned as the monster in the film. First Hannibal is a quick choice when watching to assume as the monster, but although he is a serial killer he does help Clarice to hunt down Buffalo Bill. In this sense, Hannibal has no role in the film as the monster from how he is portrayed. Secondly, Buffalo Bill is a great candidate for being the monster because of his murders and using his victims’ skin to create his own woman suit. I think that there could be an underlying monster though that comes from within. Throughout the movie there is a sense of fear when Clarice is around Hannibal, even though he has never done anything to her and is only trying to help with the Buffalo Bill case. In addition to the fear of Hannibal, Clarice is still haunted by the image of lambs being slaughtered when she was a little kid, not creating just fear but clouding her mind when working on the case. These two examples stand to make a case that the monster does come from within and does not have to be present at that moment to still cause fear.
ReplyDeleteAt the opening of the film "Silence of the Lambs," Hannibal Lecter is set up as the monster to be feared. A former psychiatrist, Hannibal became a cannibal and turned into a serial killer to satisfy his thirst for the flesh He is now kept under maximum security and watched at all hours to make sure he cannot escape and kill countless others just as he did before. Due to Lecter's experience and familiarity with Buffalo Bill, another serial killer running rampant, FBI student Clarice Starling seeks any assistance she can from him, but he has his own agendas. At the end of the film, the viewer learns that Buffalo Bill has been kidnapping large women in order to make a female skin suit to wear since he was previously denied a sex change operation. This is when the shift is finally made to pinning Buffalo Bill as the monster because he takes the lives of innocent people by starving them and stealing parts of their flesh.
ReplyDeleteHowever, monsters are not always the disturbing physical creatures they are always made out to be. For Clarice, the memory of her father's death and her time spent on her aunt and uncle's ranch still haunts her. She cannot escape the night she witnessed the lambs being slaughtered, hearing their desperate cries for help. She even tried to assist the lambs in escaping, but they were frozen in fear and confusion. This powerful memory serves as an internal conflict or monster for Clarice, one that many peple are not aware of in the midst of the serial killer phenomena going on.
Hannibal Lecter is a monster for murdering the people that he does and eating them. But he also has a good side to him, he is willing to help Clarice with finding Buffalo Bill. Granted that he does manipulate her into getting what he wants. He does still help add in the capture of Buffalo Bill. Buffalo Bill is the only true monster in the film because he murders and skins women without mercy on them. Buffalo Bill is a clear cut monster, were as Hannibal is not, he helps but he is still a killer as well.
ReplyDeleteThe main way the film complicates where the monster lies is in the fact that Clarice needs the help of a so called monster to catch another monster. The concept of monster is muddied bacause we have heard about Hannibal and what he has done. So we begin to view him as a monster but also have to consider the fact that Clarice is using him to find Buffulo Bill, the other monster in the film. Actually initally in the movie Hannibal seems pretty calm, which makes him seem less of a monster. Another thing that can confuse the viewer of the monster is that Lecter is a psychiatrist, one who would generally be the person to help the so called monsters cope with their problems. We don't actully see Hannibal be a monster until he kills the guards. Also we see that when Starling finds out who Buffulo Bill actually is, that it makes him seem less of a monster. Although he has done bad things, from that point on he seems very misunderstood and almost like he feels trapped in his own body. Which then would account for his reason to kill woman and make suits out of them. But in the end I believe they are both still monsters, just they have some viewpoints where one could see them as not really a monster.
ReplyDeleteHannibal Lector is supposed to be considered a monster due to his cannibalistic nature however the film "Silence of the Lambs" portrays him as a cunning and helpful asset to the capture of another serial killer known as "Buffalo Bill". This man has been considered a transsexual and kills woman for their skin so he can make a "woman's suite" The real monster that seems to overtake the film would be the monster inside the mind and the fragile aspects of the mind that can cause it to crack. Hannibal Lector uses his years of psychiatry to gain information about Clarice and in return gives her information leading towards the capture of Buffalo Bill. Clarice reveals to Lector the dark sides of her childhood willingly. Although Hannibal Lector helps in capture of Buffalo Bill he is still a cannibalistic serial killer and eventually escapes his jail cell. This shows that the monster always escapes and although capturing one killer, another (Hannibal Lector) remains out in the world.
ReplyDeleteThe movie contains two monsters. The first, of course is Dr. Hannibal Lecter; a former psychiatrist who also happens to be a killer. But when Lecter start becoming involved in the pursuit of Buffalo Bill, his monster character seems to be not that clear because he starts to help Starling find the serial killer. He looks like a well-educated man and knows the knowledge of evil. In this movie, Lecter seems like a cipher used to expose people’s fears and dark thoughts.
ReplyDeleteThe other monster is Buffalo Bill who wants to make a woman suit out of his victims’ real skin and wear it in order to be accepted by people. He is out of control and is the antithesis of Lecter. He is more of a monster due to his grotesque behavior.
In "Silence of the Lambs" it is portrayed through out most of the movie that Buffalo Bill is a horrific monster who is kidnapping young woman with plans to make a skin outfit for himself. Clarice is an investigetor who is looking to get to the bottom of these kidnappings and the first place she thinks to look is Dr. Hannibal Lecter who is also a killer. Even tho Lecter is a killer himself, the film shows him as a helpful and genuine person trying to help Clarice with the persuite of Buffalo Bill. Lecter uses his relationship with Clarice to his benefit when Clarice shares her darkened past. Lecter eventually breaks out of the jail and this is when the shift of nice to monster takes place in Lecter. I think this film is trying to show that you really can't trust anyone and that once someone is a monster, its hard to break away from that past to even become somethin else. This was the case for Hannible Lecter
ReplyDeleteI felt the film was built around an odd perspective, somewhat omniscient which gave me mixed feelings when selecting who was ultimately the monster. For the duration of the movie Jame Gumb was certainly the most active monster but Hannibal Lecture was known for his hideous murders and he was incarcerated already in the movie. In other words Jame Gumb was the monster in my eyes because he was a foot for a majority of the movie. Again I have mixed feelings however because the last scenes of the movie Hannibal still alive and free from police just moments from him preparing to commit another cannibalistic act. Once I saw that, I realized that the mystery left behind Hannibal’s whereabouts made him the more feared monster by the end of the film.
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