Theatre Thursdays- The Silence of the Lambs

The first movie that I would like to talk about is Silence of the Lambs. The INCREDIBLE movie that centers around the legendary Hannibal Lector and the incomparable Clarice Starling. There are many, many, many reasons why I get so wrapped up in this movie. The first, and perhaps silliest, reason that  I love this movie is because of my oh so tiny obsession with Hannibal Lector [SHUT UP MADDE, it is tiny!]. He is educated, worldly, cultured and incredibly intuitive where most killers in films are neanderthals, isolated, ignorant and simply crude, he rules and intimidates with intellect and thought. The second and most overpowering reason why I love this movie is that it is indisputably feminist. Starting with the invincible Clarice Starling, not only does she want to be a woman who conquers a mans world [the F.B.I.] but she also takes into account the injustices in the male dominated world that she inhabits and takes issue with them [as evident when she tells her boss off for telling the officers in the funeral home not to discuss the case in front of her  because she was a woman]. However not once does she consider letting those things deter her, and in the book which I also strongly recommend, she is faced with even more, and she constantly strives toward her goal without ever giving up. She also gets the things that she accomplishes purely based on intelligence and strength and skill, not looks or anything physical or even through superficial charm. She also conquers the so-called strong and powerful men, all of them. 

Even beyond those reasons she is an all powerful woman  who also has depth, one of the qualities that most of the women in film, and in hollywood in general, lack. She is driven to do these things in order to silence the screaming of her demons, as symbolized in the screaming of the lambs. If you want to see it, there is also feminism in that, one of her darkest memories was the death of her father, who died as a result of a gunshot suffered on duty as a police officer. She was able to conquer the world that ultimately led to her fathers fatal demise. Furthermore, she accomplishes these things completely devoid of men, even the comfort she does receive is through her best friend, a woman named Delia. Which brings me to the other strong females prevalent in Silence of the Lambs. Delia, although her part is minimal and mainly there to further Clarice, she is a woman also thriving in the male dominated F.B.I and she was the one who had the revelation that led Clarice to figure out that Buffalo Bill knew his first victim, which leads her to capturing him. Then  there is the woman who is the unfortunate mother of Kathryn, captured by Bill during the movie, She is also a United States Senator, yet another woman in power. Her daughter Kathryn, although she is saved by someone else, she never does quit trying to save herself, and actually manages to outsmart her capture when she lures his beloved dog into the cell that he traps her in. Finally, there is also empowerment in the murderous Buffalo Bill himself. Though he harms women he does it in an attempt to create a woman's suit, because he wants to be a woman. That, albeit violently, portrays the idea that to be a woman is something to be coveted and envied, a view not generally accepted. The best part is that in spite of this high voltage of feminism it is conveyed in a way that alienates no one and relates it in a way that can appeal not just to women but to men, a theme that needs to be much more prevalent in films even today.