The Silence of the Lambs - What it all Meant

Hi, I'm Ethan Grimes. The Silence of the Lambs is a film that focuses on base identity and transformation. These words mean nothing by themselves. Their meanings come from many places and details in the work that we'll delve into to figure out what it all meant. For this discussion, I defined base identity as what someone assumes about outside traits or labels in a very bare-bones sense. Not stereotypes or the associated prejudices, but very general ingrained attitudes that go along with basic characteristics or primal reactions. Take Clarice Starling. She is a brilliant person who will under extreme pressure and driven to march on of her own accord and ability. She's not perfect, much like any real human being is false. She's well-adjusted to the traumas of her life, curbing her personal sorrows or even harnessing them to propel. These are, to most people, exceptional qualities in a person, but it's not a person that's always seen. The base identity and association that we get to see firsthand from her point of view is her womanhood. Characters in the film aren't necessarily being misogynist or going on stereotypes, but they do, for instance, assume on her physicality. Put a return tomorrow with my son. You know, we get a lot of detectives here, but I must say I can't ever remember one as attractive. Immediately hit on her. Will you be in Baltimore overnight? Or don't respect her. Go on now, let us take care of her. Go on now. While she's no stranger to playing off of these moments. You might have suggested this in my office and saved me the time. Yes, but then I would have missed the pleasure of your company, sir. They are still interactions that shouldn't happen professionally or otherwise. So Clarice, intentionally or unintentionally, tries to ignore or buck these trends through the way she presents herself and the line of work she leads. Much in the same vein as Dr. Lecter, Hannibal is someone who, especially in the early 1990s, comes off quite differently from the base identity of a madman. The other inmates at the asylum are more akin to that idea. Hannibal is intelligent, witty, and cunning. He can pick people apart with ease. Simplicity. Read Marcus Aurelius of each particular thing. Ask, what is it in itself? What is its nature? This ability to analyze is matched only with his charm. Love your suit. When he means to. He's playful and exciting. Foreign and passionate. An argument could be made that Hannibal is one of the most human and caring of all the people in the film. Unlike Miggs, who shares his affection bluntly, or the numerous normal people that hit on her boldly and poorly, You ever go out for cheeseburgers and beer? Are you hitting on me, doctor? Hannibal gets to know Clarice. Quit pro quo. I tell you things, you tell me things. Not about this case, though. About yourself. He cares about her past, her goals, her state of mind. What is your worst memory of childhood? He enjoys playing with her to a point, and knows when to give in. Okay, smile. But most importantly, he respects her despite any attraction he may have for her physically. These transformations of expectation are based on their respective base identities, but aren't intrinsically intentional. Clarice seems to be doing it more out of need or habit. When I told that sheriff we shouldn't talk in front of a woman, that really burned you, didn't it? While Hannibal is just being himself. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti. It's in Buffalo Bill that we see someone doing it intentionally. Lecter theorizes he was created rather than born this way. Our Billy wasn't born a criminal, Clarice. He was made one through years of systematic abuse. A transformation in its own right. Hates his own identity, you see. And he thinks that makes him a transsexual. He somehow associated this with the base identity of being a man. So he felt pressured to change a major identifier. Something with the base identity of beauty. A woman. His methods are heinous and cruel. It rubs the lotion on its skin. It does this whenever it's told. They even belittle other human beings, in much the same way that he felt belittled. But we can understand his desire to transform into something else based on pressure. It's here that insects as a symbol come into play. The butterfly is widely known and used as a symbol of positive transformation. The moth, similarly, is also a transformation symbol with a more neutral or negative connotation. Especially a poisonous breed. The significance of the moth has changed. Caterpillar into chrysalis or pupa. From thence into beauty. Our belly wants to change too. And in this context, what would other bugs symbolize? I'd say the lack of need for transformation. The silence of the lambs gives us a very good example of someone trying to transform in the wrong way. Even considerably for the wrong reasons. It also gives us an example of someone who is in need of only a small transformation. Most importantly, it gives us someone who feels pressured, but is in need of no transformation. The traits that Clary Starling has shouldn't have to be in a different vessel or be accommodated. She shouldn't have to strive for better based on traits out of her control. Even traits she's suppressed are fine. She shouldn't have to covet another persona. Or use what is normally holding her back to get her where she is. That's not to say that her femininity is a bad thing or that anything else is abstract shouldn't be harnessed to positive effect. It's more to say that she shouldn't be looked down on in the first place. But seeing as she is well adjusted, as opposed to the other two key figures in the narrative, she doesn't need to adjust any further. An insect that can live without changing its structure should be able to live in an environment that it is in every way suitable for. Even if evolution or natural selection has given it a rough go, it has still survived despite these factors and deserves the life that it has made for itself. Thank you.