Silence of the Lambs analysis - introduction

[therebllion]

Only thing I want to know is what music you used, I've been trying to find it and have been unsuccessful

[MrMovieAnalyst]

@therebllion It comes with the free online 'One True Media' software I used to create the video. I don't remember the names of the songs.

[Lunadelalunas]

The trouble with analysis is that it never was scientific, psychology just kept its study around because it was so dammed popular... it made money... it made its study seem profitable. I see so many of you arguing about the true meaning of the films symbolism... arguing with each other... when you should be arguing with yourselves. To different denominations Christ symbolizes different things... to different people good means different things. Who can know another when he can't know... himself?

[MrMovieAnalyst]

@Lunadelalunas I'm not sure exactly what you're trying to say, but no interpretation of a work of art is going to be scientific - that's why they call it 'interpretation'. It has nothing to do with 'proving' something. Not sure what you mean about the field of psychology as such - there's not much of a direct connection between it and film analysis.

[Deke101]

Finding a V on Starling is a reach. It's just wardrobe, not even part of the story. God the father and the son??? How do you figure that??? Angel of death. She did not go to the house to kill anyone. She stumbled onto the killer by accident. Lechter antichrist? How? He is not a charismatic leader of any nation, he is a solo figure. How did you get Deut from his prison number? Passover blood is spread on doors not spattered on floor. I think you have read far too much into this.

[MrMovieAnalyst]

@Deke101 The floor is acting as a 'door' to Gumb's underworld (he's in the basement, remember?)

Deuteronomy is the 5th book of the bible, and chapter 16 is where they talk about the Passover. 516, get it? The '8' refers to Lecter's plan to resurrect himself - some Christians take Jesus' resurrection to be an 8th day of creation.

Read the blog, then get back to me.

[Deke101]

@MrMovieAnalyst LOL. OK. So,who are you trying to say has put all this symbolism in the movie? The oirginal writer? The screen playwrite? The producer? The director? The costume designer? The FX coordinator?

Starling DID stumble upon the killer, otherwise she would have had backup. The antichrist will rise as a charismatic leader and many nations will follow him. Even the most elect will be fooled by him. If anything, I would say Hannibal is more the Beast than the antichrist.

[MrMovieAnalyst]

@Deke101 No, I don't think it would be the costume designer. I suspect you can figure out the answer to your own question.

From Starling's own viewpoint she 'accidentally' found Gumb, but the reality is, like I said, that Ardelia and Lecter sent her to Gumb. That's how deception works - the subject doesn't know they're being deceived.

What the antichrist might become later is not the point. The theme of the movie isn't the career of the antichrist.

[MrMovieAnalyst]

@Deke101 The V is obviously an intentional sweat pattern. Besides, there's another V if you look carefully while she's interviewing Lecter; and, she went to the University of VIRGINia. God the son: white robe (Jesus). The point is she represents the Trinity, thus she is 'everything holy' and therefore an angel. She didn't stumble onto Gumb, Lecter and Ardelia sent her there (the 'simplicity' clue, etc - see the blog). Since when does an Antichrist have to be the leader of a nation? .

[sergiolcjr]

@ MrMovieAnalyst: Genius Movie Analysis!

[sbowesuk]

Can't say I find this analysis at all convincing. Much of the underlined "symbolism" is ambiguous at best, and just waiting to be misinterpreted or misconstrued.. Sorry, but this blogger clearly sees only what he/she wants to see. Not buying it.

[MrMovieAnalyst]

@sbowesuk What in specific do you disagree with?

[sbowesuk]

@MrMovieAnalyst Don't find any of it particularly convincing actually, but hey, if you see the movie this way then that's up to you, and your opinion. To each his own.

[MrMovieAnalyst]

@sbowesuk Acknowledged. I was just poking for a specific example of disagreement, i.e., it seems pretty obvious to me that the Your Self storage facility represents Starling's unconscious. In fact, I have seen this interpretation (by scholars) elsewhere on the web.

Think about it: Dr. Lecter is a psychiatrist; he tells Clarice to look within herself, sending her to the storage unit. The unit contains many 'ancient' items, as are housed in the unconscious component of one's psyche.

[Averyofthemain]

@MrMovieAnalyst Then you have to narrow your thesis, are you saying this is a Johnite exploration or a freudian, the two don't mix.

[MrMovieAnalyst]

@Averyofthemain I'm not using any kind of 'school of analysis' or 'analysis theory' or anything like that.

What I suspect is that Thomas Harris has designed the Lecter novels to thwart academic analysis.

[890slay]

The truth is that different people find different morals and symbolism is movies and story-telling at all. I"d summarize it to one word-serendipity. - It's the same way even in real life, we find things often by serendipity. For one Lecter might be the apotheosis of the darkest corners of our souls, for others is a sexist hater...

[tjhoenecke]

You should consider renaming your account "MrMovieOverAnalyst." Coincidences are not symolism. Most of your "observations" are too tenuous to be considered "connections." Simply put, you are not "reading between the lines" so mush as you are "reading into" things.

[MrMovieAnalyst]

@tjhoenecke The videos are effectively a summary of what's on the blog. To get the full story you'll have to look there. Also, did you view the descriptions under the videos?

Author Thomas Harris appears to have designed things so that it takes a certain amount of intuitive reasoning, and being 'in touch' with ones unconscious, to see the connections. People lacking in these abilities are more likely to see them as coincidences.

[tjhoenecke]

@MrMovieAnalyst "Martin is Gumb's intended seventh victim - this represents the seven days of biblical creation." That's not "insightful," it's nonsensical. Other than both things you cite including the number 7, how does the first "represent" the second? Or are we to take it that your noting that both items include the number 7 is in and of itself an "insight" on your part? If only I weren't so lacking in your superior self-actualization!

[MrMovieAnalyst]

@tjhoenecke I'm not sure what "self-actualization" is.

You have to look at the symbolism in its entirety. Gumbs well and basement represent the abyss that was present at the beginning of creation, according to St. Augustine. Each girl's death represents a day of creation. What is being 'created' is the suit of skin, the formation of which represents the unfolding of an "evil scripture" over mankind. From The Confessions: "You [God] have stretched out the firmament of your book as a skin"...

[tjhoenecke]

@MrMovieAnalyst Again, this seems more a case of you reading something into it rather than you being able to read between the lines. Just because something you see in a piece of art reminds you of something else doesn't make it intentional on the part of the artist, or particularly meaningful to anyone else but yourself. Film especially is a collaborative medium, and not everything that goes into one is the result of any one person's deliberate attempt to be symbolic of something else.

[MrMovieAnalyst]

@tjhoenecke I suggest that you read the blog and look at the other videos, then when you have, get back to me with any specific disagreements.

[MrMovieAnalyst]

@tjhoenecke ...The feeling I'm getting is that you didn't watch the other videos or read the blog, you're just trying to isolate individual things from this one video, as if it's intendended to be a full explanation itself. (the hint that there are other videos is discreetly hidden in the words 'part 1' and 'Introduction'; also note the slide at the end that says "see the blog...")

[ThePope1970]

When someone uses symbolism, they do so to convey a message. And any message has to have meaning... otherwise it is not communicating anything. Therefore it is not a message. So since you are saying there is symbolism in Silence of the Lambs, you are saying that there is a message. And since your opening salvo is Christian based, you are suggesting that there is a Christian message in the film.

But since you're making me laugh... where is the anti-semitism?

[MrMovieAnalyst]

@ThePope1970 Your logic is invalid - plenty of literature and film contains symbolism which is not meant to convey any kind of moral message.

As I stated, the anti-Jewish theme is discussed in the part 7 video and in certain parts of the blog. Basically, Lecter represents some sort of 'Eternal Jew' (as mentioned in Jung), who is here being depicted as the Antichrist himself. Gumb, Satan's pupil, is being depicted as a first-born son of the Israelites. (See the hidden plot video.)

[ThePope1970]

Nowhere in the analysis do I state that there's a "Christian message".

So why do you begin by saying "Clarice Starling represents the virgin Mary (not the 'V' on her shirt), She also represents God the Father, God the Son (Jesus) and the Holy Spirit. She is a (friendly) Angel of Death"

Hmmm. You're still talking bilge.

[MrMovieAnalyst]

@ThePope1970 I'm not sure what your obsession with bilges is about, but it's been my experience that usually when someone says there's a message in a movie, they mean a moral 'lesson' to be learned, an opinion being given by the author or movie-maker, or something of that nature. I hope you can see that there's a difference between opinion on the one hand, and symbolism on the other (of course the latter can be used to convey the former, but that's not the case with SOTL...(continued)

[MrMovieAnalyst]

@ThePope1970 ...except for certain things like those indicated in the parts 2 and 7 videos, and the overall 'anti-Jewish' theme (as described in certain parts of the blog).

When you say 'Christian message', it sounds to me like you're saying that I'm saying that Harris is saying that 'we should all be good Christians', or something like that.

[ThePope1970]

Christian message in Silence of the Lambs? Utter bilge and completely without merit. 

[MrMovieAnalyst]

@ThePope1970 Nowhere in the analysis do I state that there's a "Christian message". However, there IS religious symbolism, allegory, and metaphor in the movie. The closest thing to a 'message' is the 'anti'-Christian/Catholic one explained in the 'Part 2' video. (Thomas Harris's opinion seems to be that the members of the Church are under the influence of Satan.)