THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS



Buffalo Bill is not endowed with supernatural powers nor does he require the use of specialist tools to aid him in his killing. He is simply a mental ill human being constructed through years of systematic abuse. He exists on the periphery of the narrative, shrouded in partially darkness. The viewer sees only fragments - a hand, an angle on his face, they hear his unusual voice. The viewer only fully sees him when he chooses to present himself to them through his own video camera.

Jame Gumb's desired transformation gives The Silence of the Lambs a two fold rites of passage subtext. Both protagonist and antagonist desire change, a shift that will align them with their opposite sex. By realigning their gender this way both can overcome the traumas of the past and accept themselves into society.



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