Silence Of The Lambs Analysis

Violent, angry, crazy, incapable, weak, these are all words that come to mind at the thought of mental illness. People tend to assume that a person with mental illness is more violent than the average human however, that is not the case. In reality, people with mental illnesses are more often the target for violence rather than the catalyst for it. Some other misconceptions and stigmas associated with mental illness include: incapability of being social, having a childlike perception of the world, and having a weak mind. All the misconceptions and stigmas do not just come out of nowhere. They stem from society and grow from the media is an incorrect portrayal. With such a sensitive subject such as mental illness the media can have a grave effect.
Unlike Hannibal Lecter, Bill presumably suffers from antisocial disorder and delusional disorder. Throughout the movie it is apparent that Bill is unstable and suffering as he is dealing with the denial of his sex change. To cope with this Bill is capturing and skinning women to make a “woman suit”. His actions as he goes about the capturing and killing of these women helps perpetuate the stereotype that those with mental illness are more prone to violence. He keeps a straight face while torturing his victims and even makes jokes about their screams. Granted, a few amount of mentally ill patients may exhibit some of these symptoms but, Silence of the Lambs portrays these extremes as norms by allowing the two main characters to have the most extreme forms of their mental illness.
The action of Buffalo Bill greatly resembles those of Frankenstein and his creation of the monster. Buffalo Bill is not trying to create a live human but a “woman suit”. Like Frankenstien, Buffalo Bill displays the “danger of separating [the] scientist” or experimenter “ and society”. As shown by his action he “lost moral perspective”. Frankenstein and Buffalo Bill were “seduced” by different things, science and womanhood
This is, for example, seen in the asylum that Hannibal Lecter resides in. As Clarice walks down the hall to visit Hannibal Lecter the same the patients call out to her making disgusting remarks and acting violently towards her. Some of them attempt to throw objects at her from inside their cell. These acts perpetuate the stereotype that those with mental illness are violent and need to be isolated from the rest of society. This reaction to an illness mirrors the reaction seen in The Road to Carville where lepers are separated from society even though it is not necessary. In The Road to Carville Gar, the man in charge driving leper patients to , won’t touch the patients as he takes them away from society to live in a leper colony, despite knowing that the illness does not spread through touch. “Her never touched the people or he drove [though] it was unlikely to pick up the disease from them”. This is similar to the way in which the guards and society keep those who are mentally ill under extreme security, despite the fact that they are actually not that dangerous. In both of these stories actions driven by fear which worsens and harm the stereotypes associated with the highly misunderstood