This trailer re-frames Silence of the Lambs as a romantic comedy, brilliantly demonstrating how editing can alter a story so much as to appear completely different from the original. Silence of the Lambs is one of my favorite movies, and this trailer hits on two themes that I’m particularly fond of: the male gaze, and the twisted love. In the actual movie, these are played as being appropriately disturbing. Clarice Starling is everywhere being looked up and down by men who wish to prey on her in one way or another, yet Hannibal Lecter, the one man who most literally might wish to prey on her, is the one who would defend her life, noticing her true value as a person and wishing to keep her in the world. There is affection between them, dark and disturbing as it may be. Yet this trailer shows how those same ideas could be played for comedy. If we think about our favorite rom-coms, how many of them deal with problematic themes? How many of them could be flipped on their backs to expose a dark underbelly of objectification and abusive love that is hidden behind a comedy cut?
Hannibal & Clarice
Published by eileenmaksym
Eileen Maksym studied philosophy at Yale and theology at Boston College, and now uses both to write science fiction. Currently she is an academic nomad, following her astrophysicist husband around the world, two kids in tow. When not writing or kid wrangling, Eileen is a hopeless fangirl. She can be found on Twitter (@eileenmaksym) squeeing over her favorite shows, most of which involve famous detectives, dashing time travelers, and creatures that are never, ever referred to as zombies. View all posts by eileenmaksym
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