Posted on 02/15/2026 5:02:44 AM PST by Tench_Coxe
Thirty-five years after its theatrical release, the creative team behind one of cinema’s most celebrated psychological thrillers is doing something that has become all too common in Hollywood: apologizing for a film that won the industry’s top honors and captivated millions of viewers.
“The Silence of the Lambs,” which hit theaters on Valentine’s Day 1991, became the year’s fifth-highest-grossing title and made history as just the third film to sweep the “big five” Academy Awards: best picture, director, actor, actress, and screenplay. The film starred Jodie Foster as FBI trainee Clarice Starling tracking serial killer Buffalo Bill while consulting with the infamous Hannibal Lecter, played by Anthony Hopkins. Its cultural impact was immediate and enduring, cementing phrases like “It rubs the lotion on its skin” into the American lexicon and establishing Hannibal Lecter as the American Film Institute’s top screen villain.
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But there’s a larger question at play: should artists apologize for creating compelling, psychologically complex villains? Buffalo Bill was never presented as a hero or role model. He was depicted as precisely what he was meant to be—a deeply disturbed, violent criminal. The film’s protagonist, Clarice Starling, was a groundbreaking female character navigating a male-dominated FBI, and the story’s feminist themes were revolutionary for mainstream cinema at the time.
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Thirty-five years after its release, “The Silence of the Lambs” continues to be studied in film schools, watched by new generations, and referenced in popular culture. Its lasting impact suggests that most viewers understood exactly what the film was: a gripping psychological thriller with complex characters, not a social commentary on any particular community. The unnecessary apologies say more about our current cultural moment than they do about the film itself.
(Excerpt) Read more at basedunderground.com ...
...a census taker. I ate his liver with some Fava beans and a nice Chianti...ftftftft
Yes that was a sad predictor of things to come.
I bet they could not make this movie today, with the villain being some kind of transsexual cross dresser type.
Heck if they made this movie today, the villain would have to be some kind of racist white supremacist type. They might even show him living in a house , where he displays pictures of Trump.
Don’t watch ‘Hannibal Rising” It is another example of film makers taking a massive giant dump on a popular franchise. Although Red Dragon was just a remake of Manhunter. So not really a big franchise but still. Hannibal Rising was terrible. Bad acting. Ridiculous “origin” mythology that made no sense. Knowing the lack of creativity of Hollywood I predict a reboot where Hannibal Lector has to team up with a goofy black cop to foil a comic book supervillain sort of like ‘48 hours.’
And this week we have another mass-killing by a confused trannie.
I found Manhunter the best of the bunch. Silence was second. Didn’t watch any of the others. I only wish the alternate ending of Manhunter was the one used in the theatrical release. I’ve got the HD version of Manhunter but when you want to see the Alternate version ending, the picture goes to crap. Not HD.
Of course as always.
I will not watch that movie alone.
It was all caused by his parents omitting the 'S' from his Christian name.
As did Rome. Slavery was ubitiquous throughout history.
What is it in human nature that produces such evil monsters?
Loved The Edge. The billionaire played by Hopkins turns out to be the most level-headed and capable of survival in the wilderness. A nice twist by the writer, David Mamet, who wrote it.
Billionaires?! What sets you off - Jews and taxes?! LOL!
Have to credit the author of the series of novels which had Hannibal Lector as a main or ancillary character, Thomas Harris.
I have watched The Exorcist so many times it’s a joke now, but I agree the first couple of times it was pretty scary.
I forget if Rome called its free people ”Liberals”, though. That was really my point - that the Liberals were the free people. They voted and studied the “Liberal Arts”, as in the paintings, writings and thinkings of other Free People.
The Slaves made sure that the houses were heated and the toilets (such as they were) worked.
I did wonder at the time if it really deserved the Oscar. Technically, it might have been well-done but compared to the usual winners back then it seemed small and not really worth talking about.
You shouldn’t then.
“I don’t believe I would want to watch it again.”
That was how I felt when I read 1984. I got to the end, and I said, that was a great book, and I’m glad I read it. But if you held a gun to my head and said: read it again, I’d say “pull the trigger”.
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