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.
(snip)
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.
(snip)
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 ...
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I see little difference here and North Korea and the CCP having their 'struggle sessions', or the Taliban tearing down giant Buddha statues.
A 35 year old movie about a cross dressing murder confused about his gender and sexuality.......hell, I’d say it was an absolutely accurate depiction of future events....and given the so called “transsexuals” bent towards mass shootings I’d say the movie was a brilliant prediction.
Censorship and Freedom of Speech are primarily seen as “government” issues. Starting with “Congress shall make no law” and then extending beyond that to other levels of government.
But I think that as a society it has become much broader than that. Self-censorship is a bad thing. Questioning artistic or cultural achievements is a bad thing. The marketplace of ideas should decide Winners and Losers — not the loudmouth Karens who claim to be offended by everything.
Honestly, I think a lot of this started with the idea that the n-word was off-limits. Or, really, off-limits to whites. Black people can say it. White people can’t. From that starting point, I think notions of “offense” and “political correctness” have expanded to a whole nebulous category of “I’ve decided that you can’t say that”.
In the old days, one of the consequences of going too far was a punch in the mouth. Then bystanders would shake their head and say “You deserved that”. But nowadays, you get doxxed, you’re on the news, you lose your job, you might get arrested (in the UK) and all sorts of other bad things might happen because you said something that someone didn’t like.
I preferred the old days of regulation when artistic expression was pretty much sacred, and the penalty for saying really stupid stuff was a punch in the mouth.
Clarice Starling: Where are you, Dr. Lecter?
Hannibal Lecter: I’ve no plans to call on you, Clarice. The world is more interesting with you in it.
Around 2015 I read a book about the Cultural Revolution. I had heard about it as a kid, but I did not know what it was all about—or what happened.
I would read a chapter….and watch the news. Watching the left in the US was like having a live action study guide to go along with the book.
People who cannot “see” this are simply useful idiots who hope they are never on the “stage” having to admit to their crimes.
From Google Gemini AI:
The Buffalo Bill character in The Silence of the Lambs is a composite fictional character primarily based on3 real-life serial killers: Ed Gein, who made furniture/clothing from human skin; Ted Bundy, who used a fake injury (cast) to lure victims; and Gary M. Heidnik, who imprisoned women in a basement pit.
Ed Gein: Influenced the skin-suit aspect and the desire to create a “woman suit.”
Ted Bundy: Inspired the method of using a fake cast to lure victims into a vehicle.
Gary M. Heidnik: Inspired the basement pit/well where victims were held captive.
Norman Bates in Psycho is also based on Ed Gein.
Book was better.
Jodi Foster was superb.
A trans villain would not be allowed today and this movie makes that too apparent just like you couldn’t do a movie about a trans school shooter.
Oh, brother.
35 yrs and Wow.
This bunch is try to get a head start in this year’s apology Olympics by inventing a new category. Next the media will apologize for covering Lincoln’s murder because it showed Democrat actors in a bad light.
Jame Gumb was a transvestite serial killer and today we have tranvestite school serial killers. Pretty accurate.
Silence of the Lambs is the only movie I’ve seen that I wish I hadn’t.
And yet the right keeps calling the modern left “liberals”, proving that the right has no idea what it’s up against. That is why the right will lose. You can win a war if you can’t even identify the enemy. Every time I hear a person on the right refer to these violent collectivists as “liberals”, I know that person is blind and an idiot.
I watched the movie. To this day, I don’t believe I would want to watch it again. I understood the greatness of Anthony Hopkins when I saw that movie.
I’m glad you didn’t have Bill in your name...
You know, for this thread 🧵🧵🧵 anyways 🤣
It must be miserable to have your work and social life held hostage to the thoughts of LA (or any liberal city).
I mistakenly thought it was a how-to video, and I pretty much ruined my house.
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