Though Clarice is more successful than any of the other men who have met with him before because she is able to open up to him emotionally and gain his trust, Hannibal Lecter’s purpose in this scene is to define the power struggle between man and women and to further the point that Clarice needs the information that only a man can provide in order to advance within her career. Clarice meets with Hannibal Lecter, where he is kept in a prison cell under maximum security, in order to ask him questions about Buffalo Bill. The FBI believes he could help in their case because he was a psychologist and he has a similar mindset to Buffalo Bill because he too murdered and skinned his victims. As Clarice walks down the hallway to Lecter’s cell, the
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Though the film faced much criticism from the LGBTQ community for it’s interpretation of Buffalo Bill as a homosexual rather than a transexual, feminists everywhere applauded the film for continuing the recently started “feminist hero” trend that would eventually become prevalent in many films throughout the rest of cinematic history. However, never again shall the film be applauded for it’s recognition of women as equals. Rather, the film should be applauded for bringing the issue of sexism in the workplace to the screen, and for supporting the claim that women have simply just begun to make a dent in the glass ceiling that confines women in a patriarchal society. Unfortunately, the underlying sexist message that women will never reach equality with men within their field is still relevant today, as women are still paid less than men and are found to possess the same stereotypical feminine jobs that only their “nurturing nature” and “sensitivity” can satisfy. Though some progress has been made with women moving into previously male-dominated jobs, the sexual advances that Clarice faced 25 years ago are even more common in 21st century society. Until the patriarchal leaders that run American society can get off their high horses and give women the right to fairly compete for advancement in the workplace without having to exploit their sexuality to do so, Silence of the Lambs will serve as a reminder of how much further society still has to go before women receive the rights that they have been promised within the constitution: if “all [persons] are created equal”, it’s time that women, as people, are treated like
Though the film faced much criticism from the LGBTQ community for it’s interpretation of Buffalo Bill as a homosexual rather than a transexual, feminists everywhere applauded the film for continuing the recently started “feminist hero” trend that would eventually become prevalent in many films throughout the rest of cinematic history. However, never again shall the film be applauded for it’s recognition of women as equals. Rather, the film should be applauded for bringing the issue of sexism in the workplace to the screen, and for supporting the claim that women have simply just begun to make a dent in the glass ceiling that confines women in a patriarchal society. Unfortunately, the underlying sexist message that women will never reach equality with men within their field is still relevant today, as women are still paid less than men and are found to possess the same stereotypical feminine jobs that only their “nurturing nature” and “sensitivity” can satisfy. Though some progress has been made with women moving into previously male-dominated jobs, the sexual advances that Clarice faced 25 years ago are even more common in 21st century society. Until the patriarchal leaders that run American society can get off their high horses and give women the right to fairly compete for advancement in the workplace without having to exploit their sexuality to do so, Silence of the Lambs will serve as a reminder of how much further society still has to go before women receive the rights that they have been promised within the constitution: if “all [persons] are created equal”, it’s time that women, as people, are treated like