3 29 12 Silence of the Lambs A classic in many ways How the film plays on star personas Jodie Foster Young inexperienced woman who is able to navigate male dominated spaces Also the issue of class Jodie Foster as Clarice Useful to understand her history going back to her days as a child star A young prostitute in Taxi Driver Left acting to attend Yale then came back and won an Oscar for her role in The Accused While at Yale Something that would inform her character as Clarice John Hinkley in 1981 tried to assassinate Regan He had an obsession with Jodi Foster specifically her role in Taxi Driver Said his assassination attempt was made to impress Foster When Silence of the Lamb was released Jeffery Domner in Wisconsin A real life version of Hannibal Lecter eating his victims Element of realism The opening of the film She is seen training on the FBI Academy obstacle course called in to speak to her boss She gets on to an elevator is dressed very differently and is the only woman A closed claustrophobic pace surrounded by male figures Metaphoric for what is seen later in the film A woman in a male dominated environment Young an inexperienced at that In relation to other male characters They all have ways in which they would like to use her Whether career wise or sexually Like the obstacle course she is successfully able to maneuver out of these situations Her relationship with Lecter Sexual overtones but also instances in which he assists her He is likened to her absent father She remembers her father after interactions with Lecter The memory of her father is very important Like a shadow that looms over her thoughts and actions Lecter gives her what can loosely be described as fatherly advice As a young FBI trainee from a particular background Her ambition to change her class status Conjures up a relevant but difficult idea to talk about in American society Class Some would say there are no classes It is not like race and sex where the differences are obvious Difficult to talk about in society because there is the idea that every individual in our society has the opportunity to succeed But this society is not set up for everyone to succeed Instead we have a casino like set up Gambling money in order to make more money It is possible but is it probable There are very distinct class differences Economic class status and social class status are merged The conversation between Clarice and Lecter the first time they meet A class critique on Clarice good bag and cheap shoes He breaks down everything about her that pertains to social class and her attempts to hide her ambition as she attempts to move up social l adder Not one generation away from poor white trash Trash as though in our society poverty is so contained with minorities that this drastic of a term is needed to articulate it for whites not just poor white but poor white trash It is over determined But who is doing the critique Dr Lecter For all intents and purposes he is a monster Why do we laugh at a man who wants to eat another human being I m having an old friend for dinner The reason is class Cultural capital pertains to social class First of all he is a doctor speaks to an advanced level of education upon which one can have a respected and distinguished career His cell unlike the others which are dark and non descript has hand drawn paintings and is very clean He listens to classical music all suggest a certain sense of class classical music is upper class Even the way he speaks makes him sound learned These all mollify the monstrous aspects of his character Dr Lecter as compared to Buffalo Bill They are both equally fucked up in the activities they engage in But Buffalo Bill is very frightening and disgusting when Lecter is not Threatened by Buffalo Bill while we can laugh at Lecter We can identity with Lecter because up his upper class status he is less threatening Buffalo Bill s clothes house and car are all in direct contrast to Lecter s habitat We do not even know his real name where as Dr Hannibal Lecter is completely legitimized All because of class In our society someone like Buffalo Bill poor white trash is threatening because of his lack of class status and cultural capital Accents Clarice and Buffalo Bill s southern accents poor and lower class as opposed to Lecter s almost British and refined accents Very rarely are things about actual economic capital People can do things that suggest elevated class status Clarice from a poor background can join the FBI as an opportunity to climb the class ladder Her ambition is represented as a good thing Metaphor of transformation Clarice wants to elevate her class status a good thing Hard work and effort success Buffalo Bill wants to transform his gender a bad thing Deviant and problematic A threat to society At the end of the film how Clarice is able to solve the crime Is able to do it based on her superior knowledge of the lower class area where Buffalo Bill lives and where she comes from She outsmarts her boss Uses information gleaned from her past to solve this crime