Analyzing The Film 'The Silence Of The Lambs'

658 Words3 Pages
The Silence of The Lambs Author Ted Levine played “Buffalo Bill” in the film “The Silence of The Lambs” directed by Jonathan Demme in 1991. The film was originated by the novel “The Silence of the Lambs” written by “Thomas” Harris” in 1988. “Buffalo Bill” is the nickname given to “James Gumb”, who is a psychopath serial killer that has been targeting overweight women and skinning them. Although the film does not portray Buffalo Bill’s background, Doctor Hannibal Lector, who is another character from the film known as a cannibalistic serial murder, is questioned by FBI student “Clarice Starling”, who seeks his help, to try and figure out who “Buffalo Bill” is. Lector, who has met “Buffalo Bill” before through an old patient of his, summarizes “Buffalo Bills” life; by telling Starling “Billy was not born a killer, but made one by years of systematic abuse”. In the novel “The Silence of the Lambs”, it goes into more details about Gumb’s childhood by explaining how he was abandoned by his mother at an early age; and going from…show more content…
After learning about Gumbs background history, and state of mind he was in, we can say he developed antisocial personality disorder. According to the DSM-5, antisocial personality disorder is defined as a person who lacks empathy; tends to be cruel, cynical, and scornful of the rights, feelings and sufferings of others. Gumb, who was exposed at an early age to traumatic life situations that led him to psychopathic behaviors, had all these characteristics. Gumb also had gender identity disorder, also known as gender dysphoria, which was a discontent of his sex given at the time of birth, for whatever reason, he felt disgusted for the person he was, and believed that because he hated who he was, he was a transsexual, when he really was not one. We can see this on the scene where he is naked putting makeup on, and dancing to the music with his genitals tucked
Show More
Related

  • Ted Bundy Research Paper

    3432 Words  | 14 Pages

    IS CRIMINAL PROFILING AN EFFECTIVE LAW ENFORCEMENT TOOL? The Research Says Yes Jesse Snell Dr. Todd Isaacson Criminal Profiling 22 Feb 2015 TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION…………………………………….page 3 II. HISTORY……………………………………………..page 4-7 III. DISCUSSION…………………………………………page 7-12 IV. CONCLUSION………………………………………..page 12-13 V. REFERENCES………………………………………...page 14-15 INTRODUCTION One of the most confusing, befuddling, frightening and, sometimes, impossible things for human

    Read More

More about Analyzing The Film 'The Silence Of The Lambs'

Open Document