Creating Space for a Female Audience in The Silence of the Lambs

Creating Space for a Female Audience in ‘The Silence of the Lambs’

Jonathan Demme’s 1991 film Silence of the Lambs is offers an interesting avenue to explore in terms of the female gaze in horror films. Traditionally the histories of horror films, - particularly ‘Slasher’ films - depict a high level of violence and gore and are specifically tailored to a male gaze. This is done through the cinematic objectification of women in combination with an established synonymy of sex and violence. Silence of the Lambs offers us this aspect of the genre with the perverse actions of Buffalo Bill and various interactions between Clarice Starling and male cast members. What is more interesting about Silence of the Lambs is that Demme also offers the viewer a strong female protagonist, Clarice Starling and a villain who is more chivalrous than most (if not all) males portrayed in the film. By atypical villainous construction and careful utilization of the camera, Demme subverts the hyper masculinity often associated with serial killers an opens an avenue for a female gaze. By presenting Thomas Harris’s story faithfully, with Clarice as the protagonist Demme allows a space for women not often enabled within the horror genre, but is always careful to temper this empowerment illustrating the precarious role women still hold in society.  

The opening sequence of Silence of the Lambs shows Clarice scaling a treacherous obstacle course, when the audience finally is given a medium lose up we see her don a FBI sweatshirt and drenched in sweat. This is an image of female empowerment; (non-sexualized) physical exertion in film is usually limited to the role of the man, for example the Rocky series. Jane Alexander Stewart suggests this image: “shows Starling pulling herself up from a metaphorical center like Inanna (the Sumerian goddess),”[1] and creates hope for the presence of feminine safety in our society through her success. This image is rapidly undermined by the next take, in which the camera follows Clarice running mimicking the point of view of a predator. Quick cuts to her feet, as well as the shaky camera work visually create a sense of urgency and directly undermine the image which we were initially presented. The undermining of Clarice’s power is a consistent theme throughout the film; this is done not only with camera work but also through narrative and dialogue. Clarice constantly has to bear the subordinate title of student agent, wear a visitors tag, is not granted permission to attend the “bust”, the list goes on. Both Ellis and Demme are careful in their mediums to ensure that Clarice’s power struggle never goes too far to one direction. Ultimately Clarice succeeds, she graduates.

Silence of the Lambs is a surprisingly asexual horror film. In spite of the content matter the camera never fully commits itself to sexual objectification. The one instance in the film which does removes the camera’s agency. This scene in which Buffalo Bill asks the famous question: “Would you fuck me?” This scene is unconventional for two reasons: the way in which it undermines the masculine ideal and the secondary role which it ascribes to the camera. The sexualization of a man is an odd choice for a genre which traditionally caters to a masculine gaze. The object, Jame feminizes himself for the camera. The montage of makeup application, the fetishization of the body through use of extreme close ups on aspects of the body are traditionally used to objectify female characters. The perversion of this falls into places the traditional male viewer into an uncomfortable position as it asks them to gaze upon this aberration of society the way they would traditionally gaze upon a woman.[2] This scene is cut with shots of Catherine’s attempts to escape. The juxtaposition of a highly atypical scene which makes the male viewer uncomfortable - the sexual objectification of a man –with a very typical scene of a damsel in distress visually poses a poignant question about female empowerment within this genre. The secondary role ascribed to Demme’s camera by Jame’s introduction of his own camera simultaneously offers comfort to the audience with the logic “we are not watching him, he is watching himself” but also further emasculates a role which is oft portrayed as hyper masculine. Often the man watches the woman; in this case the man is watching himself as woman. The willingness to ascribe to the ‘less powerful’ gender and imitate the male gaze due to a lack of desirability not only removes Jame’s power as man, but removes his power as woman as he does not have the influence to be an object even of the gaze.

The power of women in film is usually in their ability to manipulate the male gaze; this power is seen in every ‘femme fatale’, the manipulation of men through sexuality. The basis for this power in the film is seen through Clarice’s manipulation of Chilton’s interest to attain access to Lecter. In the horror genre sight thus becomes a motif for power; the killer is powerful because he sees, in the opening scene Clarice is suggested to be powerless because she is seen. Thus Lecter can be seen to be the most powerful character in the cast.

In Lecter’s first interaction with Clarice the power balance is almost immediately shifted as he asks “May I see your credentials, please?” Clarice’s apprehension towards approaching him cements this power. In this scene as Clarice approaches Lecter the audience is presented a close up of Clarice’s face which subtly shifts out of focus before cutting to a clear shot of Lecter’s face. Applying the logic of sight as power the audience is invited to view this unclear image of Clarice as a visual suggestion of her lack of power. In one interaction between the two Lecter is unseen, in the dark for almost the entire interaction. Thus the audience and Clarice are made aware of Lecter’s power as they are unable to see Lecter, Clarice furthermore because she is an object of his gaze. The juxtaposition of these two characters is poignant as we are asked to assess the power dynamic between a caged man and a “free” woman, though it is not the free which is powerful.[3] This consistent dynamic between Clarice and Lecter, visually communicated through Demme’s focus on seeing/seen says a great deal about gender relations. Power is vested in Lecter’s character through his ability to observe the world around him in ways not permitted to other characters, this is extended through his qualifications as a psychiatrist. He becomes a character that not only sees the tangible, but intangible aspects of people.

Lecter occupies an interesting role in the film; he is simultaneously limited in agency through his imprisonment but also highly important and active in catching of a monster. The complexity of Lecter’s character casts him as both villain and pseudo-hero. For obvious reasons he is a villain, but his inclination towards high culture, intelligence and chivalrous interactions with Clarice also allow him the narrative conventions to become the ‘White Knight’, in effect with Clarice’s southern accent we imagine his values similar to that of the old South: righteous and honor bound with a proclivity towards violence. His inherent respect for civility makes his killings some form of vigilantism, shown in the film for the poetic justice he distributes having Miggs swallow his tongue for foul words said to Clarice. This character attribute makes his presence symbolic for two reasons, both his actions distribute justice and his imprisonment is justice. This unclear character makes Lecter an odd, but apt representation of masculinity and the patriarchy.

In spite of the power that is given to Clarice throughout Silence of the Lambs she still exists within the patriarchy, a system exposed to be flawed. Lecter becomes an acceptable serial killer for female viewers as the only killings the audience is afforded (in both book and film) are that of male characters, in the end of the film he sets off to have ‘dinner’ with Chilton who imposed his sexual gaze upon Clarice. In this ending there is room for the female audience to feel comforted, even empowered through Clarice’s graduation though it does not change the fact that Lecter (functioning as a representation of the patriarchy) is still ‘at large’. Furthermore Lecter’s freedom subverts the system of justice to which Clarice has graduated, the FBI so his character can still be read to undermine her authority.

Demme said in an interview: “I did like that The Silence of the Lambs was a woman’s picture … I love that he’s (Harris) taking some really good pokes at the patriarchy while spinning this tale. And I think the movie sort of manages to do that, too.”[4] Demme does indeed manage to get some pokes in, but that is all. A horror film will never be truly free from the male gaze; will never be “a woman’s picture” due to its generic establishment in a field dominated by men. But The Silence of the Lambs is unique in the space it creates for a female viewer, not only through a strong female character, but also through cinematographic exploration of male characters and playing open the power of sight.  

WORKS CITED

Allue, Sonia Baelo “The Aesthetics of Serial Killing Working Against Ethics in “Silence of the Lambs” and “American Psycho”,” Atlantis vol. 24, no. 2 (2002) pp. 7-24

Demme, Jonathan, The Silence of the Lambs, Orion Picture, 1991

Mann, Karen B. “The Matter With Mind: Violence and “The Silence of the Lambs”, “Criticism vol. 38, no. 4 (1996)

Mulvey, “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema” in Warhol, R.R., D. Price Herndl (ed) Feminisms: An Anthology of Literary Theory and Criticisms Rutgers: New Jersey (1997)

Stewart, Jane Alexander “The Feminine Hero of Silence of the Lambs” in Kittleston, M.L (ed) The Soul of Popular Culture Caru Publishing Company: Caru (1998)

---

[1] Jane Alexander Stewart “The Feminine Hero of Silence of the Lambs” in Kittleston, M.L (ed) The Soul of Popular Culture Caru Publishing Company: Caru (1998) pg. 52

[2] Mulvey’s theory dictates that the male gaze pertains only to straight males. Laura Mulvey, “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema” in Warhol, R.R., D. Price Herndl (ed) Feminisms: An Anthology of Literary Theory and Criticisms Rutgers: New Jersey (1997) pg. 438

[3]Karen Mann, “The Matter With Mind: Violence and “The Silence of the Lambs”, “Criticism vol. 38, no. 4 (1996) pg. 588

[4]Sonia Baelo Allue,  “The Aesthetics of Serial Killing Working Against Ethics in “Silence of the Lambs” and “American Psycho”,” Atlantis vol. 24, no. 2 (2002) pg. 12