RichardY Posted May 5, 2016 Share Posted May 5, 2016 Is the character Hannibal Lecter a Bad Guy? I'm thinking of the first two films played by Anthony Hopkins. I would say he is a villain, but not that he's evil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsayers Posted May 5, 2016 Share Posted May 5, 2016 I would say he is a villain, but not that he's evil. Show your work please. How did you arrive at this conclusion? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tyler H Posted May 6, 2016 Share Posted May 6, 2016 He murders people and eats them... If that's not evil I think we are working with different definitions of the word. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ObserveandReport Posted May 6, 2016 Share Posted May 6, 2016 I didn't see Hannibal or Red Dragon, but I know he at least ate one dude alive at the end of Hannibal (ok I caught the end on tv once) and he kills a bunch in Silence (security guards and EMTS). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpahmad Posted May 6, 2016 Share Posted May 6, 2016 Yeah, I personally think it's kind of fucked up when you murder people, eat them, and savor the memories later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardY Posted May 6, 2016 Author Share Posted May 6, 2016 He murders people and eats them... If that's not evil I think we are working with different definitions of the word. No that is incidental. 1:06 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhDZPYu8piQ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mister Mister Posted May 6, 2016 Share Posted May 6, 2016 He is not portrayed as a good person, but as sympathetic towards Clarisse, and in opposition to the very unlikeable character who runs the psych ward in the prison (who he presumably kills at the end). He also takes the young female agent protagonist seriously, he shows curiosity in her history, and believes in her capacity to figure out the case and catch the killer, and at the end expresses some affection for her ("I have no plans to call on you, the world is far more interesting with you in it"). All this makes for some sympathy for Hannibal on behalf of the audience, despite the fact that he is a psycho killer. In some ways he is more honest and authentic than most people, and he has a strange code of honor, where he kills the man who says "I can smell your cunt", but favors Clarisse who is polite to him. This is similar to how mafia movies often portray the mafia don sympathetically - though he is violent, he has a code of honor, a set of rules that, so long as you follow, you should be fine. This is also similar to peoples' relation to the State of course, particularly in a Western Democracy with some semblance of Rule of Law, where so long as you follow the rules, you won't be subject to their capacity for ultra-violence, unlike a theocracy or communist shithole, where the violence of the State randomly takes people out left and right, a la Wild Bill, the villain of the movie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardY Posted May 7, 2016 Author Share Posted May 7, 2016 I didn't see Hannibal or Red Dragon, but I know he at least ate one dude alive at the end of Hannibal (ok I caught the end on tv once) The the guy who's brain he eats at the end of Hannibal(movie) is Paul Krendler the Assistant Attorney General. Who was supposed to be working to bring Hannibal to "Justice". Instead Krendler was taking bribes from Mason Verger(Disfigured Child Molester) who wants to kill or torture Hannibal, fabricating evidence, removing FBI agents from catching Evil people and using his power to benefit from real estate deals. he kills a bunch in Silence (security guards and EMTS). The security guards were keeping him prisoner, they were either unaware of his innocence or were aware and chose to keep him prisoner. The graphic imagery of the guard flayed out in the position of Christ or an Angel was part of his distraction tactics during the escape. In the ambulance he gets a Hypodermic Needle presumably with some sort of drug in it, so he can incapacitate the EMT and avoid more attention. he has a strange code of honor, where he kills the man who says "I can smell your cunt", but favors Clarisse who is polite to him. This is similar to how mafia movies often portray the mafia don sympathetically - though he is violent, The man who says "I can smell your cunt", know as Miggs a sex offender, throws semen in Starling's face when she leaves.Hannibal doesn't kill Miggs he is in a separate cell, instead he says something later that influences Miggs to swallow his own tongue somehow and die. I'm not sure the extent he could be perceived as violent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsayers Posted May 7, 2016 Share Posted May 7, 2016 Show your work please. How did you arrive at this conclusion? It's a shame you're not addressing this. I think it makes for an interesting analysis. But not if you're not going to provide the meat to actually get the discussion going. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ObserveandReport Posted May 7, 2016 Share Posted May 7, 2016 The the guy who's brain he eats at the end of Hannibal(movie) is Paul Krendler the Assistant Attorney General. Who was supposed to be working to bring Hannibal to "Justice". Instead Krendler was taking bribes from Mason Verger(Disfigured Child Molester) who wants to kill or torture Hannibal, fabricating evidence, removing FBI agents from catching Evil people and using his power to benefit from real estate deals. The security guards were keeping him prisoner, they were either unaware of his innocence or were aware and chose to keep him prisoner. The graphic imagery of the guard flayed out in the position of Christ or an Angel was part of his distraction tactics during the escape. In the ambulance he gets a Hypodermic Needle presumably with some sort of drug in it, so he can incapacitate the EMT and avoid more attention. The man who says "I can smell your cunt", know as Miggs a sex offender, throws semen in Starling's face when she leaves.Hannibal doesn't kill Miggs he is in a separate cell, instead he says something later that influences Miggs to swallow his own tongue somehow and die. I'm not sure the extent he could be perceived as violent. Except before all that Hannibal ate a bunch of people. Long before he turned his sights on Mason Verger, he was killing innocent people. He was the aggressor and his captors were in the right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardY Posted May 8, 2016 Author Share Posted May 8, 2016 Except before all that Hannibal ate a bunch of people. Long before he turned his sights on Mason Verger, he was killing innocent people. He was the aggressor and his captors were in the right. Is the character Hannibal Lecter a Bad Guy? I'm thinking of the first two films played by Anthony Hopkins. I would say he is a villain, but not that he's evil. It's a shame you're not addressing this. I think it makes for an interesting analysis. But not if you're not going to provide the meat to actually get the discussion going. I planned to use the potential perceived shock value of the title to get the discussion going and then counter-punch or agree with any arguments of why he is Evil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ObserveandReport Posted May 8, 2016 Share Posted May 8, 2016 I planned to use the potential perceived shock value of the title to get the discussion going and then counter-punch or agree with any arguments of why he is Evil. so you stoked a fake controversy? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsayers Posted May 9, 2016 Share Posted May 9, 2016 I planned to use the potential perceived shock value of the title to get the discussion going and then counter-punch or agree with any arguments of why he is Evil. I think people of rigor would be more shocked to find a compelling case that contradicts their own conclusions. There's nothing shocking about somebody saying something provocative and not fleshing it out at all. It comes across as attention-whoring. I thought I'd mention this because it seems like you start a lot of topics with this method. Maybe aim higher? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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