I’m not sure how many of you guys have seen Jonathan Demme’s magnificent film Silence of the Lambs (1991), but I was wondering if this film could be a good example for the Feminists Film Theory. What do you guys think of this based on the idea of the male protagonists, who is a cannibal, through the gaze of the spectator, and following her body?
I am not sure whether or not this film would qualify for the Feminist film theory. On one hand, the female lead is the only main character that is morally uncompromised, and audiences tend to “root for” her to make it out alright and catch the male killer. On the other hand, she and other female victims in the film are often put in positions of peril, at the hands of the male killers. I think the main female protagonist is a strong enough lead character to satisfy the feminist argument, but I also think the nature of Hannibal Lector’s knowledge and power over her is enough to make most people question the film as a true feminist film.