In the movie “Silence of the Lambs”, the secondary antagonist, Dr. Hannibal Lecter, was interrogated by FBI trainee Clarice Starling on the whereabouts of the main antagonist nicknamed Buffalo Bill. Starling asked Lecter for his help on solving the case because he is a brilliant psychiatrist and psychopath, currently incarcerated at the Baltimore State Hospital for the Criminally Insane. Buffalo Bill was kidnapping young women and skinning them in order to make a “woman suit” for him to wear, being a deranged transvestite. Starling asked for Lecter’s expertise because of his medical background and experience with his own personal disorder. Lecter was presently imprisoned because he is a ruthless cannibalistic serial killer. Before the audience actually meets Lecter, they are told he is dangerous, manipulative and an outright monster, calling him a “most prized asset”. Upon meeting him, Lecter appears to be subdued within his cell, a combined mixture of oddness and genuine care in his body language and facial features. When Starling introduces herself, Lecter listens intently, seemingly approachable and friendly for advice. Although the tone of his voice gives off a rather disturbing persona, he can easily be categorized as a disciplined, cultural and polite individual at first glance. In the 16 minutes total that Lecter appears in the movie, his presence automatically commandeers the flow of the conversation and mood of the environment that he is placed in.
Without thought, Dr. Hannibal Lecter displays the general three P’s of personality disorders: persistent, pervasive and pathological. Specifically, Lecter appears to consistently exhibit the symptoms of Antisocial Personality Disorder, which is found in Cluster B of personali...
... middle of paper ...
.... Medications like antidepressants, mood stabilizers and antipsychotics would also be beneficial for Lecter. However, starting CBTs and prescribing medications will not be so easy in Lecter’s case. Despite an obvious distortion in his thinking patterns and behaviors, Lecter is an otherwise intelligent human being. He may be conniving and manipulative with his actions and behavior, but he can clearly maintain a regular life if he chooses to. Convincing him to change his old lifestyle and inner workings could take a tremendous amount of time and effort. Likewise, finding the right person who will treat him with equal respect and be able to maintain a solid rapport would be the most difficult part of simply starting his treatment. Assuming his mind and body responds to the therapy and medication positively, Lecter will most likely benefit from this type of treatment.
For axis 2, antisocial personality disorder our notes say that no treatment for this disorder seems to be effective. Yet about 25 percent of all people with this disorder do receive treatment. One major problem is that individual’s lack of conscience or desire to change. Most have been mandated to treatment. Hospitals have attempted to create therapeutic communities even though most of today’s treatment approaches have little to no impact on the
Lecter is a truly evil man, but Dr. Chilton is the worse of the two.
“We had been foolish virgins in the war right at the end of childhood” Slaughterhouse Five-Kurt Vonnegut “The children’s crusade started in 1213 when two monks got the idea of raising armies of children in France and Germany, and selling them in North Africa as slaves. Thirty thousand children volunteered thinking they were going to Palestine. (p.16) The Children’s Crusade and the World Wars are similar because of the drafting of the innocent to do the duties of a nation.
Both Lecter and Grendel are terrorizing figures in their cultures, therefore, proving their sly mannerisms. Dr. Lecter, a psychopath, kills not because of his mental deficits, but because he despises the rude and the intolerable. Unlike
Dr. Hannibal Lecter a character in the film The Silence of the Lambs is portrayed as a brilliant forensic psychiatrist, an extremely refined gentleman with a charismatic and charming personality. Hannibal Lecter is meticulous in appearance, speaks very exactly, has immaculate wittiness, and astounding intellect (Demme, 1991). Though not directly indicated in the film, there is clear evidence of his educational background as he was a well-known forensic psychiatrist which requires an extensive amount of education. This film did not speak to Lecter’s relationship history nor his childhood background. Hannibal Lecter was sanctioned to the Baltimore State Forensic Hospital for cannibalistic crimes he committed against his own patients during his practice as a psychiatrist (Demme, 1991). At the start of the film it was indicated that he had been housed at the hospital for approximately eight years.
Psychopathy was first written about by psychiatrist Philippe Pinel in the early 19th century. He referred to it as “insanity without delirium” and described individuals suffering from this as being “morally neutral”. In 1941, Hervey Cleckley wrote a book 'The Mask of Sanity' which is today considered as the cornerstone of the study of psychopaths. He wrote that the psychopath is capable of “concealing behind a perfect mimicry of normal emotion, fine intelligence, and social responsibility, a grossly disabled and irresponsible personality.” This supports the theory that not only is talk therapy inadequate as a treatment, but on the contrary it has the potential to make the condition worse as it enables the individual to practice the art of manipulation. Today worldwide, we use a checklist c...
Personality disorders and mental illnesses are viewed by the general public as similar attributes that are equally harmful. However, when one delves into the diagnostics and patterns of the individual disorders and illnesses, it can be seen that there are major differences between each one. There are many levels of severity of the effects each disorder or illness has on society as a whole. They range from affecting only the individual on a solely personal basis to affecting a large amount of people on a highly violent level. Generally, it is found that mental illnesses have an influence on an individual level while personality disorders have an influence on a widespread level. As in every medical topic, there are outliers, or cases that are far outside the expected outcome, but for the most part, illnesses have less far reaching effects than disorders. On the spectrum of the societal effects of personality disorders and mental illnesses, the obsessive-compulsive disorder, which is actually a mental illness, is on the lowest level in terms of widespread consequences; just above this illness is schizophrenia which has the ability to affect more than the individual unless treated; the narcissistic disorder has farther reaching effects in society, such as in bureaucratic situations, than the two previously mentioned illnesses, placing it higher on the spectrum, and last, but not least, the schizoid personality disorder has proven to have the most wide spread consequences in the form of both emotional trauma and violence allocating it the highest level.
The topic of dehumanization has an interesting dynamic in Demme’s film The Silence of the Lambs. This consists of the fact that the Clarice Starling’s own humanity is consistently undermined and almost immediately rectified by Dr. Lecter. Lecter in himself is an ironic character since while he has no fear about killing someone through cannibalism. One of the highest symbolic forms of dehumanization possible, he still respects and guards Starling’s humanity. This character receives even more complexity as Lecter is revealed as more and more calculating and cold throughout the series, almost appearing desensitized to most human emotions, interactions and concerns. Lecter’s analytical, observant, and almost sociopathic outlook on his surroundings contrasts heavily with Starling’s earnest desire to discover the secrets behind Buffalo Bill’s identity and reasons, a desire to
Dr. Hannibal Lector, one of the main characters of the story is a psychiatrist, but also happens to be a cannibalistic serial killer. Dr. Lector is introduced into the NBC series as a psychiatrist who occasionally helps the FBI with their murder cases. Whereas in Silence of the Lambs, Dr. Lector was being held in prison until he eventually broke loose. It is made clear to the audiences the Hannibal is definitely the killer, there is no mystery to that, which can make things interesting for this character in the Hannibal series of whether or not he’ll be caught.
Simons, C. (2001). Antisocial personality disorder in serial killers: The thrill of the kill. The Justice Professional, 14(4), 345-356.
There were two serial killers portrayed in the movie- Dr Hannibal Lecter and Buffalo Bill. As far as diagnosis is concerned, they both have an antisocial personality disorder, and many similar characteristics, however each has his own array of psychological issues.
...and Elias Abdalla-Filho. "Personality disorders, psychopathy, and serial killers Transtornos de personalidade, psicopatia e serial killers." Rev Bras Psiquiatr 28.Supl II (2006): S74-9.
I spent a lot of time considering what movie I would watch to write this essay. I listed off the movies that I would like to watch again, and then I decided on The Notebook. I didn’t really think I could write about adolescence or children, so I thought that, maybe, I could write about the elderly. The love story that The Notebook tells is truly amazing. I love watching this movie, although I cry every time I watch it. The Notebook is about an elderly man that tells the story of his life with the one he loves the most, his wife. He is telling the story to his wife, who has Alzheimer’s Disease, which is a degenerative disease that affects a person’s memory. She has no recollection of him or their life together, or even her own children. She wrote the story of their love herself, so that when he read the story to her, she would come back to him. There are three things that I would like to discuss about this movie. First, I would like to discuss their stage of life and the theory that I believe describes their stage of life the best. Second, I would like to discuss Alzheimer’s DIsease and its affect on the main character who has it and her family. Third, I would like to discuss how at the end of the movie, they died together. I know it is a movie, but I do know that it is known that elderly people who have been together for a long time, usually die not to far apart from one another.
One of the biggest traits of psychopath serial killer is their inability to empathize with human feelings. There is no generic profile for psychopath serial killer. Serial killers differ in many ways, including their motivations for killing and their behavior at the crime scene. They will use people for excitement, to build self-esteem. In the movie the behavioral science doctor mentions that Dr. Lecter ate a nurse’s tongue and during the ordeal his pulse rate never raised above eighty-five, which is usually a pulse pate of a regular person that is resting. The calmness he displays is a shallow emotional response, as well as lacking empathy or remorse.
...ably never recover from his violent, cannibalistic tendencies. Dr. Lecter is far too sophisticated and may outsmart any psychiatrist assigned to work with him. However, if treatment were pursued, I would begin with a psychotherapeutic approach. Dr. Lecter has few individuals he trusts/opens up to. He needs an established therapeutic rapport for therapy to continue successfully. He trusts no one. To help him cope with night terrors, intrusive thoughts, avoidance issues, and many of his antisocial behaviors, I would suggest Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), prolonged exposure, and possibly mood stabilizers. These treatments may help reduce symptoms/reminders of his trauma, that cause outbursts of anger/violence. Though these treatments may help reduce symptoms, it is unlikely that Dr. Hannibal Lecter will ever function safely/non destructively within society.