<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Leo Daher:
BTW, maybe I'm some kind of weirdo, but I fail to find cannibalism, torture and serial murder "fun". Hannibal Lecter's popularity is really beyond me.</font>
Leo,
First of all, glad to see you and the Wife are coming to The United States! Now if we can get Rosie O'Donnell and say, Alec Baldwin to Rio in your place, that would be a
Good Thing.
If we could only make that a trend with a geometric growth rate...think of the possibilities...
I'd trade the whole damned American "Brady Bunch" (some of you will know what I mean, others might be lost) for a dozen oppressed Brits who have had their weapons taken. Hell, I'd even take two Canadians that think like "us," namely Steve[a bunch of numbers follow] and "VooDoo Child" here on BladeForums, but Cliff Stamp can stay up there though.
As for the popularity of serial murder here in the States, or anywhere else for that matter, it is like being ushered through a car accident by a Police Officer, some
have to look, some turn away. Some want to feel the bile rise, others do not. Morbid curiousity. Some feel a need to look at something they will never be, they are fascinated by it.
As for the character "Hannibal," I think people see the charisma, manners, intelligence and grace. You see, a Great White Shark has an intelligence and a sense for hunting all of its' own and has a grace if you watch them. They are, in their environment, one of the most deadly creatures one could run into.
Hannibal did exist to a lesser extent. His name was Ted Bundy. In a way, it is insidious that Thomas Harris chose to make societal bullies Hannibal's "victims" in some instances...it added almost an air of legitimacy, intended or not, to his murder.
For example, if they made a movie about Albert Fish, a Child Molester in the early 1900s, he hunted little kids, tortured them with fire and all sorts of things, sexually assaulting them at times, then cooking and eating them, he was also known for taunting the parents with letters describing in intimate detail what he did...if Hollywood released a movie on him, would it sell as well as Silence of The Lambs or Hannibal? I doubt it. That is too real and it does not carry with it the demonization of the victim that is necessary in order for the movie goer to identify with the character. Hannibal does not send a "good" message, and the psychology involved in the books and the movies is problematic, but it is not reality either.
For example, in the book "Hannibal," he kills a Poacher, right? See what I mean? I would love to know if Harris is Anti-Gun because the Anti-Hunting crowd runs with the Anti-Gun crowd and Harris appears to be no fan of firearms and gun shows in that book either.
If the movie shows him opening that Harpy one handed very fast, along with a murderous rampage...there could very well be repercussions felt that would be very negative. All it takes is one Congressman or Senator to see that in a Theatre and I can hear the wheels turning now..."I thought we banned
Switchblades," and the fact that Spyderco Knives are
not Switchblades would not matter in the slightest, this is a Game of Perception.
This is nothing new, but hey, at least we are not being cut up by our own side this time. Jeff Imada helped Hollywood depict the Bali-Song as a "bad" knife with his skills...as did others, and in so doing, led to their control by Law Enforcement. Then they whined about it because they did not realize the
political ramifications of their act(s).
SO...part of me says, "Hey, it's a movie, lighten up," and the other part of me cringes at the possibility of the focus becoming not Switchblades or Bali-Songs, but
all one-handed knives.
