History YMMV / TheSilenceOfTheLambs

** Miggs flinging his ''semen'' at Clarice, shown in graphic detail. It's nauseating not just to the viewer, but also in-universe, to the where Lecter, after immediately talking down to and shooing away Clarice, immediately ''screams'' for her to come back and set her first steps down the path to Buffalo Bill.

* RealismInducedHorror: What makes Buffalo Bill such a terrifying and memorable villain (although he is admittedly second-fiddle to Hannibal Lector) is that he isn't an extremely intelligent or grandiose villain. He's a nutcase serial killer who kidnaps women, locks them in a hole, and tortures them unless they cooperate with his murder preparations. If one places themselves in the position of his captives, it is absolutely terrifying to be locked away in some dark pit with no hope of escape, while your captor tortures you and makes you do something that you're well aware will only lead to your inevitable death. Also keep in mind that Bill was based on ''real life serial killers'', meaning that somewhere at sometime, a real person was put through this and in fact could be going through it right now. [[NightmareFuel Sleep tight.]]

** Buffalo Bill's infamous "Would you fuck me? I'd fuck me. ''I'd fuck me hard.''" The mantra ended up ingraining itself so heavily into popular memory that there's now a huge portion of people who don't know that it came from this film, leading many to recite it for genuine sex appeal rather than the film's use of it as part of Bill's lengthy FanDisservice sequence.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic:

%%* CreepyAwesome: Lecter.

** In the book (only).

* FairForItsDay: The character of Buffalo Bill can be seen today (and even by some at the time) as a transphobic caricature. However, they’re also specified to not technically be trans, but rather psychotic, and differentiating between those two things was decently progressive for the late 80’s/early 90’s.

* GeniusBonus: Hannibal famously said of one victim that he "ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti." Liver, fava beans, and wine all contain a substance called tyramine, which can cause a severe reaction in any person taking an MAO inhibitor drug. MAO inhibitors, in turn, are one of the first antidepressants and were a regular part of the drug regimen given to people in insane asylums before safer antidepressants became available. Thus, anyone committed to an insane asylum--such as Hannibal Lecter himself--would have been forbidden from consuming liver, fava beans, or Chianti.

* JerkassHasAPoint: Chilton is an obnoxious ass, and seems to somewhat ''enjoy'' showing Clarice the picture of the nurse that Lecter mutilated. However, the picture is still something Clarice should have seen - it brings home just how incredibly dangerous Lecter is, and how you must always respect proper procedure around him, just like a loaded gun (when the police do ''not'' follow proper procedure later in the film, it's how he escapes - they really should have been shown that picture).

%%** "[[BeamMeUpScotty Hello, Clarice.]]"

%%** "Would you fuck me? I'd fuck me. ''I'd fuck me hard.''"

%%** Buffalo Bill's bathtub is a good example.
** The rotting corpse in the funeral home.

** Miggs's assault on Clarice, shown in graphic detail. It's nauseating not just to the viewer, but also in-universe, to the where Lecter, after immediately talking down to and shooing away Clarice, immediately ''screams'' for her to come back and set her first steps down the path to Buffalo Bill.

** Whether Buffalo Bill is a psychopath, an emotionally-disturbed survivor of trauma, or somewhere between the two. While he's perfectly willing to abduct and kill women to make his skin suit, we're shown that he feels conflicted and remorseful. In particular, when Catherine is pleading for her life and begging to see her mother, Bill is shown struggling to hold back tears. Rather than glorifying in the suffering of his victims[[note]]Though in the book, it's explicitly stated that he enjoyed stalking women through his darkened basement and he is clearly getting a thrill out of hunting Clarice the same way[[/note]], he has to work hard to distance himself from them, avoiding eye contact and referring to them as "it", as he would otherwise wouldn't be able to kill them. He's less a {{sadist}} than a pragmatist. Likewise, the jury's out on whether he's deluded into believing he's transgender (as Lecter believes) or legitimately transgender ''and'' balls to the wall insane (and as mentioned below, director Jonathan Demme was harshly criticized for [[UnfortunateImplications not making this last part clearer]]).

--->'''Dr. Lecter:''' ''(showing Starling a letter)'' This is about my crucifixion watch. They won't give me a patent, but they advise me to copyright the face. ...You may have noticed that in most crucifixions the hands point to, say, a quarter to three, or ten till two at the earliest, while the feet are at six. On this watch face, Jesus is on the cross, as you see there, and the arms revolve to indicate the time, just like the arms on the popular Disney watches. The feet remain at six and at the top a small second hand revolves in the halo. What do you think?

** Clarice thinks that Hannibal's crimes are due to some sort of FreudianExcuse; Hannibal tells her that it's foolish thinking and that she's abandoning the concepts of good and evil for behaviorism. Twenty years later, Hannibal Rising, a book detailing Hannibal's origins and motivations, was released, although it's implied he was naturally evil to begin with, and the incidents in the book just showed him how to put it into horrifying use.
--->'''Dr. Lecter:''' ''Nothing happened to me, Officer Starling.'' I ''happened. You can't reduce me to a set of influences.''

** When Clarice visits the Smithsonian for information on the butterfly, one of the scientists tells her to ignore the other one because "he's not a [=PhD=]." The dialogue is made even funnier if one watches ''[[Series/TheBigBangTheory]]'', which has a RunningGag where a main character is ridiculed and ignored by his fellow scientists due to not being a [=PhD=].

* LesYay: In a discussion of motivation, Hannibal tells Starling "we start by coveting the things we see every day." Starling repeats this observation to her FBI room-mate and closest friend Ardelia, and they smile at each other.

%%** "[[BeamMeUpScotty Hello, Clarice]]."
%%** "[[BeamMeUpScotty Tell me about the lambs, Clarice]]."

** Miggs' assault on Clarice, shown in graphic detail. It's so nauseating not just to the viewer, but also in-universe to where Lecter, after immediately talking down to and shooing away Clarice, immediately ''screams'' for her to come back and set her first steps down the path to Buffalo Bill.

* UnfortunateImplications: The film saw a (surprisingly vocal for its time) [[http://www.slate.com/blogs/outward/2017/04/28/director_jonathan_demme_faced_down_silence_of_the_lambs_gay_backlash.html?wpsrc=kwfacebookdt&kwp_0=399121&kwp_4=1485083&kwp_1=647686 backlash from the gay community]], who were disgusted by how Buffalo Bill's most villanous traits all seemed to step from GayPanic (feminine voice, obsessing with [[TransEqualsGay looking like a woman]], a poodle named Precious, etc). Jonathan Demme, himself a staunch supporter of gay rights and visibility, denied that this was the intention, but admitted that he should have made it clearer that Bill's disturbing habits were not the result of being gay. The controversy carried over into his next film, ''Film/{{Philadelphia}}'', which the same critics wrote off as a [[ButNotTooGay flaccid attempt]] at an apology.

** Whether Buffalo Bill is a psychopath, an emotionally-disturbed survivor of trauma, or somewhere between the two. While he's perfectly willing to abduct and kill women to make his skin suit, we're shown that he feels conflicted and remorseful. In particular, when Catherine is pleading for her life and begging to see her mother, Bill is shown struggling to hold back tears. Rather than glorifying in the suffering of his victims[[note]]Though in the book, it's explicitly stated that he enjoyed stalking women through his darkened basement and he is clearly getting a thrill out of hunting Clarice the same way[[/note]], he has to work hard to distance himself from them, avoiding eye contact and referring to them as "it", as he would otherwise wouldn't be able to kill them. He's less a {{sadist}} than a pragmatist. Likewise, the jury's out on whether he's deluded into believing he's transgender (as Lecter believes) or legitimately transgender ''and'' balls to the wall insane (and as mentioned below, director Jonathan Demme was harshly criticized for [[UnfortunatelyImplications not making this last part clearer]]).

** Whether Buffalo Bill is a psychopath, an emotionally-disturbed survivor of trauma, or somewhere between the two. While he's perfectly willing to abduct and kill women to make his skin suit, we're shown that he feels conflicted and remorseful. In particular, when Catherine is pleading for her life and begging to see her mother, Bill is shown struggling to hold back tears. Rather than glorifying in the suffering of his victims[[note]]Though in the book, it's explicitly stated that he enjoyed stalking women through his darkened basement and he is clearly getting a thrill out of hunting Clarice the same way[[/note]], he has to work hard to distance himself from them, avoiding eye contact and referring to them as "it", as he would otherwise wouldn't be able to kill them. He's less a {{sadist}} than a pragmatist. Likewise, the jury's out on whether he's deluded into believing he's transgender (as Lecter believes) or legitimately transgender ''and'' balls to the wall insane.

* RealismInduceHorror: What makes Buffalo Bill such a terrifying and memorable villain (although he is admittedly second-fiddle to Hannibal Lector) is that he isn't an extremely intelligent or grandiose villain. He's a nutcase serial killer who kidnaps women, locks them in a hole, and tortures them unless they cooperate with his murder preparations. If one places themselves in the position of his captives, it is absolutely terrifying to be locked away in some dark pit with no hope of escape, while your captor tortures you and makes you do something that you're well aware will only lead to your inevitable death. Also keep in mind that Bill was based on ''real life serial killers'', meaning that somewhere at sometime, a real person was put through this and in fact could be going through it right now. [[NightmareFuel Sleep tight.]]

** "[[BeamMeUpScotty Hello, Clarice]]."
** "[[BeamMeUpScotty Tell me about the lambs, Clarice]]."
** "Would you fuck me? I'd fuck me. ''I'd fuck me hard.''"

** Buffalo Bill's bathtub is a good example.

** Miggs's assault on Clarice, shown in graphic detail. It's so nauseating not just to the viewer, but also in-universe to where Lecter, after immediately talking down to and shooing away Clarice, immediately ''screams'' for her to come back and set her first steps down the path to Buffalo Bill.
* NeverLiveItDown:
** "Goodbye Horses" by Q Lazzarus. It's a great song performed in Lazarrus' signature contralto voice and filled with rich Hindu symbolism about transcendence. Too bad it's only brought up to remind people of a guy sticking his private parts between his thighs while wearing a woman's severed scalp and creating a suit of womens' flesh.
** Good luck ever seeing Fava beans and/or Chianti and not thinking of this film.
** Or listening to Bach's "Goldberg Variations".

* {{Squick}}: "[[ADateWithRosiePalms LOOK AT THE BLOOD!]]"

** When Clarice visits the Smithsonian for information on the butterfly, she's told about one of scientists "[[Series/TheBigBangTheory Don't mind him, he's not a PhD]]."

* MagnificentBastard: If ''anyone'' can be considered one, it's Lecter.

* AwardSnub: Averted. Only the third film in history to win Oscars in all the top 5 categories[[note]]Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay[[/note]]. And it was an extremely gory ''[[FantasyGhetto horror film]]'' released [[DumpMonths in February]], to boot. Still, some feel that Creator/TedLevine deserved a nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

* CreepyAwesome: Lecter.

* DracoInLeatherPants: Hey, a [[AristocratsAreEvil refined]], [[TheChessmaster intelligent]], [[SilverFox older man]]? Oooh yeah. [[FelonyMisdemeanor What of the Cannibalism]]?
* EnsembleDarkhorse: Two more movies and an Oscar for Hopkins make it easy to forget that he's only in the movie for 18 minutes.

* FoeYay: Hannibal and Clarice. Who could have guessed?

* NeverLiveItDown: "Goodbye Horses" by Q Lazzarus. It's a great song performed in Lazarrus' signature contralto voice and filled with rich Hindu symbolism about transcendence. Too bad it's only brought up to remind people of a guy sticking his private parts between his thighs while wearing a woman's severed scalp and creating a suit of womens' flesh.

** The controversy has arguably restarted (albeit not to the same extent) in recent years due to the increase in awareness of transgender rights and issues, with many transgender people criticising the portrayal of Buffalo Bill and saying that regardless of whether he's actually a trans woman or not, it's still unintentionally portraying trans people as disturbed freaks. Not helping matters is the film's argument for Bill not being trans (he just hates himself and wants to be someone different) being leveled at ''actual'' trans people by transphobes.

* NeverLiveItDown: "Goodbye Horses" by Q Lazzarus. It's a great song performed in Lazarrus' signature contralto voice and filled with rich Hindu symbolism about transcendence. Too bad it's only brought up to remind people of a guy sticking his private parts between his thighs while wearing a suit made of women's flesh.

* CowboyBebopAtHisComputer: A very... ''unusual'' case. [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zehava_Gal-On Zehava Gal’on]], leader of the Israeli leftist party [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meretz Meretz]], has often criticised right-wing and religious leadership in Israel for their conspicuous silence on growing nationalist chauvinism and intolerance and the violence these attitudes beget, [[https://www.google.co.il/search?q=%D7%96%D7%94%D7%91%D7%94+%D7%92%D7%9C%D7%90%D7%95%D7%9F+%22%D7%A9%D7%AA%D7%99%D7%A7%D7%AA+%D7%94%D7%9B%D7%91%D7%A9%D7%99%D7%9D%22&oq=%D7%96%D7%94%D7%91%D7%94+%D7%92%D7%9C%D7%90%D7%95%D7%9F+%22%D7%A9%D7%AA%D7%99%D7%A7%D7%AA+%D7%94%D7%9B%D7%91%D7%A9%D7%99%D7%9D%22&aqs=chrome..69i57l2j69i59l2j69i61l2.9308j0j4&sourceid=chrome&es_sm=0&ie=UTF-8 labelling their behaviour as ‘the silence of the lambs’]]. This is despite the fact that the name derives from [[spoiler:Clarice’s personal history living in a farm where sheep were slaughtered: the sheep would let out blood-curdling screams, and when Clarice couldn’t tolerate it any longer she tried, in vain, to grab a sheep and run off to save it; this even inspired her to join the FBI, to overcome her inability to protect the weak and make the metaphorical lambs stop screaming--in other words, ‘the silence of the lambs’ is a ''good'' thing]].

* MisaimedFandom: A very... ''unusual'' case. [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zehava_Gal-On Zehava Gal’on]], leader of the Israeli leftist party [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meretz Meretz]], has often criticised right-wing and religious leadership in Israel for their conspicuous silence on growing nationalist chauvinism and intolerance and the violence these attitudes beget, [[https://www.google.co.il/search?q=%D7%96%D7%94%D7%91%D7%94+%D7%92%D7%9C%D7%90%D7%95%D7%9F+%22%D7%A9%D7%AA%D7%99%D7%A7%D7%AA+%D7%94%D7%9B%D7%91%D7%A9%D7%99%D7%9D%22&oq=%D7%96%D7%94%D7%91%D7%94+%D7%92%D7%9C%D7%90%D7%95%D7%9F+%22%D7%A9%D7%AA%D7%99%D7%A7%D7%AA+%D7%94%D7%9B%D7%91%D7%A9%D7%99%D7%9D%22&aqs=chrome..69i57l2j69i59l2j69i61l2.9308j0j4&sourceid=chrome&es_sm=0&ie=UTF-8 labelling their behaviour as ‘the silence of the lambs’]]. This is despite the fact that the name derives from [[spoiler:Clarice’s personal history living in a farm where sheep were slaughtered: the sheep would let out blood-curdling screams, and when Clarice couldn’t tolerate it any longer she tried, in vain, to grab a sheep and run off to save it; this even inspired her to join the FBI, to overcome her inability to protect the weak and make the metaphorical lambs stop screaming--in other words, ‘the silence of the lambs’ is a ''good'' thing]].

** Whether Buffalo Bill is a psychopath, an emotionally-disturbed survivor of trauma, or somewhere between the two. While he's perfectly willing to abduct and kill women to make his skin suit, we're shown that he feels conflicted and remorseful. In particular, when Catherine is pleading for her life and begging to see her mother, Bill is shown struggling to hold back tears. Rather than glorifying in the suffering of his victims[[note]]Though in the book, it's explicitly stated that he enjoyed stalking women through his darkened basement and he is clearly getting a thrill out of hunting Clarice the same way[[/note]], he has to work hard to distance himself from them, avoiding eye contact and referring to them as "it", as he would otherwise wouldn't be able to kill them. He's less a sadist than a pragmatist. Likewise, the jury's out on whether he's deluded into believing he's transgender (as Lecter believes) or legitimately transgender ''and'' balls to the wall insane.

* DracoInLeatherPants: Hey, a [[AristocratsAreEvil refined]], [[TheChessMaster intelligent]], [[SilverFox older man]]? Oooh yeah. [[FelonyMisdemeanor What of the Cannibalism]]?

* AwardSnub: Averted. Only the third film in history to win Oscars in all the top 5 categories[[note]]Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay[[/note]]. And it was released [[DumpMonths in February]], to boot. Still, some feel that Creator/TedLevine deserved a nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

** In the book (only) of ''Silence''.

* RetroactiveRecognition:
** One of the Smithsonian entomologists is [[{{Series/Frasier}} Bulldog Briscoe]].
** Creator/GeorgeRomero makes an uncredited appearance as an FBI agent in Memphis.

* UnfortunateImplications:
** The film saw a (surprisingly vocal for its time) [[http://www.slate.com/blogs/outward/2017/04/28/director_jonathan_demme_faced_down_silence_of_the_lambs_gay_backlash.html?wpsrc=kwfacebookdt&kwp_0=399121&kwp_4=1485083&kwp_1=647686 backlash from the gay community]], who were disgusted by how Buffalo Bill's most villanous traits all seemed to step from GayPanic (feminine voice, obsessing with [[TransEqualsGay looking like a woman]], a poodle named Precious, etc). Jonathan Demme, himself a staunch supporter of gay rights and visibility, denied that this was the intention, but admitted that he should have made it clearer that Bill's disturbing habits were not the result of being gay. The controversy carried over into his next film, ''Film/{{Philadelphia}}'', which the same critics wrote off as a [[ButNotTooGay flaccid attempt]] at an apology.

** It's been pointed out that the film is more immediately transphobic than homophobic, and that making a movie about cis gay men really does nothing to counter the implications. This wasn't pointed out at the time because mainstream cultural discourse in TheNineties still ran on the assumption that TransEqualsGay. Though whether the film is truly transphobic is up for debate since Lecter explicitly states that Buffalo Bill "merely thinks he's transsexual" and thus is not actually transgender.