Psychology in Film: The Silence of the Lambs The movie The Silence of the Lambs begins with Clarice Starling being pulled from training at the FBI Academy by Jack Crawford, the head of the Bureau’s Behavioral Science Unit. He tasks her with the job to interview Hannibal “the Cannibal” Lecter to see if his insights as both a former psychiatrist and a serial killer might help in the capture of another psychopath nicknamed “Buffalo Bill,” who is known for the skinning of his female victims. Although he is at first amenable to the interview he soon grows irritated with Clarice and refuses to continue. Only after witnessing an assault on her by one of the other prisoners does he relent and calls her back. He tells her to seek out an old patient of his. She discovers he may have been …show more content…
Post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD is an anxiety disorder that can develop when someone is exposed to traumatic events. Symptoms generally include recurrent flashbacks and/or nightmares related to the traumatic event, avoidance of memories of the event, and generalized anxiety. Within the movie Clarice is shown to be experiencing recurring nightmares/night terrors related to the traumatic event in her childhood when she witnessed and was unable to prevent the slaughter of spring lambs on her uncle’s farm. Her apparent anxiety and timidity shown in the beginning of the movie could also be seen as symptoms of her PTSD. Jodi Foster’s portrayal of Clarice’s PTSD was very well done and she well deserved her Oscar. It didn’t really change my view of PTSD although it may have expanded it. PTSD is usually shown as an affliction of returning soldiers and rape victims, but this movie has shown me that it can indeed affect anyone who has suffered a traumatic event in their