# When did Hannibal Lector become someone the audience cheers for? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 17, 2015, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-hannibal-lector-become-someone-the-audience-cheers-for/720221 "2015-05-17T04:47:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2015, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-hannibal-lector-become-someone-the-audience-cheers-for/720221/101 "2015-05-28T16:18:24Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > You do realize that both Lecter and Starling are fictional characters from the mind of the same author, right? The degree of emotional investment you are displaying in Starling makes me unsure that you do. Of course I realize that. I hadn’t thought about either in some time, until this thread. But I had a visceral reaction to HANNIBAL (the book; the movie is better, about the only time I’ve ever written that), just as you have an visceral reaction to some idiot in IMHO calling Batman “a trust fund baby who dresses up as a flying gerbil.” 🙂 I don’t think less of people who.cheer for Lecter, any more than I think less of people who like rap music. I just disagree with their taste. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2015, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-hannibal-lector-become-someone-the-audience-cheers-for/720221/102 "2015-05-28T16:20:47Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Lecter is a fascinating character, but undoubtedly evil and quite possibly insane (I think the evidence is mixed on that point). He only occasionally killed people who were - in Hollywood terms, at least - deserving of their fate. I never cheered for him. > > Fans of _Manhunter_ might want to visit the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, incidentally, as my family recently did; it stood in for Lecter’s asylum in that movie: > > [http://www.the-medium-is-not-enough.com/images/ManhunterPrison.jpg](http://www.the-medium-is-not-enough.com/images/ManhunterPrison.jpg) > [http://www.greatbuildings.com/gbc/images/cid\_1248213149\_2919711163.jpg](http://www.greatbuildings.com/gbc/images/cid_1248213149_2919711163.jpg) > [Welcome to the High Museum - High Museum of Art](http://www.high.org/?gclid=CKPli5Lq5MUCFQ4oaQod13AAPA) Do you mean Lecter’s legally insane, or clinically unwell? ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2015, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-hannibal-lector-become-someone-the-audience-cheers-for/720221/103 "2015-05-28T16:28:53Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > It is possible for people to separate reality from fiction. I don’t think you need to worry too much about the values of people enjoying a movie in some escapists way. Well, let me pose this question to you, Miller, and anyone else to whom it may apply: I read a review of \* Independence Day, \* in which the critic noted that the audience cheered at the destruction wreaked in Manhattan, for one. The critic himself commented on the audience’s apparently distorted values. Are you sure the audience wasn’t applying their own philosophy in their appraisal of the movie? ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2015, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-hannibal-lector-become-someone-the-audience-cheers-for/720221/104 "2015-05-28T16:43:58Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > Well, let me pose this question to you, Miller, and anyone else to whom it may apply: > I read a review of \* Independence Day, \* in which the critic noted that the audience cheered at the destruction wreaked in Manhattan, for one. The critic himself commented on the audience’s apparently distorted values. > Are you sure the audience wasn’t applying their own philosophy in their appraisal of the movie? Yes, I am absolutely sure that the _millions of people_ who saw _Independence Day_ do not actually want to blow up Manhattan. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2015, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-hannibal-lector-become-someone-the-audience-cheers-for/720221/105 "2015-05-28T16:44:51Z")
What does it say about audience philosophies that nobody has ever seemed distressed that Mickey Mouse plucked out a tune on a sow’s teats in _Steamboat Willie_? ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2015, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-hannibal-lector-become-someone-the-audience-cheers-for/720221/106 "2015-05-28T16:51:17Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > What does it say about audience philosophies that nobody has ever seemed distressed that Mickey Mouse plucked out a tune on a sow’s teats in _Steamboat Willie_? Probably because they thought “Neat trick if you can do it.” As for the other movie, I happen to know that it was cancelled by ABC as a Sunday Night Movie a few weeks after 9/11 and replaced with \* Mrs. Doubtfire. \* Now why do you suppose the network did that? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2015, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-hannibal-lector-become-someone-the-audience-cheers-for/720221/107 "2015-05-28T16:53:02Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Do you mean Lecter’s legally insane, or clinically unwell? Unsure as to the first, definitely as to the second. And I think that’s what Harris intended. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2015, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-hannibal-lector-become-someone-the-audience-cheers-for/720221/108 "2015-05-28T16:54:30Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > As for the other movie, I happen to know that it was cancelled by ABC as a Sunday Night Movie a few weeks after 9/11 and replaced with \* Mrs. Doubtfire. \* Now why do you suppose the network did that? Comedies go over better at times like that than blowing things up. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2015, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-hannibal-lector-become-someone-the-audience-cheers-for/720221/109 "2015-05-28T17:39:18Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Comedies go over better at times like that than blowing things up. And I thought it was just fiction and wouldn’t matter…:rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2015, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-hannibal-lector-become-someone-the-audience-cheers-for/720221/110 "2015-05-28T17:41:06Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > And I thought it was just fiction and wouldn’t matter…:rolleyes: I’m not sure what point you are trying to make, now. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2015, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-hannibal-lector-become-someone-the-audience-cheers-for/720221/111 "2015-05-28T17:53:48Z")
I, too, am lost. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2015, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-hannibal-lector-become-someone-the-audience-cheers-for/720221/112 "2015-05-28T18:01:50Z")
Well, I’ve shifted my point: You say that to the audience it doesn’t matter but to the TV network it does matter. Somewhat inconsistent. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2015, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-hannibal-lector-become-someone-the-audience-cheers-for/720221/113 "2015-05-28T18:29:23Z")
No one is saying it doesn’t matter. We’re saying that you can’t assume anything about the morals of the people watching a movie if they enjoy something you don’t. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2015, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-hannibal-lector-become-someone-the-audience-cheers-for/720221/114 "2015-05-28T18:59:37Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > I read a review of \* Independence Day, \* in which the critic noted that the audience cheered at the destruction wreaked in Manhattan, for one. I definitely cheered. Manhatten needs to be destructed. Wall Street Fat Cats secretly running, and non-secretly ruining, this country. That corrupt evil institution the UN. Those smelly hippies in Greenwich Village and don’t even get me started on the theater district. > [@dougie\_monty](#): > > Well, I’ve shifted my point: You say that to the audience it doesn’t matter but to the TV network it does matter. Somewhat inconsistent. Are you aware that the TV audience and TV network are two separate entities and can have two different interests? ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2015, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-hannibal-lector-become-someone-the-audience-cheers-for/720221/115 "2015-05-28T19:06:21Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > As for the other movie, I happen to know that it was cancelled by ABC as a Sunday Night Movie a few weeks after 9/11 and replaced with \* Mrs. Doubtfire. \* Now why do you suppose the network did that? Because people watch movies like _Independence Day_ for escapism, and at that particular point in time, what they wanted to escape was incessant footage of actual buildings being blown up in New York. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2015, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-hannibal-lector-become-someone-the-audience-cheers-for/720221/116 "2015-05-28T19:09:13Z")
Nuke the smelly hippies. ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2015, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-hannibal-lector-become-someone-the-audience-cheers-for/720221/117 "2015-05-28T19:40:20Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Nuke the smelly hippies. Slight hijack: It looks like San Fran gets it in _San Andreas_. /hijack ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2015, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-hannibal-lector-become-someone-the-audience-cheers-for/720221/118 "2015-05-29T00:37:04Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > I definitely cheered. Manhatten needs to be destructed. Wall Street Fat Cats secretly running, and non-secretly ruining, this country. That corrupt evil institution the UN. Those smelly hippies in Greenwich Village and don’t even get me started on the theater district. > […] I assume you did not feel this way on September 11, 2001. ---
**Author:** ![Archeonomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7cd45c/32.png) [@Archeonomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Archeonomist)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2015, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-hannibal-lector-become-someone-the-audience-cheers-for/720221/119 "2015-05-30T06:25:58Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > I assume you did not feel this way on September 11, 2001. Maybe s/he can separate life from fiction? You like to see movie bad guys get what they deserve - do you also enjoy seeing real life criminals get executed? ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2015, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-hannibal-lector-become-someone-the-audience-cheers-for/720221/120 "2015-05-30T06:50:24Z")
As an example of what I’m talking about the show Hannibal basically has Lecter as the main character, or at least sharing equal screen time. And this depiction by Mikkleson actually makes him seem like a serial killer cannibal, cold inhuman and creepy. He is not only killing the rude here. Yet bizarrely everyone around him seems to regard him as the more charming version played by Hopkins, apparently he is a social bon vivant although we the audience get no hint as to why he would be regarded so. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-hannibal-lector-become-someone-the-audience-cheers-for/720221.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-hannibal-lector-become-someone-the-audience-cheers-for/720221.md?page=7)