The Year Of Fear Essay, Research Paper

The Fear of A Year

Movies play a role in almost everyone’s life. People either see them, hear about them, or read about them everyday. It seems that many successful movies are either made about a true event or a similar event follows the movie. For instance, the year of 1991 saw the dreadful and atrocious acts of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer. Dahmer was a grizzly murderer who killed his victims and then devoured their body parts. People were fascinated with Dahmer and his crime so fascinated in fact that People magazine voted him “One of the most intriguing people of 1991.” Ironically, the Academy Award winner of 1991 was about murder and cannabilism that closely resembled that of Dahmer. The Silence of the Lambs began the chapter of the entire Jeffrey Dahmer murder scandal it was also a movie that captivated and fascinated all audiences, and it gave the viewers a chance to experience their own personal fear because there were so many of them portrayed in the movie and after all, everyone likes to be frightened every once in a while.

When the world was informed of Jeffrey Dahmer’s horrendous crimes, they associated him with Dr. Hannibal “the Cannibal” Lector, a psychiatrist from the movie with quicksilver cunning and the unfortunate habit of eating his patients (Web). Dahmer did not get his idea nor desire for murder from this film he had been committing these acts for years before the movie ever came out. The ways of Hannibal Lector were very similar to Jeffrey Dahmer’s true acts in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. During the Jeffrey Dahmer trial, the two names went hand in hand with each other and even today the names of Hannibal Lector and Jeffrey Dahmer are synonymous to the public. The two were different in many ways, but their common thread was their desire to devour their victims.

The Silence of the Lambs was no doubt the movie of the year in 1991. Roger Ebert said, “It has been a good long while since I have felt the presence of evil so manifestly demonstrated as in the first appearance of Anthony Hopkins in Silence of the Lambs” (Web). Ebert was not the only one who gave this movie astounding reviews. It was voted the most popular film of 1991 and it was the fourth top-grossing film of 1991 behind Terminator 2: Judgement Day, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, and Beauty and the Beast. The Silence of the Lambs was also applauded by the 1991 Academy Awards it won Best Picture, Best Actor Anthony Hopkins, Best Actress Jodie Foster, Best Director Jonathan Demme, and Best Writer Ted Tally (Web). Five Academy Awards going to one film is almost unheard of it is only the third film in cinema history to win the top five Academy Awards (Badley 50).

The Silence of the Lambs really opened doors for other horror films. After this film, another film would really have to go far and beyond in order to surprise or scare the viewing audience. In 1991 the typical horror film took a “trip” to the next level. This movie was such a thriller possibly because it touched so many universal phobias and dreads. Every fear that anyone could possibly have was touched on in this movie. That is one reason it appealed to so many audiences everyone WOULD be scared of something in this movie. The Silence of the Lambs not only involved cannabilism and the skinning of people, but also kidnaping, being trapped in the bottom of a well, decomposing corpses, large insects, being lost in the dark, being tracked by someone you cannot see, not being able to get people to believe you, people who know your deepest secrets, doors that slam shut behind you, beheadings, and bizarre sexual perversions (Web). After all those fears were compiled into one film, movie makers began to wonder what they could come up with next to scare their audience.

This award winning movie of 1991 undoubtedly affected the movie industry and world because it gave the industry something to build on and the world something to fear. This movie said a lot about 1991 because it brought crime into the spotlight. Crime was increasing at multiple rates in the early 1990’s, not only in real life but also in the movie industry. The fact that this grotesque and unimaginable film won five Academy Awards says a lot about the year and what people were interested in and wanted to see.

Crime will never be extinct it can and will only get worse and The Silence of the Lambs was the first realization of this.