MAPACA

Mid-Atlantic Popular &
American Culture Association

Since its emergence in the 1980s, the image of the serial killer has haunted the American imagination and culture. Endlessly reincarnated in popular culture, from the early slasher films like Halloween to recent crime novels like Mr. Mercedes, the serial killer is gradually shaped into the epitome of the modern American monster. Among the countless works featuring the serial killer, Thomas Harris’ 1988 novel The Silence of the Lambs and its 1991 film adaptation stand out as significant milestones, introducing unconventional antagonists and reshaping the public’s imagination of the serial killer.

In this paper, I would like to explore the innovative character portrayals Harris’ novel The Silence of the Lambs brings to the serial killer genre, the adaptation strategies of Jonathan Demme’s film version—the way the film enhances the novel’s innovations, and the synergy between both versions in reconstructing the American imagination of the serial killer.

Before The Silence of the Lambs, the most frightening characteristic of the image of the serial killer is the incontrollable compulsion to kill (Jenkins 6-8). However, I would argue, Harris’ novel presents a different image of the serial killer, especially in the character Dr. Hannibal Lecter, highlighting the killer’s accurate insight into the human psyche and his lack of empathy. With this unfeeling understanding of the human mind, the serial killer morphed from a compulsive beast of prey into a cold dissector of the human mind/body. I would then show that the film version, with its several changes to character portrayals, actually extends the novel’s central theme and enhances the novel’s new image of the serial killer. Finally, I would recapitulate on Harris and Demme’s meditations on the serial killer and the modern American monster, showing their innovations in the serial killer genre and influences on the American popular culture.