The Year of Fear
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 a
nd 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 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
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 807
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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