The Many Faces of Psychopathy
The theme of the movie is murder - that's fairly obvious from the first scene. The central character is a serial killer who eats his victims; the film is about the search for a serial killer who kidnaps women and skins them. In every scene of the film there are examples of psychopathy and the results that it can have upon society when it is allowed to go unfettered into the community.
However, the film also shows that psychopathy is an umbrella term, and in order to be considered a psychopath one must meet certain criteria that the mental health professionals use in order to make a clinical diagnosis. Law enforcement also use this in order to profile someone; are all psychopaths serial killers? No. Are all serial killers psychopaths? Probably. A serial killer is considered to be someone who has killed two or more people in separate, unrelated incidents. Both Hannibal Lecter and Buffalo Bill fit into this category. However, their psychopathy manifests itself in vastly different ways.
The most dangerous thing abut Lecter is that he seems like an upstanding member of society. He is sophisticated, intelligent, respected in his field. He holds down a good job. He is erudite, entertaining, and generally the type of person one would look at as a highly desirable neighbor, except for the fact that he kills people and consumes them afterwards. Buffalo Bill, on the other hand, is none of these things. He is trans-gender and deeply uncomfortable with himself. He is disorganized, untidy and socially awkward. He is a loner, and not particularly intelligent or well spoken. The two men are like night and day, except for the simple fact that they are psychopaths.
There is also a sociopath in the movie, Frederick Chilton; he has no empathy, no moral fiber and is a narcissist; however, he is not a psychopath.
Sexual Identity
Buffalo Bill is struggling with his sexual identity. He is a trans-gender woman who does not feel at all comfortable in his own skin and so decides to wear someone else's, quite literally' after killing his victims, he skins them, and is making a woman suit out of their flesh. He intends to put on the suit, and wear the skin of the women, in order to help him become one.
Although Buffalo Bill is an extreme character, his struggle with his own identity is seen as his prime motivation and therefore the theme is actually quite central to the film, although it is by no means at the forefront of the plot of the movie as a whole.
Gender Politics and Bias
What a surprise - there is gender bias at the F.B.I. Academy. This is obvious from the first time we encounter Clarice Starling. Whenever she is talked of by any of the other characters she is referred to as a female agent, rather than just as an agent. This shows that her gender is something that is taken into account for or against her every day of her working life, not something that would be the case had she been a male.
Crawford sends her to speak with Lecter precisely because she is a female; his guard is down when he is engaged in intellectual combat with a woman in a way that it would not be had a male agent been sent to engage in conversation with him, although had the agent been male it is unlikely that Lecter would have played the "confession from you - information from me" game; this is controlling and something that only a female agent would be prey to.
It is also clear that the way in which female agents are treated by those outside the F.B.I. is vastly different to that of their male counterparts. Starling is harassed when she first visits Lecter in jail, both by Chilton, who acts in a sexually inappropriate manner towards her, and by the prisoners, one of whom flicks semen in her direction. It's hard to imagine a male agent prompting such a display, although this ultimately makes Lecter work with Starling, because he is so offended by such disgusting behavior.
Manipulation for Good and Bad
Every single character in the film is manipulative. You say tomato, I say tom-ah-to, because in some cases, manipulation is evidence of psychopathy,and in others, it is the mark of an intelligent and insightful agent. Lecter is the most manipulative character of all, but this is no surprise; he is also the most intelligent and he is a psychiatrist, so mind games are part of his professional skill set. He outwits, out-thinks and out prepares every other character. For example, he takes the case file from Starling, to look through it and help her, but he also removes the paper clip holding the paperwork together so that he can use it to escape his cage. He is manipulative in that he thinks of doing things that others would not even be able to comprehend.
However, Starling and Crawford are also both master manipulators. Crawford manipulates Lecter by sending in a female agent, knowing that he will want to show off how clever he is in front of her and will not feel threatened or combative at all. Starling shares her childhood memories with Lecter so that he will believe she is captivated by him and playing his game. There are many different reasons for manipulation, some for good, some for bad. As in the other themes of the film both the evil characters and those on the side of the law all exhibit the same characteristics but their way of utilizing them is greatly different.
