Podcasts
The Transphobic Legacy of ‘The Silence of the Lambs’ [Horror Queers Podcast]
A Problematic Fave.
Chucky got lucky when we covered Ronny Yu’s Bride of Chucky and then the children got possessed (maybe?) when we discussed Jack Clayton’s The Innocents. Now it’s time to dive into one of the most well-known and controversial films ever made: Jonathan Demme‘s The Silence of the Lambs!
In the film, Jack Crawford (Scott Glenn) wants Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster), a top student at the FBI’s training academy, to interview Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins), a brilliant psychiatrist who is also a violent psychopath, serving life behind bars for various acts of murder and cannibalism. Crawford believes that Lecter may have insight into the case of the serial killer Buffalo Bill (Ted Levine) and that Starling may be just the bait to draw him out.
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Episode 121 – The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
The lambs have stopped screaming so we’re going all-in on Jonathan Demme’s critically-acclaimed and Oscar-winning film The Silence of the Lambs. Joining us is Reyna Cervantes, the co-host of the Horror In Session podcast!
In what is an admittedly unorthodox episode for us, we eschew a traditional plot summary in favor of a more analytical episode, looking back at the film’s development while tackling the transphobic elements of Buffalo Bill and the impact it has had on the trans community in the 30 years since the film’s release.
Plus, feminist horror, intent vs. impact, and what would a 4th season of Hannibal look like with Clarice Starling?
Cross out The Silence of the Lambs!
Coming up on Wednesday: We return to the world of video games and butch, queer-coded cops in the foggy town of Silent Hill!
– Joe & Trace
P.S. Subscribe to our Patreon for tons of additional content! In April we’re doing a video game theme month with episodes on Paul W.S. Anderson’s Monster Hunter and his 1995 Mortal Kombat film, plus an episode on the new 2021 Mortal Kombat as well!
After kicking off July with discussions of Joe Dante’s seminal werewolf film The Howling (listen) and Ken Russell’s controversial erotic thriller Crimes of Passion (listen), we’re heading to Maine to dissect one of Stephen King‘s most misguided adaptations in Lawrence Kasdan‘s 2003 misfire Dreamcatcher!
Dreamcatcher sees friends Henry (Thomas Jane), Jonesy (Damian Lewis), Pete (Timothy Olyphant) and Beaver (Jason Lee) reunite for their annual hunting trip in Maine. Their reunion is cut short when they find themselves caught in the middle of a war between a hostile race of farty-farty aliens and an elite US military unit led by Colonel Abraham Curtis (Morgan Freeman), who has been driven mad after spending decades tracking the extraterrestrials. When Jonesy is possessed by one of the aliens, the remaining friends seek out their disabled childhood friend Duddits (Donnie Wahlberg), who they believe has powers that can save Jonesy…and the world.
Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get a new episode every Wednesday. You can subscribe on iTunes/Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, iHeartRadio, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Amazon Music, and RSS.
Episode 396: Dreamcatcher (2003)
Watch out for “ister gay” (oof), take some Gas-X and bite our bags because we’re talking Lawrence Kasdan’s baffling 2003 adaptation of Stephen King’s equally baffling novel Dreamcatcher.
Join us as we go all in on the farty-farty aliens populating this hilarious misfire that often feels like a bad Kevin Smith script. It’s a film filled with characters who get a single defining trait (if they’re lucky), played by respectable actors who are here for the paycheck (looking at you, Morgan Freeman).
Plus: blown-out assholes, using guns as telephones, pitying poor Donnie Wahlberg, and wondering why the hell this movie is called Dreamcatcher.
Cross out Dreamcatcher!
Coming Up Next: We’re going to be lounging around a posh Greenwich Village apartment as we check in on Jimmy Stewart and Grace Kelly in Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window (1954).
P.S. Subscribe to our Patreon for over 513 hours of Patreon content including this month’s new episodes on Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Forbidden Fruits, Saccharine, Evil Dead Burn, an audio commentary on Howling II: Your Sister is a Werewolf (aka Howling II: Stirba – Werewolf Bitch), and the conclusion of our coverage of AMC’s The Vampire Lestat on the Requel Tier.