If you have not seen the Silence of the Lambs and want to be surprised when you do, do not read this write up. That is all.
The
serial killer who is the focus of the
movie and
book the
Silence of the Lambs. Very little is known about
Bill until the
FBI enlists the aide of
Hannibal Lecter. Bill had been a
patient of Lecter's and therefore Lecter could use his
razor sharp intellect to
interpolate Bill's patterns and
methods. When first asked for Bill's
real name, Lecter gives the name
Louis Friend which is actually an
anagram for
Iron Sulfide, or
Fool's Gold. Bill's real name is
Jame Gumb and he is eventually tracked down by
Clarece Starling's investigative methods (which were moulded by Hannibal).
Buffalo Bill kidnaps
women who are
overweight (Lecter: "Was she a big girl? Roomy through the hips?") He is very specific, first he'll knock the
victim out and cut off her clothing in order to see if it is the right size. He does because his ultimate purpose is
removing their
skin and making a
woman suit out of it. See,
Gumb thinks he is a
transexual, as Lecter said, but he isn't really. He applied for
sex reassignment at one or all of the major hospitals which offer that
surgery and was rejected on the basis of psychological
instability rooted in an
extremely violent childhood. He has a
fetish for
insects, he stuffs the
cocoons of
Death's Head moths down the throats of his victims. These symbolize the
metamorphisis he is making. One of the most disturbing scenes from the movie is where Bill is putting on make up in an
extreme close up and is then revealed,
nude, with a cap of women's scalps on his head and dances with his
penis tucked between his
legs.
Quotes
Speaking to a girl he has held captive in a pit:
"It rubs the lotion on its skin. It does so when its told. (pause)
It rubs the lotion on its skin, or else it gets the hose again. (pause, the girl still does not comply)
Rub the FUCKING lotion on your skin!"
Speaking into a
mirror:
"Would you fuck me? I'd fuck me."