What CLARICE Gets Right About Clarice Starling
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Clarice Starling sits opposite a therapist, their session recounting a series of events familiar to fans of
The Silence of the Lambs. It’s been a year since since the FBI trainee—now a graduate of the academy—discovered and killed serial killer Buffalo Bill. But he lingers still, impressed on her subconscious like a fossil of the death’s-head moths he placed in his victim’s throats. A symbol of metamorphosis for him, preserved in fever-dream flashes for her.
“I thought it was done,” Clarice says in her West Virginia twang. Subtle notes of Q Lazzarus’ “Goodbye Horses” play over memories of Bill hunched over his sewing machine, stitching human flesh. The song was a standout moment in the 1991 film, but here it’s a shadow. Because this isn’t Buffalo Bill’s story. Or Hannibal Lecter’s. It’s Clarice’s, and it fits a little uncomfortably.