“TaTa…”-Hannibal
Catalyst for my cologne adventure
Just like music, movies have always been a part of my life. As a matter of fact, after talking to a lady friend one day and discovering that she didn’t care for movies, I came to the realization that I could never be with a woman who didn’t enjoy movies. Until that day, I’d never met an American woman who didn’t enjoy movies! I mean, I can’t count how many high school dates I went on to the movies. Hell, when I was married, we went to the movies, and most of my dates are still infused with movies. And I mean movies…like the movie theater! I still love going to the movies! At times, on mornings when I have the day off, I’ll go to the movies by myself. I just love the cinema!
The first movie that I ever saw in a movie theater was Poltergeist. I had to have been in the first grade! I know what you’re thinking: ‘What in the hell is a first-grader doing at a horror movie?’ Remember, I told you, my family’s foreign. My guess is that they were unaware of what type of movie we were going to watch. A relative took us. I can’t remember which relative, but they were probably young, because I know that I’d never let my child see something like Poltergeist at that age. As a matter of fact, the cousin whom I was raised with wasn’t right for half of his elementary school years after seeing that movie!
I stopped watching scary movies years before I became an adult. When I was married, we’d go to Blockbuster or Video Warehouse, and then eventually Redbox, and we’d each choose a movie. I’d choose action! You know what I’m talking about…a guy or woman putting in some work to save the world. What would she choose? Usually something like love movies, suspenseful or scary. Many times, if it hadn’t been for her, I would never have watched any of those movies. And I’m grateful for that. When a young lady offers a movie, as long as it’s not against my “masculine morals,” I’ll watch it. That’s how I came across the Hannibal series with Anthony Hopkins (great actor!).
The Hannibal movie series started in 1991. I probably saw it somewhere around 1999 or 2000. It was dark—very, very dark. It became a four-part series worthy of watching if you haven’t already.
- The Silence of the Lambs, 1991
- Hannibal, 2001
- Red Dragon, 2002
- Hannibal Rising, 2007
The movie series comes from an acclaimed fictional book series written by Thomas Harris. The chronological order of his books is as follows:
- Red Dragon, 1981
- The Silence of the Lambs, 1988
- Hannibal, 1999
- Hannibal Rising, 2006
The series revolves around the character of Hannibal Lecter. Hannibal was a respected forensic psychiatrist who was put in prison for murder and cannibalism. In other words, he’s a cannibalistic serial killer. He’s brilliant, cultured, and refined. He comes from European nobility, so his manners are impeccable. In fact, he has such a disdain for the rude that those are the people he chooses to kill. While he’s in prison, the FBI uses him to catch other killers.
The first installment of the movie series is The Silence of the Lambs. We find him in a “glass” prison with no bars. In this movie, we are introduced to FBI agent Clarice Starling. The Bureau is on the hunt for someone else, so they use Hannibal to help them. As Clarice uses him, Hannibal begins to get into her head and builds a relationship with her. One time, when Clarice is leaving the prison, one of the prisoners, who is in a barred cell, throws semen on Clarice. To show what Hannibal does to the rude, when Clarice comes back, she finds that Hannibal has talked this deranged prisoner into swallowing his own tongue!
At the end of The Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal gets away. He’s in hiding. He escaped the United States and is nowhere to be found. He is now placed on the most wanted list.
Hannibal (2001)
In the movie Hannibal, which is set 10 years after The Silence of the Lambs, we find Clarice on desk duty. She was the head of a raid that went bad (real bad) on the streets of Washington, D.C. The operation went so bad, she was facing possible personal lawsuits.
Mason Verger
While Clarice is being reviewed by her bosses because of the botched-up raid, they reveal to her that she has a secret admirer (who came to her rescue). His name is Mason Verger. He was Hannibal’s fourth victim, who survived.
The FBI is leery of Mr. Verger because of their last run-in with him and his family. The first time was because the FBI took Hannibal off its top 10 most wanted. When he calls them, they pretty much say, “That’s life.” He replies, “Hey, this is a Senate oversight committee, to make your life miserable.” Her boss tells Clarice, “His family’s political contributions may not be enough to, uh buy a Senator, but they are enough to rent them from time to time. There’s no reason to go through that again.” So, the FBI will get Verger out of their hair, and Clarice will get put on a case to get her out of the public’s mind. He tells the FBI that he has some new information on Hannibal Lecter that he’ll share only with Clarice.
Who is Mr. Verger and why is he obsessed with Hannibal? When he meets Clarice, he tells her about his past and how he came in contact with Hannibal. He first tells Clarice, “I thank God for what happened. It was my salvation…”
His late father founded a Christian camp for poor and unfortunate children “who would do anything for a candy bar.” As a predator, he sexually assaulted those children and was found guilty of doing so. Somehow (probably because of his family’s wealth), he received immunity from the U.S. attorneys. The courts at the time assigned Mr. Verger to Hannibal Lecter for therapy. That was when things got hairy.
Mr. Verger wanted to seduce Mr. Lecter. So, he invited him to his house. He wore his most seductive outfits and had his sex toys out, with plenty of wine. While on one of his swings, Hannibal broke a pill in his face and got Virgil so high that he didn’t know what he was doing. Hannibal then asked him, “Show me how you smile to gain the confidence of a child?” So, Virgil smiled. Virgil crashed into one of the mirrors and broke the glass. Then Hannibal picked up a piece of the glass and told him, “Try this. Try peeling off your face.” Mr. Verger started peeling off his face with the glass. Then Hannibal took pieces of Mr. Verger’s face, which were lying on the floor, and started feeding them to Verger’s dogs. He told Mr. Verger to continue peeling off his face because he could still see it. Mr. Verger continued until he had removed his own face.
What was it that Mr. Verger had for Clarice? He had an x-ray of Hannibal’s arm from being restrained when he attacked one of the male nurses. After saying that he threw out the envelope it came in, he told her:
“…I hope it will catch him, to help cleanse the stigma of your recent dishonor.”-Mason Verger
Why did Hannibal do this to Mason?
It is one of my rules that:
“To understand a person, you have to understand their past. Once you understand their past you understand why they do what they do. It is to your benefit (and theirs) to take the time to know and understand their story.”-Moeh Muhammad
Once you’ve gone through the series, you’ll know that Hannibal grew up in Europe during World War II. His home was invaded and his sister was murdered and eaten by the invaders. Not only this, but unknowingly, the invaders fed his sister to Hannibal. Of course, this traumatically impacted him. Eventually, he began murdering and eating people.
Recently, I watched different parts of this movie to prepare for this article. I hadn’t watched the movie in probably 19-20 years! It’s honestly rather dark…and in studying myself, I’ve noticed that I don’t care for “dark” movies. I’ll usually watch dark movies once or twice, and that’s it. My stomach can’t take it anymore. Like I told a coworker, if it weren’t for my ex or the women I’ve dated, I probably would have never watched love movies, suspense movies, or horror movies. I would have watched only violent and aggressive movies—or as I call them, mannish movies!
However, as I watched the clip of Mason peeling off his face with the mask, I realized that Hannibal made him peel off his face so that he could never again use his smile to lure children to molest them. Because Mason’s family had money, he had managed to escape punishment for his sexual abuse of poor children. Because they were poor children, they weren’t of value to society. If those children had been from wealthy families, we all know that he’d be dead! So, Hannibal decided to do something about it. As sick as Hannibal is, he has a sort of “moral compass.” He prefers to eat the rude! (For the most part.)
The letter…
So, now Clarice is on the case to find Hannibal. Her office is downstairs in some basement, where she reviews all the information, videos, and recordings that the FBI has on Hannibal Lecter. One day, she receives a letter. As soon as she sees her name on the envelope, she asks her lower-ranked colleague to leave the room. Clarice puts on gloves so as not to contaminate the letter and then begins to read it. The letter states:
“Dear Clarice,
I have followed with enthusiasm the course of your disgrace and public shaming. My own never bothered me except for the inconvenience of being incarcerated, but you may lack perspective. In our discussions down in the dungeon it was apparent to me that your father, the dead night watchman, figures largely in your value system.
I think your success in putting an end to Jame Gumb’s career as a couturier pleased you most because you could imagine your father being pleased.
But now, alas, you’re in bad odour with the FBI.
Do you imagine your daddy being shamed by your disgrace?
Do you see him in his plain pine box crushed by your failure?
A sorry, petty end of a promising career?
What is worst about this humiliation Clarice?
Is it how your failure will reflect on your mommy and daddy?
Is your worst fear that people will now and forever believe they were indeed just good old trailer camp tornado bait white trash and that perhaps you are too?
By the way I couldn’t help noticing on the FBI’s rather dull public website that I have been hoisted from the Bureau’s archives of the common criminal and elevated to the more prestigious 10 Most Wanted list. Is this coincidence, or are you back on the case? If so, goody goody, cause I need to come out of retirement and return to public life.
I imagine you sitting in a dark basement room bent over papers and computer screens. Is that accurate?
Please tell me truly, Special Agent Starling.
Regards,
your old pal Hannibal Lecter, M.D.
P.S. Clearly this new assignment is not your choice rather I suppose it is a part of the bargain but you accepted it Clarice. Your job is to craft my doom. So I am not sure how well I should wish you but I’m sure we’ll have a lot of fun.
Tata,
H.
To be continued.
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