You fell in love with
The Bureau, The Institution,
only to discover, after giving it
everything you've got,
That it Does Not Love You Back.
That, in fact, it resents you.
Resents you more than
the Husband and Children
you gave up to it.
You Serve
The Idea of Order, Clarice —
They Don't.
You Believe in
The Oath You Took —
They Don't.
You feel it is
Your Duty to Protect The Sheep —
They Don't.
They Don't Like You
Because You're Not Like Them.
They Hate You
and
They Envy You.
They're Weak and Unruly,
and
Believe in Nothing.
What is Her Name?
Clarisse
fem. proper name, often a diminutive of Clara and its relatives. Also, "a nun of the order of St. Clare" (1790s); the Franciscan order also known as the Poor Clares (c. 1600).
MOTHER SUPERIOR:
We face Danger,
we face Evil, which stands at
The Gate
of our Most Holy Sanctuary.
God is with us, as we know.
God's love is Eternal.
This we know too.
Tonight, in our most deadly hour
Do We Think Our God Will Remember us?
Will He Reach Down
and
Save Us
from Death's Shadow?
NO.
No, He will NOT.
Where, in Our World
is God to be found?
In Our Prayer?
No.
In our song?
No.
In Our Suffering,
in Our Endurance?
No.
Faith is Not a Transaction.
You do not barter with The Infinite.
You ALIGN With It.
So, then,
Where Do We Find Our God?
Sisters, I will tell you.
When you stand in The Deepest Pit, alone,
without Hope or Help,
and yet still know
Right from Wrong...
When there is only
Darkness and Despair
and yet you feel
humming in your blood,
the difference between
Good and Bad...
When you are
beyond rescue or reward or judgment...
And you STILL look
Evil in The Face and Say,
"No! This far but no further.”
"No!"
Whose Voice is that
who is with you in
That Darkness...?
Whose Voice keeps you to The Path?
Darkness and Evil may seem
compelling to us all,
and I believe it is because,
in THEIR Presence,
we can FEEL God in Our Hearts.
No, He will not reach down to Save Us.
We will RISE to meet Him.
Let us pray.
PRAYS SOFTLY
MOTHER SUPERIOR:
Ahem. Ahem.
BLADE SLICES
She was clearing her throat.
NUNS GASP AND QUIVER
I think it's fine now.
Oh, ladies, who's next? Boo!
"I regard the two major male archetypes in 20th Century literature as Leopold Bloom and Hannibal Lecter.
M.D. Bloom, the perpetual victim, the kind and gentle fellow who finishes last, represented an astonishing breakthrough to new levels of realism in the novel, and also symbolized the view of humanity that hardly anybody could deny c. 1900-1950. History, sociology, economics, psychology et al. confirmed Joyce’s view of Everyman as Victim. Bloom, exploited and downtrodden by the Brits for being Irish and rejected by many of the Irish for being Jewish, does indeed epiphanize humanity in the first half of the 20th Century. And he remains a nice guy despite everything that happens…
Dr Lecter, my candidate for the male archetype of 1951-2000, will never win any Nice Guy awards, I fear, but he symbolizes our age as totally as Bloom symbolized his. Hannibal’s wit, erudition, insight into others, artistic sensitivity, scientific knowledge etc. make him almost a walking one man encyclopedia of Western Civilization. As for his “hobbies” as he calls them — well, according to the World Game Institute, since the end of World War II, in which 60,000,000 human beings were murdered by other human beings, 193, 000,000 more humans have been murdered by other humans in brush wars, revolutions, insurrections etc.
What better symbol of our age than A Serial Killer? Hell, can you think of any recent U.S. President who doesn’t belong in the Serial Killer Hall of Fame?
And their motives make no more sense, and no less sense, than Dr Lecter’s Darwinian one-man effort to rid The Planet of those he finds outstandingly loutish and uncouth.
Robert Anton Wilson,
at rawilson.com
PHONE RINGS
PHONE RINGS
VAN HELSING :
Get in The Box.
DRACULA :
How did you find me?
VAN HELSING :
It's not difficult to follow a trail of devastation.
The Sun is up.
You need to get in The Box.
DRACULA :
Um, you may not have noticed, but there's
A Roof over My Head.
VAN HELSING :
I've noticed.
THE ROOF CAVES IN
DRACULA :
Whoa! Oh!
VAN HELSING :
Get in The Box.
Did you hear me?
Are you in The Box?
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 boxcrushed by your failure?
The 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?
Mmm?
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 Ten 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 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.
Ta-ta.
"H."
[PHONE RINGING]
Hello?
LECTER:
The power in that battery is low, Clarice.
I would have changed it,
but I didn't wanna wake you.
You're gonna have to use the other one in the charger.
Hopefully, the light on it is green by now.
Because this is gonna be a long call, and I can't let you off, because even though you've been stripped of your duties, I know you wouldn't abandon them.
You'll try to put on a trace.
So, we'll disconnect long enough for you to exchange the battery in the phone for the one in the charger.
Shall we say three seconds?
Are you ready?
Yes.
Go.
[PHONE RINGING]
Very good.
Thank you.
Remember, Clarice, if you get caught with a concealed, unlicensed firearm in the District of Columbia, the penalty is pretty stiff.
But bring the guns if you have to.
Now get in your car.
The reason we're doing it like this, Clarice, is because I like to watch you as we speak, with your eyes open.
No, it does not excite me, it pleases me.
You have very shapely feet.
Where are we now?
Call it out.
Massachusetts Avenue.
Take it.
I thought, to begin with, you might tell me how you're feeling.
About what?
The Masters you Serve, and how they've treated you.
Your career, such as it is.
Your Life, Clarice.
I thought we might talk about yours.
What's the next cross street?
Capitol Street.
In two blocks, make a left into Union Station. Park.
My Life? What is there to say about mine?
I have been in a state of hibernation for some time.
A little inactive, but now I'm back Home,
I'm very happy and very healthy.
You, though, it's you I'm worried about.
I'm fine.
No, you're certainly not fine, Clarice.
You fell in love with The Bureau, The Institution,
only to discover, after giving it everything you've got,
That it Does Not Love You Back.
That, in fact, it resents you.
Resents you more than the husband and children you gave up to it.
Why is that, do you think?
Why are you so resented, Clarice?
Tell me.
Tell you? God bless you.
Well, isn't it clear?
You Serve The Idea of Order, Clarice —
They Don't.
You Believe in The Oath You Took —
They Don't.
You feel it is Your Duty to Protect The Sheep —
They Don't.
They Don't Like You
Because You're Not Like Them.
They Hate You and They Envy You.
They're Weak and Unruly,
and Believe in Nothing.
Mason Verger wants to kill you, Dr Lecter.
Turn yourself in to me, and I promise no one will hurt you.
Will you stay with me in my prison cell and hold my hand, Clarice?
We could have some fun.
No, Mason Verger does not want to kill me, any more than I want to kill him.
He just wants to see me suffer in some unimaginable way.
He is rather twisted, you know.
Have you had the pleasure of meeting him?
I have.
Face to Face, so to speak?
Yes.
Attractive, isn't he?
Dr Lecter?
Dr Lecter?
Okay, back to you.
I want to know what it is you think you will do, now that Everything in The World you've ever cared about has been taken away from you.
-
I don't know, Dr Lecter.
Tell me, Clarice, do you think you'll work as a chambermaid at a motel on Route 66, just like your mommy?
Huh?
What are you thinking now?
Are you paying attention to me, ex-Special Agent Starling?
Are you, by any chance, trying to trace my whereabouts?
I'm being followed, Dr Lecter.
I know, I've seen them.
And now you're in a real dilemma, aren't you?
Do you continue to try to find me,
knowing that you're leading them to me?
Do you have so much faith in your abilities, Clarice, that you honestly believe you could somehow simultaneously arrest me and them?
It could get very messy, Clarice, like the fish market.
Hey, Clarice.
Yeah?
What if I did it for you?
Did what?
Harmed them, Clarice.
The ones who have harmed you.
What if I made them scream apologies?
No, I shouldn't even say it, because you'll feel,
with your perfect grasp of Right and Wrong, that you were somehow accompli.
Don't help me.
No. Of course not.
Forget I said it.
Clarice, you were very, very warm.
You were so close.
And now you're getting colder again.
Yeah, warmer again.
Well, I think I've been generous enough with you, and The Clues.
You're on your own now, Clarice.
Dr Lecter.
Hope you like Them, Clarice. Ta-ta.
DRACULA :
So tell me,
What is The Jonathan Harker Foundation?
VAN HELSING :
I can't seem to penetrate The Skin.
DRACULA :
Oh?
Give it to me.
Take this.
Hold this.
HE SIGHS
Johnny was a fine man.
What has this place got to do with him?
VAN HELSING :
Oh, you remember Harker, then?
DRACULA :
Mm.
VAN HELSING :
This foundation was set up by Mina Murray, his fiancee.
Do you remember her?
[SHE SCREAMS]
DRACULA :
Barely.
Insipid little thing.
Flavourless, one imagines.
But you left her alive.
Go! Now!
VAN HELSING :
When her father died, she inherited his Fortune and with the cooperation of Sister Agatha's extended family, they set up this foundation
in Jonathan's name.
DRACULA :
So you run The Family Firm.
I've always approve of Inherited Power.
Democracy is The Tyranny of The Uninformed.
Only in blood... do we find The Truth, Zoe.
VAN HELSING :
Our primary purpose is medical research, but with the stipulation that, were you ever to be found, you would be trapped, studied, understood, and humanely fed.
You're a unique specimen.
DRACULA :
No.
I'm a 500-year-old warlord.
And I know mercenaries when I see them.
Who's funding This Place?
Because people who can afford mercenaries are very rarely interested in Medicine....
You're withholding information.
I'm giving you everything.
Blood is Lives.
Everything is in The Blood, Zoe,
if you know How to READ it.
Do you know How to Read it?
VAN HELSING :
You couldn't read mine.
You choked on it.
DRACULA :
I remember the flavour, though.
Um... what IS that?
You're...
You're fast, you're clever, driven.
But driven by what?
Agatha was always trying to Save Everybody, but you...
You hold yourself apart.
Friendless.
Loveless.
Childless.
Compromised. Corrupt, even.
Ahh!
Zoe Helsing, there's a Shadow on Your Heart.
I've sampled this bitter bouquet before, and these days, I believe, you call it...
SHE HISSES
..cancer.
That's why your blood was poison to me.
You're Dying
Loser #1 :
No Fair. You lured Him with Produce.
Loser #2 :
Tough noogies. Still My Turn.
Nice and Slow, baby.
Clarice :
If The Beetle moves One of Your Men, does that still count?
Loser #2 :
Of Course it Counts.
How Do YOU Play?
JACK :
Starling. When -
When I told That Sheriff we shouldn't talk in front of A Woman, that really burned you, didn't it?
It was just Smoke, Starling.
I had to get rid of him.
It was just Smoke, Starling.
I had to get rid of him.
CLARICE :
It Matters, Mr. Crawford.
Cops Look to You to See How to Act.
It Matters.
Cops Look to You to See How to Act.
It Matters.
JACK :
Point Taken.
CBS has given a series commitment to a drama that will follow Clarice Starling after the events of “The Silence of the Lambs,” Variety has learned.
Titled “Clarice,” the series hails from writers and executive producers Alex Kurtzman and Jenny Lumet. Set in 1993, a year after the events of “The Silence of the Lambs,” the show is a deep dive into the untold personal story of Starling as she returns to the field to pursue serial murderers and sexual predators while navigating the high stakes political world of Washington, D.C.
“After more than 20 years of silence, we’re privileged to give voice to one of America’s most enduring heroes – Clarice Starling,” said Kurtzman and Lumet. “Clarice’s bravery and complexity have always lit the way, even as her personal story remained in the dark. But hers is the very story we need today: her struggle, her resilience, her victory. Her time is now, and always.”
Kurtzman will executive produce under his Secret Hideout banner, which is currently under a five-year deal at CBS Television Studios. Heather Kadin of Secret Hideout will also executive produce with Aaron Baiers co-executive producing. MGM And CBS Television Studios will serve as the studios.
In addition to “Clarice,” Kurtzman and Lumet are currently prepping a series adaptation of “The Man Who Fell to Earth” for streaming service CBS All Access.
The character of Starling originated in the novel “The Silence of the Lambs” by Thomas Harris, which was subsequently adapted into the film of the same name in 1991. Jodie Foster played Starling in that film, for which she won the best actress Oscar — one of five such statuettes the film took home, including best picture. The character then appeared in Harris’ follow up novel “Hannibal,” which was adapted into a film in 2001 with Julianne Moore taking over the role from Foster.
This marks the second time such a TV series has been in the works, with Lifetime originally developing their own “Clarice” back in 2012 with MGM, though that project did not move forward. Bryan Fuller also previously stated that if his NBC series “Hannibal” had run long enough, it would have likely featured the character.
Lumet wrote the screenplay for the critically-acclaimed film “Rachel Getting Married.” She is currently an executive producer on “Discovery” and a consulting producer on “Picard” in addition to co-writing and co-showrunning “The Man Who Fell to Earth.”
Kurtzman and Secret Hideout currently oversee the expanding “Star Trek” TV universe through their deal with CBS TV Studios. At All Access, Season 3 of “Star Trek: Discovery” is due out this year, while Sir Patrick Stewart will reprise his iconic role in the upcoming series “Star Trek: Picard.” The animated series “Star Trek: Lower Decks” is also set to debut this year, with several other projects in the works. Kurtzman is also an executive producer on the “Hawaii Five-O reboot” at CBS.
“Superhero stories were written to be universal and inclusive, but often they’ve been aimed, it must be said, at boys and young men. Perhaps that’s why a mainstream myth has developed in which comic-book superheroines are all big-breasted Playboy girls with impossibly nipped waists and legs like jointed stilts in six-inch heels. But while it’s true that superhero costumes allow artists to draw what is effectively the nude figure in motion, there have in fact been more female superhero body types than male.
The first superheroine, you may be surprised to learn, was not a voluptuous cutie in thigh boots but a raw-faced middle-aged housewife called Ma Hunkel, who wore a blanket cape and a pan on her head in her debut appearance, All-American no. 20, 1940. A harridan with the build of a brick shithouse she was the first “real-world” superhero—with no powers, a DIY outfit, and a strictly local beat—and the first parody of the superhero genre all in one. Ma Hunkel, aka the Red Tornado, was a Lower East Side lampoon of Siegel and Shuster’s lofty idealism. The mainstream has forgotten Ma Hunkel, although, like all the rest, she’s still a part of the DC universe and now has a granddaughter named Maxine Hunkel, a talkative, realistically proportioned, and likeable teenage girl who also challenges the superbimbo stereotype.
But, of course, the comic-book industry in the throes of the war machine did churn out its fair share of pinup bombshells and no-nonsense dames with names like Spitfire and Miss Victory, or the strangely comforting Pat Parker, War Nurse. With no particular ax to grind against the Axis forces, Pat Parker was driven only by her desire to dress up like a showgirl and take to the battlefields of Western Europe on life-threatening missions of mercy. She was prepared to take on entire tank divisions with a refugee quivering under each arm. What made her tank-battling activities especially brave was the fact that this war nurse had no special powers and wore a costume so insubstantial, there could be nothing secret about her lunch, let alone her identity. But, absurd as she may seem, she did her best to exemplify the can-do, Rosie the Riveter spirit of those women who were “manning” the home front.”
It is your turn to tell me, Clarice.
You don't have any more vacations to sell.
Why did you leave that ranch?
Doctor, we don't have any more time for any of this now.
But we don't RECKON time The Same Way, do we, Clarice?
This is all the time you'll ever have.
Later. Now, please, Listen to Me.
We've only got five -
NO! I Will Listen NOW.
After Your Father's Murder, you were orphaned.
You were 10 years old.
You went to live with Cousins on a sheep and horse ranch in Montana.
And?
And one morning, I just ran away.
Not "just," Clarice. What set you off?
You started at what time?
Early. Still Dark.
Then Something Woke you, didn't it?
Was it a Dream?
What was it?
I heard a Strange Noise.
What was it?
It was. . . screaming.
Some kind of screaming, like a Child's Voice.
What Did You Do?
I went downstairs, outside.
I crept up into the barn house.
I was so scared to look inside, but I HAD to.
What Did You SEE, Clarice?
What Did You See?
Lambs.
They were screaming.
They were slaughtering The Spring Lambs?
And they were screaming.
And you ran away?
No.
First I tried to free them. I -
I opened The Gate to their pen, but they wouldn't run.
They just stood there, confused.
They Wouldn't Run.
But you could, and you DID, didn't you?
Yes.
I took one lamb and I ran away as fast as I could.
Where were you going, Clarice?
I don't know. I didn't have any food, any water, and it was very cold.
It was very cold.
I thought -
I thought if I could Save Just One, but. . .
He was so HEAVY.
He was so heavy.
I didn't get more than a few miles when The Sheriff's Car picked me up.
The Rancher was so angry, he sent me to live at the Lutheran orphanage in Bozeman.
I never saw The Ranch again.
What became of Your Lamb, Clarice?
They Killed Him.
You still wake up sometimes, don't you?
Wake up in The Dark and hear The Screaming of The Lambs.
Yes.
And you think if you Saved poor Catherine, you could make them stop, don't you?
You think, if Catherine Lives, you won't wake up in The Dark ever again. . . to that awful Screaming of The Lambs.
I don't know. I don't know.
Thank You, Clarice.
Thank You.
Tell me his name, Doctor.
Dr. Chilton, I presume?
I think you know each other.
Okay.
- We found her.
- Let's go.
It's your turn, Doctor.
-Out.
-Tell me his name.
Sorry, ma'am, I've got orders.
Have to put you on a plane.
Come on now.
Brave Clarice.
You will let me know when those lambs
stop screaming, won't you?
Tell me his name, Doctor.
Clarice!
Your case file.
Good-bye, Clarice
