Here we are again in the world of YouTube movie reactions. As before, most of these “reactors” are young women, and all of them claim (and I believe them on this front) to have not seen the movie before.

This time the movie is SILENCE OF THE LAMBS. I’d guess, not having taken a headcount, that this might be THE single most often reacted-to movie on YouTube. Here’s what folks had to say…

…Almost all of them are initially confused by Clarice running through the woods. “Don’t run in the wilderness by yourself!”  “Is somebody chasing her?”  “It’s too muddy.”  Only when we see “FBI” on the trainer’s cap does the truth occur to them.

….The reaction to Dr. Chilton is immediate and strong. “I hate him”  “Ugh, what a creep.”  And ultimately, nobody minds at all that Hannibal is “having an old friend for dinner.”

…”Hannibal Lecter was a real person…right?”

….”What? Is it possible for a person to swallow his own tongue?”

….Maybe a third of them recognize Anthony Hopkins’ name. Maybe a couple of those know who he is. And who is he? Why, he’s Thor’s dad. Of course.

…I especially loved the one lady who didn’t know Hopkins from Adam. After his first couple of scenes, she nods approvingly and says, “They chose a good actor.”  Glad you approve, sweetheart.

….Almost all of them are very curious about just how Lecter got his hands on Chilton’s ballpoint pen. They were so unanimously curious that I started to wonder myself. I did come up with a simple possibility which satisfied me. But, ultimately, we don’t need to know. We just go with the flow, you know?

….When Buffalo Bill is about to grab his next “special lady”, there is clear certainty that she absolutely should not fall for the ploy of a guy needing help with a sofa. There is no question of this. They just can’t believe she’d be that stupid. With one exception. One lady said, “oh, go help him…look at him, he’s having a hard time. I’d help him. I’d go help him right away.”  You have to appreciate her kindness and question her gullibility.

….Everybody loves animals, right? Well, all these ladies certainly do. They seem to care much more about the cat in the window waiting for the kidnap victim than they are about the victim herself. “Oh, no, not in front of the cat?”  As the kidnap victim is beaten, abused, and carried off, at least two of the ladies were really concerned: “What’s going to happen to the cat?”  “Who’s going to feed the cat?”

….On one of our visits to Buffalo Bill’s cellar, when we see the victim down in the well, one daring lady had a suggestion for her:  “What if you PRINCE OF PERSIA up the side of the well?”

….I’d say that two out of three are adamant that Clarice must not go down in the cellar alone after Bill.  “No, no, go get backup.”  “Don’t go down there, you don’t know the place.”

A couple of the ladies felt otherwise:  “Yeah, she’s gotta go down there. That poor girl needs help.”  

….And finally, the FBI cake, which gets a nice closeup, is highly approved.  “Oh, nice cake.” “Wow, look at that cake.”  “I could do with some cake.”  And best of all, from a few of the ladies… “CAKE!”

I understand that it’s unlikely that these “reactors” are going to go all negative on the movies. I also understand that most of the movies chosen are well worthy of high praise, but still, as I read it, all these “reactors” were genuinely taken with SILENCE OF THE LAMBS. As they well should be.