Storyform Troubles - Silence of the Lambs

SILENCE OF THE LAMBS
LINK TO ANALYSIS: http://dramatica.com/analysis/the-silence-of-the-lambs

From what I seem to be understanding here is the Main Character unique ability gives them the one key piece that is important to solving the story goal with OUTCOME of SUCCESS .

And the Main Character Critical Flaw is what undermines this unique ability. (These points connect MC to OS throughline)

Based on the encoding of the storyform for ‘Silence of the Lambs’

I’m at a loss.

The example written in the comprehensive analysis seems to be making a case that her Critical Flaw is undermining her ability to end the story with a JUDGEMENT - GOOD.

But that ISN’T the point of the Critical Flaw…right? I thought it was to undermine MC Unique ability to solve the story problem OUTCOME - SUCCESS/FAILURE and not about judgement.

How does Clarice’s Critical Flaw of ‘FANTASY’ I.E of ending the screaming lambs undermine her ability to solve the case and catch Buffalo Bill (Story Goal)? I thought that is what DRIVES her. Makes the Story successful.

THIS IS WHAT DRAMATICA OFFICIALLY STATES:

Main Character Critical Flaw: FANTASY - Quoted Text Below -

“While Clarice succeeds in saving the Senator’s daughter from becoming part of Buffalo Bill’s wardrobe, her fantasy that this will liberate her from the screaming of the lambs remains unfulfilled:
LECTER: You still wake up sometimes, don’t you? Wake up in the dark, and hear the screaming of the lambs?
CLARICE: Yes…
LECTER: Do 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…
CLARICE: I don’t know… I don’t know…”

OFFICIAL DEFINITION - BOLD PARTS FOR SAKE OF ARGUMENT

Main Character’s Unique ability – [Variation] – the quality that makes The Main Character uniquely qualified to solve the story’s problem/achieve the goal – Just as a requirement defines the specific nature of things needed to achieve a particular goal, Unique Ability defines the specific quality needed to meet the requirement. Unique Ability is another way in which the Main Character is identified as the intersecting point between the Main vs. Impact Throughline and the Overall Story Throughline stories as it is only he who ultimately has what it takes to meet the test of the requirement and thereby achieve the goal. The Unique Ability need not be anything extraordinary but must be the one crucial quality required that is shared by no one else. Frequently,
the Unique Ability is in keeping with the Main character’s position or profession, however it can be much more interesting to assign an incongruous Unique Ability. In either approach, it is essential to
illustrate the existence of the Unique Ability in the Main Character several times throughout the story, even if it is not employed until the climax. In this way, it becomes integrated into the nature of the Main Character and does not seem conveniently tacked on when it is ultimately needed. Also, the Unique Ability can be extremely mundane. The key is that the ability does not have to be unique by nature, but just possessed uniquely in that specific story by the Main Character. Clever storytelling may arrange the climax of the story
so that some completely ordinary and insignificant
Unique Ability makes the difference in the outcome of a
cosmic struggle

CRITICAL FLAW

Main Character’s Critical Flaw – [Variation] – the quality that undermines The Main Character’s efforts – To balance the Main Character’s extraordinary status conveyed by his Unique Ability, he must also be shown to be especially vulnerable in one area as well. This vulnerability is called his Critical Flaw. The Main Character’s Critical Flaw is his Achilles heel that prevents him from being too one-sided. Just as with Unique Ability, the Critical Flaw can be quite mundane as long as it can threaten him with failure from an unprotectable direction. The specific Critical Flaw must be unique to the Main Character in the story. However, the more common the Critical Flaw is to the audience, the more it will identify with the Main Character’s predicament. In Start stories, the Critical Flaw inhibits the Main Character from using his Unique Ability. In Stop stories, the Critical Flaw undoes work done by the Unique Ability after the fact. Only when the Main Character learns to either Start or Stop as required by the story can the Critical Flaw be avoided, allowing his Unique Ability to solve the problem

I’d have to watch the movie again to really think about it. But is it possible that this fantasy makes her freeze up at the final moments? She ultimately overcomes it, but if she hadn’t, all would have been lost?

No. At the final moment Starling is in a dark room unable to see. Her opponent - Buffalo Bill - has night vision goggles on, giving him an overwhelming advantage as he stalks and toys with her. But by accident he stumbles and makes a sound. She shoots blindly in its direction and kills him.

Not quite a Deus Ex Machina solution, but still an ending whereby the heroine survives - and succeeds - by random chance. Though I think its effective because Starling shows considerable fear throughout. The point is that prior agents had been carved up by serial killers. So her luck is like the spin of a revolver cylinder in Russian Roulette. Implying the next time she might not be so lucky. (which is the case in Hannibal)

That’s what I’m talking about. She is panicking, but manages to hold it together.

@MWollaeger Thanks again :slight_smile:

I’m listening to the audiobook right now and will be watching the movie again shortly. I’ll keep what you pointed out in mind.

It could be that her nightmares/visions (fantasies) make it harder for her to stay on the case/focused ect.

@maynard - Appreciate the observation. My ability to hold stories in my head is total crap. I forgot about that.

I have a different take now. I think it’s that Clarice must control Lecter, but he is able to see through her fantasy that she can make the world a better place, and take control of her. That’s the dangerous game, and if he wins, she can’t get information out of him.

I’m not clear what this has to do with Judgment, but I think that might be a stronger argument for how the CF rears its head.

@MWollaeger That makes sense to me now. I just finished watching the movie again.

  1. Hannibal senses her drive to ‘silence the lambs’ this abstract idealism to bring justice into the world and protect all the lambs.

Hannibal knows this is just a fantasy. That the lambs will ‘never stop screaming’ , their will always be victims. More murders. More death. More crime. And he uses this as a chink in her armor to taunt her, to toy with her, to try to make her disillusioned. He gets to her in a sense. This is part of the reason why the story judgement is bad. Had he really gotten to her though, she might have been so disillusioned she would have stopped trying so hard. Maybe quit the FBI. After all if its completely hopeless why try. He tries to take her fantasy away from her. Which also seems to be in a way how the official analysis encoded the point.

  1. (Just a fun note) Having watched the movie again, after reading the analysis and stopping the film about every quarter and reviewing the sign posts really seemed to help me clarify and separate out the 4 through lines from each other. Which was nice.
    And I could see the clear context change between all the sign posts which was really cool.

  2. One thing I’m not sure I’m making an assumption on.

The Main Character Resolve - Change/Steadfast. - That is determined by not only the IC throughline but in addition with what develops between the RS.

So Main Character Resolve (Change/Steadfast) influnenced by >>> (IC THROUGHLINE + RS THROUGHLINE) or is that wrong and its just purely the IC THROUGHLINE ALONE?

I know the RS is also clearly about the developing relationship and the conflicts within it - but is it also part of the argument that may lead to the MC to change their perspective.

I mean I believe it wasn’t what the MC did (Clarice doing her job as an FBI agent) but through the RS that hannibal decided not to hunt her down. And it was through the RS that while the MC didn’t change - through their talks - it was Hannibal that made her doubt her idealism and gave her the grim perspective at the end of the movie (I.E the lambs are still screaming) JUDGEMENT - BAD

Excuse my rambling - its 2:52 am. Lol.

I’ve never had to consider the RS when thinking about how the IC frustrates the MC with regard to Resolve.

The Main Character Resolve is not connected to the Relationship Story Throughline. You can make connections during the StoryWeaving process, but the Change/Steadfast dynamic is not related to the Relationship Story Throughline.

In regards to the official Dramatica analysis of The Silence of the Lambs, note that these were done 20+ years ago and could probably use some editing/updating in terms of the StoryEncoding given. I agree that the current encoding sounds like it is working with the Story Judgment, but I would attribute that more to the person doing the analysis. And the fact that Dramatica was only 2 years old at that time.

I still believe, however, that Fantasy works as a great Critical Flaw for her–undermining her Experience. It would be nice if someday down the road those Comprehensive Analyses were edited to better reflected the increased understanding of today. Too many times authors new to Dramatica take what is written as the law, instead of looking to the letter of the law. The Fantasy part of her Critical Flaw is more important than the StoryEncoding text.

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