Reprehensible Characters and Emotional Engagement in NBC’s Hannibal | Video Essay
Summary
TLDRThe video script delves into the complexities of audience emotional engagement with morally ambiguous characters, using NBC's 'Hannibal' as a case study. It explores cognitive film theory to understand our attraction to characters like Hannibal Lecter, despite his heinous acts. The analysis examines narrative and aesthetic strategies that create a conflicting response, suggesting that our emotional reactions are a blend of moral evaluation, familiarity, and meta-emotions, influenced by the show's long-form narrative and visual style.
Takeaways
- 🎬 Emotional Engagement: The script discusses the deep emotional connections audiences form with fictional characters on screen, which is central to the appeal of film and television narratives.
- 🧠 Cognitive Film Theory: It introduces cognitive film theory as an interdisciplinary approach combining neuroscience, film studies, and philosophy to understand the complex nature of the audience's emotional response to characters.
- 🤔 Moral Complexity: The analysis delves into the audience's ability to emotionally engage with morally reprehensible characters, questioning how viewers can empathize with characters that go against their own beliefs and values.
- 📺 Hannibal Case Study: The script uses NBC's series 'Hannibal' as a case study to explore the audience's complex emotional engagement with a character that is both charming and horrifically evil.
- 🎨 Aesthetic and Narrative Techniques: It highlights how the showrunners of 'Hannibal' use aesthetic and narrative features to create a conflicting response in viewers, drawing them into a sense of collusion with the character.
- 👁️ Perspective of Will Graham: The script emphasizes the importance of Will Graham's point of view in shaping the audience's perception of Hannibal, creating a tension between attraction and repulsion.
- 🎭 Intertextual Knowledge: It discusses how viewers' prior knowledge of Hannibal Lector from other media influences their engagement with the character in the TV series.
- 🖼️ Visual Style: The series' unique visual style, which combines elements of horror with beauty, is identified as a key factor in eliciting meta-emotions and a dual response of repulsion and fascination.
- 📚 Moral Evaluation and Allegiance: The script touches on cognitive film theorist Mari Smith's concept of moral evaluation and allegiance, suggesting that viewers may form partial or perverse allegiances with characters based on their actions and traits.
- 💭 Meta-Emotions: It introduces the concept of meta-emotions, where viewers have emotions about their emotions, allowing for a more complex understanding of their response to characters.
- 🔍 Reflection and Evaluation: The analysis encourages reflection on the nature of emotional engagement with characters, suggesting that viewers weigh the art and morality presented in the narrative.
Q & A
What is the central theme of the analysis on emotional engagement with characters in film and TV narratives?
-The central theme is exploring the complex emotional engagement with morally reprehensible characters, particularly focusing on the character of Hannibal Lecter from NBC's 2013 series 'Hannibal'.
How does cognitive film theory contribute to understanding the emotional connection between audiences and characters?
-Cognitive film theory is an interdisciplinary approach that draws on neuroscience, film studies, and art philosophy to grapple with the nature of the connection between audiences and characters, revealing that our emotional responses are more complex than initially realized.
What is the significance of the character Hannibal Lecter in the context of the analysis?
-Hannibal Lecter is a provocative case for examining audience-character engagement due to his morally reprehensible actions, yet the series 'Hannibal' depicts him as charismatic and seductive, inviting viewers to grapple with conflicting feelings.
How does the long-form narrative structure of a TV series like 'Hannibal' impact the audience's emotional engagement?
-The long-form narrative structure allows for a slow luring of the audience into a sense of collusion with Hannibal, drawing them deeper into his world and creating a high degree of familiarity and partiality.
What role does the character Will Graham play in the series 'Hannibal' in terms of audience engagement?
-Will Graham's point of view is used to express the competing aversion and attraction to Hannibal, mirroring the audience's own struggle with their fascination and repulsion towards the character.
How does the series 'Hannibal' use aesthetics and narrative features to create tension in the audience's emotional response?
-The series uses striking visuals that are both poetic and grotesque, and narrative features that juxtapose Hannibal's charming and civilized persona with his evil nature, creating a tension between awe and horror.
What is the concept of 'allegiance' in the context of cognitive film theory as discussed in the script?
-Allegiance in cognitive film theory refers to the process of assessing a character's attitudes, traits, and actions, resulting in a more or less sympathetic or antipathetic response towards the character.
How does the concept of 'perverse allegiance' differ from typical allegiance in cognitive film theory?
-Perverse allegiance is a form of allegiance where viewers align themselves with an immoral character not in spite of, but because of their odious traits, often driven by fascination and curiosity.
What is the role of 'meta emotions' in understanding the audience's response to transgressive characters like Hannibal?
-Meta emotions, or emotions about emotions, help explain the conflicting response to certain characters. They involve a higher level of cognitive complexity, allowing viewers to evaluate their primary emotions in response to the character's actions.
How does the series 'Hannibal' manipulate the audience's emotional engagement through its visual style and narrative pacing?
-The series expertly balances the nature and intensity of the audience's engagement by staging discussions about the toll of looking at death and darkness, and by using the visual style to provoke a higher level evaluation of the horrors presented.
Outlines
🎭 Emotional Engagement with Fictional Characters
This paragraph discusses the natural human tendency to form emotional connections with fictional characters on screen. It introduces cognitive film theory as an interdisciplinary approach to understanding these connections, which are more complex than initially thought. The analysis focuses on the audience's engagement with morally reprehensible characters, using NBC's 'Hannibal' and its titular character as a case study. The character of Dr. Hannibal Lecter is examined for his ability to draw viewers despite his abhorrent actions, suggesting a conflict within the audience's emotional response.
🔍 The Complexity of Viewer Engagement with 'Hannibal'
The second paragraph delves into the narrative techniques used in 'Hannibal' to create a sense of collusion with the audience. It discusses the use of aesthetic and narrative features to engage viewers emotionally, despite the main character's monstrous actions. The series is distinguished by its long-form narrative structure, which allows for a slow build-up of engagement with Hannibal. The character is portrayed as charming and charismatic, contrasting with the audience's intertextual knowledge of his true nature. The use of Will Graham's perspective further complicates the viewer's emotional response, as it invites both attraction and aversion towards Hannibal.
🤔 Affective Processes and Emotional Response to 'Hannibal'
This paragraph explores the affective processes that shape the viewer's emotional response to 'Hannibal'. It introduces the concepts of moral evaluation and allegiance, where viewers may form partial or perverse allegiances with characters based on their actions and attitudes. The series challenges traditional notions of allegiance due to the absence of moral traits in Hannibal. Additionally, it discusses meta-emotions, or emotions about emotions, which can help explain the conflicting feelings viewers have towards the character. The long-form narrative structure and the use of Will's perspective are highlighted as key factors influencing the viewer's emotional engagement.
🎨 Aesthetic and Narrative Features Influencing Emotional Engagement
The final paragraph examines how the aesthetic and narrative features of 'Hannibal' influence the viewer's emotional engagement. It discusses the role of familiarity and partiality in reducing moral evaluations and the series' ability to provoke meta-emotions. The long-form narrative structure and the use of Will's perspective are shown to elicit partiality and interest, rather than moral approval or disapproval. The series' striking visuals and the juxtaposition of horror and beauty serve to both repulse and fascinate viewers, reflecting the complex nature of emotional engagement with morally ambiguous characters.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Emotional Engagement
💡Cognitive Film Theory
💡Narrative Structure
💡Aesthetic Features
💡Character Engagement
💡Moral Evaluation
💡Allegiance
💡Meta-Emotions
💡Intertextual Knowledge
💡Partiality
💡Transgressive Characters
Highlights
Film and TV narratives evoke emotional connections with fictional characters, which is an intuitive response.
Cognitive film theory emerges as an interdisciplinary approach to understand the audience's emotional engagement with characters.
Emotional responses to characters are more complex than initially thought, involving cognitive processes and ideological beliefs.
The analysis explores how audiences can emotionally engage with morally reprehensible characters, such as Hannibal Lecter.
Hannibal, a 2013 NBC series, presents a provocative case for examining audience engagement with a morally complex character.
The series depicts Hannibal as both charismatic and malevolent, inviting a conflicting audience response.
Cognitive film theory is used to explore the conflicting emotional response to Hannibal's character.
Aesthetic and narrative features of the show contribute to the audience's complex emotional engagement.
The long-form narrative structure of the TV series allows for a slow build-up of audience engagement with Hannibal.
Hannibal's character is portrayed through the perspectives of other characters, showcasing his charm and humanity.
Viewers' intertextual knowledge and narrative omniscience create tension between Hannibal's monster and man personas.
The use of Will Graham's point of view positions the audience to experience the competing aversion and attraction to Hannibal.
The series' visual style evokes both revulsion and fascination, reflecting the audience's conflicting feelings towards Hannibal.
Affective processes, including moral evaluation and self-reflective emotional evaluation, shape the audience's response to characters.
Moral evaluation and allegiance to characters are influenced by their moral traits and actions.
The concept of 'perverse allegiance' is introduced, where viewers align with immoral characters due to their negative traits.
Meta-emotions, or emotions about emotions, help to understand the audience's conflicting response to transgressive characters.
Familiarity and partiality towards characters can increase over time due to the long-form narrative structure of TV series.
The series uses aesthetic and narrative features to provoke and manage meta-emotions, influencing the audience's engagement.
The analysis illustrates the complex, multi-layered nature of emotional engagement with screen characters.
The need for further discussion on the merits of different affective processes in relation to emotional engagement is highlighted.
Transcripts
film and TV narratives invite us to make
emotional connections with fictional
onscreen characters we are so
predisposed to this that it is almost an
intuitive response to say we identify
with characters we find them relatable
we see ourselves reflected in them their
Joy their
sadness Their
Fear emotional response to characters is
at the heart of film and television and
contributes to much of what we find so
appealing about screen narratives recent
approaches to film and TV Studies have
taken to exploring this emotional
engagement more deeply in particular
cognitive film theory has emerged as an
interdisciplinary approach drawing on
branches of Neuroscience film studies
and art philosophy to Grapple with the
nature of this connection between
audiences and
characters in doing so it is apparent
that our emotional responses are
considerably more complex than than we
perhaps first
realized moving beyond the more
colloquial phenomena of identifying
liking and relating to characters we
come to deeper questions about emotional
cognition and the relationship between
character engagement and our beliefs
values and
ideologies these complexities are
especially revealed when the creators of
screen narratives invite us to engage
with characters that operate on a set of
beliefs vastly different to our own for
instance can we say that we identify
with fictional serial killers drug
dealers and s can we hold positive
attitudes toward them even when at the
same time we know we would LOE them in
real life in short how can we understand
our emotional engagement with morally
reprehensible characters this analysis
aims to explore this question with a
focus on one of the most morally
reprehensible characters in narrative
fiction and the title character in NBC's
2013 series
Hannibal
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played by Danish actor mads mikkelson
the character of Dr Hannibal leca
provides a particularly provocative case
for examining audience character
engagement hbal doesn't just manipulate
and murder people he eats them an act so
prohibited and abominable that it well
and truly violates what we consider
acceptable behavior and yet NBC's
Hannibal depicts a monster as Suave as
he is dangerous as charismatic as he is
malevolent the series invites us to be
seduced by Hannibal while at the same
time confronting us with his
irredeemably evil nature using a
cognitive film Theory approach we can
explore the way in which the showrunners
C us to have this conflicting response
and how we accommodate these opposing
feelings within our own psyche the
central argument of this analysis is
that we can understand our emotional
engagement to Hannibal as a complex
intertwining of affective processes that
can shift in nature and intensity in
response to aesthetic and narrative
features there's a lot here to unpack
and so this analysis will be served as a
three course meal all these elements
combined will help us to gain insight
into how we account for our feelings
towards characters we find morally
reprehensible firstly we need to examine
how the showrunners invite us to respond
to Hannibal's character in other words
what aesthetic and narrative features
they employ to engage us emotionally an
interesting place to
start Hannibal Lector is a legend of
narrative fiction after first appearing
in Thomas Harris's original novels he
was later cemented as a cultural icon
with Anthony Hopkins portrayal in the
film adaptation of Silence of the lamps
audiences are well acquainted with
Hannibal the cannibal however NBC's
series is distinct in a number of ways
being a screen adaptation there is the
obvious audio visual element that the
literary version does not have and while
the film adaptations share the audio
visual features afforded by screen
mediums the TV series is again
distinguished by its long form narrative
structure
three seasons of Hannibal have aired
with a total of 39 episodes that's a lot
of time in which the audience is
engaging with the character the TV
format also fits well with a Creative
Vision of the series writer and
executive producer Brian Fuller
commented that every moment of the
series consciously plays with a ja
opposition of gorgeousness and visceral
Terror with the effect at times of
slowly luring the audience into a sense
of being in collusion with Hannibal the
long form narrative structure afforded
by television lends itself well to this
slow luring as with each episode we are
drawn deeper and deeper into Hannibal's
World furthermore our view of Hannibal
is frequently filtered through the
perspectives of the other characters
around him their interactions showcase
Hannibal as an honorable and even gentle
person who displays an old world
European charm in the very first episode
of the series we encounter an almost
compassionate display from Hannibal as
he holds the hand of Abigail Hobbs a
young girl who has been hospitalized
after her father attempted to Slit her
throat we see his association with high
society and even a dry sense of humor
before we begin you must all be
warned nothing here is
vegetarian
what he is continually calm polite and
restrained of course it was Hannibal
that provoked the attack on Abigail
that's not rast lamb and underneath the
calm exterior Hannibal is a cold blooded
killer
our intertextual knowledge and
omniscience in the narrative give us
more information than the other
characters and is a key part of how we
engage with henni's character firstly it
exemplifies this idea of collusion that
Fuller referred to by sharing in hen
secret we enter into a sort of sinister
fellowship with him one where we are
complicit in his crimes secondly it
creates tension between our impression
of Hannibal as a monster and as a man
who manifests qualities that invite
approval The Narrative feeds us these
moments of Hannibal's Humanity only to
leave us in unpleasant aftertaste as we
are reminded of his true nature the
showrunners most effectively create this
tension by positioning us to see things
from the perspective of Will Graham a
criminal profiler recruited by the FBI
to help with their investigations the
use of Will's point of view is a
technique that is clearly established
right from the very beginning of the
series in the opening scene will surveys
a bloody crime scene and the audiovisual
cues then take us inside Will's mind we
hear his heartbeat the color get
brighter and the room comes into greater
Clarity we see him peeling back the
layers of the crime Scene It is a
representation of his psychological
processes as he assumes the mind of the
Killer and reenacts the murder that has
just taken place from this moment on our
view of Hannibal's world is linked
inextricably to Will's view it is
through his perspective that we
experience the blood and gore and his
struggle to face these Horrors mirrors
our own Shake It
Off keep on looking
good it is also through will that we
most strongly Fear The Lure of Hannibal
as will is the primary target of
Hannibal seduction through Hannibal and
Will's relationship the series explores
the idea of being drawn to something
that could kill you even knowing the
extent of Hannibal's immorality both
will and the audience remain captivated
by his character this idea is further
reinforced by the Striking visuals
poetic and grotesque horrific yet
elegant the series has developed a
unique style that simultaneously evokes
revulsion and Fascination though we
rarely see the murders being committed
we follow will as he confronts the
aftermath the bodies of the victims
turned into disturbingly Artful forms
and of course
meals Fuller has explained his
purposeful visual approach quote if
we're going to show horrible things they
have to be beautiful I think that horror
is so easy to make ugly because that is
what it is intrinsically we wanted to
challenge the audience from Will's point
of view as a guy who will look at things
and will want to look away but can't
because they draw him to them this
tension between awe and horror
stimulated by the visuals corresponds to
our conflicting feelings towards
Hannibal there is a desire to distance
ourselves but at the same time we're
compelled to
linger so we have a combination of
aesthetic and narrative features the
long form narrative structure which
allows for us to be slowly lured into
collusion with Hannibal the Charming and
charismatic version of Hannibal
conflicting with our intertextual
knowledge and narrative omniscience and
the use of Will's point of view to
express the competing aversion and
attraction to both Hannibal and the maab
a theme that is further reinforced by
the visual style through these features
the series invites us to engage with the
character of Hannibal but as has been
shown this invitation is loaded with
tension and just opposing ideas
therefore our emotional response is
likewise going to be grappling with
these conflicting
messages our attention now turns to the
the affective processes that make up our
emotional response to Hannibal's
character while a distinction is often
drawn between cognitive and affective
processes for the sake of Simplicity
this analysis will use these
interchangeably the term affected
processes is used here to broadly refer
to the dynamic psychological phenomena
that shape how we connect and respond to
the
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world affective processes includes a
whole range of phenomena and though
there is much to explore with each of
these in the interest of time the
following will provide a brief overview
of two key processes that are pertinent
to transgressive characters a process of
moral evaluation that constitutes
allegiance to characters and a process
of self-reflective emotional evaluation
whereby we appraise our own emotional
response Mari Smith a formative
cognitive film theorist argues that we
engage in a process of assessing a
character's attitudes traits and actions
in other words we evaluate the morality
the result of this is a more or less
sympathetic or antipathetic response
towards a character if a character earns
moral approval and we sustain a positive
attitude towards them this is what Smith
labels
Allegiance in discussing allegiance to
immoral characters Smith proposed two
further distinctions firstly we can form
a partial Allegiance wherein we Ally
ourselves with some of the characters
actions and attitudes and not others
that is we find them sympathetic despite
their I
traits however Hannibal poses a tricky
case firstly he's not a typical
anti-hero the series doesn't explore his
backstory so there's no tragic Fall From
Grace There's No Redemption Arc in which
he displays remorse for his actions he
doesn't even show vulnerability except
perhaps in his obsession for will there
is an absence of moral traits for us to
Ally ourselves with in the first
place we can certainly see some aoral
traits that might elicit a positive
emotional response his Dr humor his
intelligence even his taste for fine
clothing music and art however in
Smith's view moral assessment of
characters constitutes a kind of center
of gravity that these amoral factors may
inflect but not displace moral
evaluation lies at the core of
Allegiance it's hard to think of cases
in which a film elicits strong sympathy
towards a character largely on the basis
of aoral attributes characters who
appeal through wit or charm for example
command our sympathetic Allegiance
because these aoral traits coexist in
the character with at least some morally
positive traits the problem with NBC's
Hannibal is that there are no morally
positive traits for these positive aoral
traits to coexist with perhaps then we
can turn to Smith's second distinction
what he calls perverse Allegiance
whereby we Ally ourselves with an
immoral character not in spite of but
rather because of their odious traits
for this however other factors need to
come into play such as Fascination and
curiosity a second key affect process
pertinent to transgressive characters is
the interplay between what an bch refers
to as primary and secondary emotions or
meta emotions Bart draws on the idea
that we can have emotions about our
emotions much like we can have thoughts
about our thoughts different disciplines
give varying theories on the processes
that give rise to this phenomenon though
bch argues that they all involve three
levels of cognitive
complexity the experience of meta
emotions comprises all three of these
levels and can help us understand our
conflicting response to certain
characters for example we may laugh at
Hannibal's humor though our meta
emotions will tell us that this laughter
is inappropriate in this process the
quick and automatic reaction of laughter
seems to become overlaid by the slower
stimulus processing activity of higher
levels conversely we may feel disgust
and revulsion and yet we find Value and
even Delight in that we're presented
with such an effectively stimulating
experience even if a Primary Emotion has
a negative Valance this can be be
modified by the reflective and
evaluative capacity of meta
emotions it's rare that effective
processes occur in isolation instead
they build upon each other and are in
constant interaction furthermore these
processes cannot be separated from their
aesthetic and narrative features as it
is these features that largely make up
the object of our evaluation we now draw
these together to gain insight into how
effective processes can shift in nature
and intensity in response to aesthetic
and narrative
features
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as already mentioned one of the features
of NBC's Hannibal is the long form
narrative structure we spend a lot of
time with the character of Hannibal leca
and see him in a variety of situations
and interacting with other characters
while our moral evaluation may not grant
that we form a true Allegiance with him
the long form narrative does give us a
high degree of familiarity and
partiality Arthur Rainey argues that
because we engage with fiction for
entertainment our desire to enjoy
ourselves takes priority
consequently viewers can trade moral
scrutiny for partiality and favoritism
and give characters greater moral
license to ensure that enjoyment is
experienced building on this Margarita
Brun vage contends that television
narratives are particularly effective at
eliciting partiality the long form
narrative structure has the capacity to
reduce the intensity of our moral
evaluations furthermore a TV serious has
greater opportunity to draw attention
away from a character's immoral
behaviors or traits this is evident with
Hannibal particularly in the earlier
episodes where we can spend 30 minutes
with the Charming and civilized version
of his character with only a few
cleverly timed reminders of his evil
nature additionally though we may not
form allegiance to Hannibal we are
invited to form an allegiance to will
his character is much more likely to
elicit moral approval due to our being
aligned with his point of view and a
recognizable similarity between his
response to the horror and our own as
will as seduced by Hannibal our
allegiance to him can help us to imagine
that we are also being seduced and
though we may not share in Will's
attraction to Hannibal through our
Allegiance we can gain an appreciation
for it the use of Will's point of view
then supplemented with our partiality
towards Hannibal can lead to an
emotional engagement based on appeal and
interest rather than a moral approval or
disapproval furthermore Hannibal's
aesthetic and narrative features are
particularly effective at provoking the
elicitation of meta emotions while our
primary emotions may be reeling in
disgust and squeamishness at the horrors
of Hannibal world the series will stage
a searching discussion about the toll
that looking at death and darkness takes
on the human psyche appealing to us to
engage in a higher level evaluation of
what we are seeing is it me or is it
becoming easier for you to look I tell
myself it's purely an intellectual
exercise consider too in relation to
Hannibal's character our repulsion at
seeing Hannibal cook and prepare his
victims while the classical music and
fine dining setting can be appraised as
being entirely civilized by playing to
our capacity to evaluate our emotions on
different levels the series expertly
dances with the nature and intensity of
our
engagement the purpose of this analysis
is not to provide conclusions about what
our emotional response toenable is but
rather to illustrate that we can
understand our emotional engagement as a
complex intertwining of affective
processes that are influenced by
aesthetic and narrative features as the
series of Hannibal unfolds we are
presented with conflict Laden stimuli
which in turn initiates psychological
attempts to dissolve emotional tensions
to control undesirable emotions to
disambiguate themes and to weigh art
against
morality perhaps what this analysis has
demonstrated most of all is how
difficult it is to fully capture the
complex multi-layered and even downright
messy nature of our emotional
engagement as a final note while in
trying to Encompass the complexity of
emotional engagement there is also a d
danger of being impractically
pluralistic there is much need for
further discussion about the merits of
different affective processes in
relation to emotional engagement and the
extent to which specific filmic features
can inflict upon these while ever screen
characters continue to Captivate Us
particularly morally reprehensible
characters this question will remain a
significant area for further
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consideration
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