Reprehensible Characters and Emotional Engagement in NBC’s Hannibal | Video Essay

Summary

The 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.