Cruelty to Animals

In “Why Do Critics Love These Repellent Movies?,” March 17, writers Sheila Benson and Stephen Farber both missed the satire and allegory of the brilliant “The Silence of the Lambs.”

I am confident that Mr. Farber doesn’t consider himself a sadist when he eats veal, but it is difficult for those of us who want laws forbidding the horrendous treatment of calves raised in crates not to see the parallels between this practice and the “Lambs” serial murderer’s total disregard for a sentient being in order to obtain what he wants.

Are we in such denial as a culture that we lose the point of Hannibal Lecter feasting on lamb after hearing the poignant childhood story of Clarice’s inability to shut out the “screaming of the lambs” going to slaughter?

Yes, cruelty against those weaker and less able to protect themselves is “tough material for a mainstream movie.” And quite often satire is not very funny. Perhaps the message of the movie is too hard to swallow. I hope so.

CAROL ANN MORGAN

Los Angeles