Am I the only person who sympathises with and has compassion on Hannibal Lecter?

[tridianprime]

Lecter was based largely on Hamilton Albert Fish. Read about him and i think you may change your mind.

My knowledge of SK's is impressive and others say scary. HeHe...

 

[Garrett]

Oh course not. Thats why hes so popular. He's an anti hero, like Riddick, who only eats the rude.

 

[Moviefan2k4]

I have zero sympathy for murderers, fictional or otherwise.

 

[total-recoil]

I don't in any way sympathise with people who murder due to troubled childhood although I understand these issues have some bearing. However, at the end of the day, the fictional character of Hannibal actively sought victims to kill as a choice and even planned in advance. This is very different to the individual who kills perhaps out of sudden temper and not intentionally.
I do actually have an interest in Charlie Manson, mainly his music. He was probably the only serial killer who probably would have been on a par with Elton John had he not organised mass killings through his cult followers. I find it kind of hard to fathom why Manson acted the way he did when he was actually a talented musician who sang of love and peace. HIs idea was to somehow save humanity by sparking off a civil war.He did have a troubled childhood and had been in jail so that wouldn't have helped but even then people who suffer abusive pasts don't have a right to take life (when they could get help).
Probably I did feel sympathy to a degree for Aileen Wuornos who had been killing probably due to psychosis and the fact she'd had a abusive childhood. However, even in such a sad situation, she could have found help and therapy rather than kill people in revenge.

So I've seen the Silence of the Lambs and it's se/prequels. Also, I read up on his upbringing. I don't see him as a typical bad guy - actually, I feel drawn to him and his suffering. Sure, he made the active choice to do those unspeakable things to his victims BUT I realise his choices were influenced...influenced by a deeply traumatic event from his inhumane childhood.

Generally, I have a fascination with serial killers and criminals - they are deeply complex, kind of like myself, and I love delving into their lives to pick out the pieces that made them go the way they went. It's interesting looking at their lives and discovering that a lot of them had disturbed childhoods. I think that people underestimate the damage caused to individuals in their younger years. You can never tell where the fragments of the trauma will penetrate and how deeply they will affect the rest of a persons life. I know, it's deep sh*t.

This quote from Nietzche is very poignant for me:

"Whoever fights monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you."

 

[Kailee]

I have an obsession with hearing and reading about murders and what caused them to do it. I think it has to do with the psychology of it. I'm always looking up how the brain works, and what causes it to think in certain ways.

 

[Sylar]

I tend to favour villains over heroes in almost everything I watch/read so I'm probably not the best person to judge. I've only seen the Hannibal series on NBC, I read the first couple of chapters of Red Dragon but stopped because I already had too many books I'd started and not finished and decided to just wait until I've worked through them. I like Hannibal though, if there was a way to guarantee not being murdered, I'd be friends with him.