To be honest, we kind of saw this coming:
Oh FFS. pic.twitter.com/BB0bWIH6D8
— Sall Grover (@salltweets) February 15, 2026
Yes, that is real and it is not spectacular.
As you might recall, in the movie Jodie Foster played Clarice Starling, an FBI agent trying to hunt down a serial killer nicknamed ‘Buffalo Bill’ played by Ted Levine. ‘Bill’ was motivated by the desire to become a woman and, well, we know that this movie would not be made today. So Levine is here to flog himself publicly for playing a crazy killer. From the article:
Silence of the Lambs surprised the industry as an Oscar-winning, generation-defining smash. But over the years, the characterization of Buffalo Bill (whose sexual orientation is not explicitly stated) has been viewed as gender nonconforming and identifying as trans. For his part, Ted Levine — having played the character who is also known as Jame Gumb — has conflicting feelings about the movie, despite its success.
‘There are certain aspects of the movie that don’t hold up too well,’ Levine, who has never previously addressed pushback surrounding Buffalo Bill, tells The Hollywood Reporter. ‘We all know more, and I’m a lot wiser about transgender issues. There are some lines in that script and movie that are unfortunate.’
Levine did not have concerns while making the movie but has developed a fuller understanding of the trans experience in the ensuing decades. ‘[It’s] just over time and having gotten aware and worked with trans folks, and understanding a bit more about the culture and the reality of the meaning of gender,’ says the actor, whose credits include the features Heat and The Fast and the Furious and the series Monk and Netflix’s forthcoming Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen. ‘It’s unfortunate that the film vilified that, and it’s f*****g wrong. And you can quote me on that.’
As for his performance, Levine clarifies, ‘I didn’t play him as being gay or trans. I think he was just a f****d-up heterosexual man. That’s what I was doing.’
Recommended
The article has some other interesting tidbits, such as that the late, great Gene Hackman was at one point tapped to play Hannibal Lecter and to direct the movie. Also, Sean Connery passed on the role. People can surprise us, but while Hackman might have made a good Lecter, Connery probably wouldn’t have (though you should never say never). But we still count ourselves lucky that Anthony Hopkins got the role, because we have a hard time imagining anyone being as great, and because it put him on the map as a movie star.
Also, the article had to take a swipe at Orange Man Bad:
Silence of the Lambs has continued to be a steady part of popular culture throughout the decades, with AFI naming Hannibal Lecter as its top screen villain. During his 2024 presidential campaign, Donald Trump brought up Hannibal Lecter in reference to migrants, while also having used the phrase ‘a wonderful man’ to describe the character.
‘To compare people who are looking for a better life coming over the border to Hannibal Lecter is about as perverse as anything we were able to come up with in the film,’ says Saxon. As for Trump’s fascination with the character, the producer adds, ‘It’s a fascination with power and an elevated sense of self. Our president is stuck in a period: the Village People, Hannibal Lecter. I don’t think he stays up late watching new movies.’
The view that everyone coming to America illegally just wants to work hard and play by the rules (except for the one about not coming to America illegally) is at best naïve.
And if you are dying to know what they are on about saying Trump brought up Lecter, here’s the apparent speech:
So, it was Trump goofing around. Do they ever get tired of winding themselves up over nothing?
Anyway, on to reactions:
Apologizing for one of the greatest horror movies of all time....
— Christian Toto (@HollywoodInToto) February 14, 2026
man, alive https://t.co/YI53VlrNAZ
Not only does rw art exist, libs will make it accidentally and apologize for it later! https://t.co/Aj5gvPBgAI
— Granite Mtn. (@gran1te_mtn) February 14, 2026
We are reminded of the fact that in 2022, we had two separate versions of Pinocchio—the live action Disney remake and Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio—which both had a moment where Geppetto apologized for making Pinocchio feel like he should transition into a real boy. We don’t think any of the people working on either movie meant to send an anti-transgender message. Instead, we think it is a sign how out of place the transgender message is. We usually encourage people to take pride in themselves as God made them. If a black man wishes to be white, for instance, we don’t try to make it happen: We encourage him to see himself as worthwhile the way he is. It’s only on the top of sex/gender that we encourage people to try to change what they are.
We are sure someone from both teams of filmmakers will apologize for that message, eventually.
2020 called, they want their navel gazing back
— Enguerrand VII de Coucy (@ingelramdecoucy) February 14, 2026
seems to me it was the 'murderer phobia'.
— Rani, Last of The Red Hot Boomers (@ShadesOfRani) February 14, 2026
The term is 'sudden achievement of a different life status.' Please use the correct terminology going forward.
If they actually read the book or watched the movie they’d know that Buffalo wasn’t actually a transsexual
— thatstarwarsgirl (@thatstarwarsgrl) February 14, 2026
“Billys not a real transsexual but he thinks he is. He wants to be”
Jame Gumb failed the psychological evaluations that are requirements for sex reassignment surgeries.…
The cut off text:
Jame Gumb [a.k.a. Buffalo Bill] failed the psychological evaluations that are requirements for sex reassignment surgeries. Because he wasn’t trans; he was a psychopath. The care he needed wasn’t surgery it was mental health help. Thats the whole point.
People complaining about this didn’t watch the film or read the book. It’s emphasized in both. The doctor even defends transsexuals to the Crawford that they want no association with the case. Crawford uses the failed evaluations to help find Bill (Jame Gumb).
I think the people complaining about this are sensitive to the topic because it puts a spotlight on how the medical community used to have standards & ethics before. They didn’t just give out hormones and surgeries willy nilly like they do now. Before people had to go through years of psychological evaluations before they were put on life altering medications. You don’t give someone chemo that doesn’t have cancer. The repercussion would be huge!
Whereas now all the poor kids that were put on hormones & given surgeries because they had narcissistic parents and greedy doctors are having negative reaction like SHOOTING up schools! So all the psychopaths defending wrongly trans kids so mad at a film that highlights what happens when someone with a mental illness goes bad. All they’re doing is exposing themselves. It’s pure insanity.
Were they wrong tho? pic.twitter.com/q5uj7bOmOD
— 𝔻𝕠𝕔𝕥𝕠𝕣 𝔽𝕒𝕥𝕖 (@georg3) February 14, 2026
— Rusty Shackleford 🇺🇸✊🏼🐿️🦝🐸 (@Unkn0wable) February 14, 2026
"We're sorry, we accidentally made a great movie 35 years ago"
— VJ Maxwell 📡 (@vortmax79) February 14, 2026
Actually, the article says that they really weren’t trying to make a prestige film, just an entertaining thriller. The fact it won awards was a surprise.
Silence of the Lambs is based on the real life of a deeply disturbed sex killer called Ed Gein, who did things that were even worse than they could depict in the movie. Oops! pic.twitter.com/aC4UnXmTCy
— Siobhan Alexander💚🤍💜 (@palladianblue) February 14, 2026
We’re not sure we want to research this. But maybe our own true-crime-obsessed Laura would.
Great art doesn’t bend to ideologies that’s why so much of Hollywood sucks now. Great art shines light on the human condition even when it’s inconvenient to your political goals.
— WomenAreReal (@WomenAreReals) February 14, 2026
Now Ted Tally, Anthony Hopkins, and Jodie Foster need to come forward and apologize for this disgraceful portrayal of trans. The world is waiting.
— StanSwitek (@stanswitekFPS) February 14, 2026
The Hollywood Reporter is like:
— Victor (@TheGoldenPlumes) February 15, 2026
"It apologizes for a movie released 35 years ago or else it gets the hose again!" https://t.co/b6fWIz2CpE pic.twitter.com/1HofdaODtY
They said the worst thing in Silence of the Lambs was the transphobia. And I disagreed. https://t.co/HdRtfgYBwu pic.twitter.com/G3AMFkssri
— jimtreacher.substack.com (@jtLOL) February 14, 2026
They used the trans part of the story as clickbait but they also worked in a part about Trump -- because of course they did. https://t.co/PlpYveUXSK pic.twitter.com/S93jz3hZeb
— Sasha Stone (@realsashastone) February 15, 2026
We’re glad we aren’t the only person who noticed.
Finally:
— Kurt Krebs (@Kurt_Krebs_HH) February 14, 2026
Perfect deployment of the meme. No notes.
RELATED: Lily Tang Williams Shares With Us Memories of Valentine’s Day in Mao’s Communist China
Obama: Aliens Are Real (WATCH)
Trump Admin. to Investigate School Over Claim That a Trans Wrestler Assaulted a Girl During a Match
WATCH: Transgender Student Wrestler Allegedly Sexually Assaults a Girl During a Match (LAWSPLAINING)
BREAKING: An NYT Interview With Biden Just Undermined Thousands of His Late Pardons (A Deep Dive)
Editor’s Note: Every single day here at Twitchy, we will stand up and FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT against the radical left and deliver the conservative reporting our readers deserve.
Help us continue to tell the truth about the Trump administration and its successes. Join Twitchy VIP today and use promo code FIGHT to get 60% off your VIP membership.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member