February 25, 2010

Ecological subtext in Psycho and Silence of the Lambs? Que?

By: Sonny Bunch

Nestled in a New York Times piece about the liberal sensibilities of Participant Media is this odd little nugget:

Like many of the better suspense thrillers, from “Psycho” to“Jaws” to “The Silence of the Lambs,” the original “Crazies” was based on a plausible premise as well as one with an ecological subtext. Enter Participant Media.

OK, Jaws I will grant as having an ecological subtext, but Psycho and The Silence of the Lambs? What on Earth is the author, John Anderson, writing about? Is the ecological subtext in Psycho the danger of dumping cars full of dead women into the bog behind your creepy motel? I can’t even begin to guess what it might be for The Silence of the Lambs. I mean, seriously: I literally have no idea what Anderson is writing about here. Do any of you? Am I just missing something? A big fat No Prize to the person who offers up the best guess.