Hannibal Reasoning

     Last year I forced myself to watch "Hannibal Rising," which is the prequel to "Silence of the Lambs". The only reason I wanted to watch it was because a really cute French actor, who I am obsessed with, was starring in the film as Hannibal. So on a Sunday night, I plopped myself down on the couch and started to watch it. I'm not really into horror movies, so whenever I thought a scary part was coming up, I would fast forward, see what happened, then rewind and watch it in real time. It's a lame way to watch a scary movie, but you gotta do what you gotta do.
     I have never seen any of the Hannibal movies. Like I said, I didn't actually want to see "Hannibal Rising," I just wanted to see the actor who plays Hannibal. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the movie. It starts out in Hannibal's childhood and progresses through his teen years and then through his early twenties when he starts studying to be a doctor.
     I thought the movie was very interesting. The main event that happens to Hannibal as a child is this (spoiler alert!): his parents are killed during WWII and his little sister and him are living by themselves during a harsh winter. Some soldiers force themselves into their home, steal their food, and inform them that they will be staying there until the weather clears up. Eventually the food runs out and the soldiers make the decision to either starve to death, or commit the unthinkable, and they go with the latter. They take Hannibal's sister outside, kill her, and then resort to cannibalism. And Hannibal is a witness to this disturbing act. This scene actually made me a little sick. But, it gave me such an insight as to what in the world could possibly drive Hannibal to do such horrible things later in his life. It doesn't condone him, or make it any better, but it just explains why he became the man that he did. It made me realize that people always have a rationale for doing things, but it may not always be rational.

     I remember hearing people's accounts of "Silence of the Lambs" and "Man Hunter" and just thinking That's disgusting! And it still is, but after watching "Hannibal Rising" I now understand Hannibal's rationale. Any thoughts?