I see Hannibal Lecter and Will Graham as two sides of one (person) too. I think their relationship can be perceived in many ways but one of them is exactly what you said. Also, they seem to be two extremes on the spectrum. Hannibal seems to have zero empathy (maybe he just chooses to ignore it at times and wield it like a sword when it's beneficial to act upon it). He's very reserved when it comes to feelings in general or basic human emotions and most likely perceives humanity as a concept, thus he decides to observe it from a distance to entertain himself while Will has too much of humanity to himself; he is so full of empathy that it actually hurts. It's forced on him in a way and it'd caused so much pain in his life. They're both dangerous in a sense, both destructive forces because of being 'extremes' in the world and as Hannibal even says himself in the 1st season finale: "You're alone because you're unique". I think that's also an important issue. And when Jack says in the 3rd season: "They're identically different" (or something along the lines, I'm not perfectly sure), that's also a pretty valid description of them. Somebody could see it as yin/yang dynamics or rationality/emotionality dynamics or even - what comes to my mind - Androgyne concept presented in Plato works, I believe. That kind of understanding of the profound bond between them seems to be even more clear after watching the last season. Hannibal obviously wants to manipulate, mess with people's emotions, play and cause destruction, when it comes to Will, however, he craves much more. Because he's not like other humans he's met so far. He's different because of the level of empathy he possesses. What Hannibal finds intriguing and fascinating is his special way of thinking. Will's even capable of deeply understanding the devil himself! Even if the devil doesn't show emotions or barely has them. Will sees him for exactly what he is, though. And seeing... being seen and accepted is certainly something Hannibal really desires, if not needs. It was stated in some of the interviews with the creator, Bryan Fuller, and the leading actors that Hannibal is rather lonely in the darkness and wants recognition. He has his own design of reality and changes evil into pure beauty, thus it's become a form of art to him, but he does not possess any fitting company which he could share those special things with. His peculiar tastes, so to say. And what the show evokes is a very elaborate and quite entertaining message; the story's not about the devil's "evilness" but more about his inevitable loneliness in the making of his creation. Will's probably the only human that could ever get this close and intimate with someone like Hannibal and it's all thanks to his exceptional mental abilities that he becomes the one being who goes through the process of "falling in love with the devil". In the beginning, he simply understands, but then he tolerates and finally learns to ACCEPT so he becomes more like Hannibal, even though he's quite different than him (it's seen only when you know the whole series). Will eventually surrenders to the dark force leading him into some new, superior form of existing. I think that Hannibal and Will together can be seen as the emblement of a god-like creature. It's confirmed in the 3rd season by Will that Hannibal doesn't consider himself to be God but... defying God is something he's truly interested in. My interpretation of the main characters' relationship is that if they work together as one, then they become something akin to God. They're two sides of a coin: connected and united, and finally whole as they say about each other in the final season: "We're conjoined". Hannibal surely manipulated Will a lot throughout the series and for a long time, it seemed like Will had been inferior in comparison to the devil himself but then again, in my opinion, it changed along the way and they began to grow into something more than two individuals trying to influence each other, that's why they ultimately became equals. These are my thoughts on the matter.
@@MelonManCrybaby Thank you, hah! I totally forgot that I ever wrote something like that. It was three years ago, after all. Now I get a notification for your reply and I'm like "what?". Sorry for the grammar back then, I fixed it a little bit. By the way, I still love my Hannigram :)
You've stated publicly that you're bipolar like me so I'll say this. Bipolar and autism can be mistaken for each other, I know one person on twitter that actually was misdiagnosed autistic when he was bipolar and I myself have been called autistic by my psychiatrist sister (something my therapist and psychiatrist at the time emphatically said I didn't have). I also know at least one person who is on the spectrum that IS like Will in that he's super empathetic and latches onto people quickly so I think not taking social ques is norm for autism not how they react to social ques. What it really seems to boil down to is autism is neurological while bipolar is chemical. Hence why you can medicate for bipolar but can't for autism.
Yes!! Thank you for this comparison! While the empathy of Will is certainly extreme (for the shows sake I'd say), empathy like that is not unheard of. Will is the first character in a show I could identify with on so many levels. I'm autistic myself with too much empathy and it becomes too much. The problem is that you empathize so much with everything and everyone, you become these things and people for a little bit. Like putting on a paper-mask, but the mask has a bit of glue on the back and when you try to peel it off, a bit of the mask is still stuck on you. And you layer these masks, these people and the emotions they spill, mask upon mask, onto yourself and all the little paper bits that are still there, shape you. Make you. And while this is true for most people, for autistics that are highly empathetic, it's dangerous. I often feel I need to retreat and reconstruct the person I am, or the person I think I'm supposed to be, just like Will had to reconstruct who he is when he was in the asylum. "Eyes are distracting, you see too little, you see too much" is also one of these lines that made me go "Hell yesss, they are!" . I can look you in the eyes and I can talk to you and it's okay, but it's easier to not know too much about the person in front of you. I call it mirroring; if you are happy, I will be happy. If you are sad, I will be sad. I have sat beside strangers on the subway that were laughing and being so happy and I would walk away smiling and happy myself, even if I was angry or sad before about something else. There is no way to turn it off, only to mute it. If I don't look, I don't see. If I wear headphones and don't hear, I don't become. There are no drugs that can "fix" this. It is, as you wrote, neurological not chemical. Sorry for the essay here 😅
As a diagnosed aspie I actually have a painfully high level of emotional empathy but I do struggle a bit with cognitive empathy. Most autistic people don't lack empathy and in fact may have a stronger empathy response than aulistic people. We usually struggle to separate our own lived experience from that empathy however, and as such sometimes come across as cold. If we don't respect the mental processes that led to those feelings or motivations in others, we may not even entertain it. In other ways it can make us come across as lacking in awareness, even in instances where that's not the case. We also don't struggle with social ques when it comes to body language very often. But we do struggle with nonsensical social norms that are supposed to be implied, but never outwardly expressed in the moment. Especially if they seem logically counterintuitive to the desired outcome. EX; passive aggressive bs like saying "I'm fine" or "I don't care" when asked directly. Studies have shown we communicate incredibly effectively with other autistic people or even just dirrect, honest, and effective communicators. It's often not an empathy issue we just don't play mind games and refuse to even entertain the notion of them. And that's perceived as a deficit by conventional social norm following individuals. We understand them, we just think they're stupid and don't want to assume people are stupid, so we take things as they are presented.
Loved this but I have to disagree with Alana! I think you really put aside the fact that Alana was a psychiatrist; her attraction seeing someone as “unique” as Will was not a simple sexual attraction with feelings.
I loved your analysis! But I disagree with your take of Alana. I thought she was very sensible in staying away from Will and it’s different feeling attraction to someone and knowing you shouldn’t. It was stated many times in the show that she avoided being alone with him not to fall in the temptation of taking it further. I think you’re being really unfair to her and putting undue blame because she chose not to be with Will. Alana was Will’s champion when Jack wanted to use his abilities without caring what it would do to him. She didn’t owe him a relationship. Other than that it was a great analysis!
I was overly empathetic up until puperty. I guess testosterone has its effect. I would cry in response to sad Movies. I'm still aware of other people and capable of concern but just not overwhelmed with it anymore. I dont really feel it very strongly anymore at all. I havent watched the show but the psychology of Will Graham kind of remind me of mine own based on your description. And i'm on the autism spectrum. IAutism is a bit more complicated than the description of the symptoms.
yeah autism is really hard to describe all the symptoms cause it's different for every individual who has it like I didn't cry much at all growing was actually pretty out going and stuff just didn't get social cues at all and really didn't feel emotions very much growing up as well
Just one problem, Will never connects with the victims...ever. He only connects with men, men whom he perceives to be powerful, like Jack Crawford, Hannibal Lecter, Francis Dolarhyde ect. But women and children? No. 😕
He connected with Abigail Hobbs. Or at least it seemed that way to me. And I believe he had a connection with Beverly Katz and Alana Bloom to a degree.
@@deadpoets164 yeah I believe she’s seeing what she wants, which is fine, people can and should interpret what they want. But He connected with Abigail, the kids in oeuf, he connected with Margot, Alana, ruby, etc. he’s just been forced to connect with killers because of his job that it’s become something bigger.
he doesn't really connect with hannibal he knew it was him he just played along with his manipulations to catch him he basically made hannibal think he had the upperhand when infact it was the opposite
I see Hannibal Lecter and Will Graham as two sides of one (person) too. I think their relationship can be perceived in many ways but one of them is exactly what you said. Also, they seem to be two extremes on the spectrum. Hannibal seems to have zero empathy (maybe he just chooses to ignore it at times and wield it like a sword when it's beneficial to act upon it). He's very reserved when it comes to feelings in general or basic human emotions and most likely perceives humanity as a concept, thus he decides to observe it from a distance to entertain himself while Will has too much of humanity to himself; he is so full of empathy that it actually hurts. It's forced on him in a way and it'd caused so much pain in his life. They're both dangerous in a sense, both destructive forces because of being 'extremes' in the world and as Hannibal even says himself in the 1st season finale: "You're alone because you're unique". I think that's also an important issue. And when Jack says in the 3rd season: "They're identically different" (or something along the lines, I'm not perfectly sure), that's also a pretty valid description of them. Somebody could see it as yin/yang dynamics or rationality/emotionality dynamics or even - what comes to my mind - Androgyne concept presented in Plato works, I believe. That kind of understanding of the profound bond between them seems to be even more clear after watching the last season.
Hannibal obviously wants to manipulate, mess with people's emotions, play and cause destruction, when it comes to Will, however, he craves much more. Because he's not like other humans he's met so far. He's different because of the level of empathy he possesses. What Hannibal finds intriguing and fascinating is his special way of thinking. Will's even capable of deeply understanding the devil himself! Even if the devil doesn't show emotions or barely has them. Will sees him for exactly what he is, though. And seeing... being seen and accepted is certainly something Hannibal really desires, if not needs. It was stated in some of the interviews with the creator, Bryan Fuller, and the leading actors that Hannibal is rather lonely in the darkness and wants recognition. He has his own design of reality and changes evil into pure beauty, thus it's become a form of art to him, but he does not possess any fitting company which he could share those special things with. His peculiar tastes, so to say. And what the show evokes is a very elaborate and quite entertaining message; the story's not about the devil's "evilness" but more about his inevitable loneliness in the making of his creation. Will's probably the only human that could ever get this close and intimate with someone like Hannibal and it's all thanks to his exceptional mental abilities that he becomes the one being who goes through the process of "falling in love with the devil". In the beginning, he simply understands, but then he tolerates and finally learns to ACCEPT so he becomes more like Hannibal, even though he's quite different than him (it's seen only when you know the whole series). Will eventually surrenders to the dark force leading him into some new, superior form of existing. I think that Hannibal and Will together can be seen as the emblement of a god-like creature. It's confirmed in the 3rd season by Will that Hannibal doesn't consider himself to be God but... defying God is something he's truly interested in. My interpretation of the main characters' relationship is that if they work together as one, then they become something akin to God. They're two sides of a coin: connected and united, and finally whole as they say about each other in the final season: "We're conjoined".
Hannibal surely manipulated Will a lot throughout the series and for a long time, it seemed like Will had been inferior in comparison to the devil himself but then again, in my opinion, it changed along the way and they began to grow into something more than two individuals trying to influence each other, that's why they ultimately became equals. These are my thoughts on the matter.
.. Bruh. I just saw the beat character essay I’ve read on a TH-cam comment.
@@MelonManCrybaby Thank you, hah! I totally forgot that I ever wrote something like that. It was three years ago, after all. Now I get a notification for your reply and I'm like "what?". Sorry for the grammar back then, I fixed it a little bit. By the way, I still love my Hannigram :)
Nah hannibal and will are not polar opposites they are the same except will has morals hannibal doesn't
@@ryanthereaper5032 Wil tiene compasión, Hannibal no, como van a ser iguales!? Me pregunto
You've stated publicly that you're bipolar like me so I'll say this. Bipolar and autism can be mistaken for each other, I know one person on twitter that actually was misdiagnosed autistic when he was bipolar and I myself have been called autistic by my psychiatrist sister (something my therapist and psychiatrist at the time emphatically said I didn't have). I also know at least one person who is on the spectrum that IS like Will in that he's super empathetic and latches onto people quickly so I think not taking social ques is norm for autism not how they react to social ques. What it really seems to boil down to is autism is neurological while bipolar is chemical. Hence why you can medicate for bipolar but can't for autism.
Yes!! Thank you for this comparison! While the empathy of Will is certainly extreme (for the shows sake I'd say), empathy like that is not unheard of. Will is the first character in a show I could identify with on so many levels. I'm autistic myself with too much empathy and it becomes too much.
The problem is that you empathize so much with everything and everyone, you become these things and people for a little bit. Like putting on a paper-mask, but the mask has a bit of glue on the back and when you try to peel it off, a bit of the mask is still stuck on you. And you layer these masks, these people and the emotions they spill, mask upon mask, onto yourself and all the little paper bits that are still there, shape you. Make you. And while this is true for most people, for autistics that are highly empathetic, it's dangerous.
I often feel I need to retreat and reconstruct the person I am, or the person I think I'm supposed to be, just like Will had to reconstruct who he is when he was in the asylum.
"Eyes are distracting, you see too little, you see too much" is also one of these lines that made me go "Hell yesss, they are!" . I can look you in the eyes and I can talk to you and it's okay, but it's easier to not know too much about the person in front of you. I call it mirroring; if you are happy, I will be happy. If you are sad, I will be sad. I have sat beside strangers on the subway that were laughing and being so happy and I would walk away smiling and happy myself, even if I was angry or sad before about something else. There is no way to turn it off, only to mute it. If I don't look, I don't see. If I wear headphones and don't hear, I don't become.
There are no drugs that can "fix" this. It is, as you wrote, neurological not chemical. Sorry for the essay here 😅
As a diagnosed aspie I actually have a painfully high level of emotional empathy but I do struggle a bit with cognitive empathy. Most autistic people don't lack empathy and in fact may have a stronger empathy response than aulistic people. We usually struggle to separate our own lived experience from that empathy however, and as such sometimes come across as cold. If we don't respect the mental processes that led to those feelings or motivations in others, we may not even entertain it. In other ways it can make us come across as lacking in awareness, even in instances where that's not the case. We also don't struggle with social ques when it comes to body language very often. But we do struggle with nonsensical social norms that are supposed to be implied, but never outwardly expressed in the moment. Especially if they seem logically counterintuitive to the desired outcome. EX; passive aggressive bs like saying "I'm fine" or "I don't care" when asked directly. Studies have shown we communicate incredibly effectively with other autistic people or even just dirrect, honest, and effective communicators. It's often not an empathy issue we just don't play mind games and refuse to even entertain the notion of them. And that's perceived as a deficit by conventional social norm following individuals. We understand them, we just think they're stupid and don't want to assume people are stupid, so we take things as they are presented.
Loved this but I have to disagree with Alana! I think you really put aside the fact that Alana was a psychiatrist; her attraction seeing someone as “unique” as Will was not a simple sexual attraction with feelings.
I loved your analysis! But I disagree with your take of Alana. I thought she was very sensible in staying away from Will and it’s different feeling attraction to someone and knowing you shouldn’t. It was stated many times in the show that she avoided being alone with him not to fall in the temptation of taking it further. I think you’re being really unfair to her and putting undue blame because she chose not to be with Will. Alana was Will’s champion when Jack wanted to use his abilities without caring what it would do to him. She didn’t owe him a relationship. Other than that it was a great analysis!
That's really good picture of Will Graham
good insights, love your channel !
Excellent analysis :)
This has been all in all an excellent analysis. 😊 👍
I was overly empathetic up until puperty. I guess testosterone has its effect. I would cry in response to sad Movies. I'm still aware of other people and capable of concern but just not overwhelmed with it anymore. I dont really feel it very strongly anymore at all. I havent watched the show but the psychology of Will Graham kind of remind me of mine own based on your description. And i'm on the autism spectrum. IAutism is a bit more complicated than the description of the symptoms.
I know how you feel tbh people really have no idea how bipolar works it really doesnt bother me much though
No same here. It's irrelevant to me. I've never shared that I'm on the spectrum irl so it makes no difference either way.
yeah autism is really hard to describe all the symptoms cause it's different for every individual who has it like I didn't cry much at all growing was actually pretty out going and stuff just didn't get social cues at all and really didn't feel emotions very much growing up as well
U got skills 🎯
Sounds very much like being a highly sensitive person
the most complex character of the show
Thanks
THIS!
Just one problem, Will never connects with the victims...ever.
He only connects with men, men whom he perceives to be powerful, like Jack Crawford, Hannibal Lecter, Francis Dolarhyde ect. But women and children? No. 😕
He connected with Abigail Hobbs. Or at least it seemed that way to me. And I believe he had a connection with Beverly Katz and Alana Bloom to a degree.
@@deadpoets164 yeah I believe she’s seeing what she wants, which is fine, people can and should interpret what they want. But He connected with Abigail, the kids in oeuf, he connected with Margot, Alana, ruby, etc. he’s just been forced to connect with killers because of his job that it’s become something bigger.
@@deadpoets164 oh, and he connected with Peter too!
he doesn't really connect with hannibal he knew it was him he just played along with his manipulations to catch him he basically made hannibal think he had the upperhand when infact it was the opposite