Jonathan Demme 'Applauded' The LGBT Backlash Against 'Silence Of The Lambs'

Jonathan Demme 'Applauded' The LGBT Backlash Against 'Silence Of The Lambs'
The Huffington Post | By Curtis M. Wong

Posted: 07/22/2014 10:40 am EDT Updated: 07/22/2014 10:59 am EDT

Director Jonathan Demme says he “applauded” the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community's criticism of his seminal 1991 film, "The Silence of the Lambs."

Still, the Oscar winner told HuffPost Live's Ricky Camilleri that many of the arguments against the movie's portrayal of serial killer "Buffalo Bill" were misinterpreting the character, in that he wasn't intended to be transgender.

"He didn't wish to be another gender," Demme said. "He didn't really have a sexual preference. He loathed himself -- he wanted to transform himself so that there was no sense of him in the 'new' him [and] becoming a woman...that was his method of doing it."

He then noted, "He wished he was a woman not because he always wanted to be a woman. This was another way to escape."

Adding that he "liked the [LGBT] backlash" against the movie, which nabbed five Oscars, Demme went on to express his support for the transgender community.

"Now, finally -- maybe this year -- more and more people, me included, are starting to really wake up to the challenge [the transgender community faces] today," he said.