It's 2019 can we please stop the stupid?

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

Not to detract from the fish/mammal debate, but I got a haircut yesterday and my barber informed me that solar panels are heating up the sun, and that's what is causing global warming....

Right, solar panel beams energy from earth to the sun to heat up the sun.

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I see.  So, when Hannibal Lecter is knowledgeable about literature and music, he's an intellectual.  When Sheldon Cooper does it, he's a comic book geek.

Special plead much? And, by the by, it's 'Lecter', not 'Lector'.

Boru

Hannibal Lecter is portrayed in the novel as a socially extremely skilled and adaptable psychopath who fits easily into different societies, effortlessly charms everyone, gains the trust of almost everyone, and deceives and manipulates most people.   He is depicted as not only a murderous cannibal, but also the premier human behavioral psychologist in the world and one of the most respected gourmet cooks  who served up the organs of his victims in memorably delicious dishes to his unsuspecting high society guests.  The entire premise of Silence of the Lambs is although Hannibal was eventually caught and imprisoned after his serial cannibalism was uncovered, his mastery of psychology and behavior was such that the FBI had to come back to his prison cell in the hopes of enlisting his help to profile their most evasive killers.  Hannibal held up his end of the bargain to facilitate catching the killer because his contempt for the psychiatric maladjustment of the criminal, but leverages the opportunity to manipulated his FBI handler into affording him the opportunity to escape.   

Thank you.  I've read all four of Harris' Lecter novels, (the first two were brilliant, the third and fourth both sucked hard) and I'm well acquainted with the character. I should have made that clear early on, to save you the trouble of lecturing me.

In his spare time he is portrayed as having a deep genuine interest in high culture and the fine arts.

Agreed.  I'm not arguing that Lecter is not an intellectual.

He is the antithesis of a comic book geek.

Again, I agree, with the stipulation that Cooper is much, MUCH more than a comic book geek.

Sheldon cooper is meant for both the non-intellectual and the would be intellectual to feel good about themselves.

I think that's a fair assessment.

Hannibal Lecter seems to be designed to make non-intellectual afraid at night and the intellectual wonder whether he is intellectual enough not to be afraid at night.

That also seems reasonable.

But I think you're comparing apples to oranges. Sheldon Cooper is a comedic character, so the creators would naturally draw him in ORDER to make people feel good about themselves.  Hannibal Lecter is a horror character, made - as you said - by design to make people afraid.

For whatever it's worth, I find Lecter a much more interesting and better developed character than Cooper.  Even though Cooper is clearly a comic book geek, that hardly precludes him from also being an intellectual.  I was simply pointing out that there are more intellectual characters in pop culture than Hannibal Lecter.

Boru