On Jan. 24, 2019, Netflix released a four-part documentary about Ted Bundy titled “Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes.” Coupled with that, the trailer for a movie based on Bundy and his killings, “Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile,” starring Zac Efron as the infamous serial killer, dropped on Jan. 25, with the film premiering at Sundance Film Festival the next day. Both the documentary and the film have generated a lot of buzz, with some viewers fascinated and excited for the upcoming movie and some critical of the portrayal of Bundy in the trailer as well as the reignited public interest in a man who committed such horrendous acts. As serial killers always seem to draw fascination and a sort of morbid interest from the public, one has to ask—why are we so obsessed with them?
The four-part documentary on Netflix does not romanticize or downplay Bundy’s actions; on the contrary, it describes in explicit detail the acts he committed and what kind of man he was. It seems set on adamantly dismantling the charming and charismatic persona Bundy embodied to point out how he was a compulsive liar, narcissistic, incapable of empathy, prone to fits of anger and not actually as intelligent as he portrayed himself to be (something that was a constant frustration and insecurity of his). However, from the trailers alone, the movie starring Efron has a much lighter and almost glib tone, with the editing and music seeming almost Tarantino-esque. Efron’s Bundy is absolutely charming and charismatic, and many are outraged that the film seems to romanticize him as a sort of anti-hero in an action film. But these people are being fooled in exactly the same way Bundy attempted to fool the public—by using a charming and charismatic image to manipulate people into liking him and questioning if he was guilty or not. If this is correct, than the actual movie will end up exposing Bundy for who he truly was, but by first luring in viewers with a misleading trailer.
It’s not just serial killers—documentaries about shocking, outrageous and disturbing things are always eagerly devoured by the public. This can be seen through the hype around the Lifetime docu-series “Surviving R. Kelly,” as well as both Fyre Festival documentaries, “Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened” and “Fyre Fraud,” that premiered on Netflix and Hulu respectively, all of which (including the Bundy documentary) happened this January. People are eager for things that seem impossible to them, and there’s a sort of fascination blended with outrage and the inability to look away. Most people could never even fathom doing or witnessing Ted Bundy’s actions, and it’s that disbelief that keeps people intrigued and unable to stop watching.
There’s also the Netflix series “You” that stars Penn Badgley as a stalker and murderer, which has gained popularity since its release in January. Many people are unable to separate the star from the character and have ended up sympathizing and even being attracted to the character despite his heinous actions. This has led to the actor himself actively dissuading people from doing that and trying to remind them that the character is a killer and a stalker and absolutely not someone to be romanticized. Many are worried that Zac Efron’s casting as Bundy will have a similar effect, with people unable to separate the handsome and likable actor from the heinous murderer and rapist.
The fascination with serial killers can also be compared to the popularity of the horror movie genre, particularly those that involve heinous crimes instead of supernatural occurrences. But those are still fictional movies, while the entire true crime genre is about real events (as the name suggests). There is also the psychology aspect of it, where people who are interested in how others think are particularly interested in these extreme cases of people who have done monstrous things. It’s a fascination akin to observing a test subject, or an animal in a zoo. That, along with the unpredictability of the subject’s actions, makes it all the more intriguing to people who are interested in abnormal psychology.
It’s understandable that people worry about the romanticization of serial killers, especially since they killed real people and ruined actual lives. And it’s legitimate to criticize a film for seemingly encouraging that. Seeing a documentary that delivers the objective, cold-hearted truth about a serial killer is not something to be worried about, because it seems to be that when people see the actual person and what they’ve done, their fascination remains with the psychology of the person and the nature of the crimes and not an infatuated love for the killer. However, when making dramatized movies about these people, it is important to be clear in the distinction between the charismatic actor and the actual monstrous person who committed these crimes.
