With the release of Extremely Wicked and Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes earlier this week, everyone’s back on their serial killer craze. The release of both these projects in the same week is not a coincidence. This week marks 30 years since Ted Bundy’s execution. What better way to celebrate than to give audiences a glimpse into one of the darkest times in America.
Photo courtesy of Variety
The four-part Netflix docuseries gives viewers insight into the serial killer’s mind, drawing from over 100 hours of recorded interviews conducted by journalists Hugh Aynesworth and Stephen Michaud. The series also interviews several people including his mother and ex-girlfriend, as well as former detectives, friends and psychologists.
The movie, on the other hand, follows his story through his girlfriend’s point of view. In Extremely Wicked, Bundy is played by Zac Efron alongside Lilly Collins as Elizabeth Kloepfer. Throughout the film, we see the human side of Bundy: the romance, charm, and charisma that in lured in over 30 victims.
This has everyone’s feed divided: Is Ted Bundy being romanticized or are we portraying how we used to be?
Photo courtesy of Heaven of Horror
Both the film and the Netflix series are lead by director, Joe Berlinger. Although it is the same creator, they both carry very different tones. The trailer for the movie almost resembles a rom-com; however, Berlinger argues differently. In an interview in with IndieWire, he says, “There are a lot of people who have an agenda, who refuse to see the film for what it is, because they want to fit an agenda, which sounds defensive by me, but it’s not.”
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Whether it was an intentional artistic choice or not, Ted Bundy is being interpreted as a troubled man who took a dark turn instead of what he is – a serial murderer of over 30 women. Being demised to an attractive man with charm is not only extremely hurtful to the families of the victims, but it generates him more celebrity status than deserved.
Psychologically Ted Bundy is fascinating but it is important to not sensationalize when he inflicted horror.