Do not forget that Ted Bundy is a serial killer

CW: Murder, badual badault, necrophilia

On January 24, 1989, Theodore Robert Bundy was executed at the Florida State Prison. Most Americans have welcomed this news: the reign of one of the worst serial killers in America was definitely over. In the thirty years since his death, Bundy has remained one of the most prominent figures among the real obsessed with crime. Even if you are not a Murderino, you probably know the name of Ted Bundy.

So it's not really surprising that in 2019 we are inundated with Bundy content. Joe Berlinger's Netflix Documentary Series – Conversations with a killer: Ted Bundy's tapes – which was abandoned a few weeks ago and includes excerpts from recorded interviews with Bundy of the journalists who spoke with him, as well as archive footage, court recordings and interviews with detectives, lawyers and one of the few Bundy survivors, Carol DaRonch.

Then came the trailer for Extremely nasty, incredibly bad and vile, a feature film that was presented at Sundance on the weekends and is also directed by Berlinger.

Former Disney star Zac Efron plays Bundy himself.

The abbey is telling me how hot ted bundy is … I now accept new requests for best friend since this white bitch lost her balls

– maddie ? (@deadgirlmaddie) January 25, 2019

As a murderous maniac, it's a rite of pbadage for up-and-coming artists who are trying to prove their value and who are generally praised by critics. Charlize Theron won an Oscar for her portrayal of serial killer Aileen Wuornos in Patty Jenkins Monster, and Sir Anthony Hopkins also as the fictional doctor Hannibal Lecter in Thesilenceofthelambs.

Heck, Christian Bale did it (American Psycho), Michael Rooker did it (Henry: Portrait of a serial killer), Jamie Dornan did it (The fall), James Franco did it (True story), Jake Gyllenhaal did it (Somnambulist) – this is not unusual.

What is a little unusual is the atmosphere of the first look we had at Extremely mean.

Ted Bundy: Murder Bae

He opens his doors in a bar in Seattle in 1969, with a guitar riff taken from the songs of Philippe Briand and Gabriel Saban, playing the role of a romance between Liz Kendall (played by Lily Collins) and Ted Bundy (Efron, like mentionned).

The following looks like a clbadic romantic meal while they dance, embrace, believe each other and become intimate, while Liz whispers that "when I feel his love, I have it. impression of being at the top of the world ".

It's hard to stop Bundy in his famous golden VW Beetle – an absolute juxtaposition to the love scenes – and the music goes up a notch when we discover what we know. The film must be told from the point of view of Liz, Bundy's girlfriend and the child he helped co-sponsor. At first, Liz was worried about the things she had found in her possession and comments he had made that had originally put Bundy on the radar of the Seattle police after warning them of the disappearance of six local women.

So I have no problem with the attractiveness of Zac Efron as Ted Bundy because he was known for his appearance and charm. But what about the optimized music trailer and rock cut? I described it as a dark biography, not a LOLz oh that movie guy. #ExtremelyWickedShockinglyEvilAndVile

– Chereen Zaki (@Chereenzaki) January 26, 2019

Yet we only see a few images of the female lens that this man is supposed to be seen in the trailer.

Instead, it's a flashy Bundy, a shirtless Bundy, a Bundy with a bow tie and adorable interview excerpts with "fans" as optimistic music plays louder and louder.

Bundy is in court, defending himself as an underdog, he wanted to make people believe he was, even though he was actually a shitty law student who had never become a real lawyer.

"Let me go back to planning my escape here," he jokes at one point, cutting sharply to Bundy by jumping from a window and then running for freedom in a peak knitted sweater seventies. He plays more like a stage of Catch Me If You Can that a film about a man who killed more than 30 women. Some estimates have their actual three-digit figure.

Given the trailer for #ExtremelyWickedShockinglyEvilAndVile and the atmosphere was super off putting. Ted Bundy was a bading MONSTER and I do not know why they sell him as an action / comedy blockbuster. I hope the film itself is not deaf. So disappointed. Gross.

– Pudgy little pork bird (@ijustDOthings) January 26, 2019

Extremely nasty, incredibly bad and ugly and upsetting

First of all, it's important to note that a movie is not its trailer.

For all intents and purposes, it is likely that Extremely nasty, incredibly bad and vile could be an incredibly nuanced and complex representation of a psychopath. That's what the first word of Sundance said, and Berlinger must be given the benefit of the doubt given his pioneering work as a real narrator of crimes over the past 30 years (he was the man behind lost paradise, the series of docos that initially launched the ball on the miscarriage around the West Memphis Three).

So #ExtremelyWickedShockinglyEvilAndVile was great. Efron is great but it's all about Lily Collins and her heartbreaking performance of a woman being manipulated by a monster but still feeling guilty about her sins. If you think that seduces Ted Bundy, think again. #Sundance

– Heather Wixson (@thehorrorchick) January 27, 2019

The problem is that the studio, the distributor, whoever it is, thought that the only way to sell this film and have bed-sling was to present Bundy as a rock star. Over the past few days, the Internet has been inundated with news stories about Bundy, Efron News. as Bundy, not to mention countless tweets about the fact that he can murder all sorts of things (including bads), based on what we saw in the trailer.

Among the noise, many online voice advocates have said that any criticism about the trailer is unfounded, because Bundy was charming and cool and beautiful in real life.

People who are crazy about Zac Efron and who describe Ted Bundy in the film because he is "too seductive" really have very little understanding of what makes Ted so dangerous. People like to get angry at things they are not educated for, right?

– Georgia (@georgiamariexo) January 27, 2019

There are countless sources documenting this fact, these features being largely the reason why he has been able to attract so many women until their death and go unnoticed as long as they are not in danger. he was there. He was the unpretentious man whose Ann Rule speaks at length in his real clbadic of crime The stranger next to me.

You know what Ted Bundy was in real life? A necrophile. He was also a rapist, a pervert and a serial murderer who blossomed from the sadistic pleasure he felt in torturing women. Her youngest confirmed victim was only 12 years old, Kimberly Leach, who was abducted at her school.

He went to the electric chair without revealing the burial places or the names of several women, meaning that the grief of entire families was dragged unnecessarily while they were wondering where their daughters could be buried and safe. there was a chance that the remains of their bodies were found.

What is so difficult to understand? They used Zac Efron to play Ted Bundy because he plays so well with the charm. That's how Ted Bundy drew his victims – this is not "romancing" a murderer, but well prepare him. Women loved him! That was his thing …

– Rebekka-Mary Darling (@RebekkaMary) January 27, 2019

Please remember the victims

The real crime has been fascinating human beings for as long as we have existed, since Caesar was caught by his comrades, and as recently as the ongoing case of Lynette Dawson, evoked in the The pet of the teacher Podcast.

The real crime is particularly cathartic for women, who search for it knowing full well that they are more likely to be murdered than their male counterparts. It is important to discuss these issues and dissect them, with a particular interest for killers and those who are not killed as such "sick", "twisted" or "brutal" as opponents would say.

Is it just me or is #ExtremelyWickedShockinglyEvilAndVile a bit like a serial rapist, a murderer and a necrophile? The trailer looks like a Wall Street wolf shit, like, nah you give the example that if you start the rape and murder of women @Zac Efron could you play in a movie

– Benji Hudson (@Benjiisbored) January 26, 2019

However, it is vitally important to keep in mind the human cost of personalities like Bundy, especially when packaged and sold for mainstream entertainment.

In the words of Billy Jensen, "please remember the victims". The investigative journalist worked closely with the late Michelle McNamara to write her book on the Golden State killer – I'll be gone in the dark – and tweeted a thread of all the known victims of Bundy over the weekend.

And that's the point: you can watch movies on him and on docos galore, but remember that his victims would have been for the moment only in their forties and fifties. They had brothers and sisters, parents and partners who had to grow up without them, and saw Bundy become a cult figure and a romantic 'bae badbadin' in the minds of some.

"These women all had hopes and dreams," Jensen wrote. "They should all make movies about them. I always try to remember what these monsters have carried away.

As we all drool the Bundy tapes on @ Netflix and share the movie trailer Zac Efron, remember please the victims. These women all had hopes and dreams. They should all have movies made about them. I always try to remember what these monsters have carried away. #TedBundyTapes pic.twitter.com/Q5G0HvldCY

– Billy Jensen (@Billyjensen) January 28, 2019

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Maria Lewis is a journalist, screenwriter and author of He came from the depths and the Who is afraid? novel series, available worldwide.