Netflix released its new movie, "Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, and Vile", which centered around Ted Bundy, a kidnapper, rapist, and serial killer, and how he got caught.
If the intent of the film was to portray Bundy as wicked, evil, and vile, then the moviemakers failed miserably. Contrary to the movie title, Bundy was portrayed as an innocent, charming, and virtuous young man.
They chose Zac Efron, an actor that is regarded by many as good-looking, to play the role of Bundy. This choice made sense since Bundy was regarded as good-looking as well. Bundy was known to be charming and witty, so I get why Efron was cast for the part. They were trying to show how Bundy was perceived by others at the time and why no one was suspicious of him.
My issue is not that they made him seem innocent. My issue is that they never portray him as guilty.
In the movie, they use real quotes and scenes from the actual trial. Since it is a production, some scenes were dramatized. There is one scene when Bundy stated to the judge that he was not guilty of the charges filed against him. I watched the actual video of Bundy saying that line.
The film added music in the background and had a close-up of Efron crying while saying that line. While I'm sure it was done for dramatics, it might give off the wrong impression and make viewers feel bad for Bundy who had just been told he would be given the death penalty.
I think it is necessary to shed light on a serial killer to spread awareness, but shouldn't we be exposing him for what he truly was, which was a rapist and murderer?
As far as we know, at least 30 women, including a 12-year-old girl, fell victim to Bundy. He did some unthinkable, disturbing acts to these women. The film needed to do a much better job of showing the viewers his evil side.
I know it is just a movie, but there are people out there who aren't smart enough to know the difference between a movie and reality. That is the scary part.
People nowadays do this with serial killers, which we refer to as Bonnie and Clyde Syndrome. Many criminals in prison receive fan mail or love letters. Somehow, people are attracted to these monsters.
One example of this is with Chris Watts. He killed his pregnant wife and his daughters. He started receiving love letters in jail.
Nikolas Cruz, the guy who murdered 17 students and teachers at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, has been getting fan mail filled with words of encouragement and offers of friendship.
This is sick.
We're giving these disgusting people attention, which they love. We're telling the rest of the world that rapists and murderers are people, too, but they aren't.
No sane human hurts another being. For some reason, we continue to show rapists and murderers in a good light, which is not helping people understand that we should not be praising these kinds of people.
It seems like common sense that serial killers are bad people, but unfortunately, there are sick people out there who become infatuated with these people.
This film could have shown the world how Bundy tricked and manipulated people using his wits and charm, but was a cold-blooded killer. I think the movie forgot to include the cold-blooded killer aspect.
We need to show people that what he did was wrong. We need to show people that anyone could be a killer. Killers don't all look like ugly monsters on the surface. The problem with society is how easily malleable our minds are and how people can be so easily convinced of something that is not true.
What people need to remember is that this is a film with lights, music, and added drama, but it is all done for ratings, not necessarily to represent the actual events and people.
They made the lawyers, the police, and everyone who said Bundy was guilty, look like the bad guys. They were the good guys trying to capture a killer so that he could no longer hurt anyone else.
Even though Bundy said things to maintain his innocence, the audience was already captivated by Efron's performance to the point where they were going to believe and trust anything he said, even though we know what happens and we know the truth!
That is pretty terrifying if a film can take a person or an event from the past and make people believe whatever they want about them. It is scary how easy it is to fool people, especially about facts that are already established and known.
These are the same types of people to believe outrageous conspiracy theories like that the Holocaust didn't happen or that 9/11 was an inside job.
Bundy was a great manipulator and a pro at deceiving people.
This film manipulated people into feeling bad for a serial killer. Don't let this movie or any other movie fool you.
Ted Bundy was wicked, evil, and vile, and we should not be making him out to be an innocent man worthy of sympathy.
