Three decades after he was executed via electric chair, notorious serial killer Ted Bundy is back in the spotlight.
Last week (January 24), on the 30 year anniversary of Bundy’s death, Netflix released their documentary series Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes, much to the delight of thousands of true crime fans.
Two days later (January 26), the Bundy biopic Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, and Vile, which stars Zac Efron as the murderer, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.
With the two projects being publicised so close together, Bundy has been getting a lot of airtime making him a trending topic on social media.
While most of the online discussion is focused on Bundy’s unspeakable crimes, some self-proclaimed ‘Bundy stans’ are commenting on the serial killer’s appearance and charisma.
These people seem to have forgotten Bundy confessed to 30 homicides – the true number is unknown and feared higher.
He was also confessed on death row to kidnapping, rape, burglary and necrophilia.
Searching for ‘Ted Bundy’ on Twitter turned up a surprising number of unsettling tweets which saw users admit they’re attracted to Bundy, despite his heinous crimes.
One wrote:
Ted Bundy: get in the car
Me: OKAY!
Ted: um okay??
Ted: *does some shady sh*t*
Me: kill me daddy
Ted: what the fuck get out rn
Another admitted on Twitter:
The fact I fancy Ted from the Ted Bundy tapes seriously concerns me.
The revelatory posts just keep coming:
Ted Bundy was kinda hot. I mean if I had to get murdered at least I’d have a view.
Thankfully the word ‘but’ is always available as a disclaimer:
I know he’s a murderer but we can say Ted Bundy is hot right? I mean Efron is going to play him. Feel like that’s OK.
And that is only the tip of the iceberg…
Netflix themselves have now felt the need to step in, addressing this problematic and disturbing trend.
Yesterday they tweeted:
I’ve seen a lot of talk about Ted Bundy’s alleged hotness and would like to gently remind everyone that there are literally THOUSANDS of hot men on the service — almost all of whom are not convicted serial murderers.
You are exactly right Netflix!
Only time will tell if Netflix’s tweet has resonated with the ‘Bundy stans’ as when Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, and Vile is released later this year, there is the chance this problematic trend will rear head again.
Efron plays Bundy in the drama which tells the story of the notorious murderer from the perspective of his girlfriend Elizabeth Kloepfer, played by Lily Collins, who struggled to believe her partner was capable of committing such unthinkable crimes.
Kaya Scodelario also stars as Carole Ann Boone, Bundy’s wife and mother to a daughter who he allegedly fathered in prison.
Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile is coming soon to UK cinemas and Sky Cinema.
You can stream Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes on Netflix now.
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