Is it right to glorify serial killers like Ted Bundy?

The new Netflix movie Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, staring High School musical heartthrob Zac Effron as Ted Bundy is amidst controversy. Casting Zac as Bundy brings back the topic of Ted Bundy to the spotlight. I mean haven’t we had enough Ted Bundy documentaries and shows already? In fact, if Ted were alive today, this is what he would have exactly wanted– the spotlight.

With a recent influx in crime shows like Mindhunters, it’s clearly visible that people are interested in serial killers. I get it. However, we seem to have moved past the fact that Ted was the most notorious serial killer. We are obsessing too much on how Ted was smart enough to woo women, getting to do whatever he wanted to. Men have come to glamorize him for his badass ways how he went to rape 30 innocent women and women are too busy describing how hot Ted was. And now with Zac Effron cast as Ted Bundy, it looks like his heinous crimes have been sidelined. He was a serial killer for god sake.

In fact, Netflix US had to remind Twitter users, saying: “(We’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.”

The episodes of Conversations With A Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes, shows us as a clean-shaven, meticulous and good-looking man. The way Netflix portrayed that overrode the crimes and made him look normal. Even some of my friends jokingly brag that so and so is a ‘Ted Bundy’ of sorts when it comes to impressing women. That sort of representation is not normal. The series romanticized violence by casting a good looking actor (Penn Badgley) in the main role. The same trend seems to continue in Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile with Zac Effron in the lead. Bundy’s looks blinded people to his actions.

A serial killer can and should never be a celebrity.

This guy raped, mutilated, tortured and killed women without a single shred of remorse. Let’s remember who he was from his deeds, not from his portrayal in million dollar budgeted movies at the box office.