Faith Stevens - New Ted Bundy film sparks outrage

https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/entertainment/2019/01/zac-efron-s-romanticised-portrayal-of-serial-killer-ted-bundy-sparks-outrage.html

Recently, a new trailer for the upcoming movie, Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, a movie featuring notorious Serial Killer and rapist, Ted Bundy, was released. After seeing that the famous actor Zac Efron (known for his attractive looks) would be portraying Bundy, the internet flew into a rage. "I feel so bad for the families of the victims that have to sit there and see their terrors revived as a witty romantic thriller" Says twitter account @peachesfrfr. There is a wide cry out outrage to the new films trailers, as many people believe that it romanticizes Ted Bundy' as a person, there for discrediting the survivors and victims families experiences. Ok, so, here's the thing- Ted Bundy in real life was extremely handsome and charming. To quote twitter user @DerfelMacGuffin, "Psst, hey woke twitter, in real life Ted Bundy was romanticized by the media and everyone he knew. That's what the Extremely Wicked trailer is reflecting and what the movie will attack head on." Ted Bundy would use his good looks and charm to real girls in, posing with a broken arm and a stack of books, asking women to help him carry his books to his car, before kidnapping and murdering them. During his trials, he had a following of female admires, women who tried to get his attention by parting their hair and wearing hoops (the pattern recognized on the women he targeted and murdered) and would arrive to the court early in hopes a front row seat. During his time in prison, he would receive love letters, proposals, and nude photos from his audience. He even went so far as to marry on of his followers, Carol Anne Boone, who he proposed to in the middle of her character witness questioning. Bottom line, the director and casting director both knew EXACTLY what they were doing, and casting Zac Efron was a very strategic choice. To not play Ted Bundy as he was is an injustice to the victims and survivors, to pretend that he was not attractive and charming and charismatic is a crime to those victims memories, to play him as any less that he was is to pretend what happened did not really happen at all. We cannot pretend that all serial killers were awkward, ugly, freaks. It is the reality and danger of the world we live in. And we cannot allow that to be rewritten over just like everything else that's bad in history. Things like this are important to the world we live in- even if it is just a stupid article about a stupid celebrity. The reality is that no one wants to acknowledge the truth of the matter- you have to learn that situations like these do happen and it isn't always the gross man whos been staring at you at the park- sometimes, its the kind, witty man you met at that restraint who wants to take you home with him for some wine. He cannot be written off or portrayed in a way he wasn't- even if it seems wrong or 'romanticized'. Not everyone you meet is what they seem.