I don't understand all of this fuss about Zac Efron supposedly glamorizing Ted Bundy

[Siwsan]

I distinctly remember the made for tv movie 'The Stranger Beside Me', starring Mark Harmon. Now, IMHO, and to my taste, Mr. Harmon is a far more handsome looking man, even to this day, than is Mr. Efron. I don't remember any controversy about that casting, and it was FAR closer to the time of the crimes.

Admittedly, I had no idea who Mr. Efron is and had to look up a photo, but he's a good looking young man. So was Ted Bundy was during his murder spree. Portraying him as anything less would have been ridiculous. His appearance is one of the things he used to lure some of those young woman into an almost inescapable trap.

The superficiality of this controversy just makes me do a lot of

[fleur-de-lisa]

1. I don't get it either.

[Wounded Bear]

2. Hollywood has been 'glamorizing' people in film since the 1910's...

Some times they portray characters a little more realistically, but overall, they make people look good more than the other way.

[Siwsan]

4. They do sometimes make some odd choices when casting for historical portrayals

I particularly remember the series 'The Tudors' where the actor portraying the estimated 6' tall, pale, strong built, jovial (in his youth) red headed Henry VIII was a 5' 10 skinny, rather sullen brunette. I barely made it through one episode.

And, if you compare the description of Count Dracula, as written by Stoker, to pretty much anyone, except for Max Schreck - not even in the ball park.

[patricia92243]

3. There was a fuss at the time Harmon played Bundy - for the same reasons.

[Siwsan]

5. I never heard anything, except for praise, about his acting in that role

Having anyone but a strikingly handsome man would be absurd.

[hlthe2b]

6. Bundy WAS good looking. That is why he was so "successful". I'll never forget years ago at Snowmass

where I'd gone for a conference at the tail end of the ski season. I had to find maintenance at the hotel to service one of the break-out rooms and was directed outside to a series of small buildings on the premises. I found the "office" for the maintenance employee I was meant to see and while waiting, was shocked to see a photo of Bundy at that very location from years ago. Bundy had stayed there and apparently the worker had met him. Bundy later went on to murder a woman staying at the Wildwood Inn in 1975.

The maintenance guy had worked there all that time and while I'm sure not many ever saw his own personal photo in his office, I'm sure those who did were probably as taken aback as I to see it--even decades later.

[Siwsan]

7. He headed to Ann Arbor, on his way to Florida

Seemed a weird route to take, but Ann Arbor is a big college town, and he did seem to thrive in that environment.

I always wondered if they did any triple checking on any coeds who may have gone missing, during that time period.

[TeamPooka]

8. He is getting notice because it's a great script that won a big award a few years ago

I work in Hollywood so I read it at the time and it was very good.
So Zak has some good material to work with here and gets to show off his acting skills.

[Siwsan]

9. I don't know what network it is going to be on, but I'd like to see it

I was just thinking about what happened to Steve Railsback, after he was in 'Helter Skelter'. It pretty much derailed (no pun intended) his career because he was (IMHO) so good at playing Manson. Nobody could seem to see him in any other role. At least that's my recollection. Hopefully casting people are a little more open to people's range, now.

My brother used to work at the Fox Studio research library. He's still a font of information about many things Hollywood.

[TeamPooka]

22. It's playing Sundance. The financiers are selling distribution rights to all countries off the buzz

it makes there.
It's going to be a feature but in this climate a company like Netflix or Amazon could buy it too.

[Johnny2X2X]

10. A mass murderer and necrophiliac still gets people upset

Bundy was made into a celebrity by the media. His victims deserved better and still do.

Our country places beauty in such a high regard that a guy that bludgeoned, strangled, and raped dozens of women is still considered "dreamy" by some because he was attractive. This monster was treated like he was Prince Charles by the media.

I wonder if anyone thought of giving the proceeds from this film to the families of the victims.

[Siwsan]

12. I recently saw a show where one of his victims was interviewed

She was the one he brutally attacked on the same night as the Chi Omega murders. She was a very gifted dancer, until that happened. They also interviewed 2 other women who were in the Chi Omega house, at the time of the murders.

[Johnny2X2X]

13. Saw an interview with one of his Utah survivors

You could tell she was scarred for ever.

They will never know how many girls he attacked or killed.

[dubyadiprecession]

11. Bundy's victims thought he was a gentleman.

Then out came the handcuffs and the crow bar across their heads.

[cwydro]

14. I've only seen "fuss" about it here.

Any links?

[Siwsan]

15. There was a discussion about it on 'The View', today

They were referencing other sources. GMA did a segment on it. So people are 'talking'.

[Tipperary]

31. Thanks.

I see no problem with it. People should know monsters come in all guises.

[Siwsan]

34. Precisely

Until his final frenzy, he was able to pretty easily convince those young women to help him.

[cwydro]

41. Thank you.

I’ve missed this.

[tymorial]

16. The problem is that the movie basically gives Bundy everything he ever wanted

Celebrity. It's not Efron's fault though. People are are not so much fascinated by the murders but by the psychopathy of the individual who committed the acts. The behavior is so outside the cultural and social norm as to be alien. Many people like to be scared and obtain a thrill from the macabre. Many ignore/forget that the act of partaking in "murder porn" results in the exploitation of the victims and their families.

As an aside, having known truly narcissistic and sociopathic individuals, they do love nothing more than attention. Bundy fit that description perfectly and he would recieve great satisfaction knowing yet more documentaries and movies are being made out of his destruction.

[Johnny2X2X]

21. Nice post

His celebrity and these movies have to be agony for the families of the victims and to the survivors of his attacks.

[Mariana]

23. "...results in the exploitation of the victims and their families."

Is that true every time money is made telling about people who got hurt, got sick, and/or got killed? Does every news story, article, book, movie, documentary, or TV series about bad things that happened to real people result in the exploitation of the victims and their families?

[tymorial]

43. I would say there is a fine line between educating and profiteering through exploitation

Considering that Bundy's story has been retold dozens of times... its profiteering.

Let's for example put this into a different context... what if someone decided to do a movie depicting all of the rapes committed by Cosby or Weinstein. Would that be okay? I contend it wouldnt be because while we all know the general facts, a movie is about profit. I would rather not see the abuse and torture of people turned into entertainment. But then again you have movies which do absolutely educate and tell a powerful message like Schindler's List so as I said... it's a fine line.

[onenote]

36. Except he's been dead for 30 years

So it's not as if he knows he's getting attention. He's worm meat.

[tymorial]

42. He was a narcissistic sexual sadist who got off through the torture, rape and murder of young women

All because his first girlfriend dumped him and he wanted revenge. When he devolved he murdered a 12 year old. Some of his victims were never found.

I feel perfectly comfortable with the opinion that he shouldn't be given the spotlight if for no other reasons than innocent women were raped, tortured and murdered.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

17. Objecting to a series that centers a serial killer as something entertaining isn't really

superficial.

[Siwsan]

19. My read is, they aren't objecting to the series - they are objecting to realistic casting

So, yes, if I'm right on how I'm digesting this, I consider that to be pretty superficial. Do they think casting Steve Buscemi would be a better choice. He's a fantastic character actor - just not believable as Ted Bundy.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

24. Honestly, I think discussing the casting is a proxy discussion on whether it should have been made

or not, whether the people having the discussion know it or not.

[Siwsan]

25. You could be right

IMHO, this story can't be told often enough. Unfortunately.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

26. Why do you say that?

[Siwsan]

30. Because naivety can get you killed?

Because you can never be too careful. Or suspicious. I know it sounds like a stifled way to go through life, but when I'm on my own, and a stranger asks me for help and that means going off somewhere, alone, with him, I'm likely going to think of the whole Bundy situation. Maybe that's just me. Maybe I'm overly cautious, and maybe I don't particularly automatically trust total strangers, but I'm still walking around.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

33. Is that the message that this "chronicle of crimes" is trying to convey? Clearly?

In a society where women socialized to be helpful and are called judgmental, snotty or misogynists for being wary of men, it seems to me like there's a better way to convey all these lessons.

[Siwsan]

35. Well, we each have our own ways of looking at things.

Not sure there's much else I can offer.

[John Fante]

29. There's nothing to discuss if that's the case.

Countless biopics have been made about unsavory characters - everyone from Hitler to Capone, Madoff to Gacy. Should they not have been made?

[GusBob]

18. I don't know who Zac Effron is

Celebrities bore the piss out of me.

How much money is he making for the part?

Is he donating any of it to women’s shelters or families of the victims?

[Siwsan]

20. I had to look him up, too

But then I seem to have to look up most of what passes for a 'celebrity', lately.

[Mike Nelson]

27. I did the "Google" on both...

… and don't see a problem with the casting. Zac Efron can't "glamorize" Bundy without the producer and director being involved. Unless Zak is a bigger star than I realize... Garbo owned her roles, no matter who produced or directed. Is Zac another Garbo?

[pamdb]

28. tedbundy

I remember Mark Harmon doing it-really a hunk, still is.

I remember my mom calling me up after watching it running down a list
of what not to do:don't help someone with a "lost dog", don't help someone with an arm in a cast loading a surfboard (living in Michigan that wasn't problem) don't do ANYTHING. But he was really really good.

[John Fante]

32. Ted Bundy was a handsome man who used his looks to lure his victims into

into giving him rides.

Effron (also a handsome man) isn't playing ugly mofos like Albert Fish or Richard Speck. His looks are crucial to playing the character.

[csziggy]

37. The movie is named "Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, and Vile"

The story of Ted Bundy is shown from the perspective of his girlfriend Elizabeth Kloepfer, who struggled to accept the reality of her boyfriend's nature.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extremely_Wicked,_Shockingly_Evil,_and_Vile

Not sure how this glamorizes Ted Bundy.

[Siwsan]

38. That's an interesting perspective.

There's nothing glamorous about what Bundy did but I'm not sure how they'd give the story any credibility or even believability without casting a good looking man in that role.

I'll confess, as a true crime book and documentary addict, I'm always interested in learning something new in these cases.

[csziggy]

39. I've been fascinated over the years with Ted Bundy

But have avoided reading the true crime books. Although I've lived in Tallahassee since 1972, my husband and I were traveling during the time of his murder spree here. We got back at the end of January 1978 just a couple of weeks before he was arrested. The trial made major headlines (of course) and Bundy's antics were blamed on the Leon County Sheriff Eddie Boone who had political ambitions.

A friend of ours had been detained and questioned about the Chi Omega attack. He lived in a rooming house down the street and was (and still is) more than a bit odd. But he looked nothing like Bundy and was cleared by the witnesses.

[Siwsan]

40. Ann Rule's book, on Bundy' was riveting.

Of course, it helped that she actually knew him. I think that was the book that got me started on my fascination with true crime. That, and the John Norman Collins cases, right here in Michigan.