The Film Industry’s Obsession with Ted Bundy

TW: brief mentions of rape

Yet another Ted Bundy movie is in the process of being produced. The movie Ted Bundy: American Boogeyman, set to release at the end of 2021, is another movie to add onto the endless list about the notorious American rapist (which definitely seems like one too many). There are countless documentaries, episodes, movies, and books about the Ted Bundy case. This is likely because of Ted Bundy’s peculiarity: a man who was able to get away with the crimes he committed for so long and the fanbase of women he had attracted because of his “good looks.” 

While I do agree that America’s appetite for true crime in pop culture is insatiable, it bothers me that there’s been this much material produced and distributed about Ted Bundy. It’s almost like there’s a sickening sense of fascination about him. Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, and Vile, Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes, The Stranger Beside Me: all of these are movies about Ted Bundy have been released in the past 10 years. And yet, this plethora of Ted Bundy movies is seemingly not enough. 

Shortly after it was announced that actor Chad Michael Murray would be playing the infamous killer in American Boogeyman, the public took to Twitter to convey their opinions. 

“The ONLY Ted Bundy adjacent movie I am interested in is one which respectfully tells the life stories of these women and girls, humanising them, portraying them as real people who lived & loved, rather than simply victims,” user @JeannaLStars tweets, “and ONLY if their families give permission.”

“Hollywood’s glamorization of Ted Bundy is extremely insensitive to the families of his victims,” tweets user @MiintCondition. 

“Writing a movie about a woman who snaps and goes on a killing spree because she’s so tired of movies being made about Ted Bundy,” user @fordholden jokes in their tweet, “for legal reasons I will not be saying it’s based on a true story.”

These tweets clearly show how tired the public is with the amount of Ted Bundy films being produced. How about the families who have been personally affected by his crimes? They continue to see his life be glamorized multiple times, being played by famous actors such as Zac Efron and Chad Michael Murray. If we are tired of these movies, I can’t help but imagine the kind of trauma these families have to go through when they see such films doing well at the box office. 

Even though I enjoy a good crime movie every now and then, it’s about time that we move on from producing media about Ted Bundy. At this rate, we’ll be no different than the fangirls he had accumulated in the time that he was alive. 

• Film Industry
• movies
• pop culture
• Ted Bundy