Thirty years after his execution via electric chair, serial killer Ted Bundy has captured the country's attention once again, thanks to a riveting documentary on Netflix. In the four-part series Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes, viewers learn how the American Jack The Ripper killed thirty young women (at least), engineered two dramatic prison escapes and turned his criminal trial into a must-see daily spectacle.
Bundy was a successful killer partially because of the time. Between '74 and '78, DNA evidence wasn't a thing and the FBI had no national database. As his murder spree spread across seven states, local police departments weren't in the habit of comparing information. Then, when they finally did notice connections in the cases, communication was glacially slow, due to the lack of internet and cell phones. It's hard to see how a Ted Bundy would thrive in the modern era.
In addition, Bundy was successful because of his charm and good looks. As a conventionally attractive young man, he persuaded many of his victims to accompany him to secluded locations. At Lake Sammamish State Park, he spun a story about needing help unloading a sailboat; at a Utah shopping mall he pretended to be a police officer; people believed him, and trusted him despite being a complete stranger.
Then, at his televised Florida murder trial, Bundy represented himself, creating reality TV before reality TV. To make the event even more bizarre, infatuated young women flocked to the courtroom, trying to catch the charismatic serial killer's eye. They even attempted to pass him love notes through his defense attorney. (She declined, much to their disappointment.) We've all heard the cliché that women love bad boys, but how could anyone love an unrepentant rapist, kidnapper and serial killer?
Well, the more things change, the more things stay the same. After watching Conversations with a Killer, a new generation has discovered Ted Bundy, and is commenting on his hotness. In response, Netflix begged viewers to stop thirsting after such an awful human being.
"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," the streaming service tweeted.
"But he's hot though," one Twitter user argued, to which Netflix replied "where," and he answered, "He was hot in that electric chair." Okay, so that was pretty funny, but you don't have to dive deep on Twitter to find people legitimately lusting after Ted Bundy. (And it probably doesn't help that Hollywood hottie Zac Efron is playing him in an upcoming biopic.)
Well, Ted Bundy stans, let Netflix's tweet be a splash of cold water on your loins. You know that just before his execution, this dude confessed to killing thirty young women, mutilating their corpses and committing necrophilia, right? If you're going to thirst after a Bundy, let it be Al Bundy from Married With Children. He once scored four touchdowns in one high school football game - now that's sexy!
