TED BUNDY (mini episode)

American Hysteria

W!ZARD Studios

Society & Culture

4.4 • 3.1K Ratings

🗓️ 22 July 2019

⏱️ 14 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

AFTER SHOCK: This 1970s rockstar biopic of a man whom we can all agree should be deeply reviled isn’t a new or shocking concept in America, the country with the world record for serial killers in the last 100 years. Zac Efron's sculpted and lovable Ted Bundy personifies an ongoing American obsession with this allegedly handsome killer turned celebrity, a man who confessed to 30 murders and brutal sexual assaults. What does it mean that these boogeymen for which we carry pepper spray, check our backseats, and deadbolt our doors have also become our sex symbols and household names? And what of women who love serial killers? How different are we from them when we cannot seem to look away? American Hysteria is written, produced, and hosted by Chelsey Weber-Smith Produced and edited by Clear Commo Studios Research and co-writing assisted by Riley Smith Become a Patron for extra episodes, interviews, and videos monthly! Follow American Hysteria on social media: Twitter: @AmerHysteria Instagram: @AmericanHysteriaPodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is American Hysteria's Aftershock, where I share with you a story that didn't make it into the main episode.
0:12.5	I'm your host, Chelsea Weber Smith, and today we're talking about Ted Bundy.
0:28.6	I recently watched Netflix extremely wicked, shockingly evil and vile, which, as many of us know, is about America's past and apparently current sweetheart, allegedly handsome serial
0:34.6	killer Ted Bundy, as played by former teen haughty turned quasi A-lister
0:39.6	Zach Efron.
0:41.1	Ephron is considered one of the sexiest men alive, and it's true that he looks a lot like
0:45.9	Bundy, especially in profile, although suspiciously missing the trademark unibrow.
0:51.9	His boyish smile helps you forget that this is a man who's committed
0:55.5	unspeakable violence, and that's because Ephron's a good actor, and he does a good job
1:01.0	joking his way into a lovable Bundy, one seen through the adoring eyes of Elizabeth Kendall,
1:07.1	his former girlfriend and author of the book the film is based on.
1:17.5	He's charismatic, in command, causing women and men all around him to bend to his manic charm.
1:23.0	His crimes are highlighted in the movie, sure, but with the current of denial running through,
1:24.7	that's not the TED I know.
1:31.6	It's a romantic film, but not necessarily in a way that's morally transgressive, but cutesy nonetheless.
1:42.5	And then there it is, right there on screen, the sculpted ass of Ted Bundy, who may as well be named People Magazine's sexiest murderer alive.
1:47.7	Can we be honest here? Ted Bundy isn't that good looking. He's not an otherworldly god of a beauty so transcendent as to mute the screaming volume of his crimes.
1:55.1	Honestly, to me, he's always kind of resembled a Jim Henson iteration of George W. Bush. We know that he was charming,
2:02.4	which is part of why he was able to abduct, rape, torture, and murder an undetermined number
2:07.3	of young women, potentially ranging upwards of 30. But in terms of appearance, he's actually
2:12.9	kind of ordinary. Of course, his life in the horrific murders he committed were anything but ordinary,
2:19.5	and maybe that's why people are so surprised and embarrassed to admit that they think he's
	...

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