Netflix has a problem.
They came out with a new docu-series “Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes” that delves into the chilling story of the convicted serial killer who was executed on January 24, 1989 after confessing to committing 30 homicides. The series features interviews with people who investigated and prosecuted Bundy as well as excerpts from 100 hours of never heard audio recorded during death row interviews he gave in Florida while awaiting execution.
The intent was to let people gain insight into the dark and psychotic mind of a brutal killer.
What actually happened stunned the producers and led Netflix to publicly come out with a stern rebuke to all those viewers who distorted the purpose of the program. It seems that tens of thousands of watchers were more attracted by Bundy’s good looks than they were repelled by his horrible crimes. Bundy, in the words of far too many audience members, was “really hot” – and so, as Netflix astonishingly took note, their efforts to understand and have viewers be repelled by unspeakable crimes turned into a physical glorification for its portrayed lead.
Netflix’s Twitter account posted a statement in response to online reactions to both their own documentary series and the new Sundance film starring Zac Efron, “Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile” that we have “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… who are not convicted serial murderers.”
This remarkable response to pure evil offers a powerful and startling message as we contemplate the depressing reality of the fading memory of the Holocaust.
As the world last week commemorated Holocaust Remembrance Day, incredible findings of widespread ignorance of the Holocaust emerged from a new poll taken by Schoen Consulting and commissioned by the New York based Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.
-
Almost half of U.S. adults (45%) and millennials (49%) cannot name one of the over 40,000 concentration camps and ghettos in Europe during the Holocaust.
-
Thirty-one percent of Americans, and 41 percent of millennials, believe that two million or fewer Jews were killed in the Holocaust; the actual number is around six million.
-
Forty-one percent of Americans, and 66 percent of millennials, cannot say what Auschwitz was. And 52 percent of Americans wrongly think Hitler came to power through force.
-
Over one-fifth of U.S. millennials have not or are not sure if they have heard of the Holocaust.
-
A recent CNN poll in Europe revealed that about a third of the 7,000 European respondents across seven countries knew "just a little or nothing at all" about the Holocaust. In France, nearly 20% of young adults between the ages of 18 and 34 said they had never heard of the Holocaust.
As survivors diminish in numbers we have a pressing need to create other forms of memory. The horrors of the Holocaust dare not be forgotten. But to simply tell the story is not sufficient. Reminding ourselves of the evils to which human beings are capable of sinking does not convey the utter contempt required in response to evil incarnate.
It seems that for a world which has become almost indifferent to terrorism, cruelty, brutality, gore and bloodshed, the simple recitation of facts – 6 million lives horrifically murdered – is not a guarantee of ethical revulsion.
Indeed, we have reached the stage where for many the facts of the Holocaust are known but the perpetrators are admired, where the brutality of the Holocaust is not forgotten but – far more terrifyingly – is applauded.
A new Holocaust exhibit is soon to come to New York. Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away. will arrive in New York City after the exhibition completed a successful run at Madrid’s Arte Canal Exhibition Centre, where it was extended two times, drew more than 600,000 visitors, and was one of the most visited exhibitions in Europe last year. Featuring more than 700 original objects and 400 photographs, the New York presentation of the exhibition will allow visitors to experience artifacts from the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum on view for the first time in the North America, including hundreds of personal items – such as suitcases, eyeglasses, and shoes – that belonged to survivors and victims of Auschwitz.
I applaud those involved for their efforts to keep alive a memory of events which may never be forgotten. But more important than the memory of the lives lost is the message their deaths must inspire as response to present-day evil. People can know the story of a serial killer like Ted Bundy and still romanticize and idolize him personally. People can be informed and shown details of the murder of 6 million and remain stone cold to the ethical and moral implications.
Facts are not enough. The story is not sufficient. The response to Ted Bundy as well as to the Holocaust must be complete revulsion. If not we have totally failed any purpose or meaning for our memory.
(19) Loren Bliss, April 15, 2019 12:33 AM
Well said!
Well said -- especially the concluding graf: "The response to Ted Bundy as well as to the Holocaust must be complete revulsion. If not we have totally failed any purpose or meaning for our memory."
I am very old (born 1940 in NYC). Having been lovers with two Holocaust survivors and knowing the Bundy case as I do -- a near-lifelong print journalist, I covered aspects of it during the 1970s and 1980s -- I would add only that our species' radically diminishing ability for empathy must be included in the growing body of evidence we are unable to survive the intensifying apocalypse: the denouement we have brought upon ourselves by the moral imbecility of patriarchy and its direct offsprings Capitalism, Neoliberalism and ChristoNazism.
(18) James Benedict, February 6, 2019 5:57 PM
Disgusting
I think we can thank our wonderful educational system for the lack of knowledge and empathy I know this is a broad statement, however, just compare the knowledge level of todays younger people with those of earlier generations. There is little or no emphasis placed in education in the home as well.
Anonymous, February 10, 2019 12:32 AM
Look at how older people bash younger people.
(17) Matthew Sweetwood, February 5, 2019 5:51 PM
Fantastic analysis
Shared on my Twitter @msweetwood
Thank you for writing this.
(16) Anonymous, February 5, 2019 6:43 AM
Consider the Bundy documentary a rebuke for society
As a now-retired reporter, editor and writer who was assigned to some of the earliest stages of the Ted Bundy case, including the discovery of the remains of some of his first victims in the forest east of Seattle, I think the most useful and appropriate response to the memory of this incredibly malevolent killer is as a tochecha/admonition or warning. I did not see the Netflix production, nor did I read any of the numerous books about Bundy, but as with the Shoah I believe with all my heart and soul that all these accounts are best considered as cautionary notes to each and every individual, organization, society and nation. As we read in Torah about Amalek/do not forget -- for, as George Santayana so aptly stated more than a century ago, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
(15) Bobby5000, February 5, 2019 5:23 AM
strange column
Isn't the author partly guilty of what he complains about. There is horrible gang warfare is parts of Central America, but the rabbi does not say we need to act to help those oppressed. Rather than using our resources to intervene, his implicit suggestion it that these things are not our problem and we should spend more time recalling the Holocaust that acting to help those in desperate need today.
(14) Patricia J Deneen, February 4, 2019 8:04 PM
Violent TV and Movies desensitize viewers
When my children were growing up, I would not allow them to go to violent movies or watch violence on TV. I wanted them to be so unused to violence that violence and violent people in the real world would horrify them. Violence as entertainment hies back to the days of ancient Rome, when watching human beings torn to shreds by animals or burned at the stake was considered entertainment. God help us.
Anonymous, February 4, 2019 8:39 PM
After Rome, the world is still here.
(13) Christine L Rogers, February 4, 2019 6:04 PM
Forgetting should not be an option
I am not Jewish, I am a Christian who supports Israel. The Holocaust is an obsession that I have passed on to my daughter, and we both are appalled at the atrocities committed during that time. It astounds me that many of the children I teach at the high school level know little to nothing about the Holocaust. At the 9th grade level we often use Eli Wiezel's "Night" as one of our novel choices - some students are shocked, but too many seem unaffected by the horrible treatment of the innocent victims. They ask why we try to teach them about the Holocaust. I tell them it's because we need to remember so it is never repeated. They don't understand this. There must be a way to keep the knowledge and memories alive for our children so we don't forget.
(12) Harriet LYALL, February 4, 2019 3:37 PM
Active goodness makes evil repulsive by contrast
I'm 61 and so my education was back in the '70s, when memories of WW2 were still quite fresh. My parents' generation had lived through the War and my dad saw active service. We learned in our history classes about WW2, its causes and motives, and watched "The World At War" series on TV. Every day at school Assembly, a passage of the Bible was read to us and we were exhorted to be kind, charitable, sensitive, honest and brave. Now, education is so different: both values and methods are based around the Internet and its fantasies. Nightmare has become normalised. HOWEVER, I have recently begun tending the garden at my Synagogue and have recruited a 22-year old assistant, not Jewish, a Herculean young chap who has an engineering qualification and does weight training five evenings a week! I pay him handsomely for his work and I and my fellow congregants are showing him and his mum and dad every kindness. Through us, he is starting to take an interest in Jewish history and faith. I have shown him around our Synagogue, where we keep a Holocaust Memorial Book, whose pages we turn each week. This way, the human reality of the Holocaust is starting to come home to him and he has begun talking about it to his family and friends. By reaching out to people and touching their lives we will cherish the memory of the 6 million and bring the ideology and the faith of Judaism to people's awareness. By making positivity, kindness and courtesy the norm, evil then becomes genuinely repugnant by contrast.
(11) Anonymous, February 4, 2019 6:46 AM
it's not Netflix's problem
"Netflix has a problem." No, they don't; America and the Western world does. This is not splitting hairs; the problem is not the network's but the viewers' who responded so wildly and disgustingly inappropriately. This is the evil side of Esau come to the fore. This is the uncivil war we see unfolding before us throughout the West: good vs evil. Esau will eventually do t'shuva but, most likely after a tremendous amount of suffering for the world. (I'm a little disappointed the good Rav doesn't point this out, especially as he links this episode to worldwide Holocaust ignorance.)
(10) Kimberly, February 4, 2019 3:01 AM
Virtual Reality, Cognitive Dissonance and Respect for Life
The high price of “virtual reality” is an emotional disconnect and cognitive dissonance that is the product of moral relativism and historical revisionism. The void of intellectual honesty in modern society. Precious few scholars willing to step outside of political ideology to have an intellectually honest conversation about the devaluation of human life. The recent documentary on Ted Bundy meant to be a glimpse into the mind of a sociopathic serial killer. During his spree, he was described as put together, charming, and “said all the right things” In fact it was his talent for drawing his victims in and them trusting him that led to their murders. The movie had a handsome actor portraying Bundy. Disturbingly comments were not the brutality of the killings or revulsion of the killers actions ... the real shame and proof of how disconnected our society is when it comes to acts of evil, is that rather than reacting with revulsion at his words and actions, they were distracted by the “good looks” of the sociopath, Ted Bundy. These same members of society, don’t connect to the horrors of the holocaust, serial killers & infanticide disguised as “abortion on demand” Rabbi Blech, brings to light the cognitive dissonance and disconnect between entertainment and the brutal abuses of human life. Please read this article with open eyes and consider its points carefully. Recently, our politicians are making headlines by passing laws allowing infanticide under the ruse of “choice” these are babies, laboring mothers can “choose” to kill a fully formed and viable human being? I ask you how as a society are we any different from Ted Bundy? We must fight for the sanctity of life. We must NEVER FORGET the lives and light that were stolen from humanity when they were extinguished at the hands of a charming sociopath who told people what they wanted to hear.
(9) Linda Kilmer, February 4, 2019 12:39 AM
Past Imperfect
I really enjoyed reading this article. I’ve read a good deal on both subject matters in which the article focused. Ted Bundy’s attractiveness being a source of shock and revulsion and has been since he was actively murdering. It was one of the reasons why it was so easy for him to acquire victims. When he was arrested women that he never knew came to his aide to help him get out of jail. During his, still studied trial, the courtroom was packed with young women. Many were asked by the local media covering the trial why they were there. Most answered that he was too handsome to do what they say he did. This is an example of “those who do not learn from the past are destined to repeat it”. No one remembers the innocents that had their brief lives stolen from them. But show them a photo of one of the most evil men that ever lived and many people just see an attractive man. The Halocost is similar. The unfathomable horrors are just too much for a loving person to grasp. And it so fades quickly from our thoughts. No one would ever argue that Hitler was attractive. But perhaps looking at a photo of him it’s difficult for most people today to accept that the horrors that he perpetrated on so many people could have been the brainchild of just one man. I just pray that we all learn from the past.
(8) John Bernard Driscoll, February 3, 2019 11:57 PM
Hitler was demonic
It is hard to believe but I don't believe that the world wants to remember, It not taught in many schools and other elements have been remove of the demonic tortures by the Nazi's
(7) Rachel, February 3, 2019 11:42 PM
Bundy and Holocaust
1. I don’t have Netflix. However, I remember the Bundy cases. I would suggest that part of his ability to lure victims to their deaths was due to his physical good looks. He was also reputed to behave in a charming manner. 2. As horrific as his crimes were, he is not an important figure. He was an evil man who acted alone. Law enforcement and the justice system tracked him down and convicted him. 3. Contrast Bundy with the Holocaust: Nazi Germany started by oppressing political dissidents. Law enforcement followed the increasingly evil “laws”. The great majority of German lawyers and judges used the same excuse: this is German law. And of course, the Nuremberg defendants all used the defense that they were “following orders”. 4. The Holocaust brought about sweeping changes in international human rights law. Prior to the war, countries were generally permitted to follow their national laws in their national boundaries. Faced with the murder of 12 million civilians (6 million Jews, 6 million others, including the majority of Roma (“Gypsy”) people in Europe), the world’s democracies realized that governments cannot necessarily be trusted to protect the rights of their citizens and residents. The Holocaust and World War II are the defining period of the 20th century. Bundy is not even a footnote. I can name one other serial killer— Jack the Ripper— who continues to fascinate because he was never caught. Schools should teach the significant periods in world and national history. I expect that 30 years after Bundy was executed, the majority of Americans don’t know who he was— and that is as it should be.
(6) Anonymous, February 3, 2019 7:57 PM
Hypocrisy
Netflix & Sundance have an hypocrisy problem. First they create productions that bring attention to (thereby romanticizing) a serial killer and then wonder why the productions evoke that reaction. Surely they each could have found better subjects for films.
Rachel, February 3, 2019 11:50 PM
It’s a documentary
I don’t think Bundy is important and I wouldn’t choose to make a film about him.
However, by your measure, no one would ever made a film about something bad. Laying out the extraordinary police work that brought him to justice does not “romanticize” the killer. If it brings to light the law enforcement heroes and memorializes the victims, tha, that’s not a bad thing.
(5) Shoshanna USA, February 3, 2019 7:55 PM
Seduction
We are not losing our ability to feel or recognize horror. Humanity is being seduced. Call it what you will: evil, power, zeitgeist of the times, psychological brain washing, freedom from boundaries, the elegant German persona, or more. Evil does not wear a sign that says "Evil." Evil is a seductress. Evil seduces in planned stages .Then it pounces. This commonality of evil links the Holocaust to today's serial killers. Eichmann would reject that he was a serial killer, but Ted Bundy would admit it. Evil exists and it is very dangerous. Guard your steps and affiliations cautiously.
(4) Anonymous, February 3, 2019 6:50 PM
There is a phenomenon, more common than most people think, in which people find male serial killers attractive. Psychologically, there is a certain thrill in the forbidden, and a kind of imaginary romance in thinking about being with someone who is not available because he's locked away.
(3) Anonymous, February 3, 2019 5:30 PM
All that is understood about this criminal is that he is often portrayed with big toned body, shirt off, sweating and amazingly smart and sexy. Blood adds to the excitement that the rules are broken. This is of course attractive for many people. The criminal behaviour is in all of us like when we could harm somebody in such and such a way. The criminal law system can deal with misdeeds but the misthoughts and miswords, ill- learning and Ill-understanding are a part of free will with the expectation that sense will prevail and people will not act upon the material. Thank you.
(2) Nancy, February 3, 2019 4:36 PM
Dollars and cents
Not everyone is willing or can afford to pay the monthly fee to access Netflix. Perhaps if people lose interest in this profile of Ted Bundy, then attention CAN be turned towards a greater understanding of the Holocaust. To commenter #1 who mentioned not being surprised. Sadly, neither am I.
(1) Cliff, February 3, 2019 4:30 PM
Not surprised
Holocaust deniers are like conspiracy theorist who some psychologists believe have low self esteem issues.
I had one acquaintance recently tell me there were only 200,000 Jews killed. I did a great job restraining my initial desire to punch him in the throat so I could learn further the depth of his stupidity. And sure enough I had him telling me his view point on the inside job of 9/11, and Sandy Hook.
Dumber than a box of rocks.
Anonymous, February 3, 2019 11:55 PM
That’s what happens when you get your info from sketchy sources
The mainstream media has plenty of problems, but it tries to fact check. If a website is named after 1 person (Alex Jones, Breitbart, Drudge) it should be treated with skepticism.