The romanticization of serial killers

Evan Peters as Jeffrey Dahmer is just the latest installment of Hollywood heartthrobs playing deplorable murderers.

Transcript

00:00Netflix just released a series about Jeffrey Dahmer

00:02starring Evan Peters,

00:04but we need to talk about the importance

00:05of not romanticizing the actor in this role.

00:08In 2019, Netflix released

00:09Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, and Vile,

00:11a biopic on Ted Bundy starring Zac Efron.

00:14From its first trailer,

00:15many thought the movie was romanticizing

00:16one of America's most notorious serial killers,

00:19as evidenced with some taking to social media

00:21to lust over Efron in the role.

00:22Little attention was given to how Bundy

00:24actually used his attractive looks and charming personality

00:27to murder over 30 women in the 1970s.

00:29Critics say the film encouraged viewers

00:31to take the crimes as pure entertainment

00:32rather than acknowledging the real victims

00:34who suffered because of Bundy.

00:36When it comes to Monster, the Jeffrey Dahmer story,

00:38Evan Peters says that his priority

00:40is respecting those whose lives were lost.

00:42It felt important to be respectful to the victims,

00:46to the victims' families,

00:48to try to tell the story as authentically as we could.

00:52The 10-episode series aims to highlight the victims,

00:54the people who tried to stop Dahmer,

00:56and the systemic failures that allowed him

00:58to hurt people for over a decade.