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'Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes' on Netflix

Started by DrGreggles, January 27, 2019, 08:53:57 AM

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DrGreggles

Anyone watching this?

I'm 3 episodes in and it's grimly fascinating.

Sin Agog

The creepiest aspect is that I've watched so mnay thrillers about criminals/the wrongfully accused on the run that a small side of me kept on hoping Bundy would escape again, and for longer, despite the fact that it would doubtlessly result in the deaths of more willowy brunettes.  Then I remembered he was a registered Republican and my sympathies instantaneously dissolved. ;)

Lots of the important main players.  Glad to see it showed some of the Ace in The Hole nature of a carnival taking place on the greens outside the electric chair.

I wonder if Bundy was at least partly responsible for the comedown feeling that wafted through the air of the '70s.

biggytitbo

It's decent enough without really offering anything new, if there is anything new left to say about Bundy.


Interesting that they mentioned the forensic evidence that finally nailed Bundy - the teeth marks, was extremely dodgy. Teeth mark evidence has been largely discredited now, like hair fibre evidence so I almost thought they were going down an is Bundy innocent route for a few seconds.


Probably the only new ground now would be the possibility of other victims (eg there is evidence Bundy may have killed whilst he was a teenager) and the possibility he was working with others for at least some of the murders, something Bindy darkly hinted at himself.

Lisa Jesusandmarychain


BlodwynPig

It was OK, but a highly unlikeable fellow (duh!) made it hard to watch - not the documentaries fault but I wanted to strangle (yes!) the fuckwits who let him saunter about the jail and escape twice.

Keebleman

Compelling, very well made, but no insight into anything at all.

Yesterday another Bundy biopic premiered.  Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile stars Zac Efron as Ted and, like this documentary, is directed by Joe Berlinger.  Crikey - he's even more obsessed with Bundy than Carole Ann Boone!

biggytitbo

That was the main issue with it, just nothing new to say about the subject.

St_Eddie

Does this documentary answer the pertinent question of what cereal Mr. Bundy devoured on a cold winter's morn?

Cereal killer, you see.

...I'll get me coat.

(Fruit Loops, I bet)


DrGreggles

I'd like there to be a similar doc made about BTK.
Obviously a vile human being, but such a prick too.

biggytitbo

I reckon there is new stuff to say about BTK, so could be worthwhile.


Never bought for a second his first murder was by far the most excessive and brutal and he actually de-escalated as he progressed, to the point where he finally replaced the killing with just been a dickhead compliance officer and fucking people about with petty tickets about their dogs.


Although when he was caught, he was supposedly planning a final 'project', and had begun staking out women as a potential next target.

MiddleRabbit

I'm watching this with Mrs. Middlerabbit who likes to keep her finger in the pulse of the zeitgeist.  She'd vaguely heard of Ted Bundy but not in much detail.  I'm finding it quite annoying in the way that I find a lot of these sorts of programmes: it's being dragged out and the montages that are supposed to illustrate what's going on, coupled with the hysterical sounding music are getting on my tits.

Having only really read about it previously, what's striking me is how fucking thick most of the people are in it.  No wonder Bundy thought he was some sort of genius, surrounded by this world of morons.

The woman he failed to abduct in the mall apparently has no ability to think about anything and her speech strongly suggests a crude lobotomy. 

There's a lot made of Bundy's narcissism but the interviewees hardly seem like Mr and Mrs Modest.  The sheriff sitting in front of his fireplace makes Clancy Wiggum sound like Sherlock Holmes and his inviting the press to listen to him reading the indictment makes him look like a media whore.  The reporter who claims to have coined the phrase 'serial killer' sounds thoroughly impressed with himself and the policewoman on the case appears to be stuck in a loop that repeats 'There was no internet then'.

To be honest, had Bundy not been a total maniac who couldn't stop himself killing women wherever he went, every couple of months, and made little to no effort to cover his tracks, I could see him still doing it today.

So, yeah, I'm finding it interesting mainly in terms of enjoying others' incompetence and worrying that I am, basically Ted Bundy.

biggytitbo

The reason he was first suspected was because he went around trying to kidnap women from parks using the name Ted. Ted Bundy was actually called Ted and the fact he was called Ted was one of the reasons people first suspected it was him. Either Ted was incredibly blase or he thought it was some kind of incredible double bluff to use his real name.


I'm surprised the show didn't go more into the mind boggling interview he gave to the Christian activist the night before his execution in why he blames the whole mass murder thing on hardcore pornography. Despite being just hours from death, Bundy is remarkably composed and articulate in it, but also utterly bullshitting and manipulative. The only 'porn' investigators were ever able to associate with Bundy were cheerleader magazines so it seemed more likely he was seeking to use his last few hours on earth to try and excuse what he'd done on some external factor.

Blinder Data

The montages laid it on think but overall, as someone whose only experience of Bundy was through Wikipedia, I enjoyed it.

The final comments from the judge are truly astonishing. It just shows you can (almost) get away with murder in the eyes of the elite if you dress and talk a certain way.

For my sins, I was glad the fucker got fried. I'm glad he apparently looked white as a sheet as he made his last steps to the chair. Serial killers I can take, but when you're as intelligent, devious, narcissistic and truly heinous as Bundy you're taking the piss. Imagine all the self-serving interviews he'd do if was still alive. Off you pop, Teddy boy

BlodwynPig

Yes, that Judge was a grade A wanker.

"Take care, son"

Imagine the number of people who have committed atrocities and got away with them because they were clean shaven. (biggy lead in).

colacentral

One highlight for me was his implication that he did dishes and a spot of hoovering for the missus whenever he got a twinge of guilt for sneaking out to do rapes and murders.

All through it I kept thinking "TFM," fits the personality perfectly.

I agree with the above criticism that the sound and visuals are too much - hyper edited and at times it made me feel a bit queasy. It's also difficult to trust the accuracy when there are several different audio recordings, with noticeably different sound qualities to them, being edited together to form Bundy monologues. I found it difficult to stay engaged with that lingering doubt in my mind.

I can't believe how much information was being released in press conferences - "several reports of meeting a shady guy called Ted." Anyone with any sense would start introducing themselves with a fake name after that, but not our Ted Bundy. Plank.

It seems like it was pretty easy to get away with murder back in the day; I always wonder if the most prolific serial killer there's ever been is one whose murders aren't even known about or suspected to be the work of one person. There must have been at least one wealthy person flying state to state and having a whale of a time completely undetected.

Keebleman

The most extraordinary thing about the case that came through in the doc was that, when arrested in Florida, there was a substantial period of time (one day? two? it wasn't made clear) when no-one had any idea who he was despite him being one of the FBI's Ten Most Wanted and despite there being untold amounts of TV and press coverage about him from elsewhere in the same bloody country!

Goes to show that a) USA is very bloody big and b) the various law enforcement agencies should communicate more.  (Actually, 40 years on I suppose they do.)

Oh, and c) Bundy was able to make himself look incredibly different with just a small change of hairstyle.

BlodwynPig

Quote from: Keebleman on January 29, 2019, 01:30:11 AM

Oh, and c) Bundy was able to make himself look incredibly different with just a small change of hairstyle.

QuoteAll through it I kept thinking "Biggytitbo," fits the personality perfectly.

Blinder Data

I noticed a few female users on Twitter moaning about the continuing fascination with killers of women. Do they have a case that documentaries like this play a role in the patriacharchal structures of society?

Golden E. Pump

No.

It's morbid curiosity. Countless documentaries have been made about the killers of young boys, and I don't think that contributes to a paedophilic society.

St_Eddie

Quote from: Golden E. Pump on January 29, 2019, 11:47:51 AM
No.

It's morbid curiosity. Countless documentaries have been made about the killers of young boys, and I don't think that contributes to a paedophilic society.

Yep.  Also, I've watched a fair few documentaries about killers who are women because like the majority who are fascinated by such things, I have an interest in true crime documentaries in general.  The simple fact is that most killers are men.  It's got fuck all to do a fascination of men killing women specifically.

Sin Agog


bgmnts

Quote from: St_Eddie on January 29, 2019, 12:09:13 PM
Yep.  Also, I've watched a fair few documentaries about killers who are women because like the majority who are fascinated by such things, I have an interest in true crime documentaries in general.  The simple fact is that most killers are men.  It's got fuck all to do a fascination of men killing women specifically.

One thing i've noticed is that victims of murderers or kidnappers are almost always women and children. Soooo..

Golden E. Pump

They're easier to kidnap. Men are often fat and bald meaning that not only are they harder to lift but one often finds it difficult to get any purchase on an attempt.

St_Eddie

Quote from: bgmnts on January 29, 2019, 02:37:29 PM
One thing i've noticed is that victims of murderers or kidnappers are almost always women and children. Soooo..

But that's completely irrelevant in terms of the documentaries which us true crime enthusiasts seek out to watch.  We are fascinated by true crime, so we watch true crime documentaries.  Most serial killers prey upon women and children, ergo a lot of the documentaries which us true crime enthusiasts end up watching, often involve women and child victims.  We're not purposefully seeking out documentaries about women and child victims.  It's just that they are statistically the most common victims of serial killers (because serial killers seek out those who are more vulnerable than themselves).

Endicott

When did you change your avatar to a be-coiffed and obviously quite young Roger Delgado?

Very fetching.

biggytitbo

People are just as fascinated by female killers, black killers, child killers and killer chimps so that's nonsense. And this whole idea that bundy represented some kind of white male privilege is just peak twitter madness. He fucking killed dozens of women, chopped their heads off and had sex with their corpses. That he might have had white male privilege in an era of white males would seem to be the very least of his faults.

St_Eddie

Quote from: biggytitbo on January 29, 2019, 09:28:26 PM
People are just as fascinated by female killers, black killers, child killers and killer chimps...

Yep.  Especially the latter.

up_the_hampipe

Been watching this today. My favourite moment so far is the news report after he escaped from custody in Colorado, covering the police roadblock to stop any cars potentially smuggling Bundy out of state, the reporter says, "there's been no sign of Bundy... but officers have confiscated over 200 pounds of marijuana".

Bazooka

People are interested by murders full stop, its the last taboo, even if you get angry, the fast majority( ha everyone who hasn't done one of them murders) knows that is end game.

Actually what comes after murder in a moral sense, is whining on twitter or whatever that too many series are made about female murderers, when saying the earth is flat is more scientifically correct.

I was expecting a reference to Ann Rule in the doc, as she knew Ted through volunteering for a support line, a role where he displayed 'empathy', although maybe he just wanted to connect with other tortured souls.