The new series for crime junkies(on Netflix) is Conversations With A Killer, The Ted Bundy Tapes.
I think that we can all agree that Ted Bundy was not a good man. Before Ted showed up on the scene, the term serial killer wasn’t even a thing. Beyond that, the reason I’m sitting here writing this has little to do with Ted.
After watching the show, the thing that stuck with me the most was the behavior outside of the jail leading up to his death by electrocution.
Outside of the Jail
News crews crowded the place, excited, like kids on Christmas morning. People were drinking, chanting, and screaming for hours leading up to the event. People were even profiting from Teds’ impending death by selling teeshirts, pins and other nick-nacks. It looked like an outdoor concert was about to take place, not a murder.
Yes, I’m using the term murder. Because killing a person, even if they have the death penalty, is still murder.
The majority of the crowd outside of the jail that day were college age kids. These kids would have been in elementary school at the time of Ted’s hunting. At that time they were probably outside playing and blissfully unaware, just like most kids are, about the terrible things going on in the world. But on the date of Ted’s death, they were out in numbers celebrating an impending murder.
So where are the crazy people?
So here’s what bothers me. Ted killed people, hurt them, raped them all because he liked the feeling that he got from it. He loved the high.
Outside of the jail people were feeding off of each other and growing in numbers. This crowd was relishing in the killing of a person. And they too loved the high.
How different was the feeding frenzy outside of the jail from the one inside of Ted? So, how many of those people out there had more in common with Ted then we would all like to admit?
Watching The Ted Bundy tapes has left me wondering how much he indeed had in common with others. Because, this show, showed me how many other monsters are out and free in this world getting high of murder just like Ted.
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Photo by Edu Lauton on Unsplash