Before the 1970’s, police would find murder cases that seem to replicate previous cases. Police would often call those murders copy cat murders. That all changed in the mid 70’s when Theodore “Ted” Bundy made his big debut to the public, and became one of the first infamous serial killers. There was a frenzy among the media learning what Ted Bundy had done to at least forty women within the states of Washington, Utah, Colorado, and Florida. Some would describe Ted Bundy as a sadist. A sadist is someone who likes to sexually abuse, torture, or even kill women to maintain an orgasm high, that they normally can’t achieve on their own. Though Bundy was a sexual serial killer, his physical demeanor was charming, attentive, and intelligent due to his antisocial disorder. With Bundy being able to act like a typical, every day white male, Americans questioned who the good guy was and who the bad guy was. Throughout Jeffery Jerome Cohen’s “Monster Culture (Seven Theses)” he expresses how monsters can represent more than what meets the eye. “The Monster is born only at this metaphoric crossroads, as an embodiment of a certain cultural moment–of a time, a feeling, desire, anxiety, and fantasy (ataractic or incendiary), giving them life and an uncanny independence” (Cohen, 69). Cohen explains how monsters represent some sort of cultural fear, anxiety, desire, or fantasy. Ted Bundy represents Americans fear of the unknown monsters who live inside of people, and the fear of sexual violence that comes from sexual desires. Many psychologist and other health professionals think Bundy started showing signs of mental disorder in his childhood. Theodore Bundy was born in Vermont to Eleanor Cowell, an unmarried 22-year old. Because of her religious parents, Bundy and his mother move in with his grandparents because it was scandalous for a woman to have children out of wedlock. Bundy grew up knowing his grandparents as his parents and his real mother as his sister (biography.com staff). At an early age, Bundy showed his interest in disturbing involvement with depiction of death and injury. People would describe him as shy, but a bright, intelligent child in school. As he grew up, Bundy was able to hide his secret dark side from the public.
By most accounts, Ted Bundy lived a normal life. He used his antisocial disorder (which is a form of personality disorder) to hide his true personality that he used to kill forty plus women. According to the book Abnormal Psychology By Michael T. Nietzel, Matthew L. Speltz, Elizabeth A. McCauley, Douglas A. Bernstein,
A personality disorder is an enduring pattern of inner experience and behavior that is extremely inflexible, deviates markedly from the expectations of a person’s culture, and causes personal distress or behavioral impairment…People diagnosed with personality disorders have some consistently distorted ways of thinking, expressing emotions, controlling behavior, or interacting with others that impair their adjustment to everyday demands and often lead to misery for others. (409)
When Bundy was around people, he was able to act like he was a normal male because he hides his emotions (mostly anger, aggression, envy, and hurt). He used his charm and intelligence to lure women in. Bundy lured women in by faking that he needed help, sometimes he would wear a sling or use crutches to look helpless. He always acted nice and would first seem pleasant with the women until he could get them close enough to his car. Once he had them were he wanted them, he showed them the real Ted Bundy. Americans fear of not knowing who the good guy and who the bad guy is showed through Bundy’s trial. According to Popular Crime: Reflections on the Celebration of Violence by Bill James, “[Bundy] was nice-looking, clean and articulate…When he broke out of prison in Aspen, Colorado, in 1977, people printed up T-shirts saying ‘Run, Ted, Run.’ It was difficult to get people to understand that, despite his appearance, he was a savage and brutal murderer who killed dozens of young women, and would kill several more after a subsequent escape” (James, 300–301). Ted Bundy acted so untainted that the public felt the need to be on his side because of his physical appearance; he seemed lily-white towards the accusations of being a murder. Though many — mostly women — thought he was good looking, charming, and alluring. You could tell by his physical features that there was something deep inside that he was keeping from everyone.
In figure 1, you can see his appearance in court how he contradicts the typical persona of a person in court being tried for murder.
At first glance I saw a man sitting in a court room not liking what he was hearing from whom was speaking. If you take a closer look at his facial expression you notice his mouth is slanted down and his right eyebrow is raised. He looks to be disagreeing with what is being spoken in the room, but his eyebrow raised says otherwise. He seems to find what is being brought to attention something that he didn’t think the cops, or prosecutors would find out, like it’s something he tried to hide and wouldn’t get caught for. For example, when women thought they were helping a man in need — the innocent, helpless Ted Bundy — in reality they were being caught in a trap to be killed. His right cheek looks to have an indent, possibly a sign of forced violence? The indent looks to be circular, like the bottom of a glass or bottle. His chin seems to also have a deep indent; maybe from a fight or a weapon to the face. He tries to hide his dismay by having his arm thrown over the wall barrier to look more relaxed and nonchalant about what is going on. By the picture we can tell he’s intelligent because he’s sitting alone, and most likely representing himself. It shows confidence in himself that he can “win” the case and become a free man. Women like it when men are intelligent, and don’t play games. They like it when guys know what direction they want to take in life. With some of the victims, he would go on dates after he lured them into his trap, which they didn’t know they were doomed of. He was such a charmer that know one would think otherwise of him being anything else but a nice charming man. So we can see how Americans thought the accusations towards Ted were preposterous.
When Americans think of Ted Bundy, they think of the sexual serial killer who killed forty plus women who didn’t deserve to die (in most opinions). But if we look at it closer, Ted Bundy helped the police and FBI come to terms with serial killers and what they are. Before the 1970’s police would have murder cases that looked identical, but the police would call them copy-cat murders, that is until Ted Bundy. The police and FBI have learned the mind and actions serial killers may take to achieve whatever they feel is necessary to get to their goal. Now we have shows like Criminal Minds, NCIS, and other investigation shows that revolve around serial killers and their mindset of how they do things and why. Sometimes even after the killer is dead, other killers will continue on with their legacy of continuing fear. New technology helps authorities catch serial killers faster than ever. Even though police, FBI, and social media journalist know so much more now, the everyday person does not, and still has the fear of knowing who’s the good guy and who’s the bad guy.
During Ted Bundy’s trial, Americans feared not knowing who the good guy and who the bad guy was. They also feared sexual violence. Ted Bundy was a monster capable of hiding his true identity and when they found out what he had done to those women, they truly cringed with fear and hatred towards Bundy. According to Robert I. Simon’s, “Serial Killers, Evil, And Us”:
My hunch is that people are fascinated by serial killers because of their perceived resemblance to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. As well Dr. Jekyll, most serial killers appear outwardly quite ordinary, like your neighbor or mine, living normal, everyday lives in which, just as we do, they fill the car with gasoline, hold down a job, and pay taxes. From behind this veneer of ordinariness their Mr. Hyde personality, representative of the darkest aspect of humanity, jumps out to torture and kill victims — and to transfix us. (23)
Some serial killers, like Ted Bundy, are able to act like normal everyday guys, but they have a hidden dark side to them that lets them kill and torture people. Bundy often blamed his sexual violence on pornography; which was one of his biggest fantasies.
Ted discovered a sexual fantasy that he made it his own reality that turned extremely violent. In the 1970’s, pornography became more available in the United States. Bundy took in great quantities of pornography that were more sexually violent. In Eric W. Hickey’s “Serial Murder and Their Victims: Sixth Edition”, Bundy explains that he felt left out on what his peers were experiencing sexually. With the pornography, Bundy took the experience to a whole new level- the use, abuse, and possession of women seen as an object (Hickey 186). He was in a serious relationship with a beautiful woman, they got engaged, but the women called it off. A few years later they rekindled their relationship but Ted was so hurt by what she did he called it off. Many say his victims looked like that woman, but his hurt drove him to sexually abuse them because of his failed relationship.
Ted was someone who liked to sexually enjoy torturing his victims, which is known as a sadist. Sadist serial killers enjoy torturing their victims only to reach such a strong orgasm high, that they can not achieve such a thing any other way (Simon 25). Sexual serial killers view themselves extremely poorly and portray it on their victims. The sexual serial killer usually only thinks about himself. His ability to understand and/or share feelings that is corrupted by self-loathing and cruelty. He sees his hatred for himself in the face of his victims, and ends up torturing and killing them (Simon 27). Bundy was known to harm his victims with a weapon (hammer, shovel, ect.) and then take them to a woodsy or remote area to sexually abuse them. After he would just the leave the bodies out in the open for anyone to find. It wasn’t till his last victims did the police find DNA on the bodies. The monster Ted Bundy was then caught for his crimes to which he confessed.
Monsters are ugly, mean old things that surround our world on a daily basis. Mostly known for terrorizing the good and inflicting fear, monsters typically have a deeper meaning or they represent something. Ted Bundy became one of the biggest monsters of the 1970’s in the United States. Bundy represented the American fear of who’s the bad guy and who’s the good guy, and the fear of sexual violence inflicted on women. Jeffery Jerome Cohen’s, “Monster Culture (Seven Theses)”, shows how monster represent something besides what they are. “ Like a letter on the page, the monster signifies something other than itself, it is always a displacement, always inhabits the gap between the time of upheaval that created it and the moment into which it is received, to be born again” (Cohen 69). Bundy was the monster in America’s society in the 70’s by using his alternant personality and alternant reality to live his life as a normal guy and a sexual serial killer. His killings started in Washington State, then continued in Utah, Colorado, ending in Florida. In Bundy’s final days in court, Dr. Emanuel Tanay emphasized that because of Bundy’s antisocial disorder, he was advised to not participate in defending himself; he was not able to understand that his behavior was effecting his case (Ramsland 120). Through Bundy, we can take away that even though we fear sexual violence and not knowing who’s good and who’s bad, there will always be someone (usually the authorities) trying to stop those people who feel the need to do horrible things to innocent people. Serial killers will probably never go away, but there are ways to get people from taking those drastic measures and getting them the help that they need. Even the smartest people have some problems that sometimes are just too hard to handle. The difference between a intelligent person and a serial killer is how they handle there problem and the actions they take. Serial killers are normal people in some aspects, but they are human beings who do things (such as killing others) that other people would think are unimaginable. With new technology, the police and the media are learning new was to help make American people safe from those who harm innocent lives.
Works Cited
AP, and Victoria Beale. “Too Close to Ted Bundy — The New Yorker.” The New Yorker. N.p., 10
Oct. 2015. Web. 22 Nov. 2015.
Hickey, Eric W. “Chapter 5 Sexual Predators, Paraphilia, and Murder.” Serial Murderers and
Their Victims. Sixth ed. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole Pub., 1991. 186–88. Print.
James, Bill. Popular Crime: Reflections on the Celebration of Violence. Waterville, Me.:
Thorndike, 2011. Print. 298–302
McCauley, Elizabeth A., Michael T. Nietzel, and Matthew L. Speltz. “Personality Disorders.”
Abnormal Psychology. By Douglas A. Bernstein. N.p.: Pearson, July 1st, 1997. N. pag. Print.
Ramsland, Katherine M. The Mind of a Murderer: Privileged Access to the Demons That Drive
Extreme Violence. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger, 2011. Print. 109–116
