Jeffrey Dahmer. The Zodiac Killer. Ted Bundy. All three serial killers captured the media’s attention while alive and active. Now, society is captivated by true crime documentaries, seen in the success of “Abducted in Plain Sight,” “The People vs. O.J. Simpson,” and recently, “Conversations with a Killer: the Ted Bundy Tapes.”

The evil deeds of sadists like Dahmer and Bundy are encapsulated in popular documentaries, movies and TV shows. The scariest part, however, lies in the glorification of the criminals themselves.

Following the success of “The Ted Bundy Tapes,” director Joe Berlinger released a movie focusing on the relationship between Bundy and girlfriend Liz Kendall, starring Zac Efron and Lily Collins. After the announcement that Efron would portray the serial killer, social media lit up with people referring to Bundy as “hot.”

Sure, Bundy’s crimes hinged on his ability to lure and charm his victims. Even when he was on trial, the public was attracted to him. Women became fascinated with him, a trend termed “The Bundy Effect”, and they flocked to the courtroom, hoping to catch a glimpse of him.

While the killer was well-known for his charm and good looks, a line must be drawn between media that romanticizes and media that factualizes. “The Bundy Effect” could reappear and result in a public glorification that Bundy does not deserve. Berlinger may not have intended to turn him into a heartthrob once again, but good intentions can still have bad consequences.

Any film that covers the handsome, charming side of Bundy that captured the public eye must also show how he used these traits to manipulate others. The fact that he didn’t match the public’s idea of a serial killer played into the obsession with him. People couldn’t believe that a good-looking white man would rape anyone because he didn’t “need to” rape someone.

Somehow, society still gets trapped into this twisted train of thought. It’s the twenty-first century; why are we still deifying white men?

The obsession with “complicated” and “misunderstood” white men isn’t new in media. From movies and documentaries aiming to unravel the “true motives” of these criminals to popular shows like “Dexter,” our culture is fascinated with the dangerous white man trope. The biggest danger arrives when these tropes spread to true crime media, especially considering the existing racial disparities in the justice system.

Why do white criminals get to retain their humanity in pop culture? The romanticization of these criminals perpetuates our country’s biases. It leads to copycat killers seeking the same glorification that their predecessors received.

While it’s natural to be curious about their motivations, the curiosity becomes dangerous when media producers skim over the victims and the brutality of the crimes in favor of easy-to-watch, accessible content. The victims were people, too.

Even making a film about these criminals gives them exactly what they would have wanted, especially a narcissist like Ted Bundy. He loved the attention he got during his trial, and he would be giddy to know that the public is still talking about his horrific actions today.

He was a serial killer, rapist, necrophile, narcissist and simply evil man. A film about him must not only cover the charms that fascinated the public but also portray him as the psychopath that he was.

Berlinger said that in his most recent film, “Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile,” “the last thing we’re doing is glorifying him. He gets his due at the end, but we’re portraying the experience of how one becomes a victim to that kind of psychopathic seduction.”

Once again, producers of true crime media may have good intentions, but if they portray too much of the criminal’s humanity and not enough of the disturbing crimes or lives of the victims, then these producers have skirted their responsibilities. In these cases, their good intentions perpetuate the stale “misunderstood” white criminal tropes.

Kayla Mayer can be reached at maye8518@stthomas.edu.