Netflix’s 2021 documentary “Night Stalker” brought the glorification of serial killers to light. “Night Stalker” focuses on a man named Richard Ramirez, who murdered 15 people throughout California during the 1980s. He began his massacre in Southern California and eventually made his way down to Northern California, murdering a San Francisco man only an hour away from Sonoma State. Once Ramirez was put on trial, he quickly rose to fame. The attention snowballed into something bigger- a fan club.

All of a sudden, women were showing up to Ramierez’s hearings, all there to show their devotion. Writing fan mail and ignoring the fact that he had a record of molesting children, sexually assaulting women, and murdering at random. Unfortunately, fan-girls’ infatuation with Ramirez is chalked down to what some might say are good looks. The only logic someone might be able to put behind this reasoning is that when a person is attractive, it is presumed that they have good intentions. Society assumes that with a beautiful face, comes a flawless life that is accompanied by endearing morals. Thus, leaving these fan clubs in disbelief over Ramirez’s inhumane accusations. In contrast, others idolize his misconduct and the fetishization of Satanism, resulting in further glorification after the 2021 documentary was released. 

Across social media, there are Richard Ramirez fan accounts pushing this narrative that due to his appearance, he is innocent. One Twitter user,  CU1L4RICHIE, captioned a photo of Ramirez by saying “I’m in love with Richard Ramirez and nobody can tell me different” and “every part of Richard Ramirez is perfect.” This kind of idolization can be found across every platform- especially TikTok. There are video montages of sexualized edits for others to romanticize these serial killers with little remorse for the violent acts they committed. Obviously, there is a deep flaw in the public’s reaction to a convicted serial killer, being rooted in severe societal issues. 

Another facet of romanticization in the media is applauding and lusting over the “bad boy” in film. Male actors are applauded for being violent and mysterious- which ties into another case of serial killer glorification with actual murders such as Ted Bundy. Bundy murdered 30 women between 1974-1978, according to True Crime Magazine. He too had fan-girls both in and outside of the courtroom, but the romanticization of Bundy recently resurfaced in the 2019 Netflix film “Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile”, which stars the ever beloved actor Zac Efron. Efron was a distasteful pick to portray Bundy due to his astoundingly positive reputation, paired with his reputable innocence and being a millennials sex symbol. 

When asked her thoughts on Efron’s role and Bundy’s portrayal in the film, Allison Wargo, a Rohner Park resident said “It was difficult to view him as a serial killer, and his role as a villain was incredibly sexualized, which created a huge fandom behind it making girls want a serial killer as a boyfriend. It was a hard role to be taken seriously”. The public will always remember Efron as the High School Musical darling Troy Bolton, which acts as a hurdle in viewing him as a bloodthirsty serial killer. 

During the film, there are no scenes that contain murderous actions. This allows for room to believe that he was innocent, although murder is implied. Without providing support for the actions Bundy is being charged with, it’s difficult to view a now-convicted killer in the negative light that they should be perceived in. Scenes that would have portrayed unlawful and immoral behavior would require viewers to feel emotionally driven to acknowledge what kind of a monster Bundy truly was. 

Overall, the media needs to carefully execute the representation of evil, and keep the influence on young women’s safety in mind, as sexual and physical violence should never be tolerated or romanticized. In addition, allegiance for a convicted killer should be removed from apps available to children, because youthful minds are wildly impressionable. If society begins to desensitize the destruction of lives, a recurring pattern of evil will prevail. Once brutality is normalized through publicity, it becomes real in private.