Ok so this proposal of mine is honestly one I'm not really sure about having seen the film, but I still wanted to propose him to get him out there so we can discuss him. I give you Ted Bundy from the bio Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile.
Who is He? What has he Done?[]
Ted Bundy's the main protagonist villain of the film. He falls in love with a young woman named Liz, and seems to win her and her young daughter, Molly over. Unbeknownst to them, however, he is moonlighting as a serial killer at night-pretending to be crippled so he can trick women into helping him lift stuff in his car, only to brutally rape and kill them afterwards-one of which was a 12 year old girl. He gets caught on several occasions, denying ever being guilty, showing he is uncaring of the emotional abuse this is putting on Liz.
Kill Count?[]
We don't see him killing allot of his victims but we do see pics of them as well as some of the dead bodies, their deaths are described in gruesome detail, and we see a flashback of him killing one of them, which is enough to signify a pattern.
Heinous Standard?[]
He's the only villain of the movie.
Moral Agency?[]
He knows full well what's right and wrong. He denies all of his crimes and tries to act as his own lawyer just to save his ass.
Redeeming Factors?[]
As weird as it might sound that there are qualities I see that make it difficult to propose fricken Ted Bundy, these are what stick out to me. It's not made clear if he ever truly loved Liz. Yeah he doesn't beat or try to kill her (unlike in real life where he tried on several occasions) but its is implied that he contemplated it once before deciding against it. He is also uncaring of the emotional abuse this is putting on her. At one point, when they are in bed to together, he uses a flashlight to stare at her bare back, later covering it up by saying he was just reading a newspaper-implying more of a perversion than legitimate love. Also, when he gets nowhere with Liz during his time in jail, he uses one of his ex girlfriends to help get him out of prison, playing on her emotions, and even downright attempting to use her to replace Liz. This could lead to the conclusion that he just wants someone to manipulate and to help him get out of jail. However there is the matter of her daughter Molly. While Ted has killed a child in the film, he doesn't mistreat Molly in any way. One could say he's just treating her well to win Liz over, though at some point Liz gives him a drawing of Molly's in prison as a gift. He hangs it on his wall and seems to admire it. When the sheriff of Florida rips it to pieces, he seems upset. Though I will admit he only seems slightly shocked and not even all that affected by him destroying it. Hell he could just be keeping the drawing due to his sick obsession with Liz. He never talks about Molly again after that so this could be brushed off. A couple other things that get to me are that he seems upset that his mom comes to his trial-as if he is ashamed that she has to see him being accused of these things. Though then again, this doesn't necessarily mean he feels any legit remorse, he could just be embarrassed. The film never goes deep into his relationship with his mom. The last thing I do question though is that when Ted is on death row and is visited by Liz, he cries as she accuses him of these crimes (though then again he could just be faking). He finally admits to killing one of his victims to her once she begs him to "free" her. I don't know if I see that is redeeming since he "freed" her by doing so, or is just him doing it cause he has nothing to lose, or out of sadism. I'll let you guys decide.
Conclusion[]
What do you guys think?