Latest news with #ExtremelyWicked
Sydney Morning Herald
28-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
This Netflix hit sold us a likeable serial killer. Now it's pointing the finger at you.
What is it about murderers like Joe that keep luring us in? Well, like Dexter, he's a layered character sprinkled with some redeeming traits. He's chivalrous (however misguided), and kind towards young people. He's also intelligent, made painfully obvious by his constant reference to classic writers. A man who can accurately quote Emily Dickinson on request surely can't be that terrible, right? Loading Add that to the fact that the show is filmed like a romcom, and it's clear how we became ensnared in this man's web. You is a collection of romantic slow-motion shots, scenes lit with an amber glow, and boppy pop songs. The actual murder scenes are grittier, but everyone looks better in the radiant light of day – even a serial killer. Importantly, Joe is also at the centre of this story. He narrates every season, manipulating the audience as much as the women he lures into his creepy underground cage. His objectively atrocious crimes are overlaid with his non-stop rationalising – 'I'm killing for love, I'm killing to protect her, blah blah'. When he isn't rationalising, he's expressing regret. After moving back to New York, Joe repeatedly hints at his 'changed ways', attempting to convince himself that he is redeemable. It's difficult not to sympathise with someone who expresses a desire to improve. After all, we've seen enough romance movies to believe it's possible to 'fix them'. Joe, however, is far beyond fixing. By the mid-point of season five, this becomes apparent. His narration is less apologetic, instead embracing and justifying his violent tendencies. But even when Joe is running around the woods half naked and growling, tracking Bronte down to murder her, he's somehow still just as enthralling. Loading This is because we constantly romanticise, even fetishise, violence. Sexualised killers like Basic Instinct 's Catherine Tramell (Sharon Stone) have long titillated us, along with some real-life killers such as Ted Bundy. When Zac Efron played Bundy in the 2019 film Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, Netflix had to remind viewers to stop lusting after a character who was in reality a convicted serial killer. Casting someone like Penn Badgley – known as Dan Humphrey, the romantic lead from Gossip Girl – as a man who kills 'for love' was bound to excite. And excite it did. The lustful response to Joe reached such a fever pitch at points that Badgley himself took to social media to remind viewers that Joe is a murderer. 'You're supposed to see past my face to the crazy shit,' he wrote on X in 2019. Romanticising a serial killer is ethically dubious at best. But that has always been the point of You. It's not endorsing murder, but forcing us to question why we're so easily convinced to ignore it. This is hinted at through the final series, especially when Joe is accused of multiple crimes on social media. He's able to escape the allegations relatively unscathed largely due to his diehard supporters, those still referring to him online as their 'Prince Charming' and thirsting over his good looks. The show may as well have been showing snapshots of real tweets and TikToks. To really drive the point home, creators Michael Foley and Justin W. Lo then fully lifted the curtain. By shifting some of the narration to 'final girl' Bronte, the show finally presented Joe as the full-throttle maniac he has always been. And the shot to the crotch left him stripped of his power, deprived of the thing that drove his every sick decision. By the final scene, we're forced, once and for all, to question why we've been so transfixed by this man for five seasons. Joe, locked away in a prison cell, tells us what we've been avoiding all along: 'Maybe the problem isn't me. Maybe it's you. '
The Age
28-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Age
This Netflix hit sold us a likeable serial killer. Now it's pointing the finger at you.
What is it about murderers like Joe that keep luring us in? Well, like Dexter, he's a layered character sprinkled with some redeeming traits. He's chivalrous (however misguided), and kind towards young people. He's also intelligent, made painfully obvious by his constant reference to classic writers. A man who can accurately quote Emily Dickinson on request surely can't be that terrible, right? Loading Add that to the fact that the show is filmed like a romcom, and it's clear how we became ensnared in this man's web. You is a collection of romantic slow-motion shots, scenes lit with an amber glow, and boppy pop songs. The actual murder scenes are grittier, but everyone looks better in the radiant light of day – even a serial killer. Importantly, Joe is also at the centre of this story. He narrates every season, manipulating the audience as much as the women he lures into his creepy underground cage. His objectively atrocious crimes are overlaid with his non-stop rationalising – 'I'm killing for love, I'm killing to protect her, blah blah'. When he isn't rationalising, he's expressing regret. After moving back to New York, Joe repeatedly hints at his 'changed ways', attempting to convince himself that he is redeemable. It's difficult not to sympathise with someone who expresses a desire to improve. After all, we've seen enough romance movies to believe it's possible to 'fix them'. Joe, however, is far beyond fixing. By the mid-point of season five, this becomes apparent. His narration is less apologetic, instead embracing and justifying his violent tendencies. But even when Joe is running around the woods half naked and growling, tracking Bronte down to murder her, he's somehow still just as enthralling. Loading This is because we constantly romanticise, even fetishise, violence. Sexualised killers like Basic Instinct 's Catherine Tramell (Sharon Stone) have long titillated us, along with some real-life killers such as Ted Bundy. When Zac Efron played Bundy in the 2019 film Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, Netflix had to remind viewers to stop lusting after a character who was in reality a convicted serial killer. Casting someone like Penn Badgley – known as Dan Humphrey, the romantic lead from Gossip Girl – as a man who kills 'for love' was bound to excite. And excite it did. The lustful response to Joe reached such a fever pitch at points that Badgley himself took to social media to remind viewers that Joe is a murderer. 'You're supposed to see past my face to the crazy shit,' he wrote on X in 2019. Romanticising a serial killer is ethically dubious at best. But that has always been the point of You. It's not endorsing murder, but forcing us to question why we're so easily convinced to ignore it. This is hinted at through the final series, especially when Joe is accused of multiple crimes on social media. He's able to escape the allegations relatively unscathed largely due to his diehard supporters, those still referring to him online as their 'Prince Charming' and thirsting over his good looks. The show may as well have been showing snapshots of real tweets and TikToks. To really drive the point home, creators Michael Foley and Justin W. Lo then fully lifted the curtain. By shifting some of the narration to 'final girl' Bronte, the show finally presented Joe as the full-throttle maniac he has always been. And the shot to the crotch left him stripped of his power, deprived of the thing that drove his every sick decision. By the final scene, we're forced, once and for all, to question why we've been so transfixed by this man for five seasons. Joe, locked away in a prison cell, tells us what we've been avoiding all along: 'Maybe the problem isn't me. Maybe it's you. '
News.com.au
24-04-2025
- News.com.au
‘Doomsday cult mum' found guilty after representing herself in murder trial
Lori Vallow Daybell, the so-called American 'Doomsday mum' or 'cult mum', has been found guilty of conspiring to murder her fourth husband in an extraordinary trial where she chose to represent herself despite having no experience as a lawyer. The 51-year-old is already serving three life sentences after a jury in Idaho found her guilty in 2023 of murdering her two youngest children, 16-year-old Tylee Ryan and 7-year-old Joshua 'JJ' Vallow, and conspiring to kill her fifth husband Chad Daybell's first wife, Tammy Daybell. Chad Daybell — a self-proclaimed Doomsday prophet — was sentenced to death last year over the same 2019 murders. In her latest trial, Vallow Daybell was this week convicted by a jury in Arizona for her role in the death of ex-husband Charles Vallow on July 11, 2019. The 62-year-old was shot by Vallow Daybell's brother, Alex Cox, in what he claimed was self-defence during an argument with Vallow Daybell. Police said Mr Vallow was left bleeding on the floor for about 43 minutes before 911 was called. Cox died months after the shooting from a blood clot in his lungs. Prosectors said Vallow Daybell was trying to collect money from Mr Vallow's life insurance policy and then marry then-boyfriend Chad Daybell. Her phone calls with the life insurance company recorded the moment she discovered he had changed the beneficiary of his $US1 million policy to someone else five months before he died. Video clips from the trial have attracted huge attention on social media, as the prosecution continually made objections during Vallow Daybell's questioning of witnesses on the stand and even through her closing argument to the jury. One video compilation on Court TV's TikTok of a series of objections was viewed more than 840,000 times. 'Only a narcissist would think they could represent themselves,' read one comment with more than 15,000 likes. Others described what they were seeing as a 'circus,' 'mind-blowing' and 'waste of the court's time and money'. When asked before the trial why she chose to represent herself, Vallow Daybell told True Crime Arizona that there were 'lots of reasons'. 'I'm not an attorney. I do not have training to be an attorney,' she said, adding she wanted a 'speedy' trial. In court, she assured the judge she was prepared to represent herself and told him she had studied case law while in prison and had 'real trial experience'. 'I have participated in three different full trials from beginning to end,' she said, which includes her 2023 guilty verdict. Following the guilty verdict this week in Arizona, one of the jurors spoke about Vallow Daybell's decision to represent herself. 'Many days she was just smiling and laughing and didn't seem to take anything very seriously,' Victoria Lewis told the Associated Press. Notable killers who have represented themselves in US courts include serial killers Ted Bundy and Rodney Alcala — the former was the subject of the 2019 film Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile starring Zac Efron, and the latter, Anna Kendrick's 2023 film Woman of the Hour. Other killers who have represented themselves include white supremacist Dylan Roof, who was responsible for a church shooting; Nidal Hasan, who went on a shooting rampage at military base; Colin Ferguson, who opened fire on a train, and the 'DC Sniper' John Allen Muhammad who gunned down people at random.
Buzz Feed
05-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Buzz Feed
22 Actors Who Played ~Controversial~ People In Movies Or TV Shows
With so many wild stories today, many end up as the inspiration for plotlines in TV shows and movies. Often inspired by true crime or real-life scandals, actors are challenged to bring these infamous people to life onscreen — appearances included. Dave Franco recently addressed comparisons between him and Luigi Mangione, the man accused in the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. "I have never received more texts in my life about anything," he said. "Anyone who has my phone number has reached out about it." While many fans have already cast Franco to play Mangione if a movie or series gets developed, there have been no official offers yet. Until then, here's a look at some of the most ~controversial~ characters actors have played over the years, also inspired by real-life people: 1. To start, Nicholas Alexander Chavez and Cooper Koch as Lyle and Erik Menendez in Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story: And here are the real Menendez brothers: 2. Charlize Theron as Aileen Wuornos in Monster: And here's the real Aileen Wuornos: 3. Evan Peters as Jeffrey Dahmer in Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story: And here's the real Jeffrey Dahmer: 4. Amanda Seyfried as Elizabeth Holmes in The Dropout: And here's the real Elizabeth Holmes: 5. Zac Efron as Ted Bundy in Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile: And here's the real Ted Bundy: 6. Cuba Gooding Jr. as O.J. Simpson in The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story: And here's the real O.J. Simpson: 7. Joey King as Gypsy Rose Blanchard in The Act: And here's the real Gypsy Rose Blanchard: 8. Sebastian Stan as Donald Trump in The Apprentice: And here's the real Donald Trump: 9. Julia Garner as Anna Delvey in Inventing Anna: And here's the real Anna Sorokin aka Anna Delvey: 10. Cameron Britton as Edmund Kemper Mindhunter: And here's the real Edmund Kemper: 11. Kathy Bates as Delphine LaLaurie in American Horror Story: Coven: And here's the real Delphine LaLaurie: 12. Taylor Kitsch as David Koresh in Waco: And here's the real David Koresh: And here's the real Griselda Blanco: IanDagnall Computing / Alamy Stock Photo 14. Leonardo DiCaprio as Jordan Belfort in The Wolf of Wall Street: Paramount / ©Paramount/Courtesy Everett Collection Powered By And here's the real Jordan Belfort: Michael Loccisano / Getty Images 15. Christina Ricci as Lizzie Borden in Lizzie Borden Took an Ax and The Lizzie Borden Chronicles: Chris Reardon / © Lifetime Television / Courtesy Everett Collection, Chris Reardon / © Lifetime / Courtesy Everett Collection And here's the real Lizzie Borden: IanDagnall Computing / Alamy Stock Photo 16. Clive Owen as Bill Clinton in Impeachment: American Crime Story: Tina Thorpe / © FX / Courtesy Everett Collection Powered By And here's the real Bill Clinton: David Hume Kennerly / Getty Images 17. Josh Andrés Rivera as Aaron Hernandez in American Sports Story: Michael Parmelee / © FX / Courtesy Everett Collection Powered By And here's the real Aaron Hernandez: John Blanding / The Boston Globe via Getty Images 18. Elle Fanning as Michelle Carter in The Girl from Plainville: Steve Dietl / © Hulu / Courtesy Everett Collection Powered By And here's the real Michelle Carter: FAITH NINIVAGGI / MediaNews Group / Boston Herald via Getty Images 19. Wagner Moura as Pablo Escobar in Narcos: Daniel Daza / © Netflix / Courtesy Everett Collection Powered By And here's the real Pablo Escobar: Eric Vandeville / Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images 20. Margot Robbie as Tonya Harding in I, Tonya: © A24 / Courtesy Everett Collection Powered By And here's the real Tonya Harding: Focus On Sport / Getty Images 21. Ross Lynch as Jeffrey Dahmer in My Friend Dahmer: © FilmRise / Courtesy Everett Collection Powered By And here's the real Jeffrey Dahmer: Eugene Garcia / AFP via Getty Images 22. And finally, Leonardo DiCaprio as Frank Abagnale Jr. in Catch Me If You Can © DreamWorks / Courtesy Everett Collection Powered By And here's the real Frank Abagnale Jr.: Najlah Feanny / Corbis via Getty Images Which of these actors had the best performance? Share your thoughts in the comments!
