In the movie,
The Bad Seed (1956 film) - Wikipedia, Rhoda the child killer seems like a normal cheerful little girl, fooling everyone. But, killers like BK showed outward signs to the people around him that something was "off".
He was unable to fit in. He could not/did not know how to "act" normal, imo. I imagine this just alienated him more. Wonder what his teachers thought about him throughout his school years. Maybe it was just an unavoidable train wreck. Unpreventable, but I don't think internet corn helped.
EDIT:
OH....and want to add, IIRC Bundy was a charming, intelligent and social person....
Absolutely, there are people who don’t fit in, can’t quite figure out how to work with others.
And that skill of watching, listening, negotiating, manipulating is how people create their persona they display to others. Most of us—- learn to ‘act’ normal, and settle into it.
It either is rejected or accepted by others. Kids are brutal to a kid who doesn’t meet norms enough to get along with others. But kids can also change their opinion when someone changes and learns how to fit in better- in my experience.
Bundy was not always the charming intelligent social person he was in his thirties.
He was an outcast, some thought he was a product of incest. He was stigmatized, and also bullied by peers. He learned how to work the system, become what people wanted to see on the outside, and on the inside he became a monster.
I think that is why Bundy is tough for women, at least myself, to understand. He looks like a guy I may know, nice smile, bright, charming, in the pics and videos I’ve seen.
We don’t expect people who kill 30 females, or more, ranging from preteen to adult, by strangulation, blunt force trauma, burning bodies, and sexual assault before and after death, kidnapping and keeping a child for over 24 hours- to look like Bundy. He learned to blend.
Bundy was not an incel- he dated sometimes several woman at a time, he liked the game of luring woman as prey- it wasn’t that he could not attract them. He didn’t kill out of anger- I don’t think- I think he enjoyed the game, maybe even liked watching them in pain, controlling them.
Of the two- which is more twisted? I think BK lacked the ability to blend, or he would have been more dangerous than he is. Both are twisted- Bundy was better at it.
Maybe it isn’t possible in today’s world of connected communication and technology where we can’t hide and sneak and maintain privacy to do what Bundy did? That is comforting!
IMO