In January 2019, Netflix released the unexpectedly popular Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes. Joe Berlinger, true crime director, compiled interviews with Bundy, law enforcement authorities involved with Bundy’s arrest and trial, and members of Bundy’s community to create a four-part docu-series focusing “on a man whose personality, good looks, and social graces defied the serial-killer stereotype, [which allowed] him to hide in plain sight” (Berlinger). The somewhat romanticized Ted Bundy Tapes serve as an example of modern folklore, in which the archetypal bogeyman has been narrativized for contemporary society as a charming, rather than hideous, monster. This bogeyman trope—a child-snatching, fear-inducing, paranoia-provoking monster—can be traced back through a number of famous folkloric tales, like The Pied Piper, through the fairytale realm, as illustrated with Peter Pan, and into popular contemporary media with productions like the Ted Bundy Tapes and Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile. These folkloresque narratives help to explain how certain trials or traumas were overcome. The Ted Bundy Tapes opened a discourse community surrounding Ted Bundy as more than a historically recorded villain, but as an almost fictive evil hiding behind a “hot” façade. Forming Bundy as a charming child-snatcher and then presenting this character in a widely available docu-series promulgated the surrounding lore, making Bundy into a bogeyman. Instead of romanticizing Bundy now, we have to recognize his form as a bogeyman character in order for this archetype to serve in a truly useful cautionary capacity and to help us work through inevitable trauma.

The idea of romance, intimate sexual relationships and romantic relationships has been distorted and subsequently redefined. Emotional- and affect related behaviour such as jealousy has been integrated into relationships and has been transformed into a sign of love and care. We deem this development problematic as jealousy can be considered a catalyst in terms of integration and expression of violence in romantic relationships. Consumption of different medial phenomenon is to be considered a primary source of information with special regards to children and adolescents. We claim that this is to be considered as something problematic as media and its depiction of norms and values may not reflect reality and instead contribute to the normalization of gender roles. Such gender roles play a significant role in the expression of what is known as romantic jealousy as they dictate socially acceptable behaviours with regards to men and women involved in a romantic relationship. The aim of this study was to examine if romantic jealousy and its depiction in modern films is being romanticized and to identify the normalization of destructive behaviour that constitutes a part of the phenomenon. Furthermore, the study examined our aim by trying to answer two questions 1) How is romantic jealousy depicted in modern films? 2) How are behaviours directly relating to romantic jealousy normalized in modern films? After thorough observation of seven films this study was able to conclude that jealousy is indeed romanticized in modern films. At the same time such romanticization contributes to the masking of destructive behaviours due a pervading narration of premiss which sees love as the ultimate goal. Such masking contributes to the consolidation of stereotypical gender roles and relating norms and values which in their turn can act as both a trigger and a catalyst for the expression of physical and emotional violence within a romantic relationship. / Bilden av romans, sexuella- och romantiska relationer har förvrängts och sedermera omdefinierats. Beteende så som svartsjuka, innefattande affekt och emotion, har integrerats i relationer och omvandlats till uttryck för kärlek och omsorg. Vi bedömer att denna utveckling är problematisk då svartsjuka kan betraktas som både en katalysator och en utlösare för uttryck av våld i romantiska relationer. Konsumering av olika mediala fenomen är att betrakta som en primär källa för inhämtande av information, särskilt bland barn och unga vuxna. Vi hävdar att detta bör betraktas som något problematiskt då medias avbildning av normer och värderingar inte nödvändigtvis reflekterar verkligheten och i stället bidrar till normaliseringen av stereotypa könsroller. Dessa könsroller har en viktig bidragande roll vid uttryck av romantisk svartsjuka då de dikterar och påverkar socialt acceptabla beteenden bland män och kvinnor i nära relationer. Denna studies syfte var att undersöka om romantisk svartsjukas framställning i modern spelfilm romantiseras samt att identifiera normalisering av destruktiva beteenden, förankrade i begreppet svartsjuka. Detta syfte undersöktes genom att besvara följande två frågeställningar 1) Hur porträtteras romantisk svartsjuka i modern spelfilm? 2) Hur normaliseras beteenden som är förankrade i svartsjuka i modern spelfilm? Efter noggrann observation av sju spelfilmer kunde denna studie konkludera att svartsjuka romantiseras i spelfilm. Romantisering av svartsjuka bidrar till en maskering av destruktiva beteenden, i mångt och mycket på grund av den narrativa premiss som framställer kärlek som det slutgiltiga målet. Samma maskering bidrar till konsoliderandet av stereotypiska könsroller och deras medföljande normer och värderingar som i sin tur är högst bidragande till uttryck av fysiskt såväl som psykiskt våld i nära relationer.

Ce mémoire vise à explorer la situation de l’homosexualité sous la République de Weimar à travers la perspective de Christopher Isherwood. Durant ses séjours à travers l’Allemagne de Weimar, Isherwood à retranscrit et fictionnalisé un nombre important d’évènements et d’expériences qu’il a vécus. De cela découle une interprétation d’événements et d’émotions que je qualifie dans ce mémoire de traduction d’expérience. Cette expérience offre une perspective sur diverses problématiques liées à l’homosexualité dans la République de Weimar et présente la particularité d’être présentée d’un point de vue que s’affranchit de l’exigence de la vérité au profit du ressenti de l’auteur face à l’exactitude d’un évènement. Les œuvres de Christopher Isherwood telles que Goodbye to Berlin, Mr. Norris Changes Train, ou bien son mémoire Christopher And His Kind manipulent et interrogent divers discours sur la prostitution masculine, la dynamique des relations homosexuelles de l’époque, la relation entre le langage et la notion de « vérité », ainsi que la romantisation de la République de Weimar à travers les récits et les arts. / This memoir explores the state of homosexuality in the Weimar Republic from Christopher Isherwood’s perspective. During his stays throughout Weimar Germany, Isherwood transcribed and fictionalized a critical number of events and experiences he had. From this comes an interpretation of events and emotions, which I qualify in this memoir as a translation of experience. This experience offers a perspective on numerous questions linked to homosexuality in the Weimar Republic and has the particularity of being presented from a point of view which frees itself from the concept of truth, and benefits the emotions of the author instead of the accuracy of an event, Christopher Isherwood’s work like Goodbye to Berlin, Mr. Norris Changes Train, or his memoir Christopher And His Kind open many discourses on male prostitution, the dynamic in homosexual relationships of the era, the link between language and the notion of “truth,” and the romanticization of the Weimar Republic through stories and the arts. I decided to explore these topics through three respective chapters.