Rodney Alcala: the serial killer who starred in a reality TV show
One of the most frightening thoughts is the idea that killers could be walking among us, serving us at coffee shops, or delivering our mail. But how about the idea of inviting them into our living rooms? A lot of true crime‘s most notorious serial killers believe they have an ingenious plan, but not all of them entertain the plan of appearing on national reality television.
During the 1970s, Rodney Alcala’s name was on everybody’s lips. Primarily choosing California as his target destination, Alcala was responsible for at least seven murders, with authorities suspecting he killed many more. During the peak of his murder spree, he appeared on The Dating Game under the guise of a photographer who occasionally dabbled in skydiving and motorcycling.
Although he seemingly passed the show’s background checks, his “creepy” demeanour didn’t sit well with some of the contestants, who picked up on his strange aura. He actually ended up winning the show and a date with one of the show’s bachelorettes, Cheryl Bradshaw, but she refused to go out with him afterwards because he made her feel uneasy.
After his rejection, it was discovered that Alcala murdered at least three women, likely due to his frustration at not successfully obtaining a date from his appearance on the show. This incident was a central theme in Anna Kendrick’s directorial debut, Woman of the Hour, which focuses on the nature of the game show, Alcala’s murders, and Bradshaw, played by Kendrick herself.
Upon closer investigation, Woman of the Hour presents two factors that are intensely concerning about Alcala’s case. Firstly, it highlights how Alcala managed to evade police scrutiny to the extent of appearing on a game show. Secondly, it sheds light on the issues of sexism and incompetence within the police force after Alcala is recognised by people who claim to know him.
Another aspect that is undeniably difficult to ignore is Alcala’s casting on the show to begin with. He was apparently already convicted of child molestation at the time of filming, and yet he still made it in front of the camera. Even the show’s producer, Mike Metzger, said Alcala made him feel “uncomfortable”, so how does it come to be that a notorious serial killer becomes a reality television contestant?
While we’ll probably never know, it’s clear that people recognised Alcala’s strange presence long before he was convicted. “There’s weird vibes that are coming off of him. He’s very strange,” Bradshaw reportedly said after the show, asking the show’s contestant coordinator, Ellen Metzger, if her not going on the date would be a problem. She said no, of course, but that doesn’t diminish the fact that he was there to begin with.
In the film, Kendrick does well to characterise Bradshaw as an unrelenting force against Hollywood’s persisting sexism. Alcala is the enemy as much as he is in real life. Still, the story becomes a wider commentary on justice and equality as we’re presented with the stranger-than-fiction story. Some liken the movie to Promising Young Woman, but Woman of the Hour is more real. It’s true crime storytelling but with additional layers of authenticity that not many other directors could effortlessly accomplish.
