Hypocrisy of Red Carpets

ROMANTICIZING

ANKITA ACHARYA writer

(Spoiler alert: plot summary.) Deadly. Creepy. Psychotic. Those are all words used to describe a serial killer. ‘Sexy’ might not immediately come to mind. But ever since the Netflix TV show “You” was released in late 2018, fangirls online would give anything for Joe, the main character, to ‘step on [their] kneecaps.’

“You” follows the story of a man, Joe, in his thirties living in present-day New York. He finds a woman, Beck, who he is instantly infatuated with and manufactures perfect scenarios that make him seem like the ideal boyfriend, but he does so in incredibly creepy ways: stealing her phone, following her around town, oh, and killing her boyfriend. Season two continues along a similar strain but with a different “Love” interest once Beck is murdered.

Penn Badgley, the actor who plays Joe on “You”, has a definite degree of charm. It can be argued that the way the show is written aims to create a certain degree of emotional conflict in the viewer, as they switch between identifying with him in certain aspects and feeling horrified at his actions at other moments. But Joe’s stalkerish tendencies, manipulativeness, and immorality should squelch any charismatic impression of his. There is a clear difference between being attracted to the actor who plays the role versus the character himself. Nobody would want to date a serial killer in real life, so why does it change when it is a psychopath who they literally have no chance with?

This phenomenon dates back to real serial killers of the past. Believe it or not, there are serial killer fandoms that romanticize people who brought devastating grief upon the families of their victims. It can be hard to imagine a world where Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, and OJ Simpson are put on the same pedestal as icons like Chris Hemsworth, a world where someone would say that their type is murderers. But the improbable hap

But Joe’s stalkerish tendencies, manipulativeness, and immorality should squelch any charismatic impression of his.

pened in the sub-universe of tiny Tumblr fandoms.

That expanded to the realm of the fictional with the addition of Joe. There’s a big difference between being attracted to Joe Goldberg and Ted Bundy, but the underlying character denial remains the same. Even Millie Bobby Brown said, “[ Joe's] not creepy, he's in love with her and it's OK.” But the saying that all’s fair in love and war only goes so far - definitely not far enough to morally justify murder out of jealousy and self-preservation from the law. The key understanding that this obscure community lacks is that a protagonist is not always a hero. Despite the fact that Joe’s outward facade is that of a perfect boyfriend, the constant inner narration that listeners are exposed to reveals his true psychotic self. In romanticizing Joe, viewers choose to look past the alarming degree of his self-delusion and view his murderous tendencies through a lens that paints him a dedicated boyfriend who would do anything for his lover. But throughout both seasons, Joe’s actions ultimately reveal his sole priority: himself, and whatever brings him the most satisfaction and keeps him out of jail. The people that want Joe to break their hearts forget that he would literally do so if it was in his own best interest.

While Joe is definitely a character you’d want to watch on TV, he’s not someone you’d want in your life (which would have a ticking time limit as soon as he zeroes in on you). To a tweet saying that “Joe is a whole new level”, Penn Badgely himself replied “...of problems, right?”

If you’re going to romanticize an unlikely fictional character, go the direction of the Shrek fandom or something marginally better. Choosing to romanticize Joe and other serial killers puts your own mindset in the dangerous position of overlooking key atrocities in the Joes of your own life. While Joe may have been adept at hiding his creepiness, there were undeniably certain signs that Beck chose to push to the back of her mind as she considered Joe’s seemingly golden qualities. She ended up paying the ultimate price for her denial: her life. And that’s not a position anyone should be in. LIFESTYLES | 19