by Lorena Cristea
Can anyone fall in love with a serial killer? Netflix evidently thinks so, with two relatively new series that depict men who kill as being romantic heroes who need pity.
Netflix’s adaption of the psychological-thriller book You is back on TV screens, with Penn Badgley coming back as the notorious Joe Goldberg for the fourth time.
The first season of the show was released in 2018 by Berlanti Productions and the main plot focuses on a charming young man who goes down a deep, dark path whenever he falls in love with someone, but always manages to get away with his gruesome actions.
Controversial – but cute
A survey conducted by Holloway Express shows that 66.7% of respondents believe that the main character of You is a charismatic man, while 33.3% do not.
The same poll found that 83.3% of the participants believe that Netflix hires good-looking actors on purpose – even if they are meant to be evil – while, 16.7% disagree.
“I like him [Joe], which might be controversial, but I think that is the point. Even if he is a bad person, we are meant to like him,” says 31-year-old Chelsea Bedford, who works as a receptionist.
Twenty-year-old psychology student Anca, whose asked not to use her surname, believes that toxic relationships might often be reinforced by romanticising characters such as Joe. ‘They [young girls] might fall for the ‘obsessive partner’ glorification, that can lead to domestic and emotional abuse,’ she said.
Who is to blame?
The streaming platform Netflix was held responsible for its positive portrayal of serial killers by the 36-year-old actor who played Joe, Penn Badgley, on Entertainment Tonight‘s official TikTok page. He commented that they were depicted as charming and attractive.
“You need to look inside…Now to be fair, with our show, you’re meant to fall in love with [Joe]. That’s on us. Ted Bundy? That’s on you. Jeffrey Dahmer? That is on… that is on Netflix,” he said.
The short docu-series DAHMER – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, directed by Ryan Murphy, and Evan Peters portrayed the infamous Milwaukee Monster. was one of Netflix’s Top Ten shows when it premiered in the UK.
According to The Guardian, one of the mothers of the victims could not watch the entire series based on Jeffrey Dahmer’s real-life story. “I don’t see how they can do that. I don’t see how they can use our names and put stuff out like that out there,” she said.
Dangerously sexy?
The resurrection of Dahmer’s story is a traumatic experience for the families of the victims, who should ‘grieve in peace’, says Anca. ‘’It’s just too sad they have to live through the same traumatic event all over again’, she continues.
Netflix is trying too much to make people sympathize with the serial killers, which is something she cannot understand. ‘Some dark themes might have a bad impact on young people’s minds,’ said Anca.
According to Women’s Health, some women find serial killers “dangerously sexy”, which might be why it says women read more true crime than men, even though they are more likely to be crime victims.
“Fear and arousal neurologically can feel very similar,” the website quoted Dr. Gail Saltz, MD, clinical associate professor of psychiatry at the New York Presbyterian Hospital, as saying.
Ralitsa Belleva is a 27-year-old psychologist based in Bulgaria who believes that young women can, in fact, develop quite an unhealthy attraction to serial killer portrayals.
“Feelings of loneliness, being misunderstood, an overall emptiness could lead to romanticizing anything/anyone. This is the main explanation for the young women, who were obsessed with actual serial killers back in the 20th century,” she says.
This story has been updated with one interview
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