Joe Goldberg

So it's a little bit, a little bit more intense emotionally, but...

This entire premise is also, it's not exclusive to women because audiences root for like Dexter, for example, Walter White, Joe Goldberg.

These are also examples of fictional, mind you, killers that we can empathize with because storytelling can make us empathize with like almost anyone if they are the

protagonist.

You also have to have a shit ton of storage to be able to store all of that video.

He had that Joe Goldberg memory drive on his computer.

Joe Goldberg.

From you.

He's a creep.

I'm a bit concerned about myself.

I've reached Joe Goldberg levels of stalkerism.

Have you ever seen the hit Netflix series You? Oh, yes.

I

In this story, the medium is the murderer.

The way the story is delivered completely dictates the personality of our protagonist, Joe Goldberg.

Or, you know, perhaps more accurately, our two distinctly different Joe Goldbergs.

Right, because they're not the same guy.

When you leave a body on the shop floor or when you are constantly bashing people with rocks on the beach, the authorities are gonna get involved much faster, and book Joe doesn't have the luxury of TV plot armor to protect him.

Which is exactly where we see how the two versions of Joe deal with external threats.

When the law or the lawless come knocking, we see exactly how the television show actively works to keep Joe's hands just clean enough to maintain his status as a protagonist you can somewhat tolerate.

Right.

Okay.

And I have heard people refer to the character in you, Joe Goldberg as, oh, he's very sexy and all of that type of stuff.

And I was like, I don't know.

So I started doing some research and,

These are two very different kinds of monsters.

Let's start with Joe Goldberg in You, played by Penn Badgley.

Based on Caroline Kepneser's novel, this series is essentially a first-person love letter narrated by a serial killer who genuinely, deep down, believes he is the romantic lead in a rom-com.

Joe Goldberg has undeniably become one of the defining antiheroes of the streaming era.

He is witty, highly literate, fiercely observant, incredibly watchable, and utterly morally indefensible.

The series plays a dangerous game with the viewer.

Shot in stark, high contrast black and white by writer director Stephen Zalian, it stars Andrew Scott as Tom Ripley.

This raises an important question.

Yeah.

You know who else collects typewriters is the character Joe Goldberg from You.

Oh,

does he?

He makes that tea so confidently, knows where she keeps the tea bags, knows where she keeps the honey, knows where...

And I was just like, this is stressing me out.

Okay, Joe Goldberg.

Also, he offers her honey in her own home.

I don't want to say it's like Dexter, but it's like you're following a murderer around.

But unlike Dexter, who you actually like, you're not supposed to like Joe Goldberg.

He's a piece of shit.

But he ends up becoming likable, kind of.