A stereotype about villains popularized by movies and television is that they are physically visible, making them a threat to anyone with sight. As a result, villainy has long been visibly coded through the use of very prejudiced facial disfigurements.
We also know that nasty people, whether predators, violent criminals, or otherwise, are not instantly recognizable by their appearance or the way they present themselves – which is why, in real life, stories abound of people committing the most heinous crimes whose neighbors, coworkers, or acquaintances remark on how ordinary they appeared, or how much of a “good guy” they appeared to be. A slew of recent film and television storylines have backed up this unsettling truth, focusing in particular on evil men who are made all the more dangerous by their power to pass themselves off as “respectable” And, just as some horror films may bring twisted comfort with their blatant boogeymen, these deceptively amicable villains assist us in confronting incorrect notions about who appears to be a pleasant and unpleasant person – and what we consider to be pleasant and unpleasant behavior. In a post-#MeToo world, where the cultural dialogue about gendered violence grapples with the fact that offenders are usually not fabled monsters or social outcasts, but every day “decent” men who benefit off of their status to abuse women, the theme of trying to cast the “nice guy” as the villain is becoming increasingly relevant.
Netflix’s You, which returns for a third season, is one show that has examined this cliche in a mainstream, pop-culture context. Penn Badgley, the former Gossip Girl heartthrob, plays Joe Goldberg, a polite, attractive, and reserved bookstore owner who has a hidden sideline in stalking, harassing, and even killing women.
In a world of delusional materialists, the series allows him to position himself as a witty, hilarious, clear-thinking anchor who always has a morally righteous method of explaining his acts through a narrative voice-over. His villainy is intense and indisputable underneath the cover of his gentle self-presentation, both to other characters as well as the viewer: his strategy of acquiring data on the women he allegedly has romantic feelings for is to stalk them, hack their communication channels, break in and out of their houses, and steal their belongings. Even while his internal voice seduces the audience with his alluring point of view, if anyone so much so as gets in his way, he is willing to kidnap and murder them.
Emerald Fennell’s Oscar-winning movie, Promising Young Woman (2020) introduced us to a plethora of would-be date rapists who exclaim, “But I’m a good person!” as the drunk woman they took home to exploit exposes herself as sober. The most important aspect of these individuals is that they truly feel they are great guys.
These toxic “good guy” stories, among other things, expose the kind of toxic “acceptable” masculinity norms that movies and television have long-established in our culture. You‘s astute screenplay encourages the viewer to understand how Joe’s self-justifying psychopathy lies at the extreme of a psychological spectrum glorified by pop culture as charming, manly, and courageous. Joe is enamored with Beck (Elizabeth Lail) in the first season and sneaks into her house to access her laptop and read her mails. He hides in the bathtub as she returns unexpectedly, and thinks: “I’m not worried, I’ve seen enough romcoms to know that guys like me are always getting into jams like this.”
Indeed romcoms, have a long history of elevating “good guy” heroes whose behavior is actually quite problematic and presenting boundary-crossings as aspirational attempts to win over women.
Defending such a behavior is also very common, with people saying claiming that everyone does crazy things when they’re in love. However, while this excuse is central to classic rom-com thinking, it is extremely dangerous when used in real life, with love being used to rationalize a wide range of heinous acts. It might as well have also come right from the mouth of “nice guy” villain Joe from You as he commits yet another horrific crime in the guise of pursuing his new love interest.
It’s a strain to recognize these individuals for what they truly are because they’ve been ingrained in our public imagination as manly ideals and are frequently played by crushingly attractive celebs. Even when there is no doubt: in the case of You, it has been a source of evident annoyance that, regardless of whatever Joe does, viewers of the show continue to glorify him and tweet about wanting to be imprisoned in his glass death box. Though this could also be a sign that the show isn’t exactly as subversive as it believes it is.
However, as the “good guy” villain cliché evolves, audiences adopt a humorous zing in casting their attachment to an inherently flawed man who could really wreck their lives in an instant. In that regard, the show may make its point about how males are being let off the hook as long as they look decent.
Where do we proceed from here, now that culture has identified the “good guy” as a potential villain? One thing is certain: no level of subversion of masculine clichés can compare to the elevation of female perspectives. There are times when You considers switching sides, but unlike Joe, it lacks the killer instinct in its writing.