Can Joe Goldberg From Netflix's 'You' Be Redeemed?
Penn Badgley shares his thoughts on his serial killer character.
Film & TV You, and in each one, we see Joe Goldberg, who is portrayed by Penn Badgley, make horrible decisions. The famous fictional serial killer continues to increase his body count in addition to stalking and harrasing, which altogether makes it difficult to believe he can be found redeemable. Badgley shares his thoughts on whether he thinks Joe can be saved or not.
“We have created a character that we want people to be charmed by, seduced by,” Badgley told E! News. “It’s not like it’s a clinical portrait of a serial killer and everybody just happens to be obsessed with him. No, it’s on us that everybody likes him so much, we’ve created him that way.”
The actor continued, “Who is anyone to accurately judge whether or not someone can be redeemed? Okay, if you’re taking a serial killer, maybe it’s safe to say people who’ve killed that many people cannot be redeemed.”
Badgley supported his analysis by offering a different perspective. “Sorry to get kind of heavy, but what about people who go to war and have to do it in a certain context? So where do we draw the line?” he questioned. “If we’re in power, if we’re in the seat of deciding who is redeemable or not, it’s a seriously moral question. And I don’t know who has that power. I’ll go ahead and say Joe can’t change, won’t change.”
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