You Star Criticizes Netflix’s Glamorization of Serial Killers

While explaining why his You character is so polarizing, Penn Badgely criticizes Netflix for platforming real life serial killers like Jeffrey Dahmer.

Penn Badgley, lead of Netflix’s hit series You, criticizes the prolific streaming service for continually platforming true-crime shows including Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story. Despite the immense commercial success of the Ryan Murphy-created anthology series, Badgley’s comments follow months of widespread backlash for what many view as the glorification of Dahmer at the expense of his real life victims for profit. Netflix’s psychological-thriller show You, though fictitious, has similarly come under fire for normalizing male violence towards women in the name of love and passion. Badgley, who portrays You‘s stalker-turned-killer lead Joe Goldberg, has frequently responded to this criticism by discouraging viewers from rooting for his character, asserting that the series is a condemnation rather than a romanticization of the mind and actions of its protagonist.

While speaking to Entertainment Tonight following the release of the first five episodes of You season 4, Badgley blames Netflix for capitalizing on and building public fascination with real-life criminals.

When asked to respond to You fans who are attracted to Joe despite his criminal past and abuse towards former partners, Badgley was quick to point to how viewers’ inexplicable love for such a horrific character is a result of Netflix true-crime shows that have ultimately made audiences sympathize with real-life murders. Check out what Badgley had to say below:

“You need to look inside… With our show, you’re meant to fall in love with him, that’s on us. Ted Bundy? That’s on you. Jeffrey Dahmer? That’s on Netflix. That is squarely on the shoulders of Netflix.”

Related: You Season 4 Is Already Repeating The Show’s Smartest Joe Trend

The Controversial Wave of True Crime Content Explained

Badgley’s comments reflect the polarizing reactions that recent shows like Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story or Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes have been met with. Discourse among critics and viewers of these shows often slam Netflix for exposing its large audience to pieces that exploit victims’ trauma and invade their families’ privacy. Still, public fascination with historic serial killers is stronger than ever.

Despite the abundant backlash that Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story faced, the season was a commercial sensation, reaching the top spot on Netflix within a week of its release. Lead Evan Peters, who portrayed the titular real-life killer, even took home the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Miniseries or Television Film for his controversial performance. From Making a Murderer to The Girl From Plainville, the recent wave of true crime television has proved that the public’s appetite for stories about real-life killers will allow the genre to flourish, even in the face of immense backlash.

To Badgley’s point, perhaps the more ethical choice on the part of Netflix and other streaming services would be to platform fictitious shows like You, which satisfy viewers’ fascination with criminals without exploiting real people. However, like the true-crime series Badgley has criticized, You is told from the perspective of the criminal, meaning that despite the creators’ aim to avoid glorifying Joe, it is nearly impossible for viewers not to sympathize with him on some level. Whether Netflix’s You is part of the same problem as the true-crime genre of glorifying stalkers and killers is ultimately up to individual viewers.

Next: You: Joe & Love’s Relationship Timeline

Source: Entertainment Tonight