Over the past month, it was as if no one could escape hearing about the new popular Netflix series "You." Originally aired on Lifetime, this show gained its own life on the streaming service and spurred dialogue all over social media. Although "You" didn't seem like something I'd be interested at the time, curiosity got the better of me and I ended up finishing the series in about a week.
Even though "You" revolves around Joe's obviously twisted psyche and the audience is by no means encouraged to sympathize with him, it feels almost natural. However, whenever Guinevere Beck was onscreen, my immediate reaction was disgust and repulsion. Yes, what was happening to Beck was awful and horrifying, but why did she have to be so unlikeable?
Joe lives in his twisted delusion that all his misdeeds are done for Beck's benefit and every murder he commits is out of love. As deranged as he might be, sincerity drips through every word of his monologue.
Beck, on the other hand, is riddled with incongruities and her "woe is me" schtick is tiring, especially when she only plays it up when she has done something clearly wrong.
Beck is a writer, a mediocre poet, and surrounds herself with people who are either more successful or more superficial than she is. She forms no real connections with any of the people in her life, save for Joe, since she is constantly trying to mimic them to fit in and become her ideal version of a woman with power (which, by the way, isn't Peach, who manipulates everyone she can).
The few times we see Beck as a genuine person is when she is with Joe or dealing with her broken family, and in the latter, she comes across as an angry miffed child. However, that was more believable and palatable than her "party girl" persona, who can afford to go out drinking in Manhattan bars every night (where drinks are $15 a pop) but can't afford anything else. Or curtains, for that matter. How can someone live on a ground floor apartment in the Village with huge windows and not bother to buy curtains? The real shocking thing about "You" is that Beck hadn't been robbed.
All of this aside, Guinevere Beck is meant to be a reflection of the modern millennial woman — insecurity, warts and all. Life might imitate art, but people don't tend to react well when you present a warped and cracked mirror in front of them.
However, Beck is open and genuine with Joe and Joe alone, and we see that she seems to be aware of all these faults and more. And that's more than you can say for most people.
