Stop Romanticizing Joe Goldberg, He's No Dan Humphrey
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Please Stop Romanticizing Joe Goldberg From 'You,' He's No Dan Humphrey

He's pretty much a psychopath.

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joe goldberg in netflix you

This article contains spoilers for Netflix's "You" and the CW's "Gossip Girl."

Spotted: lonely boy becoming mentally incompetent, abusive, and going on a killing spree. People still love him though.

Netflix's new show "You" stars Penn Badgley as Joe Goldberg, a bookstore manager and an extreme stalker. For all of my "Gossip Girl" fans out there, the role does remind me intensely of resident lonely boy Dan Humphrey with the view of a deeper meaning in life and artistic words in the illustrious New York City. While I believe that he does genuinely care about and love his object of obsession Guinevere Beck, it is to the point where it is dangerous and unhealthy from the moment he laid eyes on her in Mr. Mooney's and has turned into an obsession. Whenever I think of him, his theme song to me would Patience and Prudence's "Tonight You Belong To Me" and guess what? That song played in episode six.

Let's start at the beginning. Joe meets Beck in the bookstore and they bond over their shared love of literature. Like anyone does in the technological age, psychopath lonely boy completely creeps on the NYU student's social media pages, learning about her family and the life that she portrays online. That isn't even the worst part.

Goldberg talks to Beck in his head, talking about when they get together and how he will be the guy she needs. Joe follows her home and spies on her through large windows in Beck's place of residence. He lurks in the background when she goes out with her friend group and jerks off in a bush on a public street when he eyes Beck masturbating after a not-so-satisfying sexual encounter with her periodical boyfriend Benji. He steals her phone after saving her from falling onto the subway tracks and keeps it to peak on her activity on her new phone. Joe even gets angry when he feels that Beck is disrespecting their relationship and him before they were even officially together.

Joe decides he needs to eliminate every threat that comes between his relationship with Beck as he genuinely believes he knows what is best for her and decides to lock Benji up in the basement of the bookstore where the room is set at a certain temperature and lighting to keep from damaging old and classic pieces of work. While Beck and her friends begin to worry about Benji's disappearance, Joe takes his phone and posts a picture to Instagram that mirrored him past out at a raging party. He then on posts on his victim's Twitter to not raise any suspicion.

When Benji lists his allergies to peanuts and gluten, the bookstore manager decides to give the soft drink maker a coffee with peanut oil, therefore killing him.

Beck's best friend Peach knew there was something off about Joe Goldberg from the start. She blamed him when her classic "Ozma of Oz" book and laptop were missing and even though her accusations were correct, Joe returned the book and the laptop to make it seem as she simply misplaced the items. He finds albums of pictures of Beck on Peach's laptop with some of them of the blonde being nude. Joe concludes that Peach is in love with her best friend and she must be eliminated.

He attempts to kill her by smashing her head with a rock while she is running but she only ends up with a concussion and does not remember that Joe attacked her.

When Peach and Beck go on vacation for a few days, Joe just has to come along for the ride. No one knows if he is there, of course. Beck leaves the vacation early and Peach realizes Joe is there.

She points her gun at him, but in the end, Goldberg shoots her and writes her suicide note.

There is also the untold stories of Joe's ex-girlfriend Candace who apparently went off the radar to Italy and the bookstore's owner, Mr. Mooney. Through flashbacks and hallucinations, we see that Joe was also extremely jealous and possessive of Candace as he is with Beck. Mr. Mooney used to hit Joe and has stated he has had problems with his mother while talking to neighbor Paco so maybe that's some explanation as to why Joe is just a little messed up in the head. He was even horribly offended that Beck had to go therapy to talk over the "suicide" of Peach instead of just going to him. He goes to the exact same therapist, but that's not even the worst part.

Joe murders Beck!!!

The apple of his eye, his one true love, the woman who he killed for just so that their relationship would be without fault! He committed manslaughter in cold blood and tried to blame the deed on the former couple's mutual therapist Dr. Nicky whom he sincerely believed that Beck was cheating on him with. There is definitely a fine line between love compared to obsession and wanting someone all to yourself that you kill them instead.

Fans are defending Goldberg, saying he's only doing everything out of love and just wants a happy ending for himself and Beck. That's going to be a little hard now since she is dead. The cast of the show tries their hardest to remind fans that Joe should not be idolized and he is not the hero either.

@PennBadgley on Twitter.com

@PennBadgley on Twitter.com

We can forgive Dan for being Gossip Girl, but I just can't forgive Joe Goldberg for being an extreme psychopath murderer or romanticize him. Please notice red flags and stay safe out there. Privacy settings on social media are your friend!

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This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
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