Penn Badgley Just Said That Joe Goldberg Is A Rapist, And Some “You” Fans Are Confused

This nonfiction contains references to depictions of rape and intersexual assault. 

The 5th and last play of the deed Netflix bid You yet deed our screens past month, and it’s just to accidental that we saw the show’s protagonist — serial slayer Joe Goldberg — similar we’ve ne'er seen him before.

Over the years, we person watched Joe stalk and manipulate women into being successful a narration with him, hurting oregon adjacent sidesplitting those who get successful his way, arsenic good arsenic repeatedly masturbating successful nationalist — leaving perfectly zero uncertainty that helium is simply a full predator.

Despite this, Joe has remained beauteous beloved by fans of the show, mostly acknowledgment to the information that helium is the narrator, which gives him the powerfulness to manipulate viewers with his charm successful the aforesaid mode that helium does his victims on-screen.

But that each changes successful the show’s past episode, wherever helium goes head-to-head with his Season 5 emotion involvement Louise “Bronte” Flannery, played by Madeline Brewer. While Joe thinks that helium is getting distant with his crimes and escaping for a caller beingness with Bronte, she pulls a weapon connected him erstwhile they are successful the chamber unneurotic and demands answers implicit the decease of her person Guinevere Beck, who Joe murdered successful Season 1.

And successful the scenes that follow, viewers are explicitly exposed to the world of conscionable however terrifying and almighty Joe is for the archetypal time. Ridding the quality of each of his trademark charm, Joe is shown physically attacking Bronte, including violently punching her successful the face. He besides strangles her, mimicking however helium killed Beck — which wasn’t shown on-screen astatine the time.

Because Bronte confronted him erstwhile helium thought that they were astir to person sex, Joe is lone wearing his underwear passim the anxiety-inducing chase, which makes him look adjacent scarier arsenic it highlights however overmuch stronger helium is than Bronte, and besides adds a feral undertone to his appearance.

And successful a caller interrogation with People, Penn revealed that helium fought for this circumstantial outfit prime for his quality due to the fact that helium thought it added to the accusation that Joe could rape Bronte, which would reiterate conscionable however monstrous of a idiosyncratic helium is.

Referencing the infamous “box” that Joe held galore of his victims successful implicit the years, Penn said: “The cardinal is, Joe is not caught successful the box. He’s caught successful the bedroom, that’s really wherever helium does his worst enactment — his manipulation and seduction. The container is benignant of obvious, the container is wherever he’d enactment anybody but helium lone puts women successful the bedroom, that’s wherever his astir unsafe enactment is.”

Referencing Penn’s interview, 1 TikToker made a video with the caption: “penn badgley having to spell retired explicitly successful interviews that joe is simply a r@pist due to the fact that radical inactive aren’t picking up connected the subtext aft FIVE seasons,” which rapidly went viral with astir fractional a cardinal likes astatine the clip of writing.

However, portion galore You fans could recognize that the women who Joe had seemingly consensual on-screen enactment with passim the bid couldn’t really consent to it due to the fact that he’d manipulated his mode into their beds, immoderate were confused by the accusation that Joe had much overtly been raping his victims off-screen.

Some besides referenced the information that Joe is intelligibly an unreliable narrator, explaining: “I ever had a feeling that was being alluded to, since it makes consciousness fixed Joes wide behavior, but Bronte’s ankle truly drove the constituent location for me. He doesn’t archer america arsenic viewers the full story. Even helium doesn’t travel look to look with the worst of himself.”

Meanwhile, immoderate fans were conscionable confused arsenic to however others had missed the subtext, with 1 fashionable remark reading: “it worries maine that radical deliberation a antheral who stalks and kills women volition conscionable gully the enactment astatine rape.”

Were you alert of the subtext successful You earlier Penn’s caller interviews? Let maine cognize successful the comments below.

If you oregon idiosyncratic you cognize has experienced intersexual assault, you tin telephone the National Sexual Assault Hotline astatine 1-800-656-HOPE, which routes the caller to their nearest intersexual battle work provider. You tin besides hunt for your section halfway here.