“I want you to notice when I’m not around” is a lyric from Radiohead’s Creep that could well sum up the attitude towards romantic pursuit that Rom-Coms instil in viewers.
We all know how Rom-Coms work.
Man and woman meet, presumably both working in slapstick, ordinary corporate career’s, ala The Office, the guy is an ordinary every-day bloke, the woman is just after someone kind, guy pursues woman with every once of his being, and viola, we share a kiss on the Empire State Building (thanks Sleepless In Seattle.)
It’s the fail-safe model that has made movies like Love Actually, The Holiday & Green Card such a hit- but that’s now being challenged in the new Netflix thriller You, based off Caroline Kepnes’ 2014 model.
“We’ve all grown up watching those movies dozens of times, in which a man pursuing a woman, and sometimes even being horrible to her, is portrayed as romantic,” says Kepnes, speaking to The Guardian.
In the show, protagonist Joe meets Beck in a bookstore and proceeds to stalk her and find out everything about her- in a way that is purely creepy.
The script ties his obsession with Beck directly to the pattern portrayed in Rom Com’s- “I’ve seen enough romantic comedies to know guys like me are always getting into jams like this” he reflects after finding himself hiding in her bathroom after breaking into her house to see her- a move that would get you sent to jail in real life.
Watch the trailer for You below
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKOhno0IMpA
There are more direct references scattered throughout the writing too, with Hannah and Her Sisters called out for portraying the seduction of a woman through stalking.
“He waits near her apartment and stages a run-in. Brilliant, romantic. Love takes work,” says Joe.
Given Netflix’s own reputation for invading privacy, it might seem a tad hypocritical for the show to promote social privacy online- but that still doesn’t dull the power of the show.
In an ironic twist, it is Beck who then apologises for seeming like a stalker when she recognises Joe on the street- despite the fact Joe has been masturbating outside her house.
“Girls are taught from a young age that if a boy is mean to you that means he likes you, and men are taught that if a woman seems obsessive that means she’s crazy”, said Kepnes.
The show aims to reveal how dangerous our culture’s obsession with the fairytale romance with the charming stranger can be- and how potentially deadly.
As with all things folks, Thom Yorke reminds us that just because you talk smoothly, it doesn’t change the fact that there are creeps and weirdoes everywhere.
The best cinema response to harassment
‘You’ is out now on Netflix.
