Joe is real and he is all of us internet users—minus the murders, of course.
That was Penn Badgley during the press conference of “You”—the Netflix original show about a guy who stalks his prey online and offline—here in Manila. Penn plays Joe, a bookstore manager obsessed with aspiring poet Beck (Elizabeth Lail). He easily stalks Beck on her social media accounts. Through Beck’s images uploaded on her account, Joe easily locates her home address and starts creeping up on her in real life
“I was not thinking of a clinical portrayal of a real psychopath. Other times he’s (Joe) meant to represent things that’s inside all of us,” Penn said. He was talking about the behavior of people on social media, both as consumers and curators of content—that stalking one’s feed is the new normal to keep track of friends, family, celebrities and strangers.
The “Gossip Girl” star is here for a two-day media event with Canadian-Filipino actor Shay Mitchell (“Pretty Little Liars”), who plays sassy and privileged Peach Salinger. The stars discussed the popularity of Penn’s character and the perils of (over) sharing on social media. They also shared a giant bowl of halo halo before the press conference.
“I’ve said this before … there are so many people that can fall in love and become obsessed with somebody who they never even met before. That’s the world we live in. Now you get to know all of this information that that person is putting out there and making out who this person in your mind to be this imaginary vision. I think I completely get it when people become fascinated with people because you feel like you get to know what they put out there,” Shay said.
However, Shay stressed that social media is superficial: “It’s not reality. It’s the best of that moment that day. That’s been curated and filtered a million times.”
The reaction of fans to “You” is notable. Joe the stalker is romanticized because, while he is possessive and dangerous, he goes the extra mile (way extra) for Beck. And viewers love it.
“I had a lot of reservations (with the role), which is appropriate because now we can all watch something and feel somewhat responsible. I think the thing is … everybody else is able to consume it in this way that it is enjoyable. It’s kind of like I have to take the burden of making (Joe) somewhat real for myself.”
And Penn Badgley can’t stress this enough: Joe is not a charming guy.
“You” is now streaming on Netflix.” Penn Badgley and Shay Mitchell will have a fan meet tomorrow at the pop-up Mooney’s Bookstore at the Greenbelt Gallery, 2/F Greenbelt 5 at 6 p.m.