Do 'You' Fans Dislike Beck Because They Relate to Her?

I first discovered Caroline Kepnes’s You after leaving a rocky relationship. It was the first book I’d been able to read in years. Not only did I read it, I devoured it as if it were candy before moving on to the next book in the series. I wish I could say that my love for the remainder books in the series was as intense as my love for You, but the sequels paled in comparison.

You is written in second person and read like a twisted love letter from Joe, a love struck bookstore clerk who only wants to protect the women he loves. Unfortunately for those women, Joe’s type of protection often involves stalking and murder. We are brought along for the ride as we watch Joe become obsessed with Beck, a college student and aspiring writer. He stalks her and watches her through her window before murdering her boyfriend and weaseling his way into her life.

The book and subsequent tv series take notes from Dexter, a book and tv series with a protagonist that’s very similar to Joe. Both characters have a ‘witty’ inner dialogue and seem to get themselves out of impossible situations. That’s where the similarities end, as both characters were written with different audiences in mind.

While Dexter had love interests in both the book and tv series, he was never portrayed in a romantic light. In the early seasons, he was in a relationship out of necessity. He needed to give the appearance of an average guy leading a normal life. In later seasons, his love interests all possessed something he was seeking. He explored his addiction with Lila. He feels the need to protect Lumen after failing to protect Rita, and finally, he sees himself in Hannah. Dexter’s love interests weren’t meant to make the audience swoon over him, they were used as a device to move the story along.

Dexter's code allows him to only target "bad people," (like other murderers) so he spares most of his love interests. However, some of them meet an unfortunate end. Dexter struggles with this code, but most viewers can distance themselves from the victims on Dexter’s table. Joe is more frightening than Dexter because he preys on the fear of being murdered by a romantic partner. Joe’s victims can be anyone.

Joe’s a horrible person, but you end up rooting for him. The tv series made Joe more sympathetic and slightly more likable than in the books, which makes his victims come off as more ‘deserving’ of their fates.

Beck, Joe’s love interest, doesn’t do anything to merit her becoming Joe’s obsession. She barely pays attention to him at the start of the novel, often oblivious to when he’s following her. When they start dating, she sometimes seems like she’d rather ditch him than spend time with him. She only seems to develop feelings for him because he continues to insert himself into her life. She’s also unaware of the danger she’s in for most of the novel and the first season of the tv series. She could have been anyone, and because of that the audience both relates to and distances themselves from her.

Many fans look for flaws in Beck’s character, or reasons she deserved her fate. They point out that she cheated on Joe, or that she used him to build furniture, as if she owes Joe a relationship. This isn’t much different from the way nonfictional victims are treated.

We want to believe that we can’t be Beck and partially blame her for not seeing the monster who was right in front of her. I realized how quickly I would become Beck while watching another recent release. In the movie, Fresh, the protagonist meets ‘Steve’ in a grocery store. He tells her dad jokes while she shops. Normally, anyone telling me dad jokes while I’m shopping would be annoying, but Sebastian Stan portrays Steve.

Now that online dating has become so popular, we’re constantly reminded that danger is only a swipe away. Joe even uses online dating in the second novel before finding his second love interest, Love Quinn.

Love is more popular than Beck, but is that because Beck is a bad character? People often consider Love to be Joe's perfect match and describe her as "crazy like Joe". Love can defend herself, so for many, it was more entertaining to watch her seasons.

No one wants to be Beck. We want to be Sidney Prescott, Laurie Strode, or some other final girl because we want to believe that we’ll survive. Not only do they survive, but they also fight back, which Beck barely got the chance to do. Would fans have a higher opinion of Beck if she had escaped Joe?

Both the novels and show have recently dipped in quality, but I would like to see the show ending with Joe meeting his match. I don’t want to see him end up with another serial killer, like Love, but someone more like Sidney Prescott. I would love to see him get taken down by his next ‘You’.