Paranoid, stalking, violent, but NOT psychotic? When it comes to a Netflix popular character, Joe Goldberg, it is funny how the fourth adjective would be the first thing we would expect mental health experts to say. On the surface, Joe appears as an intelligent bookworm who keeps to himself. His wife, Love, looks nothing but poised and elegant in public. However, we all know that the twisted couple sees brutal violence as a means of catharsis. So why is he the way he is?
Hailing from a background of traumatic childhood deeply intertwined with loss and death, Joe develops severe attachment issues to people that he finds appealing, altering the way one would initially receive and convey deep care toward others. Unlike Love, Joe treats his romantic partners as a form of transitional people who would sustain his cyclical obsessions until death - which occurs more often than we would imagine - separates the two. Even if desensitised to the red on his hands, it is only because of years and years of emotional trauma building up as a volatile fort around his mind. Although others also have narcissistic personality disorders and obsessive tendencies, we must remember that Joe is fictional. His actions do not directly reflect the behaviours of everyone else with similar trauma. Nevertheless, the show does depict an excellent example of how we should be a lot more mindful towards others to spare them from unnecessary mental trauma growing up.
According to social scientist Pamela Rutledge, “he is an amalgam of personality traits at abnormal levels constructed to make a good story and create a character that elicits a certain amount of empathy.” It refers to when he appears normal and kind, even. And as the audience, his unassuming exterior draws us to sometimes try and understand his hurtful background despite him being a brazen killer too. The continuous commentary of his deep thoughts in every episode made us feel like he trusted us, further playing up the psychological effects of the TV series. Joe’s exaggerated sense of personal value and excessive need for attention and affection is what gave him the platform to constantly flick between urges to make things “right” through violence and a desire to be rational. Though he knows that violence is not always the way out, he cannot help it sometimes. In season 3, it reflects when he started calling Love “the Monster” ever since she started showing her impulsive decisions to hurt those who mess with her family). However, combined with Joe’s possessive character, his urge to kill is self-rationalised. He deems it necessary to protect himself and the females he’s obsessing over from any danger analogous to how he felt when he was a lot younger.
Edited by: Charlene Kurniawan
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