Caution: I am about to spoil the ending to You on Netflix.
Why does the horror genre persist? In a sociopolitical climate where headlines are bleak, why bother seeking out fictionalized but similarly disturbing content?
As someone who is made anxious by CNN notifications daily but also spent much of the past weekend watching Netflix’s new seriesYou (a series of ten episodes following a man who uses information gleaned through stalking to make a woman fall in love with him) I am not qualified to answer. On January 10, thirteen year old Jayme Closs was discovered almost 90 days after disappearing following the murder of her parents. The man accused of the murder and kidnapping is suspected of specifically targeting Jayme. Eleven days later, another New York Times article attempted to parse out why You has become such a fast favorite for binge watchers.
Tasha Robinson’s Modern Horror Films Are Finding Their Scares in Dead Phone Batteries for The Verge calls out methods directors are shoehorned into using to isolate their protagonists from life-saving technology because seemingly any plot could be stopped with a call or text. Netflix’sYou acts in opposition to these assertions. For the object of the stalker’s desire, her cellphone provides her enemy with all the information he needs in order to manipulate her. It is all the more unsettling when what is believed could be the saving grace of horror movie victims is revealed to be in alliance with the villain.
In the end, Joe’s obsession with Beck leads him to kill her when she discovers the lengths at which he was willing to go for “love” and, unsurprisingly, is terrified instead of flattered. Joe cleans up his mess and moves on with his “normal” life with barely any trace of suspicion aimed toward him. The ending is dissatisfying to any viewer hoping to see him rot in a cell by the end of episode ten. According to Isabel Pinedo’s Recreational Terror: Postmodern Elements of the Contemporary Horror Film, postmodern reliance on deconstructing boundaries, institutions and “master narratives” like cellphone saviors can explain why You is particularly upsetting.
Perhaps, though, being forced to acknowledge the illusions of fictionalized horror can still bring some satisfaction. Jayme Closs lived and we can watch her aggressor meet the fate wished upon Joe. Maybe it’s best that headlines and horror stories are consumed in tandem.