Who can resist Taylor Swift?
The entertainer threads an invisible string from the fall of Ticketmaster to an entire congressional hearing armed with her lyrics to a kaleidoscope of Twitter stans proudly wearing their "midnight13" usernames as a badge of honor. She is the moment, and the scope of her standom trickles down to where you'd least expect it — even to a certain fictional character.
When Taylor Swift released "Anti-Hero," it seemed that her self-hate anthem was almost made for You's Joe Goldberg (Penn Badgley). Every ounce of "Anti-Hero" screams Joe, from its introduction: "I have this thing where I get older but just never wiser" to its pre-chorus: "I should not be left to my own devices, they come with prices and vices, I end up in crisis," to the chorus you can't get out of your head. ("It's me. Hi. I'm the problem; it's me.")
Badgley himself made a TikTok to the song, playing Joe singing along, his infamous baseball hat on, his grin shame-free, and his enthusiasm self-declaring a level of unmatched Swiftieness. Now "Anti-Hero" has made an appearance in You: One of Joe's many voiceovers suddenly cuts to its first verse — a brilliant choice and a masterclass in comedy.
Joe is the problem, and everybody agrees.
The overall consensus across the internet and You itself is that Joe is "Anti-Hero"s poster child and might be trying to buy his own ticket to The Eras Tour. In an interview with Mashable, Badgley weighed in on Joe's Swiftie status. His answer may surprise you.
"Would Joe be a Swiftie if he was real? No, I don't think so," Badgley said. "I think it takes a certain courage and humility for a grown man to fully embrace listening to the music of a young woman. I'm not saying this is right; I'm just saying I think it seems to be the case culturally," he added. "I just don't think he would be able to unironically love Taylor Swift."
I was taken aback by Badgley's response, partially for its poignancy, but largely because somehow I had forgotten who Joe actually is.
With each season, Joe has character-assassinated (literally and figuratively) every woman who enjoys any hallmark of archetypal femininity. He falls for the "not like other girls" trope, in which Nietzche reigns over Nicki Minaj, and no one's allowed to enjoy things unless it's by his standards — which makes You's soundtrack decisions far more interesting.
There's a meta-campiness to You's soundtrack, particularly with "Anti-Hero," where everyone is in on the joke except for Joe. The show is almost exclusively told through his perspective, but the soundtrack speaks for the audience. Everyone knows he'd listen to "Anti-Hero" — then have a brief epiphany followed by his usual avoidance. His inability to admit anything would probably mean he'd deflect "Anti-Hero"s lyrics onto his love interests, making them the problem for not understanding him. But we all know Joe would like the song and relate to it — if he just let himself.
You using music that Joe would never admit he likes unravels even more layers to his characterization. He thinks he's a Pink Floyd guy, but he's more of a Taylor Swift stan. He thinks he's the pinnacle of romance, but he's a walking red flag. He thinks love is killing your dad, but I'm afraid it's anything but. Joe's severe insecurity prohibits him from admitting or recognizing many things, whether that's being a serial killer or enjoying the poppy embrace of Taylor Swift's discography.
Joe's Swiftie dilemma is one of many ways the show employs different tactics to scope the width of a narcissist who hates himself. Joe's superiority complex, aligned with his lack of feeling loved, is his own recipe for disaster. But maybe letting himself like Taylor Swift could lead to the kind of healthy self-admittance he desperately needs?
It's time for Joe to accept many things about himself. While I think being a Swiftie is probably the last thing on his list, never doubt the emotional resonance of Folklore.
