His insistence that fans should not romanticise his character is noble, but much of his audience remains unconvinced. One theory is that You builds on a rom-com trope that persistence and making a grand gesture is what "good" men need to do to win women over. The Cut likens Joe's heroic fantasies to that of Richard Gere's Edward in Pretty Woman or John Cusack's boombox-holding character in Say Anything. Another example that comes to mind is that of the phantom in The Phantom of the Opera, who kills people and stalks Christine but somehow manages to still come off as eerily seductive. Women (and men) are conditioned by these kinds of movies to confuse harassment and devotion, which theoretically could explain people's thirst while watching You.