character in a story, film, or drama who lacks conventional heroic attributes. They are a
protagonist without good qualities and they only kill criminals.” (Mgr. Igor Prusa Ph.D.,
Towards The Antihero Theory, 2019). This suggests that this specific antihero can be
described as a Robin Hood type of character; they are an antihero due to their actions that
will cause others harm, however they do this in order to help those they believe need it.
One of the case studies I intend to look at is the Netflix series You (You, Netflix, 2018), in
which the main protagonist Joe Goldberg is a classic example of a light type of antihero. In
the series, Joe just wants to find love and through his actions of kidnapping which then lead
to murder, Joe is portrayed as this light antihero due to the fact that everything he does, he
believes is in aid of protecting the girl he has fallen for. While he knows what he’s doing is
morally wrong, he also believes it can be justified. This is a key example of how the light
antihero is present in the drama we watch today.
The light type of antihero can also be linked to the ideas of both Aristotle and Propp. When
breaking down the types of characteristics seen in an antihero, or as he calls them tragic
heroes, Aristotle stated that they must be “virtuous, flawed and suffer a reversal of fortune.”
(Charles H. Reeves, The Aristotelian Concept of the Tragic Hero, 1952), In the case of Joe,
he is flawed in his morals and how he handles certain situations compared to what we would
see as being the right way. He also suffers a reversal of fortune when his secrets are revealed
and the girl he’s fought so hard to protect, resents him for everything he’s done. In regards to
Propp, he describes the false hero as “trying to marry the princess” (Academia, Vladimir
Propp Character theory and narrative structure, 2020), which can also be used when
examining how Joe is an antihero character. Through his actions, he’s trying to be the hero
and ultimately marry the girl who in his story, is the princess.