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What Is The End Of The F***ing World?

For those who are unfamiliar with the name, The End Of The F***ing World is a series that is expected to be released soon on Netflix. It is centered around a pair of teenagers named James and Alyssa, who are played by Alex Lawther and Jessica Barden. James is a self-diagnosed psychopath who is planning to kill Alyssa, while Alyssa is the teenage rebel who happens to be infatuated with him. Overall, The End Of The F***ing World is supposed to be a darker sort of comedy, but in spite of this fact, one can't help but feel that it is sending a message that will prove to be rather detrimental for relationships.

Why Can The End Of The F***ing World Be Seen As Being Detrimental for Relationships?

In a real sense, the relationship between James and Alyssa sounds like a step-up from the standard "fixing a bad boy" plot, which sees a woman changing a cute but troubled love interest through the power of love. Something that was already detrimental for relationships, but becomes much more so when the cute but troubled love interest happens to be a wannabe killer.

First and foremost, it is not difficult to see why the "fixing a bad boy" plot sees so much use in a wide range of projects over a wide range of genres. After all, it provides the fantasy of being so loveable that someone is willing to become a better person for the sake of that love, which is rather soothing for the ego to say the least. Furthermore, it should be mentioned that someone who starts out with a negative response but becomes loving over the course of a series makes for a much more dramatic transformation than someone who starts out with a positive response but becomes loving over the course of a series, which is something that could provide some of the people out there with an increased sense of reward. Summed up, the "fixing a bad boy" plot is popular because it is a fun fantasy, which would be fine provided that people don't fool themselves into believing that fantasy extends into reality.

Unfortunately, what people see on the screen tends to have a fair amount of influence over what people do, so it is not unreasonable to say that the "fixing a bad boy" plot has caused people to remain in bad relationships in pursuit of that fantasy. Simply put, there are people out there who can change for the better because of someone else's influence, but at the same time, there are plenty of people out there who will never change but instead take advantage of those who treat them well. As a result, staying in a bad relationship for the sake of "fixing" the other party is a terrible idea, not just because of the improbability of success but also because of the enormous emotional, mental, and even physical damage that can be inflicted on the person attempting to "fix" the other.

"Changing a killer" can be seen as a more extreme version of the "fixing a bad boy" plot. In turn, this means that it is an even worse idea with what could well be even worse consequences, as shown by a surprising number of real life examples. Granted, there is nothing wrong with The End Of The F***ing World making use of the idea of "changing a killer" for its storytelling on its own, but when combined with all of the other stories out there with all of the other variations on the basic "fixing a bad boy" plot, one can't help but suspect that their combined effect on people's thinking could well be having a negative impact on how people think about relationships.