“Adolescence” Is A Troubling and Timely Indictment On Adolescent Male Incel Culture, Bullying & Social Media
The boys are not alright.
A television series about a shy, awkward thirteen year old boy Jamie Miller (Owen Cooper) who spends far too much time online, and charged with killing Katie, a female classmate who sexually deflects him, could unfold in a number of familiar ways. It could devolved a story of broken families, affected by drugs, poverty, mental health, and crime, but it isn’t. The Miller family is average in almost every regard which makes Adolescence more disturbing.
The subdued, even-handed, real life, one take (oner) telling of the Millers’ story adds to the chilling nature of #Adolescence. It relies on what is explicit and what is implied to make its potent message more penetrative. There aren’t any screaming matches here.
The series is inspired by several incidents in the U.K. when teenage girls were stabbed by young male perpetrators facing intense peer pressure. This is similar to many violent acts young people face to secure gang entrance, initiation, and acceptance.
Eddie Miller (Stephan Graham) is Jamie’s dad and “responsible adult” during legal proceedings, Detective Inspector Bascombe (Ashley Walters) leads the case, Briony Ariston (Erin Doherty) is the clinical forensic psychologist assigned to Jamie, and Manda (Christine Tremarco) is Jamie’s mother, desperately trying to make sense of it all.
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