Adolescence viewers are focusing on the wrong thing
"Adolescence. The camera at the end of show 2. How on earth did they do that? It’s impossible," wrote Jeremy Clarkson on X – receiving some 10,000 likes for the comment. A quick check of his profile reveals this is, in fact, the only public observation he has made about Netflix’s new limited series.
It seems that other viewers, too, are focused on this element of the show, with "Adolescence one shot" becoming a prominent breakout search term since its release last Thursday.
Then there are the reviews. The Guardian gave it five stars, calling it "the closest thing to TV perfection in decades" and Radio Times similarly dubbed it an "all-time technical masterpiece."
Now, it’s not that the continuous shots or the acting skills on display are not impressive. They are. But how incredibly disappointing that the main takeaway from a series about the radicalisation of young boys and the dangers of everyday misogyny seems to be that it’s filmed in a clever way and that Stephen Graham has dazzled us once more with his on-screen presence.
What viewers really should be talking about is how commonplace these once-fringe views have become, how insidious the messaging peddled by the likes of Andrew Tate is, and how it’s not just a weird internet subculture anymore. Not only is it becoming more mainstream, it is very much impacting the safety of women and girls in real life, too.
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And the figures speak to this. According to the United Nations, an estimated 736 million women – almost one in three – have been subjected to physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence, non-partner sexual violence, or both, at least once in their lifetime. That figure doesn’t include acts of sexual harassment – which 71% of women of all ages in the UK have said they have experienced, whether by a known perpetrator or not.
What's more, in 2023 alone, around 51,100 women and girls across the world were killed by their intimate partners or a family member.
The situation has gotten so dire that the UN declared violence against women a "national emergency" in the UK last year, and the Labour government has outlined various ways they intend to tackle the crisis, including stricter sentencing to match the severity of the crime and 24/7 helplines for victims of domestic abuse and violence.
Then there are the high-profile cases which have dominated national and international headlines of late: the tragedy of 10-year-old Sara Sharif, who was burned and beaten to death by her father in 2023; the drugging and mass rape of Gisele Pelicot, facilitated by her ex-husband over a nine-year period; and Ugandan long-distance runner Rebecca Cheptegei, who died after being doused in petrol and set alight by her ex-boyfriend. These are just a few examples, but the list goes on.
More recently, crossbow killer Kyle Clifford received a whole-life sentence for murdering and raping his ex-girlfriend Louise Hunt in Bushey, Hertfordshire last year, along with her mother Carol and sister Hannah. While the judge threw out the evidence, the prosecution told the court during the trial that the ex-soldier had searched for an Andrew Tate podcast less than 24 hours before the attack. She argued that his internet history had in part "fuelled" his murderous rampage, though it was dismissed as a casual link.
As for Tate himself, he and his brother Tristan are currently facing criminal charges of rape and human trafficking, among others, in Romania and the UK, and are now also being investigated in Florida. Combined, the brothers have over 13 million followers on X and Andrew has over 15,419 monthly listeners on Spotify. Although platforms such as TikTok, Facebook and Instagram have removed the influencer’s accounts, the content is still being shared widely on social media, amplifying his harmful views on women. There are also various forums pushing his agenda that children and young men can easily access.
And it’s this, specifically, that Adolescence is trying to get across. It isn’t just keyboard warriors and incels (people who are involuntarily celibate) who are watching and promoting this content; it is young boys, from seemingly "normal families", who are being targeted and radicalised to the point they harbour such hatred for women and girls – and, in extreme cases, act on those impulses.
The final episode of the Netflix hit, in particular, hones in on this point. Despite earlier hints at the boy's home life being problematic, viewers learn in time that there are no hidden family scandals. Jamie's dad Eddie (Graham) has a temper, but he is very loving and respectful towards his wife and daughter.
And, as the audience see in the final moments of the show, Jamie was just a regular boy before all this, which is further compounded by the scene in his bedroom. Much like any other boy's, the space is full of pictures of planets and stars and there's a worn teddy bear placed on the bed. Nothing that screams "murderer".
The writing wasn't necessarily on the wall and that's the scary thing in all this. That should be the takeaway watchers have from this show – not just how skilful the camera man is.
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