The show Adolescence, a British crime drama released in March, tells the story of a 13-year-old boy named Jamie Miller who killed a girl in his class named Katie Leonard. Owen Cooper, who plays Jamie Miller, has become an overnight sensation in his breakout role from his captivating performance (MSN). In only four days, Adolescence reached 24.3 million views, and has achieved record-breaking viewership, surpassing other Netflix limited series (Variety). The show was sparked by an idea of Stephen Graham, who is the actor who played Jamie’s father. He created Adolescence to explore young men’s violence towards women. Each episode was filmed in one shot (no camera cuts) and with the point of not blaming Jamie’s actions on his parents (The Guardian). The show is not a whodunit, because it is clear from the beginning that Jamie is guilty, yet it is filmed in a way that makes you want to believe that Jamie is an innocent boy who has been falsely accused. He denies the accusation and claims he has done nothing wrong, despite there being physical evidence of him committing the crime. No one would suspect Jamie could be capable of something this horrific because he had good grades, friends, and normal family life.
Teenagers consume a significant amount of toxic social media and can be manipulated by influencers. Unfortunately, some influencers are very negative like Andrew Tate, who is a self-proclaimed misogynist and glorifies violence towards women. Tate, and others like him, are mentioned in the show as having a big influence on Jamie’s attitude toward females (bbc.com). Jamie really believed he did nothing wrong, and deemed himself “better” than most boys because he did not sexually assault Katie. This show demonstrates the disturbing and awful content young people are exposed to on social media and how it influences their decisions.
The show goes into the emotions behind Jamie’s anger towards Katie. Jamie was bullied and rejected by Katie which lowered his self-confidence and caused his insecurities. Ramapo Junior, Ella Opalinski explains, “I think it was really tragic how confused and in need of such attention and validation from women he was. Even with his psychiatrist, he just wanted her to like him.” Jamie’s fear was that no girls would ever like him and all he wanted was assurance that he would be admired by someone. The show is a psychological drama where, at first, you hope Jamie is innocent because he’s young, but after he speaks with his psychiatrist, you can see he truly is a monster.
As the story unravels, it reveals how Jamie’s actions have affected his family. His parents believe they created a psychopath and do not know how to cope with his actions. The show intentionally did not want the parents to be blamed and showed that Jamie grew up in a loving environment. The show’s creators wanted to demonstrate that even someone who had a normal childhood can still become evil. Ramapo English teacher, Ms. Casey highlights, “I haven’t seen a show as timely and powerful as Adolescence in a long time. The acting was superb, and the filming was highly unique, but the real essence of the show lies in the themes and the emotional reactions they provoke. As a parent, the show raised critical questions about the current realities surrounding the dangers of social media and the pressures placed on maturing boys and girls. I also think the show raises important questions for teenagers themselves, and it’s a must-watch for anyone in their high school years and beyond.”
This show explores the need to monitor screen activity and identify signs of mental health struggles/mental illness much more than we already are. Adolescence was eye-opening and exposes the impact social media has on young kids and teenagers. Jamie was not born a monster, but his online exposure to misogynistic content promoting violence toward women coupled with the cyberbullying turned him into one.
