To ask if it’s worth watching Adolescence ?

[CalmingInfluence]

Everyone’s raving about it

I don’t even have a Netflix account atm

I took from it that she sent the topless picture to one boy as she wanted to attract him, but he then shared it on.
And the fact that Ryan gave him the knife, perhaps Ryan egged him on about disrespect and encouraged him to stab her. And why didn’t we see the police speaking to the third friend. Plus, if it was real they would have tracked his journey home and found the clothes/knife, as he’s not forensically aware.
I found the continuous camera boring, too much time spent with nothing happening. And I had to put subtitles on as I struggled at some points, particularly in the school when the speaking actors were walking away from the camera.

I liked it in episode 1, drifted a b it in episode 2, was engaged enough by episode 3, and throughly fed up of them all by episode 4.

There is a lot of “People are being impressed by this show so I am going to show how clever I am by not being impressed by it “ and “Oh shit-this might make me think-I’m not doing that. My kids are fine so it’s nothing to do with me” going on. IMHO

Fair enough.

I thought it was complex in that there wasn't a single explanation. There were clear issues around misogyny and online radicalisation. Problems with parenting. The bullying aspect etc.

To be clear, I'm not saying that the bullying in any way mitigated the crime. It didn't.

I feel that most of the posters on this thread were looking to be "entertained" by watching it.

I wasn't. I knew it would be a disturbing watch and didn't expect to "enjoy" it. As the parent of an adult DD I would like to think that most of her age group have (hopefully) dodged a bullet with what is happening now on social media. At least they might have the emotional maturity to see what is happening.

Yes I enjoyed trying to work out how did they do that -like episode 2 and going through a window. As a drama it was intense. I don’t have kids so wasn’t particularly affected by the plot.

No, but this was not life, it was a drama.

I’ve watched two episodes or something. There’s nothing complex about it, and I agree with a pp, it’s like watching stage school acting. The script is dreadful, the camera work is annoying. It’s trying too hard and failing epically. I guess people who love those Harlan Coben shows will find this absorbing and intellectual, but not me. Yawn!

The first and third episodes are the best.

I didn’t think it was that good TBH. the most interesting aspect of the series was the "one take" format.

The victim wasn't really featured at all, I got no understanding of her influence at all. For me, there was too little focus on the motivation of the characters. And some glaringly obvious omissions.

Where were the press?

You can bet your dog on the fact that the tabloids would have had photographers camped out on the parents lawn after an incident like this. There was no mention of any media what so ever.

The narrative appears to be that some kid watched a few Andrew Tate videos and decided to become a misogynistic murderer.

Doesn't ring true for me.

The final shot at the end of series two is stunning though. The camera moves seamlessly from inside a parked car to a half a mile drone shot, flying over the neighbourhood before coming back down, and ending with a close up of the fathers face as he lays flowers at the crime scene.

That shot should win awards.

It’s worth watching. The one-shot technique is impressive and better captures emotion. Like all good art, it’s created a lot of debate.

But the script wasn’t great. I found the premise unrealistic, the themes too jumbled/simplistic and it was way too sentimental and even a bit am dram at times. Some kids’ shows and soaps do a grittier, more realistic job of showing the challenges facing young people and their families.

Episode 1 was the best. After that, it got a bit silly and I thought played into a lot of the stereotypes it should have sought to expose. Episode 3 was preposterous IMHO.

Bullshit.

Its ok for people to like or not like different things.

We don't need to make weird judgements about them based on that.

There are plenty of extremely popular shows I have also liked - in fact I'd say I'm generally impressed by the stuff put out by netflix and usually agree with the popular verdict on whether something is good or not. I was surprised not to like Adolescence. I like Stephen Graham in pretty much everything he's in.

This missed the mark for me. I've said it on another thread but I was disappointed that they didn't flesh out Katie's character more. I think the fact she got so little airtime has fed into this 'but she was bullying him' rhetoric we're seeing.

My view (and others may disagree) is that both Graham and Thorne are guilty of misogyny and certain behaviours displayed in the show, and some things have been inserted unconsciously. Graham, for example, said he 'didn't want the family to be dysfunctional' and used the example of 'the mother wasn't an alcoholic and the dad wasn't a violent abuser'. Except the family WAS dysfunctional, it just wasn't extreme or blatantly obvious at first.

I'm not sure if it was just extra-clever writing that went a bit over my head, but labelling Katie as 'bullying' Jamie when bullying is defined as targeted a 'vulnerable' person or people (Jamie remained within the more powerful group - the boys seeing her pics) and she sent some insulting emojis. Jamie specifically targeted her because he perceived her as vulnerable, so he wouldn't have considered her to be bullying him, just stepping out of her designated 'lane' in his eyes.

If they, and viewers, genuinely think that the power dynamics and 'bullying' is equal in this show and they're as bad as each other, then domestic violence simply doesn't exist if the woman defends herself by hitting or scratching to get her partner off her in any way.

Ultimately what was she supposed to do? Suffer the societal consequences of actions she was pressured into doing in meek silence, be a pariah at school forever? Or was she entitled to send a few emojis and name call because of her anger and hurt?

'She was coerced (by the boys) into sending topless pics - misogyny. Of course she'd be labelled uptight or frigid if she didn't - misogyny. One of the boys shared the pics (misogyny)'

Such an outdated theme. Teens nowadays are more than aware of the dangers of sharing nudes without consent.

I thought it was well filmed and well acted but not much more. I also really disliked the conflating of the crime with the apparent bullying by the girl. Given the seriousness of increased violence against women and girls, I thought it muddied the waters far too much and got close to - if not victim blaming - rationalising of the murder that the bully committed.

I enjoyed it, it was very clearly trying to make a point and get us all to think about the issue, like some kind of try hard moral story or parable IMO - and a lot of people hate that sort of thing which I can completely understand.

I thought episode 3 was particularly good though, where Jamie swings between raving mad lunatic and a pleading to be liked little boy. I thought he did a fantastic job of that.

Agree with this.
I found the 'one take' theme very distracting and too try hard.

The acting was generally very good but the messages weren't clear/pushed enough.

Thanks @Smallmerciesyouve saved me from watching it!

I ve yet to watch it, and I m not all that keen. As a mother of 2 teenage boys, I ve discussed all of these themes quite a lot with my sons. Respect, consent, porn, radicalisation, bullying, substance abuse. I stand up to mysogyny, correct them if they parrot some poorly considered opinion about a celebrity.

Centre them if they respond too animatedly about something. Explain how boys need to consider their actions, and group actions. Explain group think, and online extremism.

Explain the values of protecting mental and physical health, healthy peer groups and role models.

This mini series is being debated a lot in Ireland, which is a good thing, but let's not forget balance. Talk to our teenagers, parent them, guide them and allow them and us to be joyful. Be aware of risk but don't be paralysed by it. Educate our children to be wary of online influence without stopping us from everyday happiness.