To ask if it’s worth watching Adolescence ?

[CalmingInfluence]

Everyone’s raving about it

I don’t even have a Netflix account atm

He didn't kill her for bullying him. He asked her on a date. He killed her when she refused him. The motive for murder was misogyny, his fury at being rejected by a girl who even though 'flat' and 'weak' still refused him, not bullying. Hence the focus.

Men are scared women will laugh at them and women are scared that men will kill them - Margaret Atwood

This sums up the show. For some boys/men women laughing at or rejecting them does lead them to want to kill them. It is realistic.

I agree.

I think it was a good drama with an effective PR campaign behind it.

First two episodes were fantastic last two were awful so boring

And girls don't need to consider their actions?

what has that got to do with a mother of two teenage boys?

It's entirely necessary I think.

IMO no but some people have been blown away by it. Even though incels have been around since the 90s, they've never heard of it and they didn't realise that it was unhealthy to give kids unlimited access to harmful online content.

In that sense it's been important, but it's very hyped for something so mediocre.

I love a Harlen Cobden. Nothing wrong with that at all.

I thought Adolescence was lacking in direction, detail and had itself confused. What did it want to be about? Too many of the scened were dragged out with unnecessary waffle, all to fit into the single shot brief. Form over function.

This could have been a great storyline but it missed by miles. I suspect the only reason it made nr 1 on Netflix was successful promotion and nothing to do with the actual quality of the production.

I’m also really annoyed it has been Stephen Graham who is paraded about as the main adult actor. Christine Tremarco has been seriously overlooked and her performance was way better.

And what actions do you think the girl in the drama should have considered to avoid getting herself murdered? Never turn a boy down who asks her out? Or if she did, make sure she stayed home with the door locked and her fingers crossed he'd forgive her?

They can't cover everything.
His behaviour is definitely part of the problem, loads of people are talking about the way he behaved and how his wife had to keep pacifying him, and then he'd be sorry, etc.
This is the reality in lots of homes but they don't all go on to have murdering sons.
I found Stephen Graham's "parenting" and husbanding one of the most disturbing aspects of the show.
And I thought Owen Cooper was phenomenal as Jamie.

TBH I don't know what the disappointed posters were expecting from this drama. Everything I have read about it was that it portrayed how social media and peer groups influence teenagers and that it would be a hard watch.

It was never meant to be a fast moving, action packed drama.

I thought it was brilliantly and intelligently done and that all parents of teenagers and teenagers should watch it.

I wasn’t impressed and not sure what the hype was about. The only thing I took from it was if secondary schools are genuinely like that now, I’m worried for my kids.

I would watch it, especially if you have kids. Those who found it boring and confusing were clearly not paying attention or just aren’t that deep.

It was brilliant. I was riveted. The confession in episode 3 to the psychiatrist was a particularly strong moment for me.

Not new to everyone. That is the point!

This - I think those who have children or work with children should watch it to be educated and have their eyes open to a serious issue. I don’t think the hype is necessarily about how good a drama it is (though I did think it was good!), but about the messaging

Interesting to see so many people say that they didn’t like episode four; I actually think in lots of ways it was my favourite. Watching the family struggle to cope and flit between devastated at what had happened (and how life changing it was for the whole family, not just Jamie) and laughter, humour and even horniness was weirdly life-affirming.

And the “small talk” story the parents told Lisa during the playing of ‘Take On Me’ was very touching and told of a different kind of teenagehood… but then two minutes later the Dad had lost it again and was terrifyingly angry and the mum and daughter were cowed into silence. I also enjoyed how the parents kept talking about (and trying to) “save the day” because they’d taken on what the therapist said, but were clearly struggling to implement any other useful therapeutic techniques. Lisa also seemed lonely without her brother in that episode, I thought that was well observed.

I really disliked episode two however, for reasons I’ve expressed on other threads. Husband and I are both secondary teachers (in inner London) and it didn’t ring true at all.

I don’t think the hype is necessarily about how good a drama it is (though I did think it was good!), but about the messaging

Yes, that's exactly it, and people who can't see that have completely missed the point.

We already knew about youth knife crime, Andrew Tate, misogyny, bullying and teenage boys killing teenage girls.

Yes, we all know it happens, but not exactly how. A drama like this really does drive the message home - much more than just being told or reading about it. It illustrates how events can escalate and get out of control.

A must watch if you have kids.
People are missing the point.

Absolutely agree. I have a tween boy so it really opened my eyes. Also finely nuanced as a PP said.

What does school transition year mean? It’s a 15, is she going into 6th form?

I was bored to tears. Had to fast forward several parts. The premise of it is very good. The young boys acting was very good and parts of it were excellent. The school episode and the car scene were absolutely mind numbing. I'm not sure I fully get the hype.

To me that would be year 6. The year that they go up to high school.

I think as a drama it was very watchable - some decent acting, some truly awful acting, a reasonable but flawed attempt to address online radicalization /vawg/ misogyny/ toxic masculinity etc but there's always this tendency with British media to over hype/gush about British made TV/film beyond the actual merits of the production and then no one can criticize it and it's a bafta shoe-in etc. I actually found the one shot thing pretty limiting and gimmicky. It forced some really cringey ad-libbing (especially in part 2) to maintain the continuous shot which just took me out of it.

So yeah, style definitely impacted substance for me.