"Adolescence:" The Most Important Television of the 2020s

We live in a world that has become so saturated with media, that the landscape itself has become insurmountably challenging to navigate. All forms of art have become diluted, and it feels as though every few months we're subjected to trade headlines hailing something as "important" or "revolutionary" to receive clicks and exposure. So much so that all of these headline-y praise buzzwords seem to have lost all meaning entirely. It is exceptionally rare that the art lives up to them, and endures the court of culture and public opinion. However true that all may be, I really think Adolescence has the power to open the world's eyes to a truly untapped, and stomach-churningly necessary perspective. 

Gen Z and Millennial filmmakers are certainly no strangers to tackling similar subject matter. It feels as though every thirty seconds Twitter lights up with new discourse surrounding an "A24-style horror comedy trailer depicting the satire behind social media discourse, and red-pill chauvinistic Tate bros." We often make jokes through our work about these things because it's easier. We grew up in the genesis of an era that's become so bleak and devastating, that we all just assume that the rest of the world has a mutual understanding of it. But what of the ones that we've left behind? Or the ones ahead of us we've not made properly aware? Netflix's new psychological crime series, Adolescence attempts to answer those questions through the lens of something none of us would like to acknowledge: a child-on-child murder. Developed by British writers, Jack Thorne and Stephen Graham, it is one of Netflix's strongest projects to date.

The go-to question to ask in this scenario is, and has always been "Why?" But again, in this new age, it's a question that has become impossible to ask correctly. Communication has changed, vocabulary and vernacular have changed, and access to information has changed. All so rapidly, that even people in their early twenties have a difficult time keeping up.

More appropriately now, the question that should be asked is "What?" What has the child been exposed to? What is the child exposing other children to? What is the child being told to feel? We all know that this level of hatred and misogyny cannot be born or bred, so who or what in the world is teaching it? The most obvious and done-to-death contributors of Andrew Tate and the "Manosphere" are mentioned momentarily by name in the show, but hardly any other elaboration is given, and as a result, we never fully come to any sort of conclusion. We leave arguably more confused than before any sort of investigation takes place. 

Even beyond that, our collective culpability has never been higher. Children may not understand the world logistically, but the human condition is far more automatically engrained than we realize. We all carry such tremendous baggage, that we're lucky to find even one person who can genuinely understand it. But even if we're lucky enough to find that solace, our refusal to reckon with our demons will ALWAYS trickle down until the point that it results in the death of empathy, and masculinity as we're supposed to know it. Unfortunately, this is what's become of Adolescence's main character, Jamie, who has sunk too deep into this ideology, resulting in him murdering a female classmate.

The more that writer, Stephen Graham spirals deeper into his grief, along with the others around him, the more we simultaneously grow closer and farther away to understanding this young boy, and the horrors that he committed. The more we learn about him, and his influences, the less we understand the motivation. We’re left in a state of perpetual, and everlasting confusion, with not a single answer on the horizon. 

I genuinely found myself unable to speak for several hours after this was over. Every line of dialogue, every small glance, every needle drop, every small tilt of the camera felt like another small blade entering my chest preluding a final scene that left me truly inconsolable. And even still in the cold light of day, I find myself in a state of devastating reflection. I'm thinking of all of the horrific things I was exposed to as a child, despite my parents’ unwavering efforts. I'm thinking of times I was preyed upon, and how dangerous that level of vulnerability and impressionability is. I'm thinking of how easily I, or others I know could have become a Jamie, and how it's probably by just sheer luck that we did not. I'm thinking of the ones who unfortunately have lost their souls to this void and how strange and confusing the grief for those individuals truly is. I'm thinking of the young boys in my life who unfortunately cannot avoid the horror and hatred of this world, and how helpless they are to the aggressors. But even more so how helpless their parents are to inhibiting it. 

When engaging with a show like this, it can be damn near impossible to do so without hyper-analyzing the potential legacy it may or may not have. Will it even be remembered in two months regardless of the praise? This is one of the rare times where it should be argued that this has to, not "should", has to.  

This is Pulitzer-Prize-level work that is mandatory viewing across every board. This must transcend content warnings, age groups, gender, culture, and every other imaginary distinction. Every human being on this planet has a responsibility to experience this. It's incredibly difficult, but all important things are. So much has to change that it often feels impossible. But all revolutionary change starts with a spark of awareness. Allow this to be that spark. I can't think of anything more deserving.