When a 13-year-old is accused of the murder of a classmate, his family, therapist and the detective in charge are all left asking: what really happened?
Rated 2.8 / 5 from 4 logs on Katalog
I mean it’s brilliant, obviously. I’m not going to say anything clever here that hasn’t been said—you can see they really wanted to make this. It wasn’t a money thing, it wasn’t even a prestige thing. Anyone who ever did a creative project knows that feeing of—this. I need to make this. It doesn’t happen often and it doesn’t always turn out as well as it could have, but the feeling is there. Past that—I keep getting reminded of a sentence I read somewhere. To paraphrase: …(this) isn’t the only way you could ruin someone, it’s just the one we’re talking about right now. And it fits, doesn’t it? These redpill podcasts, this wretched slop designed and marketed to teenagers already addicted to social media—that’s not the only way you could ruin a kid, but it’s the one Adolescence is talking about. And theyre telling the truth, in a fair and devastating way.
I remember from tutoring kids that they would often talk about the streamers and YouTubers they watched and I just knew their parents had no idea what horrible content they were consuming. I guess it is easy to lose touch with your child if you don’t take this seriously.
I got PTSD from my time in British schools I thank the heavens every day smartphones weren't a thing then
It’s chilling how a gruesome event most of us experience through newspaper headlines is just another day at work for others. Processing, sampling, questioning, filing, comforting, teaching. We get to follow all these people around, detectives, nurses, clerks, teachers, psychologists, officers, all of them affected by the tragedy yet having to stay composed and do their jobs, that are, infuriatingly, some of the worst paying jobs in our society. That immersive approach was my favourite thing about the series. We get to see everyone’s perspective, apart from Katie’s family. But maybe that’s okay? By putting Jamie in the center, by making him vulnerable and uncomfortable, unable to leave, it’s more difficult to shift the attention elsewhere, to try and find justifications and say “well, what about…” But somehow, I was left confused. I kept wondering who is this for? Parents? Teenagers? Everyone? It can’t be everyone. Watching this couldn’t have been educational or comforting to victims of violence or to their families. And there are plenty of people aware of these issues and speaking up about them. Did this reach those that don’t? And if yes, what did they think? And what is the overall message? If it has anything to say about gender violence fuelled by poisons of social media, it’s very subtle. Too subtle. Could it be a warning to teenagers that feel like Jamie? Even if they watch it, what would they think? Would they even recognise themselves in him? Or could it be a warning to all parents, to pay more attention? A bit of comfort for good parents of bad children? That it’s not their fault? That it is their fault? I have no idea. Oh, and much more attention was given to Katie’s comments about him being an incel than to the fact that Jamie literally sent “aggressive comments” to unknown women. Strange how his online activities, that had a huge impact on his behaviour, are not given much attention. I truly believe it was made with good intentions and I hope that, considering its popularity, it raised some awareness. Whether it raised awareness beyond the circles that were already aware, I’d be curious to find out.
