Warning! This blog will have some spoilers on Netflix’s new mini-series, Adolescence.  If you have not seen it or don’t want it spoiled, please return back after you’ve watched it (highly recommend watching it).  If you have seen the show, there are absolutely stand out moments in the episodes that grab your attention.  For me, all of episode 3 was a standout.  Not only because I’m a therapist, but the overall acting made it feel so real and really feel for the psychologist’s emotions at the end of the episode. I can’t say I’ve had sessions with a teenager on trial for murder, but have definitely had sessions with young boys who have yelled in my face and used degrading language.  

Although the show does not give one clear answer on why the teenage boy Jaime killed his classmate, a young teen girl named Katie, there is a focus on the “manosphere”.  Jaime plays innocent in the first episode, but it’s in episode 3 where he meets with the psychologist where these ideas of male dominance really come out.  For anyone who’s not familiar with the manosphere, it is a collection of websites, blogs, and forums that promote masculinity and misogyny, mostly opposing feminism.  Although the manosphere has different communities within it, Adolescence focuses on the Incel community (involuntary celibates).  The show does talk about emojis that are tied to the manosphere, but one that sticks out is the “100” emoji.  This means the “80/20 rule”, aka 80% of women are only attracted to 20% of men, therefore men are victims of rejection and it’s women’s fault for gatekeeping.  This is seen in the way Jaime talks about the victim Katie, he did nothing wrong and she was a bad person (there’s a lot more said than that!).  It’s also shown in this episode with Jaime enforcing dominance over Briney (psychologist) several times with degrading language, standing over her, looking for validation that his victim wasn’t a good person, then to beg Briney at the end to let Jaime know if she likes him or not. It is clear in this episode that Jaime feels unattractive and wants female attention, however becomes violent towards women and blames them for his behavior.  

A major point in making this show was to put spotlight on how the manosphere and online influences (such as Andrew Tate) can have a negative effect on not only men, but teenage boys.  Teens are very involved in social media and being online in today’s world, and have access to so much hurtful content.  That isn’t to say that teens shouldn’t have phones or not be online because that’s not realistic, however for parents to have some insight on what their teens are doing online.  The show makes a strong point that Jaime’s parents were good parents at the end of the day, they can’t fully control their teen’s action of murdering someone.  However, they may have been able to look more into what their son was doing online and learn more about him, his views on school, friends, girls, life in general.  These can lead to meaningful conversations but also understanding where the teen’s headspace is at.  Teenagers want validation and reassurance; they want to know that people value and care about them for who they are (Jaime notes quite a few times that he feels his father is ashamed of him).  It’s important for them to hear from parents, adults or others that they do matter, and their value doesn’t lie in their looks, grades, skills, etc.  

In conclusion, the show Adolescence was a very interesting watch and helped me as a therapist learn more about what some teenagers are engaging with online and harmful views that they are being influenced with.  I felt that Briney was a very realistic take on how a psychologist would interact with a teen, looking for answers on this tragic incident.  The more Briney explores Jaime’s views, it shows reassurance on the importance of having conversations with teens and understanding their views on themselves and others.  We cannot assume that teens feel heard and seen, it needs to be said and shown.