Adolescence on Netflix Scared the Living Daylights Out of Me
Hi friends,
Every now and then Netflix makes something good. Last year it was Rebel Ridge, this year it’s Adolescence. If you haven’t seen the show yet, don’t worry I don’t spoil it.
I watched the Netflix limited series Adolescence a few weeks ago and have been unsettled ever since. It’s not horror, but it is scary. It depicts one of the worst case scenarios that any parent can go through.
The show is about a 13-year-old boy arrested for the murder of a female classmate. Each episode happens in real time, with the first episode taking place over a grueling hour that shows the arrest, processing, and questioning of Jamie, the accused.
The camera spends time with Jamie’s family in the waiting room of the police station as they try to understand what is happening. They are convinced the arrest is a mistake and the nightmare will soon be over. The camera leaves them there and follows the detectives upstairs to where they are putting the finishing touches on the case against the boy. They are also convinced it will soon be over and that Jamie is guilty.
As the viewer, I floated along as a disembodied observer, going wherever the camera went and looking at whatever it looked at. The detective eating an apple and making a personal phone call. Jamie providing all ten fingerprints one after another. It gets tedious. I longed for a cut, a jump forward in time, any traditional editing technique that a normal show would do.
But this isn’t a normal show. It’s an elaborate, technical, live play that showcases the strength of the actors, who have to hit their marks. A mistake means reseting everything and starting back at the very beginning. The intention is to sit with the characters through each excruciating detail and I found it very effective.
Over the course of the four episodes you get a picture of Jamie’s psyche, his school, his family life. Bullying, social media, and YouTube all play a part in this story. The kids have their own online language where emojis mean things that adults are clueless about.
I have two sons, the oldest not much younger than Jamie in the show. I want to give them freedom, trust, independence but also know exactly what they’re getting up to with their friends and online. I want to delay giving them smartphones as long as possible. Once they get a phone it is likely they will never not have a phone ever again. It is my job to protect them, but I can’t preserve them in amber. This show was a reminder I have to do something. I have to do better. It’s a good pairing with The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt, which posits we overprotect kids in the real world and underprotect them online. I want to get that balance right.
Let me know if you’ve seen the show, I’d love to hear your takes. And as always, I’d love to know what you’re reading, watching, enjoying these days.
Thanks for reading,
Kyle
I really enjoyed the show. It made me think, which I appreciated. I also have two children younger than the ones in the show, a boy and a girl. I'm worried about both of them. When the time comes, I think I'll try not to let them use gadgets alone in the bedroom (it's also bad for sleep) and maybe introduce technology gradually and with support. I'd also has a look at The Anxious Generation. Last year I read The New Childhood by Jordan Shapiro. It's not just about technology, it's also about video games. Shapiro is a strong advocate of using technology with children rather than delaying its use.
Did not see it but your thoughts give me a good idea about today’s environment for raising children. I know you will be inspired do what’s right for your boys!