Betwixt tween and teen, beware when the clock strikes 13. On one side is the internet with all its social media fireworks, on the other side stands the vulnerable child in a tearing hurry to grow up. A portal can open to the unknown, into slippery online alleys, where connecting with the faceless and nameless may seem more tangible than the real world. Teenagers today face perils the previous generation can neither guess at nor guard against. Which is why a new four-part web series has hit a nerve.
Netflix steadied its fluctuating reputation in one go with 'Adolescence', and sent the very word trending across the universe. With each episode shot in a single arc focusing on a particular flow in the lives of the concerned characters, the series quickly became the talk of the town for having its finger bang on the throbbing pulse. The dark web, misogyny, domestic circumstances, raging hormones and the sheer access to anywhere all the time just by plugging in… The scary world is not out there, it is right inside our home, ticking like a bomb within a PC or phone.
The series gained applause from audience and reviewers alike, with most appreciating the realistic depiction of events and the red flags that appear only in hindsight. Occasionally a film or book comes along to make us sit up and stop pretending like everything is alright, that the kids are doing fine. Movies like 'Mass' and novels like 'We Need to Talk About Kevin' not only bring to us the traumatized teen who is present only by his past acts of violence, but also the parents racked by self-doubt, remorse and an eternal seeking of backdated truths. The moment when it all began to go wrong, the moment all could have been saved, the moment now that will never come back.
Novelist Madhavi Mahadevan says: ‘'Adolescence' brings home to viewers how oblivious parents are about the heavily personalised “reality” that their children live in. A reality that they cannot access because of the private nature of the social media content. What is going on in your child’s head just got harder to know.’
Gen Alpha is an inscrutable lot, coolly taking for granted what is a maze for the previous generation to navigate. They are the digital natives, citizens of a cyber-planet – their bullying shifting from school playgrounds to screens. Caught up in career and midlife preoccupations parents are hard-pressed to understand what their sullen teenager is up to, happy to take their presence at home for a well-adjusted temperament and safety. Then along came 'Adolescence', ripping open this façade to expose the beating heart of a people young in age but poised on their own precipices.
Reena Puri, executive editor of Amar Chitra Katha, says: ‘Young people have never been in a more confusing space than in today’s world. 'Adolescence' is everything that one was scared to face: the terrible effect of social media coupled with an unscrupulous world on highly vulnerable minds. The huge gap between “My daughter and I are best friends” to the sad reality. A reality that hit me when I asked my teenaged son, “How much of your life do I really know about?” And he laughed and answered, “20 percent, Ma”.’
The brag that the series has been shot in one take, which definitely and visibly demanded more out of the crew and cast, lapses into a mere craft point against the content. For the majority of audiences, it is the theme and not the technique that has been the gasp, though it has to be said that the urgency and immediacy of a live hour is accurately conveyed by this camera continuum. The boy’s arrest, the teetering between innocence and guilt, a child psychologist who tries her best not to be intimidated, the effect on a marriage, a sibling’s confusion, the aftermath… If the first scene casts a long shadow over subsequent scenes, the last implodes quietly in viewer bloodstreams.
According to Dr Neena Verma: ‘The depiction of children falling prey to the dark underworld of the internet in 'Adolescence' is startling and saddening. Adolescence is a complex, vulnerable, yet formative liminal life phase. No longer a child, not yet ready for sexual exploration. Impressionable to external influences; resistant to parents and teachers.’ Dr Verma, a resilience coach, grief specialist and author, adds: ‘Responsible parenting is more important than being “cool” parents. Follow the third episode’s lead, and “understand the understanding” of your children about notions of adulting, sexuality, masculinity. Have the will to model healthy psychological and behavioural processes, and minimise internet engagement (your own first) to healthy usage.’
Anger always had a gender: male. And in these times when feminism is an equally potent force, toxic masculinity is having a bad time of it. A girl’s crime of rejection has brought on acid attacks in India; here her ‘I am not that desperate’ to Jamie (Owen Cooper) who asks her out on a date just because he thinks he has a chance during her low moment, unlocks the plot. The series has set off debates on male rage, its
invisible flows and floods. As the story spellbindingly rushes towards its ending, never has hypermasculinity been more neon-lit. Those who had forgotten their pubertal years, any resentment they felt at that time towards the opposite sex, their methods of retribution, it all comes back to them.
Gender wars have evolved over the years. The manosphere terms pacifists as sissies and wimps. There are two Jamies – one bites his nails and whimpers, the other is caught on CCTV.
Two children can have vastly different upbringings in the same house, with the same set of parents. And herein lies the tragedy. A tragedy brought out with such quiet factuality in Adolescence that it has left everyone shaken. As Jamie’s dad (Stephen Graham) tells his mom while watching their daughter with grateful fondness, they made her and they made him, didn’t they? They have two children, but only one is home.
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