I thought Adolescence was great all in all, but all the furore over it seems a bit silly even a couple of months on, just in retrospect. Just imo, a line was crossed when Kemi Badenoch was basically being pressured on the BBC into watching a fictional TV show because a lot of very excited people ascribed far too much real-life significance to it.
It's a good show that posed interesting questions - especially when it came the gap between Gen Z and their parents that now exists because of social media - but I'm not sure it needed the "national curriculum" hype less than a month after it came out. I'm glad it's available to watch, but forcing kids to do anything normally has the opposite effect.
I'm glad that a TV show about such serious issues has had such an effect on people but it feels a bit disheartening - much like the Post Office scandal - that a TV drama has to be created before the population thinks about springing into action. And I wouldn't mind, but the same people stopped talking about Adolescence as soon as the hype wore off.
It's brought to light the negative effect social media has had on us, where it's a perpetual process of hot button issues gradually coming to light, those issues being given 100% attention for a week, then those issues being forgotten about and shuffled off and shoved in a drawer in the dark once the news cycle moves on. No wonder nothing gets done.
Children should definitely be encouraged to watch Adolescence by their parents and schools, but there's a difference between encouragement and pressure imo. You shouldn't be considered a "bad person" because of the art/entertainment you choose to consume or ignore. Not watching a TV show shouldn't be considered a moral failing.
I'm obviously not a fan of Kemi Badenoch, but watching that interview she did on the BBC was embarrassing. Naga Munchetty really went on the attack about Badenoch not watching Adolescence when Badenoch had said several times over that she'd rather spend her time working in schools to combat online misogyny instead of watching TV.
That's a totally reasonable position for a politician to have but Naga kept poking at Badenoch, despite only watching Adolescence herself a few days prior. It's like that scene in Star Wars when Luke reacts with disbelief when Han Solo says he doesn't believe in the Force, when Luke himself didn't believe in it less than 24 hours ago.
I love TV. I think it's a beautiful medium. I think the world is a better place when we engage with art and try to take its messages into the real world. I'm glad we all connected with and understood the story Adolescence was trying to tell. But treating TV like a learning exercise instead of it being cultural enrichment kills the fun right out the gate.
It's a good show that posed interesting questions - especially when it came the gap between Gen Z and their parents that now exists because of social media - but I'm not sure it needed the "national curriculum" hype less than a month after it came out. I'm glad it's available to watch, but forcing kids to do anything normally has the opposite effect.
I'm glad that a TV show about such serious issues has had such an effect on people but it feels a bit disheartening - much like the Post Office scandal - that a TV drama has to be created before the population thinks about springing into action. And I wouldn't mind, but the same people stopped talking about Adolescence as soon as the hype wore off.
It's brought to light the negative effect social media has had on us, where it's a perpetual process of hot button issues gradually coming to light, those issues being given 100% attention for a week, then those issues being forgotten about and shuffled off and shoved in a drawer in the dark once the news cycle moves on. No wonder nothing gets done.
Children should definitely be encouraged to watch Adolescence by their parents and schools, but there's a difference between encouragement and pressure imo. You shouldn't be considered a "bad person" because of the art/entertainment you choose to consume or ignore. Not watching a TV show shouldn't be considered a moral failing.
I'm obviously not a fan of Kemi Badenoch, but watching that interview she did on the BBC was embarrassing. Naga Munchetty really went on the attack about Badenoch not watching Adolescence when Badenoch had said several times over that she'd rather spend her time working in schools to combat online misogyny instead of watching TV.
That's a totally reasonable position for a politician to have but Naga kept poking at Badenoch, despite only watching Adolescence herself a few days prior. It's like that scene in Star Wars when Luke reacts with disbelief when Han Solo says he doesn't believe in the Force, when Luke himself didn't believe in it less than 24 hours ago.
I love TV. I think it's a beautiful medium. I think the world is a better place when we engage with art and try to take its messages into the real world. I'm glad we all connected with and understood the story Adolescence was trying to tell. But treating TV like a learning exercise instead of it being cultural enrichment kills the fun right out the gate.