Adolescence

I haven't got netflix so I haven't watched it.
It's a long time since I was at school but I never remember having any such talks, nor police visiting schools for chats etcetera. We had the odd bit of violence and I do remember mass fights between Benchill and Baguely in Wythenshawe when I was a teenager. Looking at the news times have obviously changed for the worst.
I'm not sure how successful these chats are. I believe ex offenders go into school and warn pupils about the dangers of getting involved in crime and the horrors of being in prison in an attempt to deter them from doing so. There is an old saying, you can't put an old head on young shoulders and I believe that's true. Teenagers brains are wired differently, I believe that's now a proven medical fact. YouTube is full of interviews with 40+ year old ex offenders regretting their past , the problem is they did the damage and nothing can alter that fact.
Still if such measures manage to deter just a few from going down the criminal.path it's probably worth the effort.
 
I thought it was incredible.

The acting, in particular in episode 3 between Doherty and Cooper was absolutely unbelievable and Stephen Graham is absolutely at the top of his game. The final scene with the teddy bear destroyed me.

I like how it didn't place the blame at any one persons/instituitions feet and made brief references to factors that may or may not have contributed to the boy's behaviour. It keeps us on our toes and makes us question ourselves and what are we doing as fathers/mothers/teachers/friends/members of the community to ensure that we aren't falling asleep at the wheel with regards to our kids and particulary our young men.

I don't see the one take thing as a gimmick either. I think it adds to the story telling and makes it more claustrophobic. That fact that the show doesn't cut away and pursue the different threads of 'what caused him to do this' means as the viewer we are placed in the story as a character rather than an all seeing eye.

I think it was wise not include the victim or her family in the storyline. I think it gave no inch for victim blaming
(e.g. because she left the comments on his insta)
and also reflects how we as a society react to these types of tragedies as referenced by the copper in the second episode.

Don't think I'll shake it off for a while.
 
Main Stand Hotdog said:
I thought it was incredible.

The acting, in particular in episode 3 between Doherty and Cooper was absolutely unbelievable and Stephen Graham is absolutely at the top of his game. The final scene with the teddy bear destroyed me.

I like how it didn't place the blame at any one persons/instituitions feet and made brief references to factors that may or may not have contributed to the boy's behaviour. It keeps us on our toes and makes us question ourselves and what are we doing as fathers/mothers/teachers/friends/members of the community to ensure that we aren't falling asleep at the wheel with regards to our kids and particulary our young men.

I don't see the one take thing as a gimmick either. I think it adds to the story telling and makes it more claustrophobic. That fact that the show doesn't cut away and pursue the different threads of 'what caused him to do this' means as the viewer we are placed in the story as a character rather than an all seeing eye.

I think it was wise not include the victim or her family in the storyline. I think it gave no inch for victim blaming
(e.g. because she left the comments on his insta)
and also reflects how we as a society react to these types of tragedies as referenced by the copper in the second episode.

Don't think I'll shake it off for a while.
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Well summarised, exactly how I saw it and felt.
They did well to not make it preachy also.
A number of factors ‘could’ have prevented the path he went down, it’s down to everyone just to do a bit more for this age category in my view. Starting with banning phones at school I’d go for.
 
Watched it one go.

Fucking superb.

Casting was excellent, acting is right up there. Episode 3 with the psychologist is amongst the best I’ve ever watched.

I enjoyed some of the “lesser” scenes like the one where the copper’s lad has to tell him the importance of the emojis. It’s like a little “them and us” moment that shows just how out of touch parents can be.

I think the fact that the female teacher showing them round was so “pat on the headable” was also a nod to the same theme.

It’s class blues, get it watched.
 
BlueHammer85 said:
I think it just pinpoints a very confusing age for a 13 year old child, the brain trying to make sense on how to behave with girls, how to deal with rejection, seeing themselves as ugly, how to deal with bullying, what they are being fed on social media and the sexual images they see etc - It's so hard for children of that age in todays world. everyone must do more - hence the meaning of this whole show.
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A friend of ours, her 13 year old son asked a girl out at school and she said no and called him fat.

First, he went through a stage of not eating, and then started cutting himself. He's in therapy now.

When I think back to those days when I was 13. If I got KB'd as we used to call it, you would move onto the next one, without much thought at all. Christine turned me down, so I asked Donna out instead. You didn't catastrophize the situation, you scrubbed it out quickly.

Something has changed along the way. There's a real lack of resilience that surprises me. The thought of dealing with rejection by running for a kitchen knife is just bizarre.
 
Citi-leaks said:
A friend of ours, her 13 year old son asked a girl out at school and she said no and called him fat.

First, he went through a stage of not eating, and then started cutting himself. He's in therapy now.

When I think back to those days when I was 13. If I got KB'd as we used to call it, you would move onto the next one, without much thought at all. Christine turned me down, so I asked Donna out instead. You didn't catastrophize the situation, you scrubbed it out quickly.

Something has changed along the way. There's a real lack of resilience that surprises me. The thought of dealing with rejection by running for a kitchen knife is just bizarre.
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Yes something has changed. Why is this thing called coercive control suddenly a thing and seemingly quite common? I'm a kid of the 70s / early 80s and compared with then society seems infinitely more fucked up. And it's not rose tinted specs either.
 
Stoned Rose said:
Watched it one go.

Fucking superb.

Casting was excellent, acting is right up there. Episode 3 with the psychologist is amongst the best I’ve ever watched.

I enjoyed some of the “lesser” scenes like the one where the copper’s lad has to tell him the importance of the emojis. It’s like a little “them and us” moment that shows just how out of touch parents can be.

I think the fact that the female teacher showing them round was so “pat on the headable” was also a nod to the same theme.

It’s class blues, get it watched.
Click to expand...
Have parents not always been out of touch ?
 
PinkFinal said:
Yes something has changed. Why is this thing called coercive control suddenly a thing and seemingly quite common? I'm a kid of the 70s / early 80s and compared with then society seems infinitely more fucked up. And it's not rose tinted specs either.
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Social Media - It's the biggest change that some older Parents just don't understand.
 
Wasn't really a fan.
The message in the story was interesting and the acting was decent, although not as good as Stephen Graham usually is (and the coppers were terrible) but nothing actually really happens in the whole 4 episodes outside the first 3 minutes. I was waiting for a twist that never arrived.
 
117 M34 said:
Wasn't really a fan.
The message in the story was interesting and the acting was decent, although not as good as Stephen Graham usually is (and the coppers were terrible) but nothing actually really happens in the whole 4 episodes outside the first 3 minutes. I was waiting for a twist that never arrived.
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It was never going to have a silly twist, likewise no silly gimmicks, no CGI… just straight cold pure drama depicting precisely what’s happening in society.
 
I've not seen this yet but I did watch the 1st episode of A Thousand Blows (Disney+) about a week ago.

Stephen Graham's character only shows up towards the end of it and he has little to no dialogue. I thought it was alright but wasn't in a hurry to watch the next ep.

After seeing the response to Adolescence I guess I should watch that first and maybe go back to ATB another time.
 
Citi-leaks said:
A friend of ours, her 13 year old son asked a girl out at school and she said no and called him fat.

First, he went through a stage of not eating, and then started cutting himself. He's in therapy now.

When I think back to those days when I was 13. If I got KB'd as we used to call it, you would move onto the next one, without much thought at all. Christine turned me down, so I asked Donna out instead. You didn't catastrophize the situation, you scrubbed it out quickly.

Something has changed along the way. There's a real lack of resilience that surprises me. The thought of dealing with rejection by running for a kitchen knife is just bizarre.
Click to expand...

My take for what it's worth:

Kids are mollycoddled at school now from day one. Of course, everything was always better in my day/your day etc. but when I was in school (the early/mid 90s) if we weren't pulling our weight we got pulled up on it, it'd get mentioned in school reports/parents evenings and we'd get a bollocking at home, at least I would. Now teachers can't say or do anything because of how it might affect a kid's mental health*. Don't get me started on 9th place ribbons at sports day either.

Problem with the above is when kids enter the real world they're not used to any rejection or harshness and have no idea how to deal with it.

*Please don't think for one minute I'm playing down mental health because it is a thing, but we're talking primary school age kids here.
 
117 M34 said:
Wasn't really a fan.
The message in the story was interesting and the acting was decent, although not as good as Stephen Graham usually is (and the coppers were terrible) but nothing actually really happens in the whole 4 episodes outside the first 3 minutes. I was waiting for a twist that never arrived.
Click to expand...
I agree, just watching E4 now and it's all seemed pointless.

What I don't understand is how, 7 months later the can have a Psychologist assessing him for a judges pre-sentence report, yet 14 months later they're talking about him changing his plea...

There is no real information about the crime.

I think this was just an exercise in doing single shot programs which is an achievement in itself but it could've been better content and storyline.
 
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