Adolescence, 23andMe, and Forced Restaurant Tips

Mixing several unrelated topics into a single story like I sometimes do. That’s life! Lots of things are happening at the same time.

I watched Adolescence, the much-talked-about Netflix miniseries about the thirteen-year-old boy accused of the murder of his female schoolmate. Not that I’m an expert in cinematography, but the production quality felt extremely high. I enjoyed the series because I felt it was balanced in its messages. In the opening episodes, there were topics of manosphere, bullying, and the role of social media — as relates to teenagers. There was a mention of Andrew Tate’s influence on teenage boys. However, the later episodes revealed the more idiosyncratic troubles and tragedies.

The protagonist’s family is anything but troubled. It’s a good family built on the values of love, respect, decency, and hard work. This contrasts with the story of the Menendez brothers (another Netflix series) who grew up in an atmosphere of abuse and toxicity — well, at least they claim so.

So the question of why — how did a thirteen-year-old end up committing such a violent crime — is left open-ended. We get glimpses into his violent character in the third episode when we see his rage outbursts during his interview with a psychologist. While there are yet again themes of misogyny, ultimately the violence and explosiveness in his personality transcend the more narrow topics and even the hideous crime he committed. Yes, social media and other trends might’ve added fuel to the fire…