My interpretation of “Adolescence” seems different from others

I got into a bit of an argument with another writer on Medium who wrote the story titled: “Adolescence” Episode Three: The Incel Wake-Up Call Netflix Gave Women”.

I commented — politely I thought — that my interpretation was different and — expectedly — got scolded for commenting through a prism of being a man (“But then again as a man commenting, I would not expect you to understand how communication works….”)

Anyway, this story is not to highlight my disagreement with another author but rather my takeaways from watching the series. As a side note, I’m a father of four kids (three boys). One is about entering adulthood and two teenagers. I have a teenage daughter too. I mention it to note that watching Adolescence makes you reflect on your parenthood. For example, I’ve always been fascinated by how different the kids are. They are born into this world very differently. Some lie more easily. Some have more empathy, some less. Some are more cynical in their demeanors. You do what you can as a parent (and you make mistakes) — but you don’t fully control some patterns and outcomes.

I’ll keep it simple on purpose to avoid over-analysis (some of this I already covered in one of my previous stories where I mentioned the series).

Episodes 1–2, as the crime is investigated, focus on the topics of the manosphere, bullying, and the role of social media — as relates to teenagers. There is a mention of Andrew Tate, who is known as one of the most misogynistic influencers on the internet.

The entire episode 3 is about the main protagonist — the thirteen-year-old accused of murdering his female schoolmate — speaking with a psychologist. Several times the boy melts down and rages violently against his female interviewer. Are there misogynistic elements in his behavior? For sure. However, I felt that the violence and explosiveness in his personality far transcended the more narrow topics and even the hideous crime he committed. Yes, social media and other trends might’ve added fuel to the fire, but ultimately the evil and the fire in the boy’s character are idiosyncratic. There is uncontrollable rage stemming from a troubled mind. When and how did the mind become troubled? Well, we don’t know. My interpretation is that some people are born into the world with violence and mental derangements programmed into their DNA. Some evil is existential (I was literally reminded of “The Exorcist” movie when I…