Adolescence is a stage of life for everyone. What makes this one so unique?
Adolescence, written by Jack Thorne and Stephen Graham, follows Owen Cooper as Jamie Miller, a violent and unpredictable kid who’s capable of murder. The idea came to co-writer and actor Graham, following a terrifying rise in teenage killings throughout the United Kingdom, where the show takes place. It delves deep into a young, flexible mind, that because of a patriarchal society, forms disgust and brutality, fostering misogyny in its worst forms – and Owen Cooper really plays the part.
Born and raised in Warrington, a town between Liverpool and Manchester, Cooper’s debut into acting was with Adolescence. Though he never really considered acting as a career, Cooper has now established himself as a rising actor because of his performance in the show.
When first hearing about Adolescence, all that ever really floated around my head was the name ‘Owen Cooper.’ At the time of the filming, he was only 13 years old, and without having watched the show, his age was the only impression that really stuck with me – in fact, when I came back to research Owen Cooper later, it surprised me to discover that he had never professionally acted before. Later, when scrolling through various Netflix shows trying to find something interesting enough to watch, I stumbled upon Adolescence. The simple title and uncomfortable atmosphere drew me in as Owen Cooper’s face haunted the screen. So I watched it.
There is a lot about Adolescence that makes it so beautiful as a piece of fiction, and one of those things is the success of the actors in portraying the story. Owen Cooper gave the show one of its most valuable aspects — fear. The unsettling feeling that follows the audience throughout the show is thanks to the long pauses, stares, and lash outs that the actor performs with complete integrity. In fact, Cooper is also successful in telling the story of a sad reality that the world endures today. When young boys begin to mature in the wrong way, they start processing the world with a hate stemming from a system that has managed to cut deeper than ever imagined.
To really understand exactly what made Cooper’s character so successful, one first needs to comprehend the severity of Jamie Miller, Owen Cooper’s character in the T.V. series. His role in the show portrays a striking critique on the misogyny that penetrates each corner of our world, especially children. Jamie is 13–he’s quiet, isolated, and generally described as a nice kid. But behind a seemingly normal façade is a violent kid, capable of acting on murder. So he does, and he kills his classmate out of a genuine belief that he’s justified in taking her life.
When examining Jamie’s system of beliefs, one of the most obvious flaws in his thinking is that he follows the same ideologies as a community of people who call themselves ‘incels’ – men who blame their involuntary celibacy on women rather than acknowledging their own faults. The National Institute of Health characterizes incels by their “higher levels of self-critical rumination and externalization of blame” that typically lands on “women who have ‘shunned’ them”. Incels also believe that “women are to blame for the looks-based societal hierarchy that…created incels in the first place.”
This is portrayed by Jamie’s actions, where he targets and ultimately kills his classmate Katie because of her perceived lack of attractiveness that makes Jamie feel entitled to her reciprocation. Owen Cooper’s role in helping to instill fear into the viewers is especially prominent when examining viewers reactions, as a New York Times article points out that when parents were “discussing moments…that made them cry…many had singled out” the moment where Jamie transforms from “a sweet, innocent-seeming boy into a snarling, rage-filled teen”, a performance that had “upset and scared many parents.”
This emotional weight of the series is thanks to the Emmy winning actor that helps give way to the biggest realization of the show: Jamie’s lack of awareness on right and wrong. He goes through with murder, and yet still finds a way to justify it because of his alignment with ‘incel’ thinking that pushes his violence further. One of the main symptoms of being influenced by the ‘manosphere’ that Jamie follows is this warped perception of morality and his feelings that women owe him something.
This is a common trait of misogynists who follow a skewed moral compass that produces hate. Owen Cooper perfectly portrays the violent, misunderstood nature of incels, and captures it well during his psychological evaluation. He repeatedly lashes out, asking his psychologist, Briony, whether or not she believes him to be a ‘good person.’ She is scared and the entire experience weighs heavily on her own psyche as she’s seen shedding a single tear following the interaction. She begins to reflect on Jamie and how such a young person can be misled due to being completely uninformed and how that bleeds into the mistreatment he received at school.
This painful realization that Briony has is a product of hateful digital misogyny that has continually spread as the internet space available to teenagers and adults alike grows. Unfortunately, this deep hatred isn’t exclusive to teenagers in the United Kingdom. A study featured in the United Nation’s article concerning women’s rights, entitled, ‘What is the Manosphere and Why Should We Care’ explains how “40 percent of adult U.S. men…say they trust ‘men’s rights’, anti-feminist, or pro-violence voices from the manosphere.” Many, if not all, of these men will interact with women in their day to day lives – it’s a horrifying truth that their deep-seating misogyny can alter and permeate their opinions on these same women.
This deep-rooted and genuine belief in hatred against women isn’t the only thing that transcends beyond a screen. The entire series serves as a warning against a lack of digital oversight that plagues parents in a technologically-reliant age. It bleeds into the daily habits of internet users and questions a child’s true ability to comprehend the internet, especially with the amount of bigotry that is free to access.
However, another huge aspect of Adolescence is its discussion of dissonance between adults and children that is part of the catalyst for Jamie’s actions in the first place. When investigating the crime, Detective Inspector Luke Bascombe experiences a huge rift in his understanding of the internet versus someone younger, such as his son. When reviewing online messages and deciphering emoji’s, Bascombe assumes good intentions and literal meanings. When approaching his son, who is similar to Jamie in age, he discovers that what he thought meant interest was actually a series of insulting symbolisms. This juxtaposition between adults and adolescents is another key focus of the show, and is well-portrayed in Cooper’s own acting and character as well.
In an interview with current Bronx Science student, Ariana Lisser ’28, she made comments about social media, stating that, “I find social media a useful tool for communication, and honestly I do love it, but it can easily get out of hand.” When asked about the huge disconnect between Bascombe’s understanding and that of a younger generation, she added, “Bascombe probably didn’t grow up with any of the social media his kids are using, so his understanding of Jamie’s conversations would obviously be different.” She reasons that, “different generations were raised differently – we don’t understand each other now that technology is intermixed with it.”
Our world is a collective of beliefs, and some of them manifest themselves in the form of violence that can completely change the course of someone’s life, or even end it. The skill to inflict this message into an entire audience of people is really only evident in certain actors, and Owen Cooper makes himself known as one of them. The Emmy he won is likely standing somewhere on a shelf resting, and very well-deserved.
Adolescence delves deep into a young, flexible mind, that because of a patriarchal society, forms disgust and brutality, fostering misogyny in its worst forms – and Owen Cooper really plays the part.