Adolescence

"I'm sorry son. I should've done better." This tackles so many different thing I don't even know where to start. I guess I will start with the elephant in the room which is the one shots. If you are unaware, each episode of this mini series is a oner, no cuts. And a lot of times these decisions can end up feeling gimmicky, but I did not feel that at all. I thought the choice made sense thematically and only adds to the narrative. We are also given some monumental performances. I am most drawn to the performance from Stephen Graham. I think that he is brilliant, and gives one of my favorite performances of the decade. And I cannot forget to mention Owen Cooper in his first acting gig giving one of the greatest child performances of all time. Truly special stuff. Adolescence is addressing so many things. Fatherhood and the feeling of failure, the dangers of social media, and toxic masculinity. And I think they balance all of these topics perfectly. Nothing felt forced, it was perfectly paced and the script here is sensational. Toxic masculinity is a bad word in some circles, and sometimes rightfully so. Tagging something as toxic maculinity when maybe it is just more of a conservative or traditional view of masculinity doesn't make it toxic. But there is toxic masculinity and this show displays that. It displays how social media and the influences on it can damage our youth. They directly name Andrew Tate and it is the masculinity that he pushes that is toxic and we must reject. But there is a true masculinity, a good form of masculinity. And we find that only in the person of Jesus, and the masculinity that he displays. The masculinity found in 1 Corinthians 16 that says, "13 Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. 14 Let all that you do be done in love." And it is our jobs as men and fathers to instill this in our youth. Which is why Stephen Grahams performance impacted me so much. Because he thought he did influence him in a positive way and he feels responsible for his sons actions. It is not his fault but this is a very real feeling for a Father to go through after his son does something horrific. The more I think about this series and write about it, here is my thought: come Lord Jesus