Picture: Netflix
Adolescence has been a significant success on Netflix. Watched by millions of subscribers worldwide already, the series has received tons of praise for its gut-wrenching story, phenomenal acting, and director Philip Barantini’s incredible direction. It’s even led to the United Kingdom’s prime minister backing a campaign to have the series shown to kids in school. That said, there’s been a nasty and ill-informed backlash to the show, particularly on X, with regard to its main character and what the show is actually based on.
However, over the past week, we’ve seen a concerning increase in the number of posts online spreading misinformation about the series. If you go into the replies of any official Netflix Tweets, you’ll see ample criticism laid at the door of the show for being woke, anti-white, or propaganda.
Misinformation Spread on X
You may have seen viral posts online suggesting that the story of Adolescence is directly adapting the story of the death of 15-year-old Elianne Andam in Croydon, London, England, in September 2023 and other cases such as the tragic deaths of three young girls in Southport, England, in July 2024.
Pictures: X
As evident from the Tweets above, which often pick up millions, if not tens of millions of views, a lot is being spread about this show, all of it lacking context and the true intentions of the show’s creators.
Ian Miles Cheong, in particular, is under the impression that the series is about a “British knife killer who stabbed a girl to death on a bus.” Anyone who has watched the series will know that’s not what happened in the story of Jamie Miller, and the implication that Netflix has race-swapped him is false.
Elon Musk, never afraid of stepping into UK politics while being ill-informed, amplified one of the posts featured above with a reply saying, “Wow.”
Is Adolescence based on a true story?
The series isn’t based on one event but was somewhat sparked by one incident and expanded to a more significant issue. The creators of Adolescence, Jack Thorne and Stephen Graham, have been incredibly vocal about what inspired the series’ creation.
Netflix has clarified the intention of the show: “While Jamie’s story, specifically, isn’t based on a real person or event, the idea for the series did spring from reports that co-creator Graham had heard about on the news of young boys being involved in knife crimes.”
That’s backed up by all the interviews before and after the show’s launch with the show’s talent and creators.
In an interview with Yahoo, Graham said one specific story sparked a conversation that led to the series; he said, “I’d read an incident in the paper, and it was about a young boy killing a young girl, stabbing a young girl to death. Then, not long after that, I saw on the news on the television that, you know, it happened again in a different, completely different part of the country, and a young boy had stabbed a young girl. And if I’m really honest with you, both of those incidents really hurt my heart in a way. And it just made me think, what’s going on? Why? What’s happened in today’s society where a young boy, and they are young boys, feel a need or this age or whatever it may be, you know, I’ll never understand it, to kill a young girl, to stab a young girl to death. And I knew we were going to be making a series.”
In an event What’s on Netflix attended back in January, Graham reiterated where the inspiration for the show came from: “Over the past 10 years or so, we’ve seen an epidemic of knife crime amongst young lads. It really hit me hard… These are young boys, not men, and when these things are on the news, your judgment instantly goes to blaming the family. I just thought, ‘What if that’s not the case at all?’ That was it.”
Anyone who’s watched the show you’ll knows the story of Adolescence and warns of the danger that social media and the internet pose to young and vulnerable boys. It’s not just young boys from broken homes who are at risk of falling down a dark and dangerous rabbit hole that led to the death of a young girl, but also those from normal, working-class, and middle-class families. To put it simply, the race of the boy and his family in the series is irrelevant to the story and message being told on screen, and those online perpetuating it as anti-white propaganda seemingly have their agenda of spreading vitriol that only non-whites are capable of such crimes.
Jack Thorne and Others Under Attack
Thanks to this spread of misinformation, Jack Thorne has been the subject of an ugly tirade on social media, which he spoke about in an interview with BBC Newsnight earlier this week.
The creator said the response, on the whole, has been incredible but has received much criticism, “I’ve been on the television a little bit,” Throne said, “What’s been happening in the last few days is my picture is being circulated with questions as to my masculinity, questions as to whether I’ve got too much estrogen in my system, and questions as to whether I’m a man or not. Weird things like people saying that I’m Jewish when I’m not. It’s been very odd and it’s given me a taste of something that’s very strange. I’m very comfortable with how I look. I don’t mind it, but it’s been scientifically very interesting.”
Rating: TV-MA
