Adolescence Drama Praised for Opening Big Talks About Violence Against Women and Social Media

The hit Netflix drama Adolescence has recently received a lot of praise. London Mayor Sadiq Khan, for one, said it has really helped bring the tough topics of violence against women and the dangers of social media out into the open. This show is not just entertainment. It has a real impact on conversations we need to have.

Mayor Khan spoke at the first SXSW London. He explained there is a serious problem with violence against women and girls in the U.K. He brought up statistics from 2019 and 2020 which showed that "every three days a woman is killed at the hands of a man." He said the criminal justice system has a big part to play. But he also stressed that it is very important to talk about these things in schools. He pointed to different initiatives in London, including one that gives teachers tools for classrooms. This shows how seriously the issue is being taken.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan Praises Adolescence for Its Real-World Influence and Social Change

How The Show Helped To Mainstream Discussions About Violence Against Women And Girls

Mayor Khan made it clear that boys especially need to learn about healthy relationships. They need to understand how to respect girls. They also need to learn about strength and staying steady. He said, "So when you’re seeing, for the first time a TikTok or a social media film or a YouTube video about the way to treat girls, you realize that’s not the way to treat girls, that’s not the way to treat women." He pointed out the progression from simple "banter" and name-calling to verbal abuse, sexual harassment, violence, abuse, rape, and murder. He said it is very important to deal with this problem at every part of that unfortunate progression.

Despite all the concern, Khan noted he had been "pulling my hair out over the lack of people’s attention in this area." That is why he gives Adolescence so much credit. He called Stephen Graham a brilliant actor and said Netflix deserves a lot of credit too. He also spoke about Jack Thorne who wrote the show and the public attention they brought afterward. Those talks from going to Parliament to sitting on TV sofas were very important. He hopes everyone will understand this problem is not going away. He said they will keep working on it, making sure laws keep up with what girls go through.

Khan also mentioned a concert he went to where a woman had her picture taken under her skirt without her knowing. At that time, it was not a criminal offense. But the law has since changed, making "upskirting" illegal. He shared that her experience at the concert was very different from his. That is why he believes men need to show support and understanding for women and girls. He said this is why Adolescence is so important. It brought this topic to the public eye. It made it a common discussion.

The Filmmaking Secrets Behind Adolescence's Unique And Intense Visual Style

Producers Discuss The Difficulties And Clever Solutions For Capturing Every Scene In One Take

To make Adolescence happen the way it did, the producers had to figure out some tricky things. They needed to make the camera seem to fly. They also had to manage 300 middle school students during a fire drill scene. This was all to keep the show's one-take style. Stephen Graham and Jack Thorne, the co-creators and executive producers of the show, shared details about how they did it. This four-episode U.K. drama thriller quickly became one of Netflix’s most-watched series. They spoke at the Producers Guild of America’s yearly conference, Produced By.

Graham, who also stars in the show, said one key part of making this difficult production work was working closely with the school leaders where much of the series was filmed. He told the audience "We empowered the local community and brought them on the journey." He noted that in the industry, there is usually a very rigid structure. But with this show, they "ripped up the rulebook and threw it out the fing window." That hard work paid off. They had a scene with a fire drill and hundreds of real students. They only had a small window to get it right. Graham joked about Thorne, his frequent collaborator, saying "This lunatic decided to write a fire alarm in an episode with 300 kids in it." Getting to know the school’s headmaster helped them handle that scene and other high-tension parts.

Graham stressed that from his experience as an actor who has sometimes felt unimportant on set, he made sure every single person in the cast and crew felt like they were a real part of the show. He said "All the cast became the crew and all the crew became the cast." Graham and Thorne talked about how complex it was to plan out the story including moments where characters were driving in cars. Filming all of that without any edits was quite a feat. Graham pointed out "We couldn’t switch off the traffic lights." Drones became the solution. They allowed characters to move around in physical space without breaking the feeling of the one-take style. Thorne explained "As soon as the camera is separated from a character it loses its power. If the camera flies, it’s not a computer game. It’s something else."

Graham and Thorne said they filmed many versions of each episode to get the one-take format right. They only had time for two takes per day. For most episodes, the version used was always the last one they filmed. Episode 1 used the second take. Episode 2 was completed on take 16. Episode 3 needed take "11 or 12." The final episode was take 14. The success of Adolescence shows that audiences around the world are open to all kinds of storytelling. In the past, Graham and Thorne were told some projects they were trying to sell had too many "Liverpool accents." But not with Netflix and Adolescence. Thorne said "This shows the joy of the particular. We are a very particular show."

Adolescence's Huge Success And How It Is Changing The Television Landscape

Breaking Viewership Records and Sparking Important Conversations About Current Issues

In just its first week, Adolescence quickly became a popular topic. It earned a perfect score on Rotten Tomatoes. It also drew in large audiences and received great reviews from critics. The show spans four episodes. It tells the story of Jamie Miller (Owen Cooper), a young boy accused and arrested for killing a female classmate. The series shows different sides of the case. It keeps the focus on Jamie’s family played expertly by Stephen Graham, Christine Tremarco, and Amélie Pease. Beyond the acting, writing, and story, the production has also received praise because each episode was filmed in one continuous take.

At its heart, Adolescence tackles very current topics. It deals with the radicalization of young men. Its popularity grew so much that even the British Prime Minister brought it up. He called for the show to be "shown in schools." This was exactly what co-creators Graham and Jack Thorne wanted to achieve. They took on the difficult task of bringing this story to light. They hoped to start a global conversation about the dangers affecting young people today.

The show's success is a big deal. It became Netflix's second-most-watched English-language series of all time. This means it moved Stranger Things Season 4 out of its spot. By early June, Adolescence reached a huge 141.2 million views. This happened in less than three months since it first appeared on the platform on March 13. This shows how quickly the show gained an audience. The show's popularity ends its calculation after its first 91 days. Its top competition is Wednesday, which got an even larger 252.1 million views. While it might not catch Wednesday, its achievement is still very impressive.

The success of Adolescence also means more attention for the cameras used in such productions. Matthew Lewis, the show's cinematographer, said a scene at the beginning of the first episode, showing police raiding a house, would not have been possible five years ago. Each of the four hour-long episodes was filmed in one take. The camera often follows characters through quick scenes. It also switches from being held by a person to being mounted on a vehicle. Lightweight, self-stabilizing cameras have changed the film and TV industry. For example, at the end of the second episode, the camera moves from inside a car to crossing a road, flying over nearby streets, and then returning to ground level. You can barely see the switch between drone and human operator.

This was made possible by a DJI Ronin 4D. This is a small, high-resolution camera. It has multiple sensors that detect movement related to the floor and nearby objects. This allows its internal parts to adjust for movement and create smooth, steady footage. Seasoned filmmaker and Boston University professor Tim Palmer called the result "phenomenal." He first doubted that episodes of Adolescence were really shot in one take. But as soon as he saw it, he knew. He added that camera technology has made big steps recently. Other cameras like Canon's lightweight Cinema EOS models also help filmmakers shoot with more freedom. This kind of technology can help tell better, more interesting stories. However, some worry that focusing too much on one-take shows could become a trick instead of serving a good story. For many, a good story is still the main reason to watch a show.