Culture & Faith: Adolescence
This review is from the June issue of Topic. Culture & Faith is a new column in Topic where local Anglicans explore how pop culture - tv, movies, books, etc. can be a spark for reflection, food for spiritual growth, and perhaps motivation to put faith in action in a new way. Read the June issue of Topic HERE.
To state the obvious: there is a lot of bad news lately. Not too long ago we looked to leaders of the free world for inspiration. Alas, this is no longer true. Courteous discourse and civility is taking a back seat to insults, belittling, name-calling, misogynistic statements and behaviors, with public influencers like the Tate brothers and Conor McGregor welcomed and even invited to the Oval Office for a personal meet and greet with President Trump.
Against this backdrop of toxic online masculinity, the four-episode Netflix drama Adolescence garnered rave reviews and has grown into a global conversation. The story centres around a 13-year-old boy, Jamie, who is accused of killing a girl in his class. Jamie comes from a very normal British household: his father, a plumber, works long hours, his mother is loving and supportive, his sister is popular and successful at school and is heading for college.
Despite a loving and supportive household, Jamie falls prey to harmful “manosphere” influencers he follows online. This steady diet of influencers whose content features angry discourse against women and feminism, promotes male aggression, and female submission, tips Jamie over the edge when he is cyberbullied. In response to sexually explicit comments he has made regarding images of women, his classmate Katie fills his Instagram feed with ‘incel’ emojis. Each of the four episodes leads us further into the heart of this harrowing drama, exploring how a child from a stable, loving home can become radicalized against women without his family noticing. Each episode jumps ahead a few months, allowing us to see the effect Jaime’s radicalization has on his peers and his family long-term.
Sir Gareth Southgate, the former manager of the English soccer team, gave a moving speech at the prestigious Richard Dimbleby Lecture series in March 2025. He talked about the unrelenting impact of social media on young people; the suffering, the grappling of young men with their masculinity and broader place in society. He concluded, saying, “We need leaders to set the right tone; to be the role models we want for our young men. We have to show young men that how you treat others is more important, that having character is more important than status. Everyone can live a life where they can constantly strive to improve. Where they can look back and say ‘I stayed true to myself, and I made a difference.’”
As a mother myself of two grown boys, now parenting their own boys, this call for leaders to set the right tone is too important to ignore. A book I highly recommend is BoyMom: Reimagining Boyhood in the Age of Impossible Masculinity by Ruth Whippman.
The series highlights the desperate need for positive role-models and places of community where there is awareness of all that is out there, as well as safety and acceptance. Our churches can provide that space. St. Clement’s, has a growing community of teenagers, under the steady guidance of Rev. Helen Dunn and Children and Youth Coordinator Beth Bailey. “Digital Detox” events are offered during which participants are encouraged to leave cell phones at home and come enjoy a serene evening of painting, journaling, finishing a long-neglected knitting project, playing board games, and listening to music.
In the many years I have been a parishioner at St. Clement’s, I have seen generations of teens grow, flourish, come into their lovely selves, return at Christmas and Easter with their families, where the greater community rejoices to see them launched, loved and flourishing. Is your church a place of acceptance, of love, community, and listening? More than ever, our young people need what we, as a community of faith, can offer in abundance.
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Wilna Parry is a parishioner and Parish Council member at St. Clement’s in North Vancouver.
Photos: Behind the scenes filming Adolesence (Netflix), Official poster (Netflix)