Netflix’s ‘Adolescence’ takes on the dark world of incels. But who are they?

Adolescence is everywhere — on our X timelines, on our Insta feeds, in newspapers, on websites, everywhere. But we aren’t talking about that transitional stage of an individual but the new Netflix series of the same name by Stephen Graham and Jack Thorne.

Even United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer is talking about the series, which has received rave reviews. Speaking in the British parliament, Starmer said that he is watching the show with his children and even supported a call for it to be shown in schools. “At home, we are watching Adolescence. I’ve got a 16-year-old boy and a 14-year-old girl, and it’s a very good drama to watch. This violence carried out by young men, influenced by what they see online, is a real problem. It’s abhorrent, and we have to tackle it.”

The four-part show focuses on a 13-year-old boy accused of the murder of a girl at his school. It focuses on toxic masculinity and incel culture that an increasing number of young boys are being exposed to online.

As the show keeps gathering fans and views — in the UK alone, it has got over 2.4 million views — here’s a better understanding of what are incels and how they are central to Adolescence.

What is an incel?

An incel is a man who considers himself involuntarily celibate due to exclusion from wider society, particularly women. Research shows that incels are typically in their mid-twenties, heterosexual and childless. According to the Anti-Defamation League in the US, incels are “heterosexual men who blame women and society for their lack of romantic success.”

Experts say that incels harbour deep resentment towards women and other men who are sexually active. They blame women for their own lack of sexual and social status. In fact, most incels believe that women should be shamed and, in some extreme cases, even be physically punished with sexual assault, rape or disfigurement.

Ironically, the term incel wasn’t founded by a man, but by a young woman named Alana in the mid-1990s. At the time, the woman created a personal website called “Alana’s Involuntary Celibacy Project” and she began using the term “incel” to discuss with followers on feelings of shyness and social awkwardness.

However, as time went by, the meaning of the term changed.

How has incel culture grown?

After Alana shut down her project, many of the members moved to different blogs, forums, chatrooms and social media channels to discuss their views and anger towards women. Reddit, experts, say is the preferred choice for incels. In November 2018, Reddit said it banned a 41,000-strong incel group for violating its rules regarding violent content.

However, they continue to operate on social media channels, posting hateful and sometimes violent messages against women. Incels even use the anonymous messaging board 4chan. A Vox report found that its r9k section contains incel-like ideas, and even remains an active source of incel recruitment.

How dangerous can incels be?

In the present scenario, incels are considered dangerous as they harbour extremist ideologies. Laura Bates, author of Men Who Hate Women, said: “The incel community is a community devoted to violent hatred of women. A community that actively recruits members who might have very real problems and vulnerabilities, and tells them that women are the cause of all their woes.”

Experts also find that many incels also hold strong beliefs on far-right ideologies and White supremacy. But as Florence Keen, who researches incels at the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation at Kings College London, told the BBC, “not the whole of incel subculture is violent.”

However, in the past 10 years, there have been instances where incels have perpetrated mass violence. For instance, in 2014, an American identified as Elliot Rodger shot dead six students at the University of California Santa Barbara, before turning the gun on himself. He even left a message saying that he was dissatisfied with his life because he had failed to form a relationship with a woman — and that in turn had led him to hate those around him who were coupled-up. He called for violence against women. Following his death, he was celebrated on incel communities.

But Rodger isn’t a lone case of an incel being violent. In 2018, Alek Minassian killed 10 people in Toronto. He later told the police that he had been inspired by incel ideas. A Facebook post on his page was found saying: “The incel rebellion has already begun. We will overthrow all the Chads and Stacys. All hail the supreme gentleman Elliot Rodger!”

In August 2021, 24-year-old Jake Davison shot and killed five people, including his mother, in Britain’s Plymouth. It later emerged he had been a member of online incel forums.

But incels aren’t just a threat to others. Psychologists believe that incel culture can also be dangerous to the men who find comfort in it. A 2022 study of incels found that 75 per cent of those surveyed were clinically diagnosable with severe or moderate depression, and 45 per cent with severe anxiety.

William Costello, the lead author of that study, said: “Incels are suffering extraordinarily high levels of anxiety, depression, and loneliness. They are also as a group, particularly averse to seeking help from mental health professions.”

In 2022, another study also found that incels are more likely to experience higher rates of depression, paranoia, and negative thoughts about their relationships with others.

How are incels linked to Netflix’s Adolescence?

In the Netflix show, the main character 13-year-old Jamie, played by Owen Cooper, is accused of stabbing his classmate, Katie. As investigators look into the school and the events leading up to the horrific incident, they find that Katie had sent him messages on Instagram with emojis accusing him of being an incel.

The show suggests that Jamie killed Katie because she hurt his feelings.

In fact, the co-creator of Adolescence, Stephen Graham said that the show is born out of real-life events. He’s quoted as saying, “There was an incident where a young boy stabbed a girl. It shocked me. I was thinking, ‘What’s going on? What’s happening in society where a boy stabs a girl to death? What’s the inciting incident here?’

“And then it happened again, and it happened again, and it happened again. I really just wanted to shine a light on it, and ask, ‘Why is this happening today? What’s going on? How have we come to this?’

With inputs from agencies