Adolescence Writer Says Show’s About ‘Masculinity,’ Not Race

Adolescence’s co-writer Jack Throne has denied an online conspiracy theory about the show that claims it was based on a real-life crime committed by a Black child and that the writers changed the race to promote “anti-white propaganda.” Yeah, it’s as insane as it sounds. The theory was amplified when Elon Musk replied “Wow” to it on X earlier this month, drawing more attention to the theory. Throne went on The News Agents podcast to talk about the series, and when asked about the theory, he said there was “nothing further from the truth” and “absurd.” Adolescence follows a fictional family, still inspired by real-life crimes, who are searching for answers when their 13-year-old son is arrested for killing one of his classmates.

Throne explained that the show isn’t based on a single news story, but rather a pattern of crimes happening across the U.K.: “There is no part of this that’s based on a true story, not one single part.” Throne continued to say that there’s no pattern proving that a specific race is committing these crimes, he shared, “It’s absurd to say that [knife crime] is only committed by Black boys. It’s absurd. It’s not true. And history shows a lot of cases of kids from all races committing these crimes. We’re not making a point about race with this. We are making a point about masculinity. We’re trying to get inside a problem. We’re not saying this is one thing or another, we’re saying that this is about boys.”

Stephen Graham, creator and star of the series, also has been echoing a similar sentiment when discussing the inspiration behind the show. “There was an incident where a young boy stabbed a girl,” Graham explained to Tudum. “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?’ ”

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