Empathy for the male characters

I just finished Adolescence and despite Stephen Graham’s incredible performance in that final scene, I found it so so hard to find empathy within myself for Jamie and his dad.

The rollercoaster of emotion, violence, and anger he puts his wife and daughter through however, shook me to the core. The appeasement the women in this show have to do is harrowing to see.

Seeing the therapist engage with Jamie and the prison guard felt more like a memory, than watching a show.

I felt that the pain the dad goes through at the end is appropriate and redeems him but at no point did I feel the same level of empathy for him as I did for Manda and Lisa. The anxiety I felt watching Eddie go from aggressive and violent when washing the van to soft and kind when talking about memories of his adolescence with Manda, was jarring. I’ve sat through that scene myself so many times, no show has ever been more hauntingly familiar.

And now all I am left feeling is rage. I wonder if Jamie could ever be a kind and empathetic person. I understand that he was bullied but I also know that he disrespected women before the bullying started. He does not see women and girls as equal, maybe he never will.