Be honest, there were probably several moments in Netflix’s Adolescence that left you scratching your head. For me, it was the emojis used by Jamie Miller (Owen Cooper) and the other kids at his school. As soon as I saw these, I immediately looked up what they meant and if you don’t already know, allow me to explain.
The four-part Netflix mini-series follows the arrest of 13-year-old Jamie for the murder of his classmate, Katie. On the surface, the story is about knife violence. But as the camera continues to roll, themes of misogyny, cyberbullying, male rage, and toxic masculinity begin to surface. The series’s co-creator and star, Stephen Graham, said the inspiration behind the series hit close to home. In 2021, 12-year-old Ava White was fatally stabbed by a 14-year-old boy in Graham’s home city of Liverpool. Two years later, 15-year-old Elianne Andam was attacked with a kitchen knife by 17-year-old Hassan Sentamu outside a Croydon shopping center.
Adolescence, according to Graham, focuses on the “why.” The reason behind Jamie’s actions was revealed to be that the young boy had been radicalized by incel and misogynistic culture online. The clues of this were carefully placed throughout the series. One emerged in Episode 2, when DI Luke Bascombe (Ashley Walters) learned through his teenage son Adam (Amari Bacchus) that the emojis Katie commented on Jamie’s Instagram were not as flirtatious as he previously thought. Here is a breakdown of the emojis.
Red Pill Emoji 💊
In the show, Adam explained, “The red pill is like, ‘I see the truth’. It’s a call to action by the manosphere.” Inspired by the film The Matrix, the red pill has come to be a symbol of waking up and seeing the truth — in this case, it’s about gender dynamics. The manosphere is a collection of websites, blogs, and online forums that preach masculinity, misogyny, and opposing feminism. Within this manosphere, taking the red pill is associated with viewing women in a negative light, therefore seeing them as lesser than.
Dynamite Emoji 🧨
The dynamite emoji from Katie’s comment refers to an “exploding red pill,” alluding to someone being an incel. Incel, coming from the manosphere, combines “involuntary” and “celibate.” According to the Anti-Defamation League, an incel is defined as “heterosexual men who blame women and society for their lack of romantic success.”
100 Emoji 💯
Another emoji Adam mentioned is the 100 emoji, referring to the 80/20 rule in the manosphere. The 80/20 rule is based on the Pareto principle, saying that roughly 80 percent of consequences come from 20 percent of causes. “80 percent of women are attracted to 20 percent of men,” he explained. “Women, you must trick them because you’ll never get them in a normal way. 80 percent of women are cut off… she’s saying he’s an incel.” And he always will be, according to Adam.
Heart Emojis ❤️🧡🩵🩷
Heart emojis, while widely used, have a lot of meanings. As Adam explained, “Red means love, purple – horny, yellow – ‘I’m interested, are you interested’, pink – ‘I’m interested but not in sex’, orange – ‘You’re going to be fine’.” All the meanings can pile together and make a seemingly flirty message something it’s not.
Beans Emoji 🫘
Finally, the kidney bean emoji is used to identify, or self-identify, an incel. It allows people to connect with the manosphere and find others like them.
Overall, understanding what these emojis mean can help people pay closer attention to harmful actions associated with them.