The real meaning behind ‘incel’ in Adolescence is darker than you think

Adolescence references phrases like “incel”, “manosphere”, and “Andrew Tate sh*te”, and while they’ve all got definitions of their own, the Netflix series gives them an even darker meaning. 

The TV show won big at the 2025 Emmys, and for good reason. Much like Baby Reindeer last year, its tragic plot deftly examines pertinent social issues, shining a spotlight on topics through gripping storytelling and impeccable performances.

In Adolescence’s case, it touches on the impact social media and misogynist influencers have on shaping male teens’ minds, told through the frame of 13-year-old Jamie Miller, who is accused of murdering a female classmate. 

While Episode 1 deals with his arrest, Episode 2 sees detectives head to the school, with DI Luke Bascombe getting a masterclass on online culture from his son Adam. During their chat, he reveals that the victim, Katie Leonard, had been calling Jamie an incel. 

What does incel in Adolescence mean?

Incel stands for involuntary celibate, meaning someone who does not have any sexual activity, but not out of choice. However, there’s far more to it than its literal definition, as Adolescence reveals. 

After Adam explains that Katie was calling Jamie an incel on Instagram, Luke is confused. He asks, “How can you be involuntarily celibate at 13? Who isn’t involuntarily celibate at 13?” Adam quickly realizes his dad isn’t getting what he’s trying to say and starts to leave.

The term incel originated in the 1990s as a neutral label for people struggling with involuntary celibacy, but it took on a darker meaning in the 2010s. 

Its notoriety skyrocketed in 2014 when Elliot Rodger, a self-proclaimed incel, carried out a mass shooting in Isla Vista, California, killing six people before taking his own life. 

Rodger left behind a manifesto blaming women for his loneliness, sparking a wave of online incel communities that glorified violence and misogyny.

The case also inspired at least one other misogynist terrorism case: Alek Minassian’s 2018 Toronto van attack.

The incel subculture is deeply tied to the manosphere, another term raised by Adam in Adolescence. This is a network of anti-feminist, hyper-masculine online spaces, and while it’s made up of various factions, they generally all believe that feminism has made society biased against men.

It also overlaps with the far-right and alt-right followers, and many believe in violence against women. 

Those who accept this philosophy are described as having taken the “red pill,” a metaphor from The Matrix. The red pill is the choice of seeing the potentially awful but essential truth, while the blue pill means remaining in contented ignorance.

Andrew Tate, in particular, has popularized misogynistic rhetoric among young men within the manosphere, framing women as inferior and promoting dominance as a virtue. 

With social media amplifying these ideas, the incel ideology has grown, leading to real-world violence and influencing how misogyny manifests in modern youth culture.

In Adolescence, it’s implied that Jamie Miller has been drawn into this toxic ideology, fueling his hatred toward women.

This becomes even more apparent in Episode 3, where his interactions with psychologist Briony reveal unchecked anger, an inflated ego, and low self-esteem – hallmarks of incel communities that often blame women for their perceived failures.

What makes this even more troubling is how easily impressionable young minds can be shaped by the content they consume online. 

As one psychologist said, everything plays a role in a child’s development, from social media and peers to their upbringing, family life, and developing brain.

But Adolescence highlights the terrifying reality that, no matter how vigilant parents are, they can’t control everything their children see, especially online. 

Social media and algorithm-driven content make exposure to these harmful ideologies almost inevitable, leaving vulnerable teens like Jamie susceptible to radicalization in ways that are difficult to predict or prevent.

Stephen Graham issues warning

Netflix

Co-writer and lead star Stephen Graham said Adolescence was actually inspired by spate of real-life stabbings in the UK, and issued a warning to parents about the various factors that lead to such devastating crimes. 

Following a screening of Episode 1, he said, “We’d been asked to create a one-shot piece which was going to be a series, so we were coming up with the possibilities of what we’d make it about, and I’d read an article in the paper about a young boy stabbing a young girl.

“It made me feel a bit cold. Then about three or four months later, there was a piece on the news about a young boy who’d stabbed a young girl. They are young boys, they’re not men. And it was completely the opposite end of the country.

“It really hurt my heart, for many different reasons. Predominantly as a father, but where we are at as a society for this to happen. I said to [director] Phil [Barantini] – me and Phil were in the car – and I came up with the possibility of the idea.”

While Graham explained that the aim of the Netflix series isn’t to point fingers, they did want to shine a light on particular issues – which is where incels, the manosphere, and Tate come in.

“We wanted to be mindful from the very beginning that there was no way you could point the finger,” he told the Independent. 

“Dad wasn’t particularly violent in the house and didn’t raise his hand to mum or the boy or his daughter. Mum wasn’t an alcoholic. Jamie wasn’t abused sexually or mentally or physically by another family member. 

“So we wanted to eliminate those possibilities and have a look at it from a different perspective. And then you kind of go, ‘Who is to blame? Who is accountable?’ Maybe we’re all accountable. Family, school, society, community, environment.”

Graham went on to highlight the differences of childhood and coming of age after the rise of social media, where kids are no longer protected from the outside world. 

“It’s just being mindful of the fact that not only we parent our children, and not only the school educates our children, but also there’s influences that we have no idea of that are having profound effects on our young culture,” he added.

“Profound effects; positive and extremely negative. So it’s having a look at that and seeing that we’re all accountable in certain ways.”

You can also read about a potential Season 2, the impeccable series to watch next, and the best TV shows of 2025 so far.