Thank you. Full disclosure: I haven't seen the show (and don't plan to—and your essay reinforces my decision).

Over ten years ago, a colleague and I tried to start an independent boys' school in Los Angeles, and during that process we were immersed in the research on boys' emotional literacy (or lack thereof), the toxic version of masculinity being presented in media (and perpetuated by the culture), and the loneliness, self-destruction, and even violence that inevitably results. One of our most…

Thanks, as always, Kate, for your thoughtful analysis. As you pointed out, crucially, Katie is absent from this story almost entirely. The brief interview of her best friend and that friend's subsequent outburst is never explored. I hated that they opened up that story line only to drop it.

And thanks for pointing out that in the third episode - which is to me, my far and away the best part of it - Jamie doesn't say any of the things that research show boys and men often say. That they are entit…

I agree with your main point and much of this article. Thank you.

I want to say that Jamie’s asking the psychologist in Episode 3, “But she was a b”tch, right? You think she was a b”tch?” and the psychologist’s reactions to this indicate to me that the show goes nowhere near blaming Katie for her own death.

Jamie is spat on, tripped and physically bullied by boys and does nothing …. Then kills the girl who turned him down when he thought she was in a vulnerable position.

I believe some of the vict…