Morality and transgression in The End of The F***ing world
Caught by the mainstream media, Charles Foresman became a teen ideal when the filmed TV adaptation of his 2013 comic novel End of the f***ing world was released by Netflix. Unlike the mainstream couples that have gripped our screens off late, young lovers Alyssa (Jessica Barden) and James (Alex Lawther) are morally ambiguous and take on adventures far more grievous than missing curfew for clubbing or watching promiscuous movies.
The easy to binge watch British series follows a pair of adolescents running away from a boring English suburb. The deadpan style narrative lets the audience in to their alternate vulnerable thoughts that lie behind their stoic façade. The first words we hear are “I’m James. I’m 17. And I’m pretty sure I’m a psychopath,”. James and Alyssa transgresses social laws left, right and center. In an attempt to feel something, James kills animals such as puppies, butterflies and dips his hand in a pan with heated oil, the scar of which he carries for eternity. He further desires to kill Alyssa, or so he claims, to try how interesting killing a human would be. He pretends to love her to achieve his killing goal. They decide to run away from their boring life and James finds this the perfect opportunity to execute his plans.
In search for an abode they stumble upon an empty, lavish and maintained bungalow of a professor. James discovers a stack of pictures of murdered victims and video camera where the professor has recorded all his assaults and murders. Perhaps, inspired by it, James goes to kill Alyssa. He hides under the bed when he hears footsteps, the professor has returned and is shocked to see Alyssa sleeping on his bed, he tries to rape her when James stabs him on the neck.
As the episodes progress, we begin empathizing with James when his childhood trauma unfolds. His mom killed herself in front of her. The extraordinary writing of the show gives us an insight into their psyche through the constant narrative of their thoughts. It also enables the audience to decide for themselves to distinguish between moral and evil.
The two police officers that are investigating the murder have conflicted views on the adolescents themselves. Teri has no empathy for them and wants to put them in Jail. When they are informed that James turn eighteen tomorrow Terri suggest they wait until he commits another crime before arresting him so that he gets detained to a “proper prison”. However, her colleague, Eunice shows empathy for them and says “What if it was self defense, they are kids”. There is also mentions for sexual relations between the two female officers. Which, I suppose, is a form of transgression in its own as the relationship goes beyond the boundaries of the dominant heterosexual matrix of the society.
James and Alyssa commit crimes in almost every episode whether it is stealing a wallet, robbing a petrol pump or stealing undergarments. While stealing a car James mentions “After murder other crimes seemed pretty easy by comparison”. Viewers grow sympathetic of James as he takes the blame of every crime upon himself to save Alyssa. As his past unfolds we begin to relate on how the world can be cruel to a child and what impact it has on that child.
Alyssa, initially suffering from PTSD after the murder, comes to terms with it by justifying it to herself that they killed perilous man. She says, “If I was the police, I would give us medals. Maybe they will”. We come to understand Alyssa’s odd behavior when he dad appears and does a shitty job at being one.
Though Alyssa steals and robs stores we learn that she never steals from independent stores and only from rich MNCs which already have more than enough for themselves and are benefitted by the capitalist structure of the society.
There is scope of redemption from both James and Alyssa. It is heartwarming to see James feel when he is with Alyssa revealing how he needed care, love and understanding to feel something.
