1 year ago
Wayward Series Explores Troubled Teens and Hypermasculinity
Imagine a show about a cop who moves to a strange town.
This cop is transgender and wants to find acceptance.
The show explores how some groups promise a perfect life but might actually be controlling.
It also looks at a real-life problem from the past: schools that claimed to help troubled teens.
The person who made the show, Mae Martin, got inspired by a friend's experience in one of these schools.
The show is also like a fun wish, like the person busting into the school to save their friend!
It mixes comedy and drama and is a bit mysterious.
Mae Martin created and stars in Netflix's Wayward.
The series explores the troubled teen industry, drawing inspiration from self-help cults.
Martin's character, Alex, is a transgender police officer seeking acceptance.
The show also features a 'weirdly niche Canadian comedy moment' with Mark McKinney.
The series uses the experience of Martin's friend as inspiration.
- Who
- Mae Martin stars in and wrote Wayward, with Toni Collette and Sarah Gadon.
- What
- Wayward is a Netflix series exploring the troubled teen industry and themes of hypermasculinity.
- Where
- The series is set in Tall Pines.
- When
- The series is set in 2003 and is currently available.
- Why
- Mae Martin wanted to explore the troubled teen industry, drawing inspiration from self-help cults and personal experiences.
Key facts
- Main Character
- Alex Dempsey, a transgender police officer
- Setting
- Tall Pines, a community
- Release Date
- Available on Netflix now
- Main Themes
- Troubled teen industry, hypermasculinity, self-help cults
- Starring
- Mae Martin, Toni Collette, Sarah Gadon
Quotes
Martin
Comedian and actor
“And it’s such an unregulated industry, and at the time, there was just no transparency and a lot of parents thought they were sending their kids to a therapeutic boarding school, and actually it’s pretty opaque what goes on in some of those schools.”
deadline.com
“I wanted to use self-help cults of the ’70s like Synanon, and the troubled teen industry they sparked, as “a useful metaphor for all of the sort of oppressive systems that we are seduced by.””
deadline.com
