All American has quickly become one of The CW's biggest hits and a major reason is its ability to tackle important real life issues. Set in a modern-day Crenshaw and Beverly Hills neighborhood, the show follows star football player Spencer James as he navigates his identity and high school experience.
The show does an excellent job of covering current issues that are impacting many of the country's population. It has not shied away from topics that some might consider controversial. From drug use to racial issues to police brutality, the series aims to relate what American adolescents are going through these days.
Black Lives Matter Movement
In the season 3 premiere, the viewers see the cast and other students at Beverly Hills High School working on a project together in the hallway.
It is then revealed that Olivia organized a Black Lives Matter mural to be painted on the high school's floor. The show also touches on many other protests and marches that are organized around Crenshaw that focus on this movement.
Racial Profiling
There have been many moments in the show where the characters are racially profiled in everyday situations. For example, when Spencer, Olivia, and some other friends go to a frozen yogurt shop in season 2, they get racially profiled by the owner and cops end up involved.
Thankfully, Jordan and Olivia's privilege of having their mother being a well-known white lawyer in the state, they all get out of the situation.
Mental Health Issues
Throughout season 2, the viewers see Layla slowly spiral into a deep depression rooting from her issues with her absent father. She starts to push everyone away, live out of a hotel room, and denies counseling help when given the opportunity.
Layla finally enters a mental health facility, after trying to take her own life, which went a long way towards helping her. The normalization of talking with a professional was a pivotal moment for television.
Police Brutality
An episode in the first season shines a light on police brutality and what many Black drivers have to deal with when they are pulled over. When Jordan and Spencer get pulled over while driving a convertible, Jordan talks back to the officer only to be detained by him.
Spencer's immediate reaction was to put his hands up while Jordan, who is half white, was confused about why he was experiencing this kind of situation. The show also brings this up in season 3 when Olivia tries to get Spencer to take the blame for her drunk driving, putting him in serious danger.
Substance Use
Olivia is introduced to viewers after a stint in rehab for substance addiction, and it is shown throughout each season how she is recovering. The show also touches on the struggles of relapse and falling back onto your addiction, even with a sponsor and doing the right things.
The series highlights Olvia's addiction story in a way to break the stigma and let others know that they are not alone in their road to sobriety.
Gun Violence
Spencer grew up in Crenshaw where gang violence was common, but it was not expected that it would follow him to Beverly Hills. His life changed forever when he protected Olivia from a gunshot in a drive-by, which impacted his shoulder long-term.
This moment could have a major effect on the rest of Spencer's promising life. The show has also seen guns come into play on multiple other occasions, that mainly involved Coop, Tyrone, and Preach and their gang issues.
Steroids In Sports
Asher is seen in season 2 developing a serious reliance on steroids, which gets to a point where Coach Billy takes the fall for him so he can pass his drug test for the football team. This is not only a problem with football players, but with athletes across the board, and it can cause many complications with mental and physical health.
The consequences of Asher taking these performance-enhancing drugs were followed through in later episodes, including not being able to play football for the school.
Gang Violence
Coop gets involved in a gang for the majority of season 2, where trouble was following her closely with every step she took. Between initiation for the gang or crossing the leader the wrong way, All American touches this topic in a serious manner to educate their viewers on the obstacles of joining.
Coop ends up leaving her association with the gang after planning to execute the main leader, Tyronne, and attempting to reconcile Crenshaw's other rival gang to make amends.
Teen Pregnancy
Simone gets pregnant in season 2 and tricks Jordan into thinking he is the father, only to reveal later that he isn't. Still, Jordan steps up to the plate and acts as her partner for the entire pregnancy journey, which leads to a mixture of emotions for Simone.
She is faced with the difficult decision of keeping her baby or giving them up for adoption, which impacts her and her future life goals immensely. Simone even reaches a point where she wants to take her child back and not pursue college, which many teenagers can relate to.
Losing A Parent
In season 2, the James family experiences the loss of Corey James from lymphoma cancer. This was a pivotal moment in the show for Spencer and his little brother Dillon since they had just found out the real reason their father left their family behind years prior.
On top of Spencer's usual stress as a teenager, losing your father at such a young age is something that can traumatize you.