Skam show-runner Julie Andem clocking the fuck out of Mike being queer-coded in s1 of Stranger Things, and then using it as inspiration to queer-code Isak in s3 of Skam can be something so epic.
THIS! THIS is what I'm talking about!
In ST, there are two scenes in s1 (pretty/still pretty) that milkvans use as irrefutable proof that Mike has always had romantic feelings for El, with the primary object in the scene being a mirror.
THIS. MEANS. SOMETHING.
Mirrors in film mean something more often than not, but especially when they are the focus of a scene is when they definitely mean something. And the way they go about it differently in between those two scenes in ST, drastically differently, and considering the subject matter is very very queer coded, is how you really know there is a significance in this case.
And that scene above from Skam proves it.
Because apparently, another filmmaker watched ST, picked up on those odd details surrounding Mike and said shit I'm gonna use that...
Notice how Isak here, a gay teenager who is fully in denial with others and himself, to the point where he makes really homophobic remarks often, gets caught denying a bunch of girls as being attractive in a conversation with his friends. And so now they're questioning him and making him feel on edge bc the focus is on him and his attraction (lack thereof) to girls.
While his friends aren't even implying he is gay in this moment, it's just them genuinely being confused why he doesn't think any of the girls they think are attractive are attractive, you can still see that Isak starts to feel the pressure and so he latches onto the first girl he thinks of, Emma.
Emma just so happens to look like Natalie Portman with her extremely short hair.
Low and behold this very girl enters the room shortly after he says this and so now Isak has to face this and give his friends the impression he is fully interested in this girl, otherwise they would DEFINITELY suspect something is off. And so he goes all out.
He outs himself.
He literally says Don't you look like that boy from Stranger Things, and then follows it up with saying he would only be attracted to her if we're assuming he is attracted to boys, only to quickly backtrack and start to approach her really flirtatiously, then going all out by making out with her.
As this happens, he is kissing her in the bathroom, in front of a mirror...
Now I want to make clear, I am not saying ST was inspired by Skam. I'm pretty sure I did make that clear, it's actually the other way around, which is even more incriminating arguably.
S1 of Stranger Things came out in 2016, whereas s3 of Skam came out the following year in 2017. The hype for ST was so immense, to the point where you had Norwegian teens referencing it in everyday conversation.
The creator of Skam took scenes from ST that framed Mike very peculiarly in s1, and used it as queer-coding for a character that ended up being revealed as gay.
For those that haven't seen Skam Norway... Run. Leap. Drive. Teleport. Do what you have to do and go watch it. It's not available on any streaming, in fact it's only available online through fan-sites outside of where it's based. Conveniently, all 4 seasons with English subs can be found HERE.
Basically this show is amazing and you need to watch it. Some seasons I like more than others. But the gist of it is that every season focuses on a different character from the main group, where they experience some sort of misunderstanding/miscommunication that leads to them being misinformed about certain things, followed by them making mistakes and having doubts, though it tends to end in a way that feels so refreshing compared to what we're used to.
Skam also translates in english to shame, so the idea is that there is an arc surrounding some form of shame every season.
With Isak in particular, he's the focus for s3, though his arc starts to become more clear as early as the end of s1.
Eva, the character in focus for s1, borrows Isak’s phone to call someone, and ends up seeing that there's gay porn in a bunch of his tabs on his browser. Their friend Noora also witnesses this and she ends up being the focus of s2.
Throughout s2, we get even more blatant hints that Isak is gay and in love with his best friend...
So it's established pretty early on throughout the series that Isak is queer and in denial about it, but it isn't until s3 that he himself is able to confront it.
The way they go about this arc, with Isak having unrequited feelings, is exactly how ST would have done it IF Mike hadn't returned Will's feelings.
So if you're looking for more byler proof, go watch this show and see how they don't let Isak pine over his best friend Jonas for more than 2 seasons.
When the story finally puts Isak at the forefront, they give him his own love interest instead of keeping him pining for his friend. It's really pure and amazing and TBH I would have been fine if ST was framed this way, with it being clear from the beginning Isak's feelings were unrequited, and with the other half of the series focusing on him moving on and finding love himself, and also with his best friend and him still being very close.
Although Isak has that queer-coding from the very beginning, with him looking at his friend all fondly, he is still not able to confront any of it. The following season he dates a girl and is a little over the top about it, though we can also see that he is struggling despite not wanting to face it. It isn't until s3 when the story shows us his inner struggle at the forefront, that we see him finally confront it and accept it.
For those that don't know, Skam also loosely inspired the Nick Nelson gay test scene... So we have character that despite showing many signs of being queer, to the point where we know he literally watched gay porn, is still finding himself in a situation where he's taking gay tests 2 years later....
While he might have the knowledge deep down, he was not willing to face it. In fact he was doing everything he could to avoid confronting it.
But then he falls in love and suddenly it's not something he can ignore anymore...
252 notes
·
View notes
remember this? well. let's go!
both ena and an have pretty famous fathers, and it was always somewhat expected of them to be worthy of their legacy, in some way. both of them were told, "of course you're good at art - you're shinei's daughter!" and "of course you're good at singing - you're ken's daughter!" respectively.
they were always perceived via their fathers, not allowed to step outside their shadow and be seen for themselves. they couldn't be ena or an.
and, you know, for a time, they went along with it. i mean, they were good at what they were doing.
but then... all comes crashing down.
for ena, there's the obvious bullshit that's going on with shinei. completely destroying her. because she admired her father, because he was the reason she wanted to do art to begin with, and he told her to her face that she would never be good enough.
her entire world fell apart, that day.
because no matter what she says, ena wants the approval of her father more than anything else. she wants him to tell her that she's worthy of being his daughter, that all her hard work amounts to something; anything.
but then, there's the eventual revelation that she wasn't anything, actually. she wasn't special.
everyone was better than her.
before, ena was a fish in a small pond, and of course, she was among the best. but now she's been dropped in a vast ocean, and she's small, and insignificant.
devoured by all the other fish.
one of them - and admittedly, the most important of them all - being futaba. she joined after ena, but she proved herself in much less time than her. and, even succeeded where ena failed - she never gave up, even when she was harshly criticised. never regressing artistically. never running away from art.
and there's something else, somewhere deep down - a fear. a fear that nightcord will abandon her when they realise she can't keep up with them. that she's not as good as they thought she was.
what will happen of her, then? she'll be all alone. unloved.
an goes through something similar.
she meets kohane, and she decides that this person is going to be her partner. that they're going to surpass THE rad weekend together, that no one could be better for this task but her.
but when she starts that relationship, it's with the assumption that she'll always be the teacher and that kohane will always be the student.
not in a mean, or pretentious way, no, not at all. simply, an was always told there was no way she couldn't surpass rad weekend, since she was ken's daughter. in her small pond, she was also among the very best.
but then, an realises something, too.
kohane is much better at everything than she is.
very similarly to ena's situation with futaba, kohane made much more progress in barely a year than an has in years. taiga - one of the old RADers, and somewhat of an uncle for an - recognised her potential, and asked to train her. not an, but kohane.
and of course, an is happy to know that! because that's her partner and friend, and an is happy to see her grow more confident and get better every day. because she cares. because she loves her.
but there's something in her chest - something that hurts and aches. she has to face the fact that she's not as good as she thought she was, that she isn't worthy of her father's legacy. that she isn't worthy of being kohane's partner, that she might be holding her back.
that she might be abandoned. left behind to rot.
what will happen of her, then? she'll be all alone. unloved.
to me - ena and an are two kids suffering under the weight of a legacy that's too heavy for them to carry, but that they can't let go of. they're also struggling with seeing their peers succeed where they repeatedly fail. they're all about being terrified of being abandoned because they're not good enough.
they're both confronted by this fact.
and it terrorises them.
182 notes
·
View notes
I will never forgive August for what he did to Wilhelm
He ruined any chance of Wilhelm being able to ease the relationship into different spheres of his life: August forced Wilhelm to face public humiliation of an intimate moment being leaked; forced Simon to be put on blast for the whole country to see; forced Wilhelm to confront the country while the person he loves is getting attention he never should have had thrust onto him; forced Wille to come out to his family and - even though he denies it to the nation - there is the sense that he was outed to the WORLD because speculations don't go away just because the person it concerns denied any involvement.
Wille didn't get to ease his relationship into his out-of-school life, and Simon never got to meet Queen Kristina as Wilhelm's mother and get to make his own impression - he was just the boy who was a part of the scandal her son was in. Wille didn't get to have the tough conversations with the ability to see Simon / have support; instead he had to have an international sex scandal crisis, the harsh Queen side of his mother as she acted in defense of the crown, the realisation that the crown was prioritised over his happiness, and all without being able to find comfort in the boy he loves.
All because August was jealous? Because he felt emasculated for having less money than the literal fucking prince of Sweden of all people?
Fuck August and fuck him for ruining Wilhelm's coming out and Simon's sense of security.
300 notes
·
View notes