#enjoying my own achievements vicariously through the people around me's reactions to them

[dogin8]

immediately turning to look at the people around me after doing something I think is cool is just a part of the experience at this point

[wings-of-a-storm]

(1/2) I don’t think it’s fair to compare your feelings for the OG at this point in the story to your feelings for the remakes at the same point. Obviously with the OG, the only knowledge we had was what we had seen so far, and we had no idea what was to come. It was all so new to us, just like it was to the characters. It’s different with the remakes. I know each version is making things their own, but the general outline of the story is the same. And that outline is seared into our brains, so

Hi there, anon! I’ve seen a lot of concerns like this going around fandom and figured one would come my way at some point. It’s healthy to address though so I will do my best to. (I’ve divided things into categories so that I can try and express myself better.)

Skam in any form is great:

I felt this real kernel of sadness when I saw you say Skam og will ultimately lose when comparing remakes. Skam is an incredible show with its own incredible strengths, and you need never fear that that will be taken away by other people preferring this or that in other versions. It’s true that remakes have the advantage of building on Skam’s core material and changing things up with the benefit of hindsight or just different cultural contexts, but they are all so good in their own ways.

Skam had an amazing third season. Skam Italia had an amazing second season. Skam France is having an amazing third season.

I adore that each version of Skam comes with its own cinematography, mise-en-scène, music style, and above all: varied character personalities. Even though you know the basic premise (that core foundation of Skam’s Evak season), you’re still always kept on the edge of your seat because you never quite know how a character will behave when their personal contexts are all so different. Their inner demons manifest differently; their home life situations manifest differently; they have different ways of expressing themselves, of dealing with other people, of viewing the world depending on what type of school peers surround them; of viewing the country they live in, etc. All that is what makes watching different versions of the same base concept so interesting and enlightening each time.

Neither is better or worse, just different.

The mine field of Skam comparisons:

I need to quickly take this opportunity to discuss the mine field that is Skam comparisons – it feels like an inevitable part of this conversation.

Okay so: I think it is natural for human beings to compare things in order to make sense of their world. Every day we come across new concepts and stimuli, which we subconsciously group into pre-conceived categories in order to try and begin understanding them. There’s just too much to take in otherwise and we’d never be able to make sense of things. There’s a whole anthropological/psychological concept based on it called ‘Categorisation’ (but my uni days were long ago and lord knows where that text is in my room anymore).

So I do understand that some people feel uncomfortable with Skam comparisons, but sometimes they are a subconscious method of making sense of new stimuli. On this blog, I will make comparisons because that is how I process things. :)

Skam’s cuddling in bed scene:

Skam’s cuddling scene is iconic. The framing is something I will clutch to my chest until the day my heart stops beating. The first time I watched that scene, I loved it. I was moved. I was so riveted by the philosophical conversations they had with one another (I never wanted them to stop talking!). I liked seeing how they were together. I found their gentle kissing to be so sweet and affectionate.

I also started to worry a little because Even had a very sombre, ominous expression at one point when all was quiet and Isak couldn’t see. That expression was classic foreshadowing and I was wary of it. That sort of expression shouldn’t have been there in such a sweet scene; it was so jarring and out of place. Because of it, I knew it wouldn’t all be rainbows if Even was dealing with something that he wasn’t verbalising (be it the messy situation with Sonja or not).

In other words, Skam’s cuddling scene was a scene that achieved much more than just the heart-warming sweetness of a new couple infatuated by one another: it had layering which set multiple threads up and didn’t necessarily provide a complete emotional catharsis for its characters. It was brilliant writing that will always stand up on its own.

Rewatching Skam knowing all the twists = watching Skam France

As Evak’s story unfolded, we were eventually exposed to all of Even’s secrets and all the hard lessons Isak had to learn on his own journey. That meant that once the season was done, we were able to do something really cool: we could rewatch it armed with new knowledge.

Old scenes could be re-framed into something new, into something even more heavily nuanced: I rewatched Skam knowing that Even saw Isak on the first day of school (and how that changes things); I watched knowing Even has bipolar disorder; I watched knowing (Trigger Warning) that he has suicidal thoughts sometimes and once tried to act on them; I watched knowing how the misinformed and unhealthy views Isak had on mental illness was going to wreak havoc on his own life.

It meant I got to enjoy Skam armed with all the necessary information, just like I am watching Skam France now with that information as context (which isn’t necessarily accurate since we haven’t seen the entire season yet and are just using the base concept of Skam, but you get what I mean).

So yes, in that way, I can ’ fairly’ compare Skam’s cuddling scene with France’s cuddling scene. I know what Even was going through in that early stage of Evak’s relationship, just as I know that Eliott seems to be in a similar situation.

It will always come back down to this: Isak, Even, Lucas, and Eliott are different people, living in different countries, surrounded by different peers, with different cultural norms and behaviours. Evak have a very different relationship to Elu. That’s okay! One is not better than the other; they are just different and resonate differently to different people. (It’s also dependant on the way the showrunners choose to portray that storyline, which I will talk about in the next section).

What I was trying to express in my post about my initial reaction to Skam France’s cuddling scene was an acknowledgement that each couple is different and has brought out different reactions from me. Evak were in love but a little more cautious/reserved (which I’ve heard fits the Norwegian culture as well as their personalities); Nicotino were in love and very warm (which fits the Italian culture); Elu are in love and going full bloody throttle.

I, myself, am an Evak: I need that caution and reserve until I feel sure of things. I can’t handle the huge fireworks type of passion where you throw all of yourself into it and expose yourself that deeply, that quickly; that sort of intensity is an enemy of my anxiety disorder where I need control over everything. And that is why Elu’s cuddling scene brought out such a strong reaction in me: their emotional intensity is everything I fear in my own life.

Skam og and Skam France have a different style of storytelling that is no better or worse than each other:

When I said I felt fear when I watched Elu’s cuddling scene, it was with Elu as the context, not Evak. I find Elu’s sort of intensity dangerous for anyone to experience; that type of happiness cannot continue on that trajectory without some sort of force knocking it down – be it even just the smallest disappointment of an argument, for example. When you feel that intensely, the come down of it – by its very nature – is more intense. And knowing France’s M.O so far, that is exactly their point with filming the scene this way. They want us to jump off the love cliff with Elu so that the fall is as brutal as possible.

It wasn’t Skam’s style to turn the amplifier up to level 11 and I am glad for that. Their style was so laid back and raw and deceptive with its simplicity. It worked so well with the natural reservation of their culture (not being as touchy-feeling with peers, for example). There is a real power to subtlety and Skam perfected it.

Skam and France just use different storytelling methods is all. Naturally, the more overt in your face with emotions type of storytelling will bring out more intense first impressions. It doesn’t make France better or worse than Skam though.

We’re all different with our tastes; at different stages of our life, we might connect more with one storytelling method over another. Some days I crave overtly intense emotional rollercoasters like in Skam France because I get to vicariously feel things deeply in ways my anxiety disorder and its neurotically clenched reservation prevents me from feeling in my own life. But some days I want the art of subtly that Skam brings because I don’t have to exhaust myself in the same way while still feeling things deeply.

I love all Skams, guys. This show has my heart and soul!

This got long (as per usual)…

I hope I was able to express why I (and undoubtedly others) react the way I do with Skam France’s season, why I think it is fair for us to compare any of the versions, and how that shouldn’t diminish the value of other Skams. Thank you for stopping by to express your own feelings on it. :)

[japanfriedenglishman]

Jocelin

In my previous blog post I mentioned that a certain somebody would be visiting me in Japan for a two week holiday. The person in question was in fact my inamorata - Jocelin. On paper two weeks seems like an awfully short period of time and yet each of the fourteen days were abounding with dawn till dusk enjoyment. 

As she was experiencing Japan through her own senses for the first time, Jocelin’s initial reaction to her new surroundings struck me with interest. Jocelin - on the drive back home from the airport - displayed a kind of gleeful amazement at what I have, for all my life, considered mundane and “normal” aspects of Japan. Convenience stores, the style of the houses, the roads, the cars, to name but a few. I realised, having been born in Japan - leaving for England at the age of 3 and visiting every summer thereafter - that I never had or will have experienced Japan for the “first time”. At this I first felt ever so slightly envious of Jocelin’s experience but that feeling quickly wilted as I felt vicariously her excitement towards the peculiarities of a completely new place on Earth. There are, of course, innumerable places, cultural aspects and quirks of the country that I have not yet been exposed to and which I’m certain would trigger in me a new way of looking at Japan. One of these places was the first place Jocelin and I were to go.

The bullet train (shinkansen // 新幹線) is a remarkable achievement in the evolution of locomotion. It rips through the cities and countryside, with the crumpling of various food and drink packaging by the passengers making more sound than the train itself. Our particular train would take us over 500km in two and a half hours, from Tokyo to Kyoto. We arrived at our destination before midday and with just three full days to explore the area we wasted no time in going to the first temple on our list : The Kinkakuji temple - a coruscating golden pavilion. Even though an abundance of clouds accompanied us on this day, it took nothing away from the serenity of the pagoda sat upon water which looked as though some much as a ripple had never graced its surface.

Kiyomizu 

Fushimi inari taisha

The following day was a cloudless affair in which we visited the famous Arashiyama bamboo grove and possibly the most well known attraction in Kyoto, the Fushimi inari taisha shrine. With a total of 10,000 orange torii gates, it is a compelling experience to walk through them up to a shrine and pay respect. On our last day in Kyoto, we visited the Kiyomizu temple, another temple with a serene area to walk around. The night was concluded with something a little more modern in the form of a game of bowling; I did not spare any mercy for Jocelin, ruthlessly beating her by one pin.

Kiyomizu Temple

Strike?

Though Kyoto was bustling with tourists, Nara was in contrast a lot more placid. I immediately liked the quaint atmosphere about the area and we walked through a very peaceful shopping and restaurant district to get to the acclaimed Nara Park. Nara has always been very well known for its park wherein deer roam freely amongst people and are allowed to be fed. Whenever I’m told something interesting such as this, my reaction is invariably one that follows along the lines of a tepid “Oh really?”, not because I’m feigning interest but because the extraordinary nature of these things, for me, is realised only when I have first hand experience of them. Jocelin and I were therefore quite surprised when we suddenly found ourselves encircled by these amiable and elegant animals. It really was strange. We found it particularly amusing how the deers in Nara, quite rightly, haven’t the faintest regard for human rules, striding fashionably and slowly from one side of the road to the other while us humans on foot wait for the green signal to legally walk across. I suspect the drivers in Nara are used to the inevitability of their journeys being disrupted when they approach the vicinity of Nara park.

Deer in Nara

The second week of Jocelin’s time in Japan was spent heavily focused on introducing to her the eccentricities of Tokyo. Having hitherto never been to Kyoto or Nara, coming back to Tokyo to show Jocelin around was a very interesting juxtaposition between humble shrines and flamboyant electric billboards, kimonos and Harajuku fashion. Both places are so starkly different in places and yet they are both very “Japanese” - as if one is “old” Japan and the other “new”. Jocelin enjoyed very much the idiosyncratic Takeshita street in Harajuku, and I looked in shops with her that I certainly wouldn't go in by myself. The next stop was Shibuya, a place which speaks for itself really. Other ventures included visiting my work and showing Jocelin the many bright floors of Akihabara’s huge Yodobashi camera store to get our rolls of film developed. A highlight of the second week was going to Ebisu to see a musician we both like called Mac Demarco. That afternoon and night it snowed so much that we had to book a capsule hotel in fear of the trains not being able to take us back home. This turned out, in the end, to be quite the auspicious event for us as we met Mac after the show, something we wouldn’t have been able to do had we gone home earlier.

The two weeks inevitably passed by like a bullet train and we both agreed that it could have been two months and it still wouldn’t have sufficed as an adequate period of time to be introduced to this eclectic land called Japan. But with that conviction came the promise from Jocelin that she would one day revisit Japan not so far in the future. I hope you’re ready for that day, Japan...

Kyoto

Kamakura

Kamakura

Bus

Kyoto

Kyoto

Kyoto

Jocelin

All photographs taken by me on 35mm film.