#madrid was most likely FOUNDED by muslims so eat a baklava and maybe you'll calm down

[inmyarmswrappedin]

Yesterday I was fucking around on Spotify, looking for podcasts about Skams. There are still so few tbh, if I knew the first thing about podcasts I’d throw my hat in the ring lmao. But one thing I did find was a podcast in Spanish that managed to land an interview with Begoña, the eskam showrunner.

The interview was posted on December last year, and so it covered the whole show. They talked about a lot of things, some of it stuff she’s never really talked about at length, so I’ll maybe do another post summarizing the rest because it was all really interesting. But one thing that I think we haven’t had a lot of info about is how the writers/directors approached Amira’s season.

Out of the things Begoña said, what stood out to me is how she focused on the aspect of restriction as a part of being a Muslim/being religious in general. She explained how Hajar had been an invaluable part of the process because she explained to Begoña why being a Muslim/hijabi/religious was worth it despite all the restrictions. 

This is complicated to talk about for me as an atheist, because I simply don’t know what it’s like to be religious. So... I think religion certainly contains a restriction aspect, at least as far as Abrahamic religions. There’s lent for instance. You’re not supposed to have premarital sex. 

On the other hand, I feel like lots of people opt not to do certain things, regardless of their beliefs. It’s not like people only ever ~restrict themselves~ because of religion. 

I am in no way saying these things are comparable to being a Muslim (or religious in any way), but some people choose not to eat meat. In countries where it is legal, some people choose not to use guns for ideological reasons. Some people boycott some products because they disagree with a company’s actions. Some women refuse to use makeup or shave their body hair or their unibrow, which all have social costs. If/when we tell stories about people like these, should the entire story be about the things they don’t get to do? (And btw, if I’m speaking out of turn here, please let me know! I know I’m comparing very different situations and run the risk of saying something shitty.) Or should the story include the experiences that now become available to them because of their choices?

Because the thing that occurred to me when Begoña was talking about restrictions and limitations, is that Amira’s season is all about the things Amira is ~losing out on~ because of her decision to be a hijabi and to live according to her faith. The key to Damira is that Amira will never truly have Dani. That Dani is off limits to her because of the limitations she’s ~chosen~ to impose upon herself. It’s not that a guy like Dani can’t/won’t ever convert to Islam. The point is that (in the show, in the story we were shown) in choosing to be a Muslim, Amira is firmly closing the door on a relationship with Dani. When Begoña looks at Dani/Amira, what she sees is a relationship that can never work out because of Amira’s restrictions.

And the same goes for like... Everything that happens in Amira’s season lmao. She can’t give the speech at graduation because of restrictions. She can’t have the Happy Ramadan sign because of restrictions. She can’t go to bars because of restrictions. She can’t play basketball during daytime because of restrictions (and this is the reason the season takes place during Ramadan). She can’t attend the graduation ceremony because she’s been so beaten down. She can’t ever be comfortable at parties with her non Muslim friends because of restrictions. Hell, she can’t even be friends with Muslim girls because her restrictions (like not lying) inevitably come up between them. To be a Muslim, to be a religious teen at all, means you can’t have a functional life in Spanish society. At least, in the Spanish society of Skam España.

The thing is, when a person decides to go vegan (for instance), a lot of activities and restaurants are now off limits to them. But a whole world of ingredients and restaurants and cooking methods and cuisines are opened to them in turn. But, when Amira closes a door on something, Skam España doesn’t EVER open another world to her in turn. The only thing eskam ever shows us in Amira’s season, are doors closing to her. Compare with Sana’s season, where Sana might close the door on white non Muslims, but a door opens to her in the shape of Yousef, who is at least culturally Muslim and can and does support her in ways eskam never allowed Dani to do. (Like with Sana’s parents or never pushing Sana into physical affection, to name two.) Or the door with the fancy 25-seater Russ bus might be closed to Sana, but a 5-person Russ van with people who genuinely want to spend time with her opens instead. The super popular Russ bus leader who wins Russ awards door closes for Sana, but in turn the door where her friends come to her family’s Eid and celebrate with her on her terms is opened to her. (Eskam didn’t even give Amira that.) 

And so, in that sense, Amira’s season is a step back from Sana’s season. It is a season exclusively for non Muslims who don’t understand why anyone would ever choose to be a Muslim. It is a season for people who don’t have the imagination or the interest in seeing how people live, what company they seek, what their romantic relationships are like, what hobbies they’re into or how they spend their free time, when they’re not like everybody else. In their mind, a life like that is only ever full of closed doors, full of restrictions and limitations, with nothing valuable to make up for it.