Skam: The Vulnerability and Rawness of Being A Teenager

Since its first season premiered in September 2015, the show Skam has gained a huge following from Norway, along with international fans around the world. It became so popular that other countries have come out with their own remakes of the show—Skam France, Skam Italia, Skam Austin, and Druck (German Skam), which came out this year and has since only increased the fan-base. Currently, there are three other remakes that have started—Skam Spain, Skam Netherlands/Dutch, and Skam Belgium.

What has attracted fans to the show is the the different topics and themes that the show portrays in each season? In season 1, Eva's character goes through issues of loneliness, identity, belonging and friendship. In addition, her relationship with her boyfriend, Jonas, shows what it is like to be in a toxic relationship. Also, one of Eva's friends, Vilde, struggles through an eating disorder that is not romanticized and is treated with respect.

This continues throughout Season 2, as the main character changes from Eva to Noora. In her season, she deals with feminism, sexual violence, and self-image, along with the refugee crisis. There is a scene in the show where Noora thinks that she's been sexually assaulted and she hesitates to report the person who did it because it was someone that she knew. In a moment of empowerment, all of her friends go with her as she goes to the police station and tells them what happened. After the episode aired, a million girls had come forward with stories of their own.

In Season 3, the main character changes from Noora to Issak who's going through his own problems regarding his home life and his sexual orientation. Issak comes to terms with his sexuality as the season goes on, specifically when he meets Even. With Even comes the theme of mental health because he is diagnosed as having bipolar disorder at some point in Season 3. When it comes to Issak, he's aware that mental illness runs in his family because of his mom. Due to this, he's hesitant to have a relationship with her until the end of the season where he learns to accept both his mom and Even for who they are.

In the fourth and final season, the main character changes from Issak to Sana, a Muslim teenager who deals with her religion and forbidden love along with friendship Sana deals with learning about herself and being open to other ways of thinking and perspectives. Sana learns that she doesn't have to be guarded and she can allow herself to be vulnerable around other people. From her friendship with her friends to her relationships with her family and her love interest, she learns that she can be herself and the people who love her accept her no matter what.

Being a teenager can be tough especially now because you're dealing with a lot of things from peer pressure, self-esteem, and body image. Shows like Skam show that every teenager is going through the same thing in some shape or form. For instance, in one scene from Season 1, it is implied that Noora had gone through an eating disorder as well.Whether or not it was recent was never confirmed, but the importance was that it was mentioned. Teenagers need shows like Skam that show the reality of growing up with all these inner pressure from parents, friends, and significant others in their lives.