As a Canadian, I grew up with American shows like Pretty Little Liars, Gossip Girl and Glee. While these shows are great in their own way, the easy access to North American shows was blocking me from the world of SKAM. If you’ve never heard of it, SKAM started out as a Norwegian web series produced by NRK P3. (“Skam” translates to “shame” in English.) The show depicts the lives and struggles of a group of teenagers attending a high school in Norway.
SKAM became immensely popular after its initial release in 2015, partly due to the large group of international fans who translated the clips into English and made it accessible by adding subtitles. Since then, it has been remade by a number of countries, including Italy, Germany, France, the USA and Spain. While everyone has an opinion about which remake is the best and which one is the worst, I feel strongly about the case for SKAM España. I know everyone swears it’s the worst remake and that it’s “boring,” but I feel that it is in fact one of the best remakes for the following reasons.
- The realistic writing
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While a lot of the complaints about SKAM España are about the show being “boring” compared to its predecessors, I thought it was a realistic portrayal of what life is like for teens in the late 2010s-early 2020s. For example, in season two, the focus of the series is on a character named Cris and her blossoming relationship with her love interest, Joana. Their relationship isn’t uber-sexualized or glamorized but instead a realistic portrayal of a new relationship and the challenges that come with it. The portrayal of mental illness, romantic complications, discovering new identities and friendship drama feels authentic and nuanced. In every season, each character is flawed, but the audience is able to relate to their decisions and understand why they make the choices they do.
- The setting.
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Although this is relevant to every remake of SKAM, the portrayal of teenagers going through the same struggles in different parts of the world is fascinating. Seeing the different lifestyle of Spanish teens (ie. taking the metro to school, clubs for teenagers to go to, etc.) compared to wherever you grew up is really interesting. Also, Madrid, the city where SKAM España is set, is beautiful, and seeing it through the lens of the teens who live there makes for a unique experience.
- Alejandro.
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I know he’s problematic, but honestly, he’s my favourite SKAM love interest. Seeing his character change from an immature heartbreaker to a mature and respectful boyfriend… it’s worth the watch!
- The girl squad.
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Because SKAM España is a remake, the characters are reinterpretations of the original characters, and everyone has strong feelings about their favourite character from the OG SKAM. The core friend group—Eva, Nora, Viri, Amira and Cris—are my favourite version of the characters so far. The girls are all different and well-characterized, which helps the audience identify and relate to one or all of them. These girls struggle with school, family, relationships, religion… all things that teens today deal with. The actresses who portray them are fantastic and bring such depth to the characters.
I urge you, however hesitant you are, to check out SKAM España. I truly believe it is a great adaptation and that it deserves all the love and praise that the original and other remakes receive.