“Season three saved my life”: a reception study on SKAM’s non-heterosexual representations

The aim of this master’s thesis is to study in what ways an audience who does not identify as heterosexual reflect over the Norwegian TV-show SKAM’s non-heterosexual representations. The research was carried out through five focus group interviews with thirteen people and used theories on identification, stereotypes and the media together with queer theory and intersectional theories. The study’s interviews show that SKAM gives different opportunities for identification. The respondents all identifies with ways the show deals with coming out and how the process is shaped by subtle forms homophobia. The show’s focus on heteronormativity and internalized homophobia is also strongly identified with and considered to be skilfully told. How Isak and Even’s relationship is portrayed is appreciated as well, which was a source for positive identification. The character Eskild was also brought up as a clever way to show how stereotypical representations can be used in a positive and inspiring way. The show’s general lack of non-heterosexual characters and their portrayal as all white, cis, middle class men was critiqued, as well as how the show handled fetishzation of non-heterosexual relationships. It becomes clear from the interviews how the respondents negotiate the non-heterosexual representations in SKAM in order to find identification, which helps them validate their own sexual identities. Moreover, the study also shows how representations, how they affect and regulate people’s social lives and identities, can be better understood by favouring not only the media but the viewers as well