A season 10 that breaks taboos on marital rape, against a backdrop of feminist awakening

“I drank too much, I don’t feel well, really,” says Anaïs, pale. “I’m dismantled too, burst” laughs Hugo, his friend, as they return from the evening. In her teenage room, Anaïs sees blurry, lies down, while Hugo helps her take off her shoes and brings her a glass of water. A few seconds later, he kisses her, initiates a sexual relationship. “No, stop, I don’t want to,” she opposes. “Come on, we’re not going to see each other for a week,” replies her boyfriend, who doesn’t stop his gestures. The almost 5-minute scene, which is hard to watch, marks the start of the new season of France. The tone is set: the series for teenagers and young adults focuses on marital rape, consent, and feminist awakening.

This tenth season, broadcast on France TV Slash since May 7, highlights the character of Anaïs Rocha, played by Zoé Garcia, until then a sometimes annoying secondary character from Tiff’s entourage, on whom season 7 focused. Stunning, guilt, addictions, post-traumatic effects, position of victims and of the legal system, Skam succeeds in tackling the subject of rape quite accurately. Over ten episodes, we see the journey of Anaïs, from her amazement and denial to her awareness, passing through the anger or the reaction of those around her. The season also addresses the issue of feminist activism, through the collage actions that have flourished in France in recent years; but also the difficulty of filing a complaint and of the legal process.

How to write the unspeakable?

If the first seasons of France were adapted from the same scenario as its Norwegian version, the French version took its own way, with new themes, and the inclusion of new characters. On this new season, as on the previous four, we find Deborah Hassoun on the screenplay and Shirley Monsarrat on the production. This season will be the duo’s last, as they confided to the premiere magazine “We’re done. We worked on a generation of Skam, which evolved between season 7 and season 10. This season 10 really wraps up our generation. It was important for us to have a real ending. We are really happy to have been able to go to the end of what we wanted to tell. To see our actors grow old on screen. And for us, Skam, It’s over. And it’s good “.

A season with fair writing, and which was done surrounded by professionals, like a volunteer policewoman at the Maison des Femmes, this health center where you can come and file a complaint without being judged; a psychiatrist specializing in sexual violence against minors or the feminist activist Elvire Duvelle-Charles, author of Clit Revolution: Handbook of Feminist Activism (Women’s Editions). In an interview on Radio Nova, Deborah Hassoun thus explained that if the subject of rape unfortunately affects everyone, “among young women, there may not yet be the words”. “Often, we have an image of victims and survivors who are very traumatized, whereas they are warriors who continue to live” developed the screenwriter.

Fans hanging on every new snippet

The series, still airing on France Tv Slashbut also on Youtube and social networks on the day and at the time when the action takes place in fiction, is equipped with very strong scenes, which show the concerns of young people who are committed. Photography, soundtrack, lights: proof that series for teenagers and young adults are at the level of quality of more “adult” productions. Especially since the series is a hit: in May 2022, the series has accumulated more than 310 million cumulative views in 9 seasons, both on YouTube and on France TV Slash.

As for the fans, each sequence is an opportunity to dissect the scenes, the characters and their reactions, particularly on social networks. “This season really comes at the right time. With the Johnny Depp affair which calls into question the principles of MeToo… ”could be read in a YouTube comment. After a lackluster season 8 that left viewers with Skam perplexed, the reactions are unanimous: season 10 is a success, and we don’t really want it to end.

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