i think the biggest misconception about skam is that its primary mission was to be "realistic" above all else.

i mean that was definitely a part of it - i think realism was definitely a part of what JA tried to accomplish. and we know from several interviews with both her and cast that actors had say in stuff like clothing and how the lines sounded to make it as authentic as possible

BUT both julie andem and several others included in the production team from nrk has said that the primary goal of skam was to tell stories that could help teens feel better about themselves! they wanted to tell the stories that teens (specifically 16 year old girls) needed

i think this becomes even more obvious when you watch all the other productions of nrk super and p3. e.g. mia, jenter, skam, blank, lik meg. they all work in similar ways (with different levels of success). telling ultimately positive stories about and FOR a specific target group

i could make a LONG list of things that i think are "unrealistic" in skam! but those things don't really matter cause the stories have rich character arcs, with actual development that feels earned, and it is all done with so much empathy for the characters.

that the show feels so realistic is also of course important. but it's not cause they tried to "show the truth" or anything like that. it's good use of actual research into the target group, good acting from age appropriate actors and JA's style of directing/showrunning

(also this was kinda due to some things i saw probably about a remake but i don't watch said remake so this is just about the fact that people seem to always repeat the mantra "skam was about showing REALISM" all the time! idc about the remake at all i'm done with that)