Reykjavík Grapevine - ágú. 2020, Blaðsíða 32

32The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 06— 2020
Flip The Switch On
Those Sexy Lamps
'órey Mjallhvít Ómarsdóttir and Dö!!
Mósesdóttir on their new web series “Sköp”
Words: Catherine Magnúsdóttir
Images: Art Bicnick & Provided by Sköp
“Sexy Lamp”: a female character
that is so unimportant to the plot
that she could easily be replaced
by a curvy lamp carried off by the
manly man hero instead.
Another cliché trope? “Man
Pain”, where the male protagonist
tragically loses the woman in his
life to provide him with motivation
for his revenge quest. These cliché
tropes can be found in everything
from indie flicks to blockbusters
and are now up for dissection in a
new web-series entitled “Sköp” by
"órey Mjallhvít Ómarsdóttir and
Dögg Mósesdóttir.
The slopes of tropes
"órey and Dögg co-founded the
production company Freyja Film-
work, which has brought out works
like Tinna Hrafnsdóttir’s short
film ‘Munda’ and their own doc-
umentary “Höfundur ó$ekktur /
Author unknown,” which is about
women and music in Iceland.
“Sköp” is Freyja’s first animated
series and features "órey and Dögg
as cartoon versions of themselves,
tackling gender tropes, clichés and
stereotypes in movies and TV.
“I think it’s a worthy pursuit.
It’s funny and it’s needed to open
up this discussion,” "órey says. “I
think that for budding filmmakers
or anybody who’s in the creative
business, being aware of these
things is essential. You cannot
just leave people to just pretend
that they’re not responsible for the
stuff that they create.”
Usually one has to search the
depths of the internet before com-
ing across content that investi-
gates the slippery slopes of cine-
matic tropes. It’s niche—you have
to know exactly where to look for
it and even then, it’s usually just
video essays between 15 minutes
and an hour in length, which can
be fun and interesting, especially
if the viewer is already into the
topic, but there are hardly any co-
medic bite-size clips.
"órey though, with ‘Sköp’,
hopes to make the discussion a
bit more graspable and maybe less
dry. “Gender discussion doesn’t
have to be super-serious and un-
inviting. It can just be something
where you kind of go: ‘Oh wow I
didn’t realize that!’ and nobody
feels threatened in the process,”
she says.
“Why haven’t I heard
about this?”
The idea behind the web-series ac-
tually came to the two creators in
a casual discussion about a movie,
where the term “Man Pain” was
brought up by "órey.
“[It was] basically, almost ex-
actly like it was in the first epi-
sode,” Dögg remarks. "I mean I
thought I knew a lot about gen-
der issues in film because I was a
president of Women in Film and
Television in Iceland for six years
and I’d been to lectures all over the
world. I had heard all kinds of con-
cepts around this and I thought
'Why haven’t I heard about this
[‘Man Pain’] and all these tropes?'"
And given that "órey is an ani-
mator, the two decided to follow
in the cartoon-style footsteps of
artists like Alison Bechdel and have
their animated counterparts dis-
cuss film and TV tropes.
More “Man Pain”
The duo also provides the dubbing
for their characters in Icelandic and
English. They have also received
help from an actress for a Norwe-
gian version and are very open to
the idea of more dubs in the future.
But right now, it’s all about funding
the series to ensure it continues
and hopefully securing partner-
ship and distribution opportuni-
ties along the way. Dögg and "órey
emphasise that they want the series
to remain free though. They’re en-
tertaining various ideas for pro-
moting the series—one idea is to
screen an episode before movies
in the theatre—but Patreon is
currently the best way for fans to
support the show. The creators can
be found and supported under the
username Sköp there, where it’s
possible for supporters to donate
in order to unlock new content, get
stickers and of course make the web
series production possible.
And even though the dreaded
YouTube algorithm poses a con-
stant threat of swallowing up con-
tent like theirs—especially since
the project’s still at an early stage—
Dögg and "órey see the value in
their work and already have lots of
ideas for future episodes.
For example, the “Born Sexy”
trope: a woman with no knowledge
of the world but a sexy bod, whom
the hero can protect but also pur-
sue. Or the “Buffoon Husband,” a
more or less lovable bumbling idiot
who often has to be parented by his
wife as much as their children.
That said, the next planned epi-
sode is about “Women In Refrigera-
tors”, those female characters who
are considered disposable and of-
ten get killed in a gruesome way to
provide drama—usually for more
"Man Pain."
Dögg hopes the series will pro-
vide more opportunity to open up
a conversation about these topics.
“It’s kind of our [contribution] to
a healthier film industry I guess,”
she concludes, “and for a healthier
representation of women. That’s
nice to leave behind.”
Film
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! COURSE TASTING MENU
ICELANDIC JOURNEY
WE START WITH A REFRESHING SHOT OF ICELANDIC “BRENNIVÍN“
SMOKED PUFFIN with a 64° Reykjavík Distillery crowberry liqueur sauce
MINKE WHALE, smoky celeriac puree, “malt” sauce
TRADITIONAL ICELANDIC “FLATKAKA“, lightly cured arctic char,
cream cheese, dill, lemon oil
HORSE CARPACCIO dates, rucola-mayo, crispy Jerusalem artichokes, parmesan
LING, mashed potatoes, caper flowers, Dijon-butter sauce
ICELANDIC LAMB RUMP STEAK,parma ham & herb crumble, mashed potatoes
SKYR PAVLOVA,meringue, skyr cream, blackberry jam, raspberry coulis,
red velvet short cake
SÆTA SVÍNI! / Hafnarstræti 1-3 / Tel. 555 2900 / saetasvinid.is
ICELANDIC GASTROPUB
$órey and Dögg in non-animated form
$órey and Dögg in animated form