YATIZ (SKAM Philippines 🇵🇭)

YATIZ: Explained

WHAT IS YATIZ?

YATIZ is based on the Norwegian series Skam created by Julie Andem.

Set in the southern part of the Philippines, it follows the stories of young people living in a small seaside municipality called Carmen as they try to navigate school, friends, family, and the many issues teenagers face on a day to day basis.

The title:

"YATIZ" is based on a local expletive here. It doesn't have a direct English translation but usage-wise, it's a bit like WTF. Yati or Yatis is usually said when you're annoyed or frustrated. But it can also be used in jest with friends.

Some cultural context:

The Philippines has three island groups: Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. Each group has their own diverse cultures, peoples and languages. Yatiz is set in southern Mindanao.

Carmen is actually a municipality that exists but for the sake of scope, I have amalgamated it with other neighboring towns. The language the characters will be speaking is in Cebuano or Binisaya. This is one of the main languages in the Philippines.

For our educational system, many people start with Elementary (Grades 1 to 6). Although some choose to give their children preschool education before starting Elementary. They then have 3 years for Junior High School (Grades 7 to 10) which is just regular high school with general subjects. Unless you go to a specialist high school where some offer special courses depending on which program they are enrolled on. They then move up to Senior High School (Grades 11 to 10) where they usually choose specialty programs of interest, usually called "strands". It could be STEM or something IT-related. After that, they go to college.

Shame is very much ingrained in our culture. And this is especially true when you're brought up in a very conservative environment in which this story is set. Conservatism here comes in varying degrees depending on your religion or beliefs. As per religion, the majority of Filipinos are Catholics. But Muslims are very much integrated in our culture, especially in this region. However, there are still other parts of Mindanao that are experiencing violent conflicts due to differences in religion and political ideologies. Despite their integration to Philippine society, Muslim people still experience micro-aggressions from Christians and non-Muslims. There are even slurs here for "Bad Muslims".

As for queerness and LGBTQ+ rights, we are still far away from acceptance. We're usually a country known for our tolerance of gay people. But our media usually portrays us as a joke or just fetishizes us. Homophobia, transphobia and sexism is still an ongoing issue in our country. This specific area doesn't even have any Pride celebrations. It's usually just in major cities like Manila, Cebu, or Davao. There are anti-discriminatory laws that are being discussed by the government but the progress is slow.

Writer's note:

Skam has usually been told culturally through European and Western lenses. So I'm very excited and a bit nervous to present it in this new context, with issues and problems that are specific to our own corner of the country. I'm also a huge fan of the show and its remakes so this will definitely be a challenge for me, unlearning those points of views and writing these characters in a new way and in a way that's closer to me culturally.

Special thanks to earthIingoddity for all the help with the typos and also for the lovely feedback. I very much appreciate your work. They also made a SKAM Philippine remake. Just click the username to read it.

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