I did my undergrad at a Swedish Lutheran college, where everyone had to read Ibsen and Strindberg (ugh!), and listen to Peer Gynt (shudder), so I don't trust Scandinavian fiction. Even the comedies tend to the dark and dreary. So, when Pernille (2021-24), renamed from the Norwegian Pørni for obvious reasons, appeared on Netflix as a "triumph of Norwegian television," I decided to do a little research before jumping in:
The premise: Pørni, a single mother (until she starts dating Bjørnar in Episode 1.2), works for child protective services. After her sister's tragic death, she becomes responsible for her teenage nephew Leo (Jon Ranes)
Left: Gunnar Eiriksen plays Bjørnar, but I think this is a different one.
Episode 1.3, "Don't Get a Boyfriend, Please": "When Leo has an angry outburst during a match, Pørni urges him to deal with the elephant in the room."
The elephant must have something to do with the request to not get a boyfriend. Leo must be gay, and Auntie Pørni disapproves.
Nope, the elephant is: His dad killed his mother, and wll probably go to prison, but Leo hates him, and thinks that he should have died.
Pørni advises that, regardless of the anger he feels, Leo owes the kid he attacked an apology, and he shouldn't have called him "mongo." Not a gay slur -- it refers to a mental disability.
Episode 1.6: Leo has a "Big Day," but when I checked, it turned out to be his confirmation (joining the Lutheran Church). And the guy sitting next to him is a family member, not a boyfriend.
Leo next appears in the plot synopses in Episode 2.3, when a girl named Rains comes into the kitchen, and everyone is shocked: "I thought they broke up." "No, they're just open to seeing other people." Heterosexualized in the second season!
But in Episode 5.6, which I skimmed through for another reason, Auntie Pørni asks Leo, "Have you seen Lukas lately?" with that eager gleam that you doubtless recognize from your childhood, when your parents were playing matchmaker. He responds, "Not since I picked up the t-shirts for the bachelor party. Why?" "Oh, no reason." Gleam, gleam, knowing smile.
They use he/him pronouns: Lukas is a guy. And it sounds very much as if Pørni is trying to push them together. Maybe Leo has come out as bi.
Actor Jon Ranes plays a youth gang member in the concurrent Flus (2022-24), and sings under the name Loverboy. I don't know if he's gay in real life or not, but I have my suspicions.
I was so invested in skipping over the darkness, depression, and unyielding agony of life in Scandinavian comedies that I missed the elephant in the room:
More after the break. Caution: Explicit.
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Left: Nils and his son play the older and younger Peer Gynt (shudder), from a 2017 article where he discusses his cancer diagnosis (naturally).
Dad begins dating Stephen (Henrik Mestad, on top) around Episode 1.5. Stephen appears in 14 of 23 episodes.
Exactly as the wedding is starting, as Stephen is waiting to walk down the aisle. That's not just depressing, it's downright sadistic.
Aren't you glad I did some research?
Bonus: Some nice Norwegian guys (two are fully clothed on NYSocBoy's Beefcake and Bonding)
This guy's dick is literally bigger than his arm.
An Oslo baker.
From Iceland, not Norway. Are you complaining?
See also:
Love and Anarchy: A prank war at a Stockholm publishing house, with gay teases and Bjorn's penis
Katla: Everyone in Iceland is depressed, dying, and full of secrets
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