Show Me Love - Television Tropes & Idioms

Fucking Åmål, AKA Show me Love is one of the best-known films to come out of Sweden in recent years.

The story concerns Agnes Ahlberg, a young lesbian who has recently moved to the sleepy Swedish town of Åmål with her family. Agnes goes to school in the local High School (locally known as "gymnasium"), where her only friend is a wheelchair-bound girl named Viktoria. But Agnes dreams of a better life and spends her days pining for the school's most popular girl, Elin Olsson.

When Agnes' parents decide to throw a sixteenth-birthday party without consulting her, Agnes invites only Viktoria, but Elin and her older sister Jessica crash the party, unbeknownst to Agnes. While there, Jessica dares Elin to kiss Agnes on the lips—and is revolted when Elin does so. Elin enjoys the kiss, but Agnes—who didn't know of the dare—is left feeling hurt and confused.

Elin soon starts to feel remorse, and decides to apologize. The two start to strike up a relationship, but Elin worries that Jessica won't accept her, and instead invents a romance with Unlucky Everydude Johan, best friend of Jessica's loser boyfriend Markus.

The movie is famous for having gone right up against Titanic in its native country, and sweeping the Guldbagges (the Swedish Academy Awards).

This movie contains examples of:

Aggressive Categorism: Markus is the obvious case, with his inane rant about how women can't possibly understand cellphones and men can't possibly understand makeup. However, it's implied that the people in general are just as narrow-minded, they just don't flaunt it like he does. Life in a small town is hell.
Alpha Bitch: Camilla.
The Bet: The whole relationship between Agnes and Elin starts when Elin kisses Agnes, on a bet from Jessica.
Big Damn Kiss: Elin and Agnes in the car.
Censored Title: Almost nowhere outside of Sweden used the original title. In Swedish, the word "fucking" is used exclusively as a curse-word. In English, it would be interpreted as if the movie was about intercourse.
Closet Key: Agnes for Elin, possibly.
Coming Out Story: For both girls.
Crazy Jealous Guy: Jessica has to break up a fight between Markus and another boy who was trying to chat her up
Crowning Moment of Funny:
Elin: Ta-daaa! This is my girlfriend. Please excuse us, we are going to fuck.
- Which is followed immediately by the two girls drinking chocolate milk as Elin babbles about the proper way to make the stuff
- "I want to do drugs!!"
Crowning Moment of Heartwarming: "You're not ordinary."
Daddy's Girl: Agnes.
A Date with Rosie Palms: Agnes masturbates to Elin's class photo. it's implied that Elin does this to Agnes' photo as well.
Double Entendre: The kids chanting for Elin to "come out" of the bathroom
Does This Remind You of Anything?: Markus spends some time comparing the size of his phone to other guys'.
- They brag about how small their phones are.
Dogged Nice Guy: Johan.
Doting Parent: Agnes' father doesn't tend to get it right, but he adores her.
Emo Teen: Both Elin and Agnes have their moments.
Erotic Dream / Homoerotic Dream: Elin has one of these about Agnes the night after they kiss.
Gayngst: Agnes. So. Much.
Freud Was Right: Lesbian Agnes is much closer to her father than to her mother.
Fridge Logic: How does Elin know where Agnes lives?
- In Swedish schools it is (or at least was) common to have a registry of students' phone numbers and addresses. Also, the phone book usually lists addresses as well as phone numbers.
Yuri Genre With a happy ending
Heteronormative Crusader: Viktoria chose to assume this role, harassing her former friend Agnes for being homosexual. It's all an openly calculated plot designed to use homophobia as a means to gain popularity... And it backfires completely.
Ho Yay: This troper can't be the only one who saw it when Johan and Markus fought in the locker room.
If It's You, It's Okay: While Agnes is a lesbian, Elin hasn't shown any attraction to any other females - Agnes is quite possibly her first and only girl.
- It is quite common for people to date a lot or not at all before figuring they are gay. So, Elin is basically a wait-and-see case.
- Especially since she's fourteen years old.
Interrupted Suicide: Elin comes to apologise to Agnes while Agnes is in the middle of trying to slit her wrists with a safety razor.
Intertwined Fingers: The climactic scene, when Elin and Agnes walk out of the bathroom - and out of the school grounds - Holding Hands, Intertwined Fingers, swinging their arms, and giving each other sideways looks and smiles, is about the cutest scene in movie history, possibly only topped by the scene immediately following where they drink chocolate milk together.
Lampshade Hanging: During the hitchhiking scene, the girls kiss in the car while Suspiciously Apropos Music plays. This is swiftly broken up by the driver, and he asks if he's on Candid Camera.
Lipstick Lesbian: Elin, kind of.
Love Confession: Elin's to Agnes is a stumbling but passionate speech. Agnes says it all with a nod and shining eyes.
Love Triangle: Agnes-Elin-Johan.
Market-Based Title (in addition to the two mentioned already, we have Raus aus Åmål for Germany and Láska je láska for Czech Republic and Slovakia)
Now What?: The ending deliberately leaves many plot threads hanging (like how coming out of the (water) closet affects the balance of power, or how Jessica will react upon finding out. Or if Jessica and Johan end up together—it is implied that she breaks up with Markus)
Puppy-Dog Eyes: Elin pulls them out trying to convince Jessica to go to Agnes' party, and again when trying to convince Agnes to go to Camilla's party.
Really Gets Around: everyone thinks this about Elin, and Johan's surprised when she's actually a virgin.
Romantic False Lead: Averted with Johan who is actually a nice guy who genuinely cares for Elin.
Romantic Runner Up: Johan, who Elin dates, sleeps with, and then breaks up with to be with Agnes. However, it's implied that he may eventually start dating Jessica.
Schoolgirl Lesbians: Agnes and Elin.
Small Town Boredom: Elin, hardcore.
Smitten Teenage Girl: Agnes and Elin barely know each other at the start of the film, but Agnes is still writing poetry about her and writing her name in her books.
Spurned Into Suicide: Agnes over Elin's cruelty to her. It's not really a wholehearted attempt, and Elin interrupts it.
- If she intended to commit sucide, then she was doing it wrong. It was more like emo-cutting herself, to balance off emotional pain with the physical one. I don't know the term for it.
Take It To The Bridge: It isn't until Elin and Agnes get to the bridge that they really get talking, make plans to run away to Stockholm, and make out.
Title Drop: "Why do we have to live in fucking hell dick Åmål?" or words to that effect.
- Elin drops the title exactly in the bridge scene.
Tomboy and Girly Girl: Agnes and Elin.
Vomit Indiscretion Shot: After drinking most of a bottle of wine (straight out of the bottle) at the Wild Teen Party, Elin runs to the bathroom and pukes into the toilet, in close-up.
What the Hell, Hero?: At her unwanted party, Agnes throws a fit at Viktoria, insulting her and even picking on her because she's disabled. Her parents call her out on it, and she later tries to apologize. Viktoria refuse to forgive her, mostly because it's true what Agnes said: They never liked each other, and they both knew it. They were "friends" because no-one else wanted them.
Wild Teen Party: The party Elin and Jessica attend early on.
Window Pain: Elin, wanting to apologise to Agnes, tosses pebbles at her window. The first time she does so, there's no incident, but later on in the film when she does the same thing again, she breaks the window.
You Are Grounded: Elin and Jessica are grounded on the night of the party, and pay precisely as much attention to their grounding as one might expect.