We Are Who We Are: A Deep Dive into the Teenage Psyche

Image courtesy of Variety

By Noelia Veras 

We Are Who We Are is a new show on HBO directed by Luca Guadagnino. The show follows a young boy whose family relocates to Italy, where they live on a military base. The pilot was released on September 14 on the HBO Max streaming service. 

Guadagnino is most famous for directing the book to film adaptation Call Me By Your Name which followed a young boy and his love story with an older man. The film also took place in Italy. In the film, Italy is perhaps a character in itself, being the vehicle for much of the plot and romance that commences.

We Are Who We Are is quite similar to Call Me By Your Name in that Italy plays a large role in the development of the story and plot. The show follows a young boy and his two mothers as they navigate their new lives in Italy while still being in this very American space. The military base is quite American in convention. On base, people are either wearing American military uniforms or, if they aren’t soldiers, wearing clothes that follow American trends. 

Ultimately though, Italy cradles this base forcing these characters to interact with the culture and landscape of Italy. 

The opening shot of We Are Who We Are presents the audience to the main character, Fraser, who is played by Jack Dylan Grazer. He is the typical adolescent with an eclectic style. His nails are painted black and yellow as he wears baggy animal print pants and an orange hoodie. Later, the audience learns that Fraser is apathetic, obsessed with astrology, and always has his headphones in his ears. 

Fraser’s mothers Sarah and Maggie, respectively played by Chloe Sevigny and Alice Braga, have both a complicated relationship with each other and with Fraser. Sarah is Fraser’s biological mother and throughout the pilot, they face multiple disagreements and Fraser even slaps her at one point. Maggie and Fraser have a more amicable relationship; she tends to a wound he gets after falling on a bridge in the pilot and cleans a bloodstain out of his shirt. Where Sarah and Fraser are the image of tumultuous waters Maggie and Fraser are that of a still ocean.

The show captures stories beyond Fraser and his family though, introducing an ensemble of friends. In the first episode, Fraser follows a group of friends that includes a girl he seems particularly fascinated with who is named Caitlin. The girl that ends up befriending him first from this group is named Jennifer, and she acts as his guide around the base and parts of Italy. 

The show presents the heavy despair and angst involved in being an adolescent in 2020. It shows the pain etched in being ripped from one’s life and moved to this rare and unique experience that is both Italian and American. 

After the pilot on HBO, the creators and actors of the show discuss the making of the episode and the major themes that the show will continue to explore. The director spoke to the relationship between the base and the world outside of the base. 

“I like that friction between the outside and the inside,” Guadagnino said. “And I like to see a sort of experiment of America within the boundaries of a small community like that.”

Interestingly enough, Fraser is both secure and insecure in his personality, sexuality, and relationships. His insecurities stem from this very vulnerable situation that he is in: living in this completely different world while also being in a very formative part of his life. Fraser is originally from New York, quite possibly the most American experience one can have, and is now in this place characterized by integration into a different culture and lifestyle. He is consumed by his own world, but these forces keep pulling him out to open his eyes and take in this new place. While Fraser tries to resist accepting this new reality, it is impossible to do so completely. Italy is all around him, breathing down his neck, with the Italian coast lapping at his feet, an old couple offering him a glass of wine on the side of the street, and the landscape opening up to him and inviting him in. He can’t avoid it, no matter how much he wants to.

Overall, the first two episodes of this series present a deep dive into the life of a teenaged boy and the elements around him. Thus far, major themes of cultural integration, familial conflicts, rejection, and the exploration of sexuality have already been established. New episodes of We Are Who We Are are released every Monday at 10 p.m. EST on HBO Max.