In watching Alee Isa’s web series, Fikri Jermadi makes an exception to an unwritten rule.

We tend not to review web series here at Thoughts on Films. It is not a hard and fast rule, and there is no intention to discriminate. It just does not land on our radar as much as other forms of film. Yet as I type these words, I find myself wondering why that is the case, as I do check in with them once in a while.

Today is an exception to the rule. Released in 2016, ‘Kau Memang Special Tapi Dia Double Cheese’ was initially published by TAPAUtv, a platform showcasing Malaysian youth and independent culture. The three initial episodes follow three friends, Nabil (Nabil Ifwat), Iman (Shaza Bae) and Daniel (Daniel Emirrul), as they transition from being teenagers to young adults.

Nabil is a graphic design graduate who finds himself making street-side burgers for a living, having tried the conventional career. Iman, on the other hand, questions both the commitments she has made (particularly in terms of her long-term relationship with Jason [Jonny Lin]) and the ones she has not (like her unfinished novel).

Outwardly, Daniel is the most carefree of the three, with little by way of long-term commitments; still in college, he does not want to take a loan because he refuses to be burdened by them later on. His advice to Iman is proof positive of this: “If we don’t know where we are going, any road we take will lead us there anyway.”

Yet such bravado covers his own insecurities in wanting to pursue his music career. It is these anxieties which series creator Alee Isa tries to unmask, voicing out the thoughts and feelings of a generation navigating their way to adulthood. Having said that, such dilemmas are central to any era, as grey areas of transition are often filled with nerve-wrecking uncertainty for anyone.

The sequel, ‘Kau Memang Special Tapi Dia Double Cheese 2’, hammers home this point. Picking up the narrative a few years later, all three of them remain uncertain even as they are now more established in their own pathways. Nabil’s burger business is more successful now, yet there is a nagging feeling of the potential unfulfilled from his graphic design passion, egged on by an encounter with his former colleague Anwar (Anwar Hadi).

Iman’s first novel is a bestseller, but she is having a hard case of the second novel syndrome, terrified that the follow up will not garner the same reception. Additionally, Daniel’s music career is taking off on the independent scene, but that success has not assuaged him of his worries of balancing other commitments, leading to some tough decisions to be made.

Iman externalises this in the sequel, as they celebrate her birthday by eating burgers in a buaian. “Back in school, we had breaks. In college, we had semester breaks. But there’s no deadlines now, though. What happens after you get a career? What happens after you get married? If you don’t get married, then what?”

That food for thought plays out in a buaian in a residential park, serving as a metaphor for the series; it is public enough that anyone could see them, but it does not stop them from opening up to each other, as Alee does with ‘Kau Memang Special Tapi Dia Double Cheese’ as a whole. The buaian’s circular design frames this bubble of privacy, without restricting the speaking of the unspoken.

In fact, it could be argued that this framing also works as a representative snapshot of the whole series. It is this location, for instance, that was chosen by TAPAUtv as the screenshot for the series trailer. Taken from episode three, it is a full shot of both Nabil and Daniel, framed by the buaian as they converse deeply about things even Iman is not aware of.

There is a variation to this shot in the sequel, which features the three of them as they leave the buaian later that evening. Occurring when it did in the story, I’d like to think of it as a signification of them leaving their comfort zone for the world out there, safe in the knowledge that they can return to it should they need to.

Of course, I may well be reading too much into the story here, but I think another point of analysis could also be made with a scene in the second episode. Iman, finding herself frustrated by her commitment to Jason, has a breakdown after he surprises her to celebrate their fifth anniversary together.

“I’m tired,” she says, her voice pitched with desperation. “I’m tired of lying to my family, to my friends and to myself.” Jason, in trying to calm her down, is empathetic with her emotions: “We talked about this so many times. It’s gonna be alright.”

It is worth noting here that Iman and Jason are of different ethnicities; while Chinese-Malay couples are not such an exception in Malaysian society and history, neither are they the hegemonic rule. In the expression of Iman’s exasperation at this apparent fixity, the diction and tone are familiar to those who traverse various ethnicities, religions and/or cultures in this context.

Given Malaysian society’s own heavy-handedness in such matters, it can explain why Iman feels the weight of their relationship on her heart and shoulders. In particular, the term ‘lying to my family’ suggests that Iman’s own family does not know about her boyfriend of five years, precisely because she does not think that they would accept it.

Again, I run the risk of reading too much into an off-hand comment, but I am on more certain ground with the film’s aesthetics. Produced in 2016, the series could be seen as a late-stage entry into the 2010s hipster vernacular. That was the indie culture a la mode at the time, with other videos online (like the satirical ‘The Hipster View’) also playing around with this.

In ‘Kau Memang Special Tapi Dia Double Cheese’, this is seen through things major and minor, including a copy of Austin Kleon’s ‘Steal Like an Artist’ on Nabil’s desk (practically a bible for some hipsters I know back then). Daniel’s costume design also reflects this, ranging from his plaid shirts (often a mark of hipsterdom) in earlier episodes to more hyperlocal batik patterns in the sequel.

The soundtrack also reflects this streak, with The Alif, Hujan and Yuna overlaying key scenes with their magic; even though her music is not heard in the series, Wani Ardy makes an appearance as a special guest actor. All we need now is something from The Impatient Sisters to get closer to completing the Malaysian indie scene bingo.

I mean none of the above pejoratively, as Alee and her team’s efforts here are sincere in reflecting the zeitgeist in dealing with such truths. This is particularly evident in how the cast and characters are listed; the credits may highlight their online personas (e.g. Shazabae) but their onscreen characters use their real names (e.g. Iman from Shaza Nuriman).

This is despite the fact that they are established Internet personalities in their own right. For instance, Nabil’s Kyopropaganda YouTube channel clocks in over 13 million views. However, while that veneer of social media stardom brings in the clicks, they do not detract from the narrative ground as a familiar foundation many could relate to.

There’s more to write about, but for now, it’s enough to say that ‘Kau Memang Special Tapi Dia Double Cheese’ is a key exploration of the generation at the time. For some, it works as a creative historicisation of moments. For others, however, its true value is as a time machine, a cinematic buaian they can return to once in a while, before getting back to their own parks of life.

Watch ‘Kau Memang Special Tapi Dia Double Cheese’ here.

Featured image credit: OPNeon / Reddit