Cultural guest Niina Lahtinen seems to be everywhere. Many people are infuriated by it – loudness and fun, according to Lahtinen, have not traditionally been women’s disciplines.
Lahtinen was writer-director of *Fall* for three years. In the 15th season, starting in January, he should learn to be “just” a presenter. As if that’s possible for a person who numbs ideas and opinions.
Sometimes his strong directorial identity has been better tolerated, sometimes worse. Sometimes he has been told point-blank that you could just do your job as an actor.
As the screenwriter of *Sisterhood* and *Loving Children*, among others, as well as a brash panellist on *Good and Bad News*, Lahtinen has shown that nothing is sacred to him.
And it still is.
Especially as the author of the *Fall*, he understands his responsibility. Children also watch the entertainment program for the whole family on Saturday evenings.
– I have watched Putou with my children when they were small. I feel in my skin what it’s like when an eight-year-old asks, \”Mommy, what does that mean?\” I don’t want any of that content there.
The compulsion to carnivalise
Niina Lahtinen is cramming fun from her hip and is ready to sit at the cameraman’s request for any snow project in front of the prestigious blocks that line Senatintor.
He will throw himself, even if the Winter Boots get a liter of snow.
– Luckily there is this down jacket! Did you know that Joutsen is a brand from Riihmäki?, Lahtinen whispers about the cinema, being a brand from Riihmäki himself.
Lahtinen obediently makes snow angels because he is asked. He already knew as a teenager that his job is to entertain people.
Lahtinen was barely 13 years old when a youth theater was founded in Riihimäki, which he joined in the wake of his older sister.
There you could drink whatever came to your mind. Everyone did everything from writing to making coffee and directing to selling tickets. You had to do everything yourself.
It taught.
The passion for making entertainment is from those times, Lahtinen reflects.
– We did try to make some very artistic performances, but no one came to see them. As soon as there was a revue or a cabaret, everyone came. It was made that sold.
Lahti became a comedian at the request of the public. But there was more to it.
– The compulsion of carnivalization must be inscribed in a person.
Few people can be funny by tapping their fingers. Niina Lahtinen can.
– Would the video still be filmed in the carousel?
– Of course!
Cheerfulness is a skill
Niina Lahtinen has often tried to be a matter-of-fact person, even a profound one. However, those things have always gone by the wayside. The more serious he tries to be, the more hysterical he gets.
– When I try to write something serious or artistic, the truth starts to laugh at me. Then it turns into a comedy.
It’s pointless from Lahti to pump a clown’s tears type of background story.
He is an entertainer who appreciates levity as a skill. He’s an entertainer because he’s had fire support for that sport since he was a child.
Lahtinen is an entertainer also because, in his opinion, it is the best dune in the world. Besides, he gets excited about almost everything. He says he plays for work, even though he’s serious about humor.
– Sometimes it gets tiring and it feels like there is nothing to give. Then someone suggests something, and I find myself booking the only day off of the month for some weird new production.
Lahtinen’s self-confidence stems from encouragement. He wants to lift his hat off his head as a tribute to teachers, especially native language teachers.
– The middle school mother tongue teacher encouraged me to do Christmas party performances, plays and whatever. He was really encouraging. Elementary school teachers do incredibly important work.
At the request of the public
Niina Lahtinen is funny.
He is funny both to the audience and to the subscribers. However, he is not, at least in his own opinion, very funny alone.
Fun requires an audience or at least a group in which to test ideas.
In recent years, Lahtinen has mostly written as part of a group, although the compositions have varied. Scriptwriting in a group is at best of the same type as improvisational theater, which is one of Lahtinen’s genres.
In both, people have to be open and take other people’s suggestions.
– Knocking out is terribly unproductive in any work environment. If the other’s offer is accepted as crap, the end result is that everyone is silent.
According to Lahtinen, good comedy requires a safe group, acceptance and a good midwife.
– Anna tells us what she would like from us. The best stories have come about when everyone has come with, for example, mother-themed sketches, but then we go through our own stories and the fun comes from them.
Everything is material
Genuine observations sometimes drive Niina Lahtinen into a corner.
Those close to you do not always understand that they are an endless source of material. Niina Lahtinen gets particularly rude feedback from her two daughters, especially from the teenager.
And for good reason.
– A child can tell something tragic, and I react in such a way that this turns out to be a good sketch. Then the child says, mom, this is my real life, could you be present, empathetic and listen. I’ll try. I can’t do it. I wonder how much fun that awful thing is, in a way, especially if you tweak it a bit more.
Lahtinen makes a small spectacle of what kind of human monster he is to those close to him. The hands wave, the voice turns into a parody character.
Lahtinen lightens up.
According to his own words, he is the world’s worst parent who doesn’t deserve his children: Who goes on television to tell a funny anecdote about the worst moment of their teenager?
– In the end, my child forgave me when I sincerely cried and regretted. Still, I will surely make the same mistakes in the future.
Lahtinen expresses regret, but plans to continue writing without pity about everything he has experienced. In his opinion, anything can and should be done.
The point of view is still worth thinking about. For example, it is not the majority’s business to shout that the minority is offended by a racist slap.
– Recently, when leaving the restaurant, I apologized to a dark-skinned employee for the terrible mess we left behind. He stated that \”ours\” are really good at cleaning. He’s allowed to throw something like that. I don’t, and I don’t like it.
It’s up to the majority to listen and learn. Besides, in Lahtinen’s opinion, the life of a middle-aged, white, relatively privileged cis-hetero woman offers enough material and it is safe to draw from it.
– There are sketches that I would never do again, even in Siskonpedi. Times change and luckily we learn. I won’t tell you what they are because otherwise everyone would google them.
– Thank God Joonas has got his own talk show and gets enough attention. It will probably help him deal with his small role in Dear Children.
Loudness is annoying
In addition to the fact that Niina Lahtinen is funny, many people find her really annoying.
Humor has traditionally not been considered a women’s sport.
Many TV faces cause mixed reactions. However, not everyone arouses such straightforward anger as Lahtinen.
Why does that mother-in-law have a mouth and a head? Does it have to push itself into every program?
Loud women are really annoying, Lahtinen says. That attitude shows the decades-long traditions that he hopes will change. She would like her two daughters to grow up in a world where everyone is allowed to be all kinds.
– If you think about what kind of girls were popular in the eyes of boys or anyone in middle school or high school, yes, they were restrained and beautiful and nice. Ronskis and loud ones weren’t exactly the most desirable dating company.
Just before this interview, a lady had sent Lahtinen a message, in which she was amazed that she had to be so annoying.
– In the message, they wondered if I understood how I was destroying the self-esteem of the Finnish people. I was amazed again that how could I even do such a thing? Apparently I have a lot more power than I thought.
Hate speech included, after all, there is also internalized shame.
– I also annoy myself. I never look at my own stuff. If I see them, I always wonder why I had to be so loud, why I had to be too much again, why can’t I be smart and moderate?
Then Lahtinen laughs.
*You can discuss the article until 11.12.19.*