My partner and I watched Skins on January 31st 2011. This show is a hybrid of drama and reality as it follows "average" teenagers who are supposed to reflect modern adolescent society in America. The show takes place in Baltimore and features the characters Tony Snyder, Michelle Richardson, Stanley Lucerne, Chris Collins, Cadie Campbell, Tea Marvelli, Daisy Valero, Abbud Saddiqui, and Eura Snyder . The characters reflect teenagers from middle to upper middle class backgrounds. A lot of controversy has surrounded this show and in a critical review of the program by The New York Times, Brian Stetler said "In recent days, executives at the cable channel became concerned that some scenes from the provocative new show “Skins” may violate federal child pornography statutes."
In the initial pilot the show gives off a rebellious tone full of disregard. The leading male character Tony wakes up and helps his sister Eura sneak into his home after a night of partying. His scheme to do this frustrates his father as he plays it all too cool. On his walk to school he calls his various other friends in an attempt to help get his porn-obsessed virgin friend Stanley laid for his first time. He even calls his girlfriend and tries to get her to do it. This scene shocked me because it's very unbelievable behavior for a 17 year old boy. He engages in this conversation with an unauthentic air of arrogance that comes off script-like.
The recipe of this show is one part rebellion, one part drugs, and two parts sex. I question its sincerity as the teenage romping continues from beginning to end with no real substance to chew on. Can I merely be fed on under-age sex, profanity and over-doses? A common theme I've read online is that the American version of Skins is not as good as its European counter-part which aired in 2007. Four years later MTV picked up the idea and in January 2011; MTV aired its version of the youthful debauchery.
The first stereotype I noted, while watching the first episode, was sweet Stanley. He represents the "sex-obsessed-nerd-virgin", a familiar stereotype and stigma in real life culture and in Hollywood. The second stereotype I picked up was Maxxie. She plays the "slutty cheerleader", but with a unique twist that has sent fans of the original show into a conniption fit. In the European Skins; Maxxie is a homosexual tap dancer and in the new version, Maxxie is a lesbian cheerleader. In my opinion, I think that this change occurred specifically for American culture. In most of the media homosexuality is still seen as risque and a little bit on the taboo side of the tracks. So why not throw a cheerleading outfit on it and give it some breasts? I can see how it would be easier for the majority of America to feel more at ease with a petite, possibly sexually frustrated, girl than it would be with a gay man. Sadly stigmas and stereotypes still remain in the 21st century.
We thought this show was a great example of the differences in cultural material between Europe and America. If we were foreigners coming over from a conservative country, such as Saudi Arabia, we would be highly offended at the American version for its raciness. If we were to come over here from western Europe we, however, would not be offended. Why? Because Europe is known for being more lax on sexuality than America. Every society is different and we believe that America has a diverse society with little cultures sprinkled from Los Angeles to Maine. So it would be semi-difficult to sum up our world presence by the material we entertain ourselves with.
The show is entertaining with all the rambunctious escapades and naughty talk (censored of course) and it evoked a good amount of anticipation within us as we watched the mayhem of these character's personalities. We feel its targeted audience is somewhere between 14 and 24 years of age. The show is perfect for those individuals who seek vicarious pleasure via the media. After all, its whole marketing campaign was about the shock-value of young creatures doing sinful things; e.g. buying and selling drugs, having sex, making out, touching, talking smack, acting cool, enjoying vanity, committing crimes, and looking hot in the midst of all the controlled chaos. The weaknesses of this show are obvious after the first few minutes. For one, we didn't know it was a remake and considering we checked out the other version on the BBC (below), we prefer the previous Skins in comparison to the American remix. The producers cast actors that have never been in film before, trying to produce as much authenticity as possible. The actors range in ages from 15 to 19 years old, but surprisingly most of them are from Canada. Odd for a show about American teenagers. Another interesting fact is that it wasn't filmed in America either, the set for Skins was in Ontario, Canada. The acting was contrived at best. It conveyed very little hardy emotion, but it succeeded in being superficial and exaggerated. When it comes to the realities of average teenagers, Skins misses the mark. It does succeed in bringing awareness to the public eye about potential problems our youth faces. It fails again, though, in romanticizing such problems.
In conclusion, we learned that there is nothing new under the media sun. The media will always be here with us in all future generations to come, to manipulate our emotions, feed our laziness, cater to our consumerism, or to merely entertain us with ridiculous nonsense. We are connected to the media for better or worse...till prime-time death do us part.
BBC America Skins Promo
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