When I first saw the commercial for MTV’s new series, Skins, I thought it was an ad for the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign - you know, the “above the influence” ads? I anticipated the party scenes to subside and “above the influence” to appear in white text. Instead, promotional information for the series appeared in fluorescent green.
The commercial for Skins is marketing genius, though. If the synthesized rhythm of “Kids” by Sleigh Bells doesn’t get your attention, the mature content of the scenes playing on the screen certainly will, but not necessarily in a good way.
The premise of Skins is not new to TV. The concept of a brazen teen drama turned soap opera, interlaced with sex scenes, alcohol, and drug use, seems commonplace today with the emergence of One Tree Hill, Gossip Girl, and The Secret Life of the American Teenager.
Journalist James Poniewozik labels the series a “parental nightmare.”
Without a doubt, Skins has spurred much controversy with adults. A myriad of articles and news reports have been published and are centered around the controversy, and can be found online - all you have to do is Google Skins.
In his article, “Generation XXX: MTV Tries to Get Real with Skins,” for Time, Poniewozik writes, “On Skins, the characters do drugs and have sex and have a deep core of sadness. But they don't have a core of sadness because they do drugs and have sex. Nor, necessarily, is it the other way around."
“For all its cheekiness and raunch, Skins has more sweetness than snarky teen soaps like Gossip Girl."
He adds, “This is the secret of this unsettling, flawed but ambitious show: it wears its heart on its skin.”
What you see is what you get, I guess.
In conclusion, Poniewozik asks, “How realistic is the show?”
So, if you’ve seen the show, how realistic is it? Is it sensational?
If you haven’t seen the show, what do you think of the commercial? Based on it, do you think the series is realistic or sensational?
How do you think shows like Skins affect youth?
Share your thoughts!
6 comments:
I have seen the commercial however I have not seen the show. I think it is edgy and a bit disturbing but only in the fact that I know somewhere there are teen that party at the dangerous level that Skins mentions. Of course not every young person lives so recklessly and I think some of the backlash comes from individuals who don't want to face the fact that although this show is scripted these are the teens in their nightly news. From the commercial it seems sensational and unrealistic to me but what if someone watches the show and laughs with their friends that that was exactly what their weekend looked like?
I had heard of Skins just because of the uproar that it's created, but I'd never seen a commercial, until I watched the one you just posted. No exaggeration, my reaction after watching it was to stare at the screen for a few seconds, then exclaim, "What?!" I know that this series is based off the British one, and shows can get away with a lot more over there, but really? You're entitled to watch whatever you want, but it seems unrealistic to me. I'm sure there are people out there that age who do that, but I feel like this show suggests that it's the norm for teenagers, and it's not.
It might be hard for some of us to imagine such a world existing outside of a television set, but I think this could be the norm for many teens (of course only those who actually have access to these sorts of lifestyles). The commercial was what I expected it to be.... Teens going overboard. This is the way humans are, we see an inch of the lifestyle we think is fun, and take a whole mile of it. I've seen clips from the British version of Skins- it seemed a little more realistic. I think Americans have this way of making everything so much shinier and appealing. I don't like that appeal. It's dangerous, and it's false.
The show itself, however, isn't so bad for teens to watch. They just need to know the truth about those lifestyles and the way they can affect people. People who are too impressionable should stay away from MTV in general.
I have watched the first 2 episodes of Skins, and I still can't decide if I like the show or not. I agree it should not be viewed by anyone under the age of 18, because it portrays a very negative message to teens that they can party, do drugs, drink, and have sex at a very young age. It is a very unusual show. In my opinion, it will not be approved for another season, or it will grow to be a huge success.
I believe that the series generated a lot of buzz through its commercials, which appeared at almost every commercial break during prime time MTV programming for about a month leading up to its premiere, and thus acquired much intrigue for its first episode. The heightened reality of these high school students, who, for example, wake up one morning to a note from their parents leaving them with $1000 and the stipulation, "be good," is not relatable to many teenagers' everyday lives.
The party scenes in the show make drugs and alcohol not only available in mass amounts, but also permissible. The show inaccurately portrays this activity nonchalantly, with seemingly no consequences. In order to be socially responsible, I believe that if MTV is going to air the content, there should be an anti-drug public service announcement of some sort to balance it out.
I am a huge fan of the UK skins show and was shocked when I heard that MTV was going to be having their own skins series. So I assumed they would change up the story line and make it more based towards America's culture. I was wrong. MTV has taken a show that was intended for the UKs culture and made it their own. This show is definitely intended for a mature audience and I knew from the start that MTV was going to have problems with this.
I honestly don't think that in the UK these kids live such crazy lives like that, but I do know that their lifestyles when it comes to drinking and drugs are a little different than ours. So in that case, this show for the UK is somewhat more realistic. For the US in this matter, absolutely not. It's just another UK show that was ruined.
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