Magazine Article for "As You Like It" - Marist Clubs and ...

England’s E4 Channel Original Series
Skins Serves As A Breathe of Fresh Air
When British actor Nicholous Hoult was
only twelve years old, I became his biggest
fan as I first watched him awkwardly belt out
Roberta Flack’s “Killing Me Softly” alongside
Hugh Grant in the 2002 movie adaptation of
Nick Hornby’s novel, About A Boy.
Late one night last year, as I procrastinated
from writing my Marist admittance essay, I was
suddenly possessed to stalk Nicholous Hoult
via the internet. I discovered that his latest
project was a TV series called Skins in which
he starred as a smart-ass teenager named Tony
Stonem. I immediately did a search on YouTube
and came across the promotion for the shows
first season, which left me completely and utterly
floored.
The four minute video portrays the most
raucous party imaginable in which a mob of
scantily dressed teenagers are depicted consuming
a myriad of drugs, dry humping on
every available surface, and having deep
drunken conversations in an empty bathtub
(oh come on, we’ve all been there). Think Gossip
Girl if the costume designer dressed the
cast in vintage frocks and gold lamè hot pants
from American Apparel instead of the latest
designer duds from Barney’s New York. Think
Dawson’s Creek meets Larry Clark’s controversial
cult-classic KIDS.
True, it was the immediate shock value of
its unwholesome content which initially drew
me to the show, but it was the terrifyingly honest
and beautifully tender portrayal of its teen-
age protagonists which kept me hooked. Beneath
all the sexuality and explicitness is a
completely authentic and freshly envisioned
story of an eclectic group of friends living in
the town of Bristol, a culturally diverse town
outside of London.
Unlike American teenage dramas which
fail at relating to their target audience by patronizing
them with shallow characters placed
on a pedestal (Marissa Cooper from The OC
comes to mind), Skins celebrates the complexities
of teenagers by proving that they don’t
think of life and love in any less of a detailed
or nuanced way than their adult counterparts.
Perhaps the shows most intriguing aspect
is the array of themes and issues covered in
every episode as each one is centered around
a different character from the group of friends.
The style in which it is filmed and the music
by which it is scored is altered accordingly to
fit their personality. This alternative way in
which the episodes are structured allows for
a more intimate glimpse into the personal lives
of each character and defines their relationships
with exquisite detail, to the point that
one can’t help but become emotionally invested
in the trials and tribulations of the
debaucherous misfits.
My favorite character by far is the effervescent
Cassie who enters the show freshly
out of an insane asylum/rehabilitation center
for her anorexia. As the ultimate hot-mess,
Cassie regularly overdoses on prescription
pills, has an obsession with kitchen cutlery,
By Storm Heitman
and unexpectedly runs away to New York City.
Cassie loves Sid who loves Michelle who loves
Tony who loves playing manipulative mindgames
on all three of them. This dilemma is a
common thread throughout the first two seasons
and although it may sound like your everyday,
run of the mill love triangle but within
the context of the show it is in no way conventional.
Skins has recently entered the mainstream
of America as one of it’s cast members, Dev
Patel, starred in this year’s Academy Award
golden child, Slumdog Millionaire. The third
season recently began airing in the UK and the
show’s creators brazenly decided to write out
the original cast and to bring aboard nine new
actors to carry on the torch.
A little part of me died inside when I first
found this out but with time I realized that their
decision fit into the ground-breaking tradition
of the series and after watching several of the
new episodes online, it has yet to disappoint.
Outlandishly provocative yet alarmingly endearing,
Skins could teach the producers of
American television quite a few lessons.
If this article has caught your interest in
any which way, you can catch re-runs of the
first two seasons now playing on BBC America
(they are highly censored and resemble the
watered-down version of Sex and The City on
TBS) or you can visit www.watchskins.tv to
watch it in all its smutty glory.
18