{"id":480,"date":"2012-03-17T01:19:49","date_gmt":"2012-03-17T05:19:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.nd.edu\/yankswatchingtelly\/?p=480"},"modified":"2012-03-17T01:21:11","modified_gmt":"2012-03-17T05:21:11","slug":"480","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/yankswatchingtelly\/?p=480","title":{"rendered":"Subdued Skins"},"content":{"rendered":"

After all the hullabaloo with Skins <\/em> on MTV in the United States, I was expecting the original British version to really shock me, considering that regulation of racy content in the UK is much more lax (though oddly much more detailed) than in the US. I had completed the entirety of Misfits<\/em> since we watched it in class, and I thus knew how far programs could really go on shows aimed at youth (it is on E4, after all) and with young actors. Though the actual issues of the episodes of Skins<\/em> we watched were more challenging and thought-provoking than those in the typical Misfits<\/em> episode, I was surprised to find the show fairly tame otherwise. This could be mere desensitization, but especially since sponsors of the American version pulled their ads from the show, I thought I was in for some discomfort (and that’s admitting that as a 21-year-old college student). I reckon it gets more overt in its taboos in later episodes, but what I saw for this class didn’t leave me checking over my shoulder to see if my roommates thought I was watching porn or a how-to on drug soliciting. I wondered why the American version got so much flack when the British version seemed more sweet-natured than anything else. <\/p>\n

It really seems to me after watching the British Skins<\/em> that the American version was simply trying too hard to emulate what shock the original did have, sacrificing the integrity of the premise in the process. Thus, the overall effect of the show was lost, and it appeared to be “worse” than it actually was. The original did seem to strive to portray real kids (maybe ones who were a little more extreme than the average high school student, but not by too much). Though I haven’t seen the remake, I gather that it tried to use bad behavior as the main selling point. I remember a number of ads which took criticisms of the show from viewers and TV critics and put them front in center of a photo of cast members taking part in sex, drugs, and\/or rock’n’roll. A la:
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

And just look at the casts.<\/p>\n

British:
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

American:
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The American cast photo looks overly stylized, with the characters appearing darker and dirtier, as well as more artificially posed than the British cast flung in a heap. It just seems like we’re trying too hard. Part of the appeal of the original program is how realistic it is with the situations it presents and its authentic portrayal teens. Though I didn’t grow up in the UK, I felt like I knew someone similar to each of the main characters. The American cast photo doesn’t exactly take me back to my high school days. It would have been interesting to see what the American version did with a long run and 22-episode seasons, but it seems best to leave the delicate quality Skins<\/em> often has (particularly when Cassie is onscreen) to those who can pull it off meaningfully, even amidst binge drinking and the f-word.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After all the hullabaloo with Skins on MTV in the United States, I was expecting the original British version to really shock me, considering that regulation of racy content in the UK is much more lax (though oddly much more … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":559,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-480","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/yankswatchingtelly\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/480","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/yankswatchingtelly\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/yankswatchingtelly\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/yankswatchingtelly\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/559"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/yankswatchingtelly\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=480"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/yankswatchingtelly\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/480\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":488,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/yankswatchingtelly\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/480\/revisions\/488"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/yankswatchingtelly\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/yankswatchingtelly\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=480"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/yankswatchingtelly\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}