Katy Buchmueller, senior
Kristina Schmuhl, junior
The newest show on MTV, Skins, encapsulates all facets of edgy teens’ lives: drugs, sex and rock’n’roll. One would think that this makes for an instant hit, but such a formulaic, generic cop-out of the British version, which started airing in 2007, has many long-time fans enraged. They’ve taken the same character types, same plot-lines, same dialogues and same scenes, minus the adorable British accents.
Teens watch shows like this to see pretty people doing things they’d never dream of. They are able to live vicariously through the characters for 45 minutes out of the week. Yet, this new and improved American show hasn’t really provided that kind of outlet. The first episode starts with Stanley, the awkward virgin, buying weed from an old pedophilic man. The episode is concluded with the whole cast crashing an SUV into the river, and consequently, losing the marijuana.
For Skins veterans, this show was a giant letdown, as they copied the first episode word for word. For Skins newbies, it was simply boring and lacked the eyecandy that was promised from the steamy commercials featured before the show aired.
We agree that shows like this are not watched for intellectual stimulation or to inspire emotional growth. We simply want to watch hot people doing hot things we never could or would, for that matter. And, while on Skins, the plot constitutes something far beyond the realm of teenage normalcy, the actors are unattractive, thus we are uninterested.
The main facet of the British show was the craziness of it all, yet American T.V. does not allow the same kind of raciness exhibited on some British shows. Yet, if people expect to see this kind of raciness when they watch, couldn’t the show have been aired to HBO or Showtime, instead of MTV, to retain the intent of the British version? To be honest, veterans will most likely keep watching the show, just to hold on to a remnant of what once was, but overall, the new Skins is a flop.