by Crystal Ogar

Let’s talk about Skins.

I’ve been a fan of the original Skins (UK) since I was 17 years old, and when I heard about the American remake I wasn’t very excited. Sadly, my instincts were correct.

The UK Skins is the story of nine teenagers who party together, drink, do drugs, and have sex, but they do all of that with characters that are all developed extremely well. It was easy to see that these characters have a good friendship between them, even though things can get rocky.

In its’ American counterpart, the characters names and sexualities generally remain the same, except for the gay male character (Maxxie in the UK verison) is now a lesbian named Tea.  I knew the ridiculous change was to draw in teenage males–especially the MTV audience in America. Upon watching the first episodes, it seemed as though I was right. Tea’s sexuality is used as a joke; something to be leered at and only observed for the pleasure of men.

A pivotal storyline in both Skins shows is that the Maxxie/Tea characters, “hook-up” with Tony. In Tea’s episode we have her character (who is a lesbian) almost hooking up with Tony (a heterosexual male). And it doesn’t stop there because the characters seem to be developing some kind of a relationship. This leads me to believe that the male fantasy of “turning a lesbian straight” is coming into play in this situation. Because sexuality really is that easily defined, right?

The question: Did the American media make Skins terrible? And the obvious answer to that is YES. All of the integrity of the original Skins is lost and everything about new Skins is forced, watered down, and trying to be edgy for edgy’s sake. And failing miserably. The new Skins is trying too hard to live up to the original and is just not cutting it. Why? Because the show can’t reach its full potential on a network station like MTV. Skins is a show that is not meant to be censored, and when it is, it loses one of the aspects that makes it great. Bleeping out the curse words only adds to MTV’s horrible repertoire. The story lines and dialogue are true to the UK version, but the actors seem like they don’t even know or care about one another. It looks as though the producers threw a group of random kids together and told them to read lines off of a paper. And all of the new characters–with the exception of Cadie (the “crazy” girl)– are generally unlikeable.

The original Skins is done with a certain grace and style that gives you an emotional reaction to what you’re seeing. The only emotional reaction I feel with the American counterpart is sadness. Sadness that a great show is being torn to shreds by the confines of American television. Not to mention the low production quality and the uninspired and flat writing.

With the original Skins, each of the kids has flaws, but the viewer can’t help but love them because of their charm. It gives great character development, plot, beautiful cinematography, and interesting stories. It is still a show that at the end of the day captures your emotions. The UK show is still going strong into its fifth season. I encourage anyone who’s seen the MTV version to watch the original. You’ll definitely be more satisfied by what you see.