The main plot follows a group of high school students who like to party. In one episode topics of masturbation, narcotics, marijuana, copious amounts of alcohol, homosexuality, and the uncoolness of virginity were portrayed. In one scene a young male was set up to lose his "V card" to a devilish young female who demanded "good narcotics" in return.
Young people today are seriously influenced by what they see on TV. These young adults are our future and if we keep filling their heads with adult material they will continue to make bad decisions. I felt exremely uncomfortable watching the show and could not imagine myself partaking in these activities at my age let alone when I was much younger and dumber.
Above you see an "ad" for the soundtrack. This is nothing but a bunch of half naked high school kids tangled up in a mess of hangovers and drug withdrawl. Classy.
Here is my question to you, MTV..........
WHY IN THE WORLD ARE YOU SHOWCASING LIVES OF SPOILED, DRUG ADDICTED, SEX RAGED, ALCOHOLIC, INCONSIDERATE TEENS?!!!!!!!!!!
Also, I'll save this topic for a rainy day, but doesn't MTV stand for MUSIC TELEVISION? C'mon.
Below is an article from the NY Times about speculation that the show crosses boundaries of appropriateness. Many high school kids are not legal adults, and “Skins” may violate federal child pornography statutes. Check it out.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/20/business/media/20mtv.html?_r=1
Click the link below to catch webisodes, pictures, and upcoming show dates.
http://skins.tv/
The UK version is so much better. But also 10 times more racy. The soundtrack you have is for the UK cast.
ReplyDeleteIt's not for everyone it's true. But the UK version reads more like an adult show. There are consequences for all actions.
The question I'd like to pose is how is this worse then any of the other teen shows, where things are just implied, like Gossip Girl.
Also what about movies like American Pie, or Cruel Intentions. All these deal with these sort of topics, its just not on television.
Teens will always be spoiled, inconsiderate, and sex-raged. This show is just being honest. It's extreme yes, but the ideas are the same.
Sounds like a pretty trashy show. Sadly, it will probably give impressionable high school students, who feel they are invincible, ideas about how to dupe their parents and friends and just party. High school students will try to do that anyway in some cases, but they should develop the connections to learn how to party, not just take cues from the TV. Hopefully it tries to have some moral agenda, because 7th Heaven tried to tackle these issues but wasn't that interesting of a show. Just briefly describing the show brings back all sorts of nostalgia, I guess that says something about the direction America's youth is heading.
ReplyDeleteInteresting post! I agree that the show is probably filling teens heads with bunches of junk that shouldn't be there.
ReplyDeleteNo one is born with a dirty mind--it is the media and popular culture that make kids lose their innocence. Granted there are exceptions--we all know people who seem magnetically drawn to perversion without the help of popular media--but does that give the media license to create moral-less shows like Skins?
The real question that no one is asking is: can it possibly be right to allow such media to exist (considering the damage it is probably doing to our society, as Ray suggested)?
Pardon my enthusiasm, but our world is incredibly apathetic--all we can do is watch it fall off a cliff, and discuss how bad it's probably going to be smashed. Whatever happened to people's passion to change the world?
Now, I haven't actually seen Skins, nor do I intend to, but I don't think you can completely blame it. Trash is what sells these days. As you stated at the very beginning, you were watching Jersey Shore, a show that is about nothing but sex and partying. And in a time when TV viewership is falling almost as fast as radio audiences, it is necessary to create shows that will draw viewers in.
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't matter whether they watch it because they love it or if they watch it to be able to say how horrible it is, the advertisers are still going to pay them the same.
I was wondering if someone would mention this show. There was an interesting op-ed in the Chicago Tribune today (1/28) that made the point that "Jersey Shore" is actually "filthier" than "Skins." I'll admit that I watched the first episode of the American version of "Skins" because of the hype and the controversy and was distinctly unimpressed. Perhaps as Becky says the British version is better.
ReplyDeleteJust a thought as i read all of your comments........I know that Jersey Shore and Skins are very similar and as you said Prof. Macek, Jersey Shore is actually filthier than Skins. My issue is that the cast of Jersey Shore is 21+ years in age. The show is aimed for an older audience. Skins is based on life in high school.
ReplyDelete