In which I talk about how Skins is best when it is not an escapist fantasy
(Not my post about Rich's ep yet, this first!)
I'm glad to hear that a lot of people are enjoying season 5/gen 3 of Skins thus far, because I am too! But of course I'm a masochist so I've been reading some stray comments on e4's site, youtube (lololol), and tumblr about some others' opinions of this gen and I'm pretty much...well, this is what I look like reading them:
I've been watching Skins from the start (January 2007), back when I was a 16 year old who had an LJ friend (forgot who but def a Brit) who told me about this new show. I found the first episode on Youtube and was hooked. I've never seen a show about teenagers that had nudity, frank discussions and depictions of sex and drugs and alcohol, etc. It wasn't like many American teen dramas/dramdies in which you couldn't have drugs or alcohol or sexpresent in an episode without some moral at the end, sometimes in some after-school special type fashion. It was refreshing but it was never the MAIN focus of the show. These vices were always side characters to the actual characerization, plot, etc. I fell in love with the characters, their humor, their angst, THEM. Not necessarily what parties they went to or what they were smoking.
Then we get to gen 2 where drugs and alcohol and sex are way more at the forefront, which would have been fine if it wasn't done so heavy handed. I think gen 2 definitely glamorized excess to the point where some fans honestly don't seem to know what Skins is or what Skins could possibly be without it. I've seen several people wonder where is all the sex and drugs and crazy partying already? We're two episodes in, why hasn't anybody fucked someone's brains out under Doug's desk yet?
Skins seems to have become, for some, not a show about normal teenagers encountering drugs and sex and alcohol, or friendship or angst, but ONLY about watching someone chug vodka and doing MDMA and following that up with something else over the top and trying far too hard to be edgy. It makes me a bit sad, honestly, since I already think that gen 3, despite being rather different than the other gens, seems to be off to a strong start with two very engaging episodes. I and several others have noted not only that we feel like we're actually watching teenagers again, but that some inexplicable thing about the gen so far feels like Skins again (meaning the original season, perhaps even the original gen if you talk to the right person).
It's too early to make TOO MANY bold statements about this gen compared to others, of course, but I know that I personally am loving the fact that two episodes in we've seen drug use and alcohol consumption without somebody being totally fucked up or something else overly dramatic and ridiculous. Friendship and identity seem to be a big theme this season, and isn't that a huge theme of our teenage years anyway? Whether it's the growing bond between Rich, Alo, and Franky (and hopefully Grace soon as well) contrasting with the seemingly fragile friendship between Mini, Liv, and Grace, or the question that had been placed to Franky in episode one about identity living on in Rich's episode, I think the themes that have been laid out thus far are pretty crucial to our teen years. I like that already I feel as if I've known (and likely loathed) a Rich type in my life, have despised someone like Mini, and have felt pushed around and underestimated like Grace. I'm cringing at Rich's over identification with metal because holy shit, remember, these are teenagers and teenagers say some of the silliest things and go through the oddest phases. I loved how much watching just two episodes of this season so far makes me feel like I'm watching a show about actual teenagers and not a fucking soap opera/a show that's basically just white girls crying and making ~profound~ quotes. I'll eat my words if I'm mistaken and this gen suddenly becomes an over the top mess that season 4 became, but I'm really hoping that's not the case.
Basically, all this tl;dr basically can be summed up this way: I can safely say that I haven't felt this excited about a Skins cast since gen 1. I enjoyed season 3 enough, but I really had a hard time getting through season 4. I honestly went weeks without watching the first ep of season 4 because I honestly just realized that the characters didn't speak to me all that much, even my favorites of that gen didn't really resonate with me. Throughout season 4 I found myself sitting on my bed, staring at my computer screen sort of asking myself, "Wait, why do I watch this show again? Is it out of habit now?" I was even apathetic about gen 3 when I first saw the cast photos. I flat out said that they looked a bit rough, obviously used to the sense of style over substance of the last two seasons, and man, after watching just a couple episodes I honestly can care less about looks again. I hope the storylines continue to be strong and realistic and I hope that this gen becomes more popular.
Seriously, some of y'all in fandom, stop trying to live escapist fantasies of teenage grandeur through Skins. It's really obnoxious and makes me side eye the fuck out of why you enjoy the show in the first place.
I'm glad to hear that a lot of people are enjoying season 5/gen 3 of Skins thus far, because I am too! But of course I'm a masochist so I've been reading some stray comments on e4's site, youtube (lololol), and tumblr about some others' opinions of this gen and I'm pretty much...well, this is what I look like reading them:
I've been watching Skins from the start (January 2007), back when I was a 16 year old who had an LJ friend (forgot who but def a Brit) who told me about this new show. I found the first episode on Youtube and was hooked. I've never seen a show about teenagers that had nudity, frank discussions and depictions of sex and drugs and alcohol, etc. It wasn't like many American teen dramas/dramdies in which you couldn't have drugs or alcohol or sexpresent in an episode without some moral at the end, sometimes in some after-school special type fashion. It was refreshing but it was never the MAIN focus of the show. These vices were always side characters to the actual characerization, plot, etc. I fell in love with the characters, their humor, their angst, THEM. Not necessarily what parties they went to or what they were smoking.
Then we get to gen 2 where drugs and alcohol and sex are way more at the forefront, which would have been fine if it wasn't done so heavy handed. I think gen 2 definitely glamorized excess to the point where some fans honestly don't seem to know what Skins is or what Skins could possibly be without it. I've seen several people wonder where is all the sex and drugs and crazy partying already? We're two episodes in, why hasn't anybody fucked someone's brains out under Doug's desk yet?
Skins seems to have become, for some, not a show about normal teenagers encountering drugs and sex and alcohol, or friendship or angst, but ONLY about watching someone chug vodka and doing MDMA and following that up with something else over the top and trying far too hard to be edgy. It makes me a bit sad, honestly, since I already think that gen 3, despite being rather different than the other gens, seems to be off to a strong start with two very engaging episodes. I and several others have noted not only that we feel like we're actually watching teenagers again, but that some inexplicable thing about the gen so far feels like Skins again (meaning the original season, perhaps even the original gen if you talk to the right person).
It's too early to make TOO MANY bold statements about this gen compared to others, of course, but I know that I personally am loving the fact that two episodes in we've seen drug use and alcohol consumption without somebody being totally fucked up or something else overly dramatic and ridiculous. Friendship and identity seem to be a big theme this season, and isn't that a huge theme of our teenage years anyway? Whether it's the growing bond between Rich, Alo, and Franky (and hopefully Grace soon as well) contrasting with the seemingly fragile friendship between Mini, Liv, and Grace, or the question that had been placed to Franky in episode one about identity living on in Rich's episode, I think the themes that have been laid out thus far are pretty crucial to our teen years. I like that already I feel as if I've known (and likely loathed) a Rich type in my life, have despised someone like Mini, and have felt pushed around and underestimated like Grace. I'm cringing at Rich's over identification with metal because holy shit, remember, these are teenagers and teenagers say some of the silliest things and go through the oddest phases. I loved how much watching just two episodes of this season so far makes me feel like I'm watching a show about actual teenagers and not a fucking soap opera/a show that's basically just white girls crying and making ~profound~ quotes. I'll eat my words if I'm mistaken and this gen suddenly becomes an over the top mess that season 4 became, but I'm really hoping that's not the case.
Basically, all this tl;dr basically can be summed up this way: I can safely say that I haven't felt this excited about a Skins cast since gen 1. I enjoyed season 3 enough, but I really had a hard time getting through season 4. I honestly went weeks without watching the first ep of season 4 because I honestly just realized that the characters didn't speak to me all that much, even my favorites of that gen didn't really resonate with me. Throughout season 4 I found myself sitting on my bed, staring at my computer screen sort of asking myself, "Wait, why do I watch this show again? Is it out of habit now?" I was even apathetic about gen 3 when I first saw the cast photos. I flat out said that they looked a bit rough, obviously used to the sense of style over substance of the last two seasons, and man, after watching just a couple episodes I honestly can care less about looks again. I hope the storylines continue to be strong and realistic and I hope that this gen becomes more popular.
Seriously, some of y'all in fandom, stop trying to live escapist fantasies of teenage grandeur through Skins. It's really obnoxious and makes me side eye the fuck out of why you enjoy the show in the first place.