Commentary

[kruelsummer]

I've read a lot of reviews and comments that accuse Generation 3 of being Americanized and no longer a true representation of teens in Bristol.

What are your thoughts?  Has Skins become Americanized? Could the lack of relatable characters be the reason for the ratings decline?

Comments

[randomneses]

Have those accusations of Americanization gone beyond episode one in which it was popular to deem gen 3 like Mean Girls? IDK speaking as an American the show isn't very American to me at all. Somehow I doubt people would have een saying this if Mini wasn't declared The Mean Girl and Nick as The Jock.

[kruelsummer]

The grumblings started around the time of the first and second eps, but I read something recently that mentioned the same thing and it brought to mind the previous articles. I'll have to take a moment to dig and find.

They were pretty much saying that there are no teens in Bristol like Mini (The Mean/Popular girl) and Nick (The Jock). I'm an American as well, but I went to High School in Europe and as I recall there really wasn't that one popular girl or jocks, everyone kind of hung out with one another. So I couldn't really relate to a true American High School experience. I posed the question out of curiousity to see if there was any truth to their conclusions.

When I watch Gen 3, I feel as if I'm watching a John Hughes film. But I just think it's because John Hughes was pretty awesome at shining a light on the teenage existance, not necessarily because he was an American film maker.

[randomneses]

Lolol I was gonna do a genre swap thing on tumblr of s5 as a John Hughes film but that's besides the point.

IDK, I even think it's unfair to call Mini The Mean Girl that everybody wants to be. She's really only popular with the rugby folks because she was dating Nick and other than that...we hardly see people idolizing her like we would in the traditional American Mean/Popular Girl archetype. Mini just doesn't fit. Just because she exudes confidence, beauty, and meanness doesn't make her character Americanized and it's pretty shallow of people to assume that.

[kruelsummer]

I agree. But asking some people to look a little deeper these days is like trying to tame a shark. That 'Mean Girls' comparison annoys me to no end.

[juliannelefay]

Mini can only be seen as the Mean Girl in her group in the first few episodes. It's not like she rulez the skool.

[knopflergroupie]

But, like, The Mean/Popular girl and The Jock are kind of...I mean, they don't really exist in American high schools either. Or maybe I went to the wrong high schools? I'm sure there are manipulative, "shallow" (I know Mini isn't shallow, just, I'd get where people were coming from) teenagers everywhere in the world, Bristol isn't that Special.

[knopflergroupie]

Well, the point being, they thought they did. The rest of the school didn't give a damn, which is totally not how that dynamic is represented in movies and television and such.

[immortality]

This, exactly.

We had ~popular~ students at my high school, but the jocks weren't really the popular ones and we didn't have cheerleaders. Admittedly prep schools are different from public high schools, but the whole mean girl/jock thing is just a fictional exaggeration.

[estioe]

I mean, they don't really exist in American high schools either. Or maybe I went to the wrong high schools?

Yeah, same here. And I went to around 5 different high schools in my teens. Maybe it's where you live, I dunno. I hear that the smaller a high school is, the more you get "American" cliches, and the bigger a school is, you don't. I live in Los Angeles, so maybe that's why I never encountered these "American" cliches. I dunno I guess it's different for everyone. I just know that as a teen, I could never relate to American high school shows/movies. But with Skins, I can so relate on several things, mainly everyone who is anyone hanging out.

[fancydressmasks]

They were pretty much saying that there are no teens in Bristol like Mini (The Mean/Popular girl) and Nick (The Jock).

This is true actually. I don't live in Bristol, but I do live in England and I doubt it's that different in different parts of the country - There just isn't that kind of hierarchy at college here. Sure, there would have been the popular/mean girl and the jock when we were in high school, aged 13, but as you get older people grow up and don't give a shit about that kind of thing anymore. But idk, we only ever really see 'the gang', and we don't really see them in relation to the rest of the kids at college, so we don't know if Nick and Mini are really supposed to be standouts in college, or if they just act like they are.

[bloodrivendream]

In my American (actually, Canadian) high school experience there weren't actually THE popular girls and jocks.
People just hung out with whoever and minded their own business.
The only really notable division was based on what classes people were in. For example, people in advanced classes tended to hang ou more so with each other.

The social structures vary heavily from school to school. And are heavily influenced by the size of the school and where in America it is. The American high school experience is a fabrication.