The Parent Television Council is up in arms. The advocacy group sent a letter to congress asking for an ‘investigation’ in the new scripted MTV show “Skins,” based on the hit U.K. series. The PTC believes that the show is chalk full of child pornography and counted forty drug references through the 41-minute pilot.
First and foremost, as I sit on my couch and get bombarded with pundits commenting on the shows gratuitous sexual and drug references one thing is for sure, I will definitely be watching “Skins.” All publicity is good publicity, especially publicity that uses the word sex so frequently.
MTV is being accused of advertising the show to children. Well, I will admit I watch a decent amount of Disney Channel for a 21 year old but I must have missed the ads for “Skins.” MTV advertised the show to its own audience mostly and appropriately so. If 12 year olds are watching MTV, I don’t think you can blame the network.
Supposedly MTV is already re-cutting a few future episodes to avoid too much backlash in the future. The network and the executives want to walk the line between cutting edge and getting cut. The advertising seemed grounded in that fact. Like they were telling you that everyone will be talking about this, you should watch.
Reps at MTV say that “Skins” is a realistic portrait of teens today. While the closest I got to being like Tony in high school was that one time we found peppermint Schnapps at my friends house. Toothpaste still makes me gag. But I digress.
I can’t let my lack of a social life affect my feelings toward this show. It may not accurately portray my life when I was that age but I think it is an honest portrait. I know a Tony and a Michelle. I see the show as a bit exaggerated but based in truth.
James Newman, who plays Tony, the protagonist, said, “I think as far as relationships the friends have with each other and the emotions, that stuff is dead-on, spot for spot what we went through in high school. Any time you see sex and drugs on ‘Skins,’ it’s about the story. It’s never that for the sake of that.”
The show is already hemorrhaging advertisers with Taco Bell and Wrigleys jumping the ship after the first episode. General Motors put the show on their “do not buy” list basically meaning the hundreds of companies in the GM brand should not buy ad time.
I think that with the direction television is headed, this is par for the course. Especially at MTV, pushing the boundaries is in their mission statement.
I like that MTV took this on. Being a big fan of the U.K. original, I knew how daunting of a task it would be. If you were offended by the U.S. version avoid the original. It is crass and dirty, and considering much more relaxed telecommunication laws across the pond much more is shown. All seven of the words you can never say on TV here in the U.S. are commonplace, almost losing their kick when used with such frequency. Language, graphic displays of sex and drug use and gratuitous nudity make the original “Skins” an American parents nightmare.
I commend MTV for trying to maintain the shock value that helped propel the original into smash hit status. The characters still curse with reality TV-esqe bleeps censoring the word. They try to say it without really saying it if that makes sense. Almost as if they are making up new lingo to avoid using an inappropriate word or drug reference.
I watched the pilot and see the potential, especially now that MTV is up to its eyeballs in free press. I have no issue with the content, ‘gratuitous nudity’ is my middle name. I prefer shows with content warnings.
My only issue is that the show just wasn’t very good. Nothing to do with the drugs or sex, I just think the writing was weak and the characters had the crazy down but lacked the emotion. I may be biased as a fan of the original but I’ll keep watching.
If you want some real advice, go out and watch the original. Like I am going to do right now. Cheers.
ajs343@cabrini.edu
The Parent Television Council is up in arms. The advocacy group sent a letter to congress asking for an ‘investigation’ in the new scripted MTV show “Skins,” based on the hit U.K. series. The PTC believes that the show is chalk full of child pornography and counted forty drug references through the 41-minute pilot.First and foremost, as I sit on my couch and get bombarded with pundits commenting on the shows gratuitous sexual and drug references one thing is for sure, I will definitely be watching “Skins.” All publicity is good publicity, especially publicity that uses the word sex so frequently.MTV is being accused of advertising the show to children. Well, I will admit I watch a decent amount of Disney Channel for a 21 year old but I must have missed the ads for “Skins.” MTV advertised the show to its own audience mostly and appropriately so. If 12 year olds are watching MTV, I don’t think you can blame the network.Supposedly MTV is already re-cutting a few future episodes to avoid too much backlash in the future. The network and the executives want to walk the line between cutting edge and getting cut. The advertising seemed grounded in that fact. Like they were telling you that everyone will be talking about this, you should watch.Reps at MTV say that “Skins” is a realistic portrait of teens today. While the closest I got to being like Tony in high school was that one time we found peppermint Schnapps at my friends house. Toothpaste still makes me gag. But I digress.I can’t let my lack of a social life affect my feelings toward this show. It may not accurately portray my life when I was that age but I think it is an honest portrait. I know a Tony and a Michelle. I see the show as a bit exaggerated but based in truth. James Newman, who plays Tony, the protagonist, said, “I think as far as relationships the friends have with each other and the emotions, that stuff is dead-on, spot for spot what we went through in high school. Any time you see sex and drugs on ‘Skins,’ it’s about the story. It’s never that for the sake of that.”The show is already hemorrhaging advertisers with Taco Bell and Wrigleys jumping the ship after the first episode. General Motors put the show on their “do not buy” list basically meaning the hundreds of companies in the GM brand should not buy ad time.I think that with the direction television is headed, this is par for the course. Especially at MTV, pushing the boundaries is in their mission statement.I like that MTV took this on. Being a big fan of the U.K. original, I knew how daunting of a task it would be. If you were offended by the U.S. version avoid the original. It is crass and dirty, and considering much more relaxed telecommunication laws across the pond much more is shown. All seven of the words you can never say on TV here in the U.S. are commonplace, almost losing their kick when used with such frequency. Language, graphic displays of sex and drug use and gratuitous nudity make the original “Skins” an American parents nightmare.I commend MTV for trying to maintain the shock value that helped propel the original into smash hit status. The characters still curse with reality TV-esqe bleeps censoring the word. They try to say it without really saying it if that makes sense. Almost as if they are making up new lingo to avoid using an inappropriate word or drug reference.I watched the pilot and see the potential, especially now that MTV is up to its eyeballs in free press. I have no issue with the content, ‘gratuitous nudity’ is my middle name. I prefer shows with content warnings.My only issue is that the show just wasn’t very good. Nothing to do with the drugs or sex, I just think the writing was weak and the characters had the crazy down but lacked the emotion. I may be biased as a fan of the original but I’ll keep watching.If you want some real advice, go out and watch the original. Like I am going to do right now. Cheers.
ajs343@cabrini.edu
