Skins

So I'm branching out a bit, not just films or awards, or recognition for such things. I think it's time to let it all hang out and declare my undying love for a British institution which is largely ignored due to it's juvenile core. Skins began at the same time I first began college at the tender age of 16 and as I watched the protaganists engage in hyper-sexualised drug addled alcohol fuelled lives I immediately did something most adults, never even thought of, I recognised it wasn't what my life was like. It's not in anyway realistic, so let's just leave that at the doorstep and trot onto more important things.

I am of the honest belief that Skins in the past season or two has reached a zenith of perfection. Well, not perfection, it's rare to see anything which radiates perfection, but Skins, for all it's impossibility, has become in this current series reached an excellent run. If we accept for the most part that Skins is essentially a television drama, it's not trying to be in anyway realistic, then we can accept those aspects of realism that seem to be injected in among the massively dramatic and piled on issues that our characters are faced with.

This year our cast are faced with the death of a close friend, a pregnancy, a drug circle, a very twisted fraternal love triangle, a big ole holiday to Morocco, there have been dabblings with lesbianism, and of course a trip on a boat with a funeral thrown in for good measure. As long as we accept that these things could happen it's also quite nice when the characters doing small things which reek of reality. Like one character plans to travel to Paris to meet his girlfriend who was stuck in Switzerland, these plans don't formulate, but much like teenagers with wild ideas and best intentions they discuss them. There is also his attempt to simply ring the Swiss care home where she is, these small additions make us notice that, most likely these things would happen in reality. Also simply having sex with a thirteen year old and regretting the consequences, something which is merely glazed over in the first generation.

Anyways, all I have to say, aside to skewer those who continuously moan about realism, is that overall it's an interesting, entertaining, youthful show. Thigh slappingly hilarious in particular when the previously mentioned 18 year old realises he has just had sex with a very attractive thirteen year old. This show is written by teenagers, acted by teenagers, the big decisions are made by the people who it's meant to be about. So take a moment and acknowledge that if they make a mistake in the direction they take, the decisions that are made, or even the way they handle something, it's just reflecting on how teenagers think. Then the characters are dressed atrociously but somewhat tastefully, I mean for the most part covered, in an idealistic colourful manner which teenagers would most likely indulge in given the budget. The music is a new pathway for teenagers stuck on Katy Perry and Rhianna, something I'm endlessly grateful for, as it's once again, different! Plus it sets the tone in some scenes better than stock piano keys most dramas fall back on.

So this recent run reaching a somewhat zenith is a tall order for someone who has sat through all previous seasons increasingly more intrigued than the last. Everyone has their preferred group of friends, and let's not forget, every two seasons the cast is completely replaced, something daring and different no other show would dare do through fear of alienating it's fan base. How many American highschool dramas about people of the same age continue into the college years and get so dull and tedious over the years? This keeps the show fresh and free to expand it's creative tendrils to every aspect of teenage life, something which might seem desperate to carve drama out of, but in actuality is giving everyone a voice, and also presenting some interesting character studies along the way. The fact that I can still watch this show at the ripe old age of 21 and still find the excitement and drama within says alot about my comittment to something most people my age have written off, but I also think it's a sign the show has that lasting power. I don't watch much on television on a weekly basis but I do make an effort to continue with this because it's under my skin.

And as I keep ignoring the fact that I particularly enjoyed this season I should go out on a limb and say, it's the most realistic and touching to date. Some of the characters are a bit on the ridiculous side but we'll just let that be. A character is killed off in ridiculous circumstances but finally we get to see the cast deal with a real acknowledged death, unlike in previous incarnations where a cast member is merely killed off in the last couple of episodes for increased dramatic effect. We see how the people deal with this death, there's denial, there's ignorance, there's the whole kidding yourself into believing she's still alive, there's self destruction and the list goes on... and on. But it still provides an intriguing level of story telling, as we explore how death truly affects teenagers, fair enough, it doesn't affect everyone like this, don't get me wrong, it's ridiculous how they go on, but it's still intriguing and fulfills my point that teenagers are really wonderful, if self-absorbed teenagers, thoroughly entertaining though.

Once again I've decided to ramble and gush rather than actually write a real review as I promise myself I would but this is how I personally feel about this show. It's good, and when it's bad it's still much more entertaining than anything else on television. As long as you can get past that adult rolling of the eyes and just enjoy the youthful exuberance then you'll see something unique, almost special, and as you'll remember what it's like to be truly passionate about something. You'll remember those teen years where everything was the best and most important in the whole world, friends, parties, living life to it's absolute full, music, passion! And you'll realise what an old fuddy-duddy you are when you think you could have rolled your eyes at the drama but instead find yourself immersed in Skins colourful world.

I miss those hazy exciting teen days, it's not about the drugs, or the sex, or the alcohol, because let's be honest, most of us didn't get much of any of that, it's the excitement, it's the passion, it's the dreams. Then there is the indescribable lows that are depicted as the teens find their worlds falling apart they react incredibly dramatically and self-destructively as if their whole world is falling apart, which for the most part it is. They ignore that British stiff upper lip-ness we all fall back on and full experience than emotions than beating them down and ignore them. I could learn a thing or two from them to be honest. Being a teenager is all about the fact that you could get excited about the most fascimile things, you could wear whatever you wanted, you could do whatever the hell you liked, no responsibility, the world was your oyster and adulthood and it's cynical ways hadn't started weighing on you. As I sit with adulthood hanging around my neck like a giant albatross ready to drown me in the unplumb’d, salt, estranging sea, I'll take an ounce of life.

Well shit...

Hilariously enough the day after I posted this blog Channel 4 announced they were cancelling Skins after one more season next year to say goodbye. This will probably bring back the actors who have nothing to do from the entire series to tie up the loose ends everyone so passionately complained about.

So there it goes, my impassioned entry about how much I thought the show was amazing fell on deaf ears. Or maybe the internet heard, and Channel 4 decided to spite me. So basically this is it, thanks Skins for the good times. I'll miss you, more than most.