The teen series that was accused of pornography
MTV adapted the British hit 'Skins', but ran into issues with conservative groups, who considered the series "dangerous."
BarcelonaEvery Sunday in the summer, the ARA reviews some of the most controversial series in the history of television. We begin this collection of articles with Skins. One of the obsessions of television fiction is to show what life is like for teenagers in the most realistic way possible. Often, when a series gets it right, the result scares or shocks the more adult audience. This is more or less what happened with this title, which was a huge hit in the United Kingdom, but caused a stir in the United States when an adaptation was made.
The original version of Skins It premiered in 2007 on Channel 4, a channel known for its incisive and innovative series (In Catalonia it could be seen through the 3XL). The drama followed the lives of a group of Bristol teenagers, with each episode focusing on a different character. The idea for the series came to Bryan Elsley when his son, then 19, complained that nothing good was being done on television. The boy suggested to his father "to make a series about teenagers as they really are." The average age of the series' writers was 22, which meant that it dealt with topics that were of interest to the fiction's target audience, even if they were extreme. The range of plots touched on all kinds of sensitive issues, from dysfunctional families to mental health problems, sexuality, gender identity, bullying, and drug use. It was a fiction ahead of its time, which was enthusiastically received by British teenagers (and beyond) and generated a kind of cult following. Some of its young protagonists, such as Dev Patel, Nicholas Hoult, and Kaya Scodelario, became genuine celebrities.
The huge popularity of Skins made it a favorite of the American network MTV, a network aimed at young audiences. Instead of broadcasting its original version, the channel decided to make an adaptation, a strategy that has rarely worked out well (honorable exceptions are The Office and Shameless). The move to the Yankee world got off on the wrong foot from the start.
Conservative Complaints
Accustomed to teen series in which the actors who play the protagonists are often in their 30s, Skins It stood out for its choice of actors close in age to their roles, which gave it a more realistic feel. When the series' creator made the American adaptation in 2011, he followed the same policy and, consequently, cast actors who, in some cases, were minors, between 16 and 17 years old. This raised alarm bells among the country's most conservative organizations.
As soon as the series' trailers aired, the ultraconservative Parents Television Council lobby began a harassment campaign against MTV and the show. Among other things, the activists claimed it was "the most dangerous youth series" they had seen and suggested that the production be investigated for its failure to comply with laws against child pornography, given that many of the actors were minors. Appalled by the association's reaction, MTV opted for self-censorship and retouched some of the most controversial images, such as a scene in which one of the actors, aged 17, appeared on a Baltimore street showing his backside. "What they don't seem to understand is that the character isn't naked. His genitals are completely covered and only his rear end is visible. It was the climax of a funny scene," the group explained. Deadline a source close to the production. Curiously, when the North American adaptation was made, it was decided to tone down the tone compared to the original version, which was much more extreme in terms of language and the depiction of issues such as sex, drugs, and self-harm.
The pressure from the Parents Television Council was so strong that it led to an avalanche of advertising withdrawals. Advertisers such as Taco Bell, L'Oreal, Foot Locker, General Motors, and Subway, among many others, decided it was best not to associate themselves with a series like Skins and opted to link their ads to other MTV productions.
The controversy didn't help the series, but rather left it doomed. Although it had a good premiere in terms of audience, the numbers gradually declined until the last episode garnered a third of the initial viewers and didn't survive the first season. In June 2011, MTV axed the series, which in its original version had run for seven seasons.Skins "It's a global television phenomenon that, unfortunately, hasn't connected as much as we had hoped with the American public," the youth network argued.
