The original British version of Skins is one of my bigger guilty pleasures. It’s raunchy, nothing like most people’s teenage experiences, and incredibly addicting. When I heard there was going to be an American adaptation on MTV my first thought was “Why?” It couldn’t top the original because none of the explicit sex and drug scenes can air on American TV outside HBO or Showtime. MTV has long been known as a boundary-pushing network aiming to make parents worried but these days MTV is more about high maintenance girls with spray tans and “reality” shows. It’s more an annoying network than a provocative one. So what do you get if you take out most of the sex and drugs on Skins and add in the desperate-to-be-cool vibe of the new MTV? The answer: Gossip Girl.
My prediction was unfortunately correct. MTV’s Skins is practically a carbon copy of the original but less fun. Because the American version’s storyline seems to be virtually identical to its British counterpart its faults cannot be attributed to lack of material. Instead my major complaint comes from the actors. The new Tony comes off as merely a jackass with no real reason to want to like him. Nicholas Hoult’s original portrayal of Tony had a certain dark humor to it. James Newman’s new Tony is just a less tan member of the Jersey Shore cast. Tony should be the anti-hero, not Snookie’s next conquest.
More so than the new Tony, the new Cassie, now named Cadie, is nowhere near as interesting or complex as her original self. Hannah Murray’s Cassie is full of unique character traits, such as the way she speaks and the subtlety of her expressions. She is clearly identified as someone with serious psychological issues. Britne Oldford’s Cadie just seems kind of bitchy. This Cassie/Cadie shift is very reflective of the series as a whole. Gone are the subtle, dark undertones while teenage angst serves as a replacement.
If MTV really wanted to shock the audience like their advertisements claim, they would ditch the new Skins and air the original in its place. The original had a spectacular cast; Nathaniel Hoult (Tony) starred in About a Boy before Skins and did gave a convincing performance in A Single Man opposite Colin Firth last year. Dev Patel (Anwar) had the staring role in Slumdog Millionaire. I can’t see anyone in the new cast going on to the more adult roles of the original kids. As it currently stands, MTV’s new Skins is merely here to take the place of its late, not that great Hills. In other words: Gossip Girl 2.
Judgmental Day 