Skins Episode Analysis

Q. How are teenagers represented in this episode of skins? 

In this episode of skins teenagers are represented in many different contrasting ways, so for my analysis I have chosen the characters Cassie and Tony to focus on.

 

Cassie is a young female around the age of 17. On the show she is portrayed as the typical airhead. She fails to understand simple concepts, acts rather ditzy, is everyone’s best friend and has the stereotypical “blonde hair” that is associated with this type of image. Tony is the main character of the show and is portrayed as the typical Popular, Bad Boy that all the girls want. He is the ringleader of his little group of friends and even has hes very own “nerdy” sidekick in the form of the character Sid. Although his character is talks foully, goes to wild parties, sneaks out, is promiscuous, takes drugs and is involved with criminals and violence; he also maintains the typical “Head Boy” attributes. He gets good grades, is a choirboy and is quite pleasant and respectful to most students. This is a huge contrast as to how the other characters are portrayed and also to the other side of his personality.

 

In the show both characters are involved in storylines about sex/sexuality/virginity, drugs, wild parties, fights/brawls and eating disorders like many of the other characters. All of the characters on the show are involved in the same or similar storylines, which shows the narrow view that the makers of this show have of UK teens today. Not all teenagers living in the UK act like this, and it is hard to believe that the majority of us do. The storylines and performances in the show seem to have been embellished a whole lot, as well as the overall lifestyle and behaviour of the teenagers.    

 

As mentioned before Cassie is portrayed in the show as the typical “dumb blonde” but it is almost played to an extreme as she really does seem rather slow and also because of the fact that she has an easting disorder. This could be the shows way of forming an attack on these types of girls that are seen regularly and somewhat idolised in the media today.

 

On the show Cassie’s attire is rather scruffy. Her costume seems as if she may have put some effort into her outfit but it still comes off as rather scruffy and oddly matched. Her clothes are also quite bodacious and colourful all of which describe her character. However, Tony’ costume seems rather neat, tidy and put together. Even though he acts and participates in the same crude activated that his peers do he is different. This could be a way to show that the programme is not biased as they are attempting to show that not all teenagers are the same. But the fact remains that it is a typical stereotype that most teenagers dress quite scruffy and mis-matched.

 

Parks, school grounds, Bedrooms, the street, cafes, dance studios, church, bus, out-of-control house parties. These are just some of the locations and scenes that characters of the show are seen in. Most of these locations are seen as typical “hangouts” for young people and locations and scenes taking place in schools are also clearly linked to young people.

 

 

In the show a lot of slang is used. Swearing and bad language is perpetuated indefinitely throughout each episode and the use of cockney and colloquial is very common. Overall I have noticed that many of the characters speak and communicate with each other in a very aggressive manner. The parents seem to show this type of behaviour regularly. So it is not surprising that their children have picked it up, and also speak in the same way. Most of the characters are very loud and expressive in their speech, which makes up the diegetic sounds on the show. The non-diegetic sound is made up by the heavy metal rock music that is played in the background during certain scenes. This emphasises the events of that particular scene and also is quite young and edgy, just like the characters are portrayed to us as being.