The representation of young people in E4's 'Skins'

There are many people who will have switched off during the first five minutes of Skins. The show is known by its reputation for an explicit and slightly exaggerated portrayal of teenage rebellion, and the first episode – which involves one character’s quest to lose his virginity and sell three ounces of cannabis at the same party – does little to distance the show from its notorious reputation.

Charismatic Tony Stonem is the leader of the group, idolised by his glamorous girlfriend Michelle and awkward best friend Sid. The more dreamy Cassie has fooled almost everyone into thinking that she’s recovered from her anorexia, but deep down she’s as troubled as ever. There is a great variety of characters, from Jal who practices her precious clarinet at all hours, to Chris who would rather be out wreaking havoc and popping pills. There is also a Muslim character, Anwar, who adds another dimension to the show as he likes to pick and choose from his Muslim faith, but finally clashes with sweet-natured Maxxie over his homosexuality. The show gets beneath their ‘skins’ as characters as we get to know each character and which figure they resemble in most modern peer groups.

It is clear from this first episode that the series as a whole does glamourise the wild lifestyle it portrays. The characters in Skins are undergoing a drastic change in their lives, as their experiences begin to shape them as people and their behaviour is a reaction to this. Tony, who understands the universe to be nothing but a series of collisions brought about by chaos and chance, manipulates people and enjoys his power over them. Sid and Michelle find their worth in his approval, Jal pressures herself to overachieve, and Chris turns to drugs to distance himself from reality. Childlike and vulnerable Cassie, wounded by life, retreats into her own fantasy world and tries to take control through her eating disorder.

The underachieving, but kind-hearted Chris, grieving for his dead brother and abandoned by both parents, consumes such excessive quantities of drugs that he is able to cover his entire bedroom wall in empty pill packets. Even when offered the chance of a fresh start, he sits on his bed in his bare new bedroom and carefully pins the latest empty pill packet to the wall: nothing has changed, and nothing seems likely to. He may seem to be a wild party animal, completely off the rails, but Chris is bleeding on the inside, both physically (series two) and emotionally.

The first ever episode of Skins epitimises the shows’ portrayal of young people as not only as wild and irresponsible, but also vulnerable and deeply emotional. Whilst not completely detracting the younger generation of blame for these forms of behaviour- mainly negative; Skins does voice the possibility that a major cause of their behaviour is the adults who have failed them in many ways.