Pop Around the Planet-Skins

For this post, we turn to one of our international correspondents. L spend a significant amount of time abroad in Jolly Old England, and she has some stories to share. Here is her account of one of the best pop culture items that the Queen & Co. have to offer. Enjoy.

XOXO-J&C

From William Shakespeare to J.K. Rowling, from Henry Purcell to the Beatles to the Spice Girls, the British have always been an unstoppable force in pop culture worldwide. I've been lucky enough to spend the last five months in the UK and witness the juggernaut firsthand. As a pop culture enthusiast, I admit that I was more excited about regular doses of Graham Norton than I was about Stonehenge. No offense, Stonehenge.

More than ever, the Brits are making their mark on the pop culture scene. You've probably already figured this out if you've scanned through your favorite radio stations to hear Leona Lewis on every. single. one. (C says: I would argue that she hasn't hit NPR yet, but to prove that I would actually have to listen to NPR and there's no way that's happening) The diva du jour was discovered on BBC's The X FActor, a talent competition where Simon Cowell judges in the Idol off-season. Sure they struck international gold with Leona, but one thing I've realized is that some cultural gold mines may not ever make it stateside. A prime example of this is my favo(u)rite television discovery over the course of my Britisn Invasion:

Skins follows a group of sixth-form students (the equivalent of high school seniors) as they balance school with getting high, having lots of sex, surviving some screwed up home lives, rehab, seducing psychology teachers, stalking, and creative cursing. It's everything you can't show on NBC, blatantly and unapologetically. Each episode follows a different character, offering a deeper look into that individual's context and perspective, while advancing the overall storyline. The pilot follows a day in the life of Tony Stonem, the cocky ringleader, as he pursues his two main objectives for the night: to get his drowsy, best friend Sid laid, and to sell three ounces of spliff (British for pot) to a group of posh private school girls. Throw in some prostitutes, a guy named Mad Twatter, Maxxie's "Big Gay Night Out," (C says:  This sounds promising) and finish it off by running a stolen car into a lake, and you've kicked off the best high-school series that could never air in the US.  (C says:  Good thing you added that qualifier, L, because we all know Buffy is the best high-school series that did air in the US)

Not that we aren't trying. Some US networks are supposedly in talks to bring the series to America. Now, as much as I'd love to see these kids on my television again, the FCC would NEVER let the show's content anywhere near network TV. British censorship is practically non-existent compared to US standards. Not only are there f-bombs every five seconds in the average episode of Skins, but you get full-frontal nudity in the series' opening scene (and that's only the beginning). Since the series couldn't air in its original form on network TV, an Americanized version would have to go one of three ways:

1. Censor all the objectionable content and air it on network. This would never work, because the majority of any given episode would end up on the cutting room floor. (C says: We all know how lame Sex and the City is on TBS)

2. Re-write and re-cast the show with American actors; follow general story lines but show less of the naughty stuff and use more clever innuendo. While this is a possibility, it would infuriate fans of the original series, and the re-make probably wouldn't go very far. (Remember when they tried this with "Coupling" a few years ago?) The raw energy of the show would be completely gone, and important story lines would have to be cut. A watered-down Skins is no Skins at all.

3. Air the original on a network like HBO or Showtime. this is probably the best option of the three. While the series would reach a smaller audience, it would at least allow that audience to experience Skins as it was intended.

Of course, the pOp/Ed blog does not endorse the unauthorized distribution of copyrighted material, (C says: Unless it's music, movies, or TV) but if you wanted to try and possibly find the entire series at sidereel.com, I suppose we can't really stop you.

If nothing else, please enjoy this photo of Mitch Hewer, the actor who plays Maxxie on the show, as seen in Cosmo UK.

(C says:  This is an A+ effort from L, but I have to say that she really only had to post this picture and she would have earned the grade.  If there's as much skin in the show as there is in this picture, I know I'm interested)