Tag: Casting

Though I respect creative integrity, I also know a thing or two about our legal system. That being said, it was probably the world’s dumbest idea to cast actual teenagers for Mtv’s new controversial show, Skins. Apparently, the creators wanted to keep the series true to the British version, and that includes casting teenagers to engage in sexually explicit scenes, which may or may not be child pornography. Aside from the ridiculous legal issue, the show just doesn’t work. To help explain my point — I’d like to tell a little story about my childhood. Once upon a time, my father and I went to see an American movie in England. During one of the previews, I noticed a bunch of naked women in the shower, and I figured it was the trailer for some R rated film that was inappropriately placed before PG movie. At the end of the naked shower scene, the camera panned to the naked woman’s wrist, at which point I noticed a very nice looking watch. It was a watch commercial! I was somewhat traumatized — partly because I felt like I was watching porn with my father, and partly because I felt too young to be watching a shower orgy. So what’s my point? The point is that, while something might work for the sexually free England, here in America we are prude. And Skins just doesn’t translate. I tried watching the English version immediately after watching the American version, in hopes that the problem was merely an adaptation issue. Nope. I found the English version equally as offensive and terrible. I’m not sure I’d pull my advertisements from the show, but I certainly watched my first and last episode.