Disturbed

Since I'm always on the look out for a new teen drama, I was excited to see a new show called "Skins" was premiering on MTV. I had no idea what it was about, but I added to my list of shows to record with high expectations. It got great reviews! That should have been a warning sign right there...

I'm going to go off on a tangent here and discuss my ideas as to why I love these poorly acted completely un realistic teen shows. As I've gotten older, friends have moved away, responsibilities have tripled and I've replaced wild girls nights with diaper changing and hitting the sac at 9:30pm. Needless to say, life is not quite as exciting as it once was.

These shows, as stupid as they are allow me to take an hour to think about nothing and veg out while watching pretty people deal with never ending issues. It's a guilty pleasure, and I'm not sorry for it!

I was however sorry for giving this show a try. After 2 weeks, it is no longer recording and I'm done with it. They said this show was "iffy for 16 year olds". Yeah. I'm 26 and watching this show made me feel uncomfortable on several occasions. The content is bad enough, but the fact that the characters on the show are supposed to be Juniors in high school it's really disturbing. Not to mention that the kids playing these characters are almost all under 17.

I don't get HBO, or Showtime or any of that stuff for a reason. I like to be able to turn on my TV and know that what I'm watching and that it's censored to the level I need it to be. This show is on MTV for goodness sake, a channel that everyone with basic cable gets. Already 6 of it's advertisers have pulled their support due to the controversial content of the show.

I get that some of you out there may think I'm a movie watching and TV viewing prude. And that's ok, by some definitions I am. But I do consider myself to be fairly open minded. With this show, I felt blindsided. I sat down to watch a carefree teen show and ended up with anything but that. The NY Times reported that some of MTV's executives in recent days have become concerned that some scenes "may violate federal child pornography statutes." Umm if you think your show might violate child porn laws, you've got a problem.

It was also reported this morning that the age range of the audience for this show is 12 to 17. Yes 12! It's outrageous. The most disturbing thing about all of this is that 12 year olds will be watching this show and thinking that what goes on is "normal".

I'll admit, this show has not had any nudity (yet, I'm not sticking around to find out). But in my mind, the content and what's insinuated to be happening crosses the line. A lot. It can't even see the line anymore!

Parents out there, if you have teenagers that watch MTV make sure you block this show. Or atleast watch it with them to be sure it's something you want in your home. I know I don't want it in mine!