Racy 'Skins' prompts Parents Television Council to call for investigation

[cali]

Friday, January 21, 2011

The Parents Television Council has fired off a letter calling upon the chairman of the U.S. Senate and House Judiciary Committees, and the Department of Justice, to investigate whether MTV's new scripted series "Skins" is actually kiddie porn in sheep's clothing.

Some of the cast members in the sexy teen drama, which debuted Monday, are as young as 15 - and others are younger than 18, which is the danger age in child porn.

The Los Angeles-based TV watchdog group said in its letter that leaving aside the sexual content on the show, it counted 42 depictions of and references to drugs and alcohol in the 41-minute premiere episode, which has to be some kind of record.

Before the show even debuted, the PTC had already crowned "Skins" the "most dangerous program that has ever been foisted on your children," which has to have boosted the teen (a.k.a. 12-to-17-year-old viewers) ratings for the premiere by at least 5 percent.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/20/AR2011012005397.html

[Not Me]

1. Okay, now I know I'll have to watch it.

Thanks for the heads up, PTC.

[Kalyke]

8. So you like exploiting young people?

:eyes:

[blondeatlast]

2. "Yes, Taco Bell: too classy for "Skins." " Sometimes, the jokes write themselves...

:rofl:

[seabeyond]

3. what parent allows mtv on in their house???? hm. they trashed long before this. nt

[Chimichurri]

4. I watched the episode as well as the UK original version and man

I have to say, I don't have kids but both versions were disturbing. I was hoping there would be some lesson emerging from the debauchery or some redeeming human traits would peer through any of the many characters but nothing close to that happened. Instead it really glorifies very dangerous behavior. I know people are saying that it realistically shows teen behavior, which I believe depicting would bolster conversation, but really this series is a complete caricature of it.

[seabeyond]

5. long ago, i saw disney channel create the teen and pre teen shows with, ... this is what a teen is.

it isnt. but it is a good effort to condition our teens to believe that is who they are suppose to be. i am tired of finding the very worst of a worse and presenting it as a norm.

[Chimichurri]

6. I agree completely. The sad part is seeing my 6 year old nephew and

4 year old niece watching those Disney shows and then mimicking the very disrespectful behavior they just finished watching.

That Disney logo is sedating to parents.


before I get snarked out, not all the shows are questionable

[seabeyond]

7. exactly. i watched my niece embrace it. i told my boys what disney was doing. they were pissed

havent turned on disney for years and do exactly opposite of what disney teaches these kids are normal teens. i am so blessed, lol. has made life so much easier when they look at how they are being conditioned as a group and reject and do opposite.

i will prove to you i am not that, by being totally respectful and responsible and try.

[theHandpuppet]

16. +1

Well said.

[blueamy66]

9. My 21 year old niece watched it

I'll have to ask her about it tomorrow.

I'm watching the report on The Today Show right now. :-)

[originalpckelly]

10. Here is the show:

http://www.mtv.com/videos/skins-ep-1-tony/1656101/playlist.jhtml#name=shows

I'm going to watch it just to see how bad it is.

[seabeyond]

12. 5 minutes. i watched 5 minutes. it is ugly. if this is our teen, if this is their home

then expect not much of any of us....

i couldnt stomach the ugly after 5 minutes.

[Xenotime]

11. It's no worse than that movie KIDS...

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113540/

And it has been out for 16 years.

"An amoral, HIV-positive skateboarder sets out to deflower as many virgins as possible while a local girl who contracted his disease tries to save his next target from her same fate.
Director: Larry Clark
Writers: Larry Clark (story), Harmony Korine, and 1 more credit »
Stars: Leo Fitzpatrick, Justin Pierce and Chloë Sevigny "

http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMTg0OTYwODg2MV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTYwMjc4OTA5._V1._SY317_CR5,0,214,317_.jpg

[seabeyond]

13. raping an unconscious girl... well, as long as kid is out, that makes it all ok then.

good to know.

[originalpckelly]

17. Read the script...then saw the movie...

Shyeah, that movie is not the greatest.

[DirkGently]

14. "Dangerous." Salon pointed out you couldn't invent better advertising to teens.

[Lance_Boyle]

15. If parents are concerned, they should not let their kids watch it.

They don't need a "television council" to make that decision on behalf of other parents.

Haven't seen the US copy, but the original British version was a decent show. Racy, yes. Kiddie porn? Get real, PTC freakshows.

[LynneSin]

18. I am more worried about how they glorify teen pregnancy

Everytime I flip channels and pass MTV it's all about teen moms.

That is so not sending a good message to our kids. 'Hey get pregnant and you too might be on an MTV show'

:puke:

[alp227]

19. that's brand new territory for the PTC right here. never seen them try this

They've filed FCC complaints by the masses before (basically telling members "Bad TV show! Complain even though you haven't watched it...we've got video!") I write more about this on my blog. PTC must be getting desperate.

(Edited to add) the laws that Skins allegedly violated:

18 U.S.C. § 1466A (2008) Obscene Visual Representations of the Sexual Abuse of Children

18 U.S.C. § 2251 (2008) Sexual Exploitation of Children

18 U.S.C. § 2252 (2008) Relating to Material Involving the Sexual Exploitation of Minors

18 U.S.C. § 2252A (2008) Relating to Material Constituting or Containing Child Pornography