METAL HITS THE SKINS
American readers may have recently become aware of a new MTV series called Skins, which has been the subject of no small amount of controversy due to the fact that, as I understand it at least (I’ve yet to actually force myself to watch an episode), the show is basically kiddie porn. What these readers may or may not realize is that Skins is actually based on a British series of the same name, and that said British series features a character who is metal head.
And when I say “metal head,” I mean all the worst stereotypes that people hold about metal heads — he’s rude, obnoxious, socially retarded, and, oh yeah, a poseur. (He wrinkles his shirts before putting them on! That’s the exact opposite of what most people do! Weird!!!) He also has ecclectic taste — he seems to enjoy Slayer and Drowning Pool in equal measures. And here I thought he was a Brit, not a redneck.
Metal Insider even informs me that Napalm Death made an appearance on the show earlier this month. Barney Greenway told Kerrang! that the band likes the show because “it gives a genuine perspective on growing up” and doesn’t “stigmatise young kids” the way other shows do. And I guess he’s right, to the extent that teenagers really do fuck, drink, and smoke. But nothing about the above clip feels authentic to me, so the fact that it acknowledges the raunchier proclivities of adolescents is pretty much a moot point; I mean, it’s like arguing that Saw is a better movie than a Hitchock movie, because in Saw they show people bleeding and screaming when they get killed, whereas in Hitchcock movies are generally gore-free. It doesn’t really make Saw any more realistic, and it certainly doesn’t make Saw a better movie than anything Hitchcock ever did.
I haven’t been able to find video online of Napalm Death’s actual appearance on the series, but I was able to find some behind-the-scenes footage. Check it out below, and then go to our comments section to debate the merits, or lack thereof, of Skins and its portrayal of metal fans.
-AR
Thanks: Steve Stamopoulos
