everyone's fucked up: Skins

I used to say “broken attracts broken”(in a contemplative voice, smoking my pipe as I look into the horizon, reminiscing on times gone by) when asked about why all my friends seem to have major issues. In retrospect, maybe everyone’s just fucked up.

Well, obviously, something’s up. The fact that we supposedly are raised in and live our own unique versions of life multiplied billion-fold across the continents, yet come out almost similarly damaged to some degree, something’s gotta give.

It seems right now that the common denominator is just life. You hurt, therefore you are. As a person with nihilistic tendencies, I’m usually unbothered by this. Especially given that I am relatively untouched by the most severe tragedies of life - that of harsh poverty, that of physical abuse, that of unforgiving discrimination - I am exempt from these and so much more that I can such afford to ignore the ills of society when it’s convenient for me.

But the humanitarian nature of my work and my craft - my constant exposure to the relentless suffering and daily struggle of the people around me, my interest in depicting this reality in my writing, my mere existence in the midst of these overlapping social realities - it has led me to often ask the question, why does it have to be this way?

There’s a lot of rational answers to this question; there are many socioeconomic models to explain how these problems materialize; there are even philosophies that explain why these sufferings might be essential to us and our community. As an angsty teenager, biased in my own personal monologues, my groundbreaking contribution to this discourse is: but why why why why why why why why

The Skins viewing experience is like that - “why does it have to be this way?” ad infinitum. Why can’t everyone just be happy? Why can’t the world just be a better place? Why can’t all our lives just be better? Every two seasons or so, Skins changes the entire line up of its casting & characters to keep the stories fresh and current, and yet one thing that persists amidst new faces and changes of management is that everyone - each and every new character - is still to a huge degree fucked up. I think that’s a good portrait of humanity. Generations pass and we’re all still so problematic.

One one hand, it’s extremely frustrating to watch these kids have their whole life ruined, and I did find myself once clawing at my hair thinking, “It’s a TV show, Des. Don’t be so affected,” but I was. The characters were so authentic despite their absurd lifestyles and origins. If I say it now, doesn’t it sound stupid that a fuck-up, practically born in juvenile detention, fucks a teacher, gets a girlfriend, and then goes on to get her pregnant, and then suddenly dies of this brain disease, then his coffin is stolen by his friends and fuck knows what they did with it? Some might call them pretentious, or overreaching, but I think maybe there are people out there who are just so unlucky, and just have different adventures than we do. I think these stupid characters were just plucked right out of this absurd life.

Adults makes us think that life is so rational, but there’s cause and effect - and then there’s just rationalization. Sometimes, we just tell ourselves things so we can live with ourselves.  Chris, from the TV show, would have still died and have his coffin stolen by his friends because he has a brain disease, but did he have to die like that - surrounded by his own puke and blood, uncared for by any sort of parental figure - the closest thing to such a character, he fucked and left? God, I don’t know how people don’t go into breakdowns over life every once in a while, cause I do. Not everything really makes sense, but we have to pretend they do.

Skins tells you that “it be like that sometimes.” Life’s absurd a lot. We can’t ignore that. Sometimes, it’s precisely because we try to ignore that that we fall into a depression. Oh, but what do I really know. I’m just a teenager who watches dumb teen dramas like Skins.

Anyway, on the other hand, it’s kind of comforting. I always did find shared trauma as an unconventional social lubricant. People are always shy or repulsed at first to talk about something so private and personal, but once they start, they’ve practically entrusted you with pretty much anything. That’s how the kids in Skins made friends, and I think that’s how I made friends myself, too.

Seven billion people in the world and we’re all sad. We’re all unsatisfied with our lives to some degree. We all have something we want to change in this world. You don’t think this everyday - I even try not to, because it will drive me crazy - but it’s right there at the back of your brain, just lodged deep down so you don’t have to be bummed about it.

I know it’s just a matter of perspective, though. Just be positive! Think happy thoughts! Yeah, I get that. I see the beauty in the world sometimes and whatever. But today, I feel breakdown-ey. So in typical teenage manner, here’s a long blog post about it. But we'll be back in business being superbly fine with all this shitfest very soon!

But point stands. We’re all a part of this community of people who find that society is far from perfect. I personally think the problem is consumerism. That Fight Club shit. "We're consumers. We are by-products of a lifestyle obsession. Murder, crime, poverty, these things don't concern me. What concerns me are celebrity magazines, television with 500 channels, some guy's name on my underwear. Rogaine, Viagra, Olestra."

That's what Tyler Durden and I think. Whatever it is, I hope one day, our community comes together to change that.

If you're into emo angsty things, and like to be bothered by thoughts like this, you should watch Skins.

Til next Sunday,

Des