Romanticising Mental Illness in Skins

https://youtu.be/opAHqeW-4V0

SpendSomeTime Podcast Episode 3

Written by Poppy Leverington

This analysis will be discussing mental illness in relation to the characters of Skins, particularly of Effy from generation two, Cassie from generation one and Minnie from generation three. I would like to critically analyse audiences’ perceptions and repercussions of the positive portrayal of these three characters.

To begin I will explain the context of the show and then develop my argument of how the character’s illness is romanticised, both by the creators and by the audience. Focusing firstly on Cassie and her character I will unravel her experience with anorexia and how this is shown on screen. There will be a second- and third-part analysis where the characters of Effy and Minnie will be covered within this same argument, due to the heavy context of each character and their separate generations in the series I’ve decided to analyse all three characters individually, these should be posted in the near future.

Skins is a British television series created in 2007 by Bryan Elsley, spanning for seven seasons the show was a hit with teens everywhere. The show would focus on a group of characters as they deal with their youth, typically their two college years, along with family issues, drug and alcohol abuse, relationships and yes, mental illness. In total there was a collection of three what is known as generations of these characters, the first generation, which will be discussed today, the second generation which includes Effy and the third generation which brought us Minnie. The series was successful in providing teenagers with a programme of relatability yet was also incredibly dramatic, focusing on toxic behaviours rarely seen in the ways portrayed on the show.

With the birth of the series, we were introduced to the first generation of characters; Tony, Jal, Michelle, Cassie, Anwar, Maxie, and Chris. Within these characters is Cassie, played by Hannah Murray, the character has a weak demeanour representing a fragile mind, which also perfectly hides her manipulative aspects from the viewer in many situations. Doing whatever she can to get what she wants, her friends all underestimate and belittle her for her illness. That being anorexia. Throughout her time on screen we witness her struggle with food, gradually getting better after she receives support from an unlikely friend. Cassie’s rocky journey provides young viewers with the awareness of eating disorders, which is positive for learning purposes, but can also allow viewers to replicate these behaviours without fully understanding the consequences. Behaviours such as food organisation and collection, strategies for distracting others from the lack of eating at dinner times.

So now I ask you, what consequences to this illness do we see on screen for Cassie?

The repercussions for Cassie are considerably small for such a damaging illness. On screen we see the negative perception her friends have of her, we see her weak frame which could be idolised by younger viewers, and the slight hallucinations of seeing the word ‘Eat’ being presented to her by others. With this in mind, the real repercussions of severe anorexia are as follows:

• Mental disorders such as anxiety and depression, also suicidal tendencies and drug abuse are also common from long-term sufferers.

• Heart Disease

• Bone loss

• Nerve damage

• Anaemia

• Organ Failure

• Fertility problems – loss of menstruation cycle.

These harmful or even life-threatening health risks are not mentioned or seen throughout Cassie’s journey. This may not be included on the possibility that it would ruin the euphoric portrayal of her character. But wouldn’t we as viewers, sorry, younger viewers, be benefitted by the knowledge of these consequences?

Like was Cassie losing her hair?

Or was she feeling weak and frail?

 I believe we should’ve seen at least a few of the typical health complications seen from this illness, apart from one scene where she is seen running from college to get home and we witness her struggle running to the point she eventually must stop to catch her breath, I don’t recall seeing one! Now, I won’t lie I’m not the healthiest person in the world, but I’m certainly within the average weight category, and I’m sure if I ran the same amount she did I would need to stop and catch my breath too. This is evidence of her weakness, but a minute one at that.

You could say the glamourisation of an eating disorder may be the creator’s way of presenting Cassie as she sees herself or the illness, or maybe the way her friends see her? But if you’re a true Skins watcher then you’ll be aware of how these concepts simply could not be true for this storyline.

First, Cassie does not romanticise her illness, she is suffering, and we see this throughout her time in the first generation of characters, she wants to eat but can’t, she may not be thinking of the long-term risks, but she is struggling with herself to get better. If you watch carefully, she is often subconsciously telling herself to eat, showing her fight against the illness. Disproving the theory of her satisfaction from having the illness itself. Second, Cassie rarely speaks out about her illness so we can’t be entirely sure how she sees anorexia, yet we can see how she understands it through her behaviours. She’s unhappy and sympathises with the girl suffering from anorexia that she meets at the hospital, she doesn’t idolise her, she befriends her and must look after, at one point she seems to be babysitting her all night. Third and finally, her friends certainly do not romanticise her for her illness, Cassie is the butt of many jokes due to her illness, they try to help her and tell her to get better, but she doesn’t seem to listen, at least from their perspective. To her friends, they felt there was no use trying, she comes across so distant, dazed and ‘wow’ that we as viewers can see It’s not easy to get a civilised conversation out of her. Her friends see and feel the pain of her illness maybe almost as much as she does.

Moreover, if you pull the series apart, Cassie is truly unhappy, and her friends are just as frustrated with her as she is with herself. Why then are we as viewers being pushed to romanticise the eating disorder? And how is this being done?

The lack of consequences for Cassie is astounding, yes, we see her frustrated with herself, but this is not enough to scare away teenage girls who look at this beautiful actress and decide she is their ideal beauty standard. Young girls are resonating with the character, possibly taking the tips that the character so willingly gives away in scenes, feeling reassured by her lack of risks other than feeling unhappy. Which in itself is romanticised, men looking for a sad, hurting girl was a thing for a while, and Skins certainly aided in the creation of that fantasy for men, with the character of Effy Stonem.

In conclusion, the creators and the audience have romanticised the character of Cassie due to the creator’s lack of emotive honesty in her eating disorder, giving audiences unreal expectations for the effect this has on people suffering from it. Audiences will become unaware of its dangers and associate it with the hippie chic lifestyle and personality that comes with Cassie. (Hazey days).