3. Representation Of Disability in Skins
Skins is a UK TV Teen drama that focuses on the lives of a group of 17-18 year
old friends. Although the series may exaggerate some aspects of the current
generation of teenagers it touches on various issues they have to deal with in
real life. Issues covered are, Sex, Drugs, Depression, Break ups, Anorexia,
Bulimia, death and many other problems.
There have been 6 series so far with the cast being changed every two series
meaning there have been 3 generations. The clip that I will be focusing on is a
clip from the third series of skins. It revolves around four friends hanging out in
a garage with one of the friends that has autism. The way he is treated and
spoken to by the other characters shows us he is disabled is some sort of way.
Although this does not make it 100% obvious that he has autism the camera
angles and positioning for the camera does.
4. Character in question
The character we are looking at in this
scene is the character of JJ. JJ has a mild
form of autism which effects the way he
interacts and talks to people. Like all
autistic people JJ has a special talent.
His is Magic. He is very witty and
careful. In the scene I am concentrating
on he carefully plants a fir breathing
magic trick. He is filmed and talked to
by other characters in a different way to
make us realise there is something
different about him.
5. Representation Of Disability in Skins
Camera Angles, Sound and Mis En Scene
JJ, the character that is disabled in the scene is filmed differently. The camera is
positioned so it is looking up to JJ and the when it turns to the rest of the
people in the room it is slightly looking down on them. This gives the emphasis
that there is something different or important about JJ.
Also the way the character speak to him and treat him. They speak to him in a
child like manor. At the end of the clip Cook refers to JJ as having ‘a better
chance’ then Freddie with the girl Effie. This tells us that Cook thinks JJ is of a
lower status then the rest of the characters.
We can also see the way JJ looks. He styles his hair in a funky way and dresses
in a funk manor, this all contributing towards telling us that he is different from
the more casually dressed characters. We can also see the positioning of JJ in
the scene. He is sat on his own the furthest away in the room. Furthermore
adding to the message telling us that JJ is not a normal character.
