Chris
In the first episode of skins, Chris is portrayed as a stereotypical teenager. The first you see of him in the episode is when Tony calls him up. He is lying in bed with a girl of similar age, it is obvious from the conversation he has with Tony that he has slept with her the night before. Throughout the whole episode he is seen to be a bit of a flirt and definitely sees himself as a bit of a player when it comes to the ladies.
The first thing you notice about him is the way he dresses. He wears bright colours, which signifies youth. However, he is a different person to what you would expect. He says that he doesn’t watch TV or play video games, but instead parties and takes pills. I feel that this is a clear condemnation of the youth culture. His attitude towards other characters is very laid back and he uses banter a lot. He also uses strong language which is associated with the youth culture, yet again.
Towards the end of the episode he is shown to be a bit of a ‘party animal’ as to speak and attends two parties in one night. During the party scene he is shown to be a vagabond with a very short temper. This is evident from the way he snaps at a boy who tries to kick him out. It is only then that Tony stands up for him.
Chris is a character which a lot of teenagers could relate to. However, I do feel that he is a bit of an unfair condemnation of the youth culture. This is partly the reason why ‘Skins’ received such uproar when it was first released.
Cassie
Cassie is similar to Chris in some aspects but also very different. She is portrayed as a very unstable girl who doesn’t really have a aim in life apart from to keep herself thin as a pencil.
From her appearance and conversations with Sid it becomes clear that she is Anorexic. She seems to be in and out of hospital because of this. She also comes across as being a bit of a schizophrenic. Despite this obvious dent in her health she doesn’t seem to be doing herself any favours with her drug taking and drinking.
She dresses very eccentrically, wearing bright and unique clothing. The way she speaks mirrors her health and she is full of love which gives the impression she is lonely. Most of the time she is talking about a load of nonsense, which has no relevance to the story at all.
Cassie is a very interesting and deep character. There is obviously a lot we don’t know about her at this stage. Again, Cassie is used to condemn the youth culture in an over the top way which I feel is unfair.
