Film Summary
The British television series Skins, created by Jamie Brittain and Bryan Elsley, follows a group of rebellious British teens who are trying to grow up and find love and happiness despite questionable parenting and teachers who more want to be friends (and lovers) rather than authority figures. There are many mental illnesses represented throughout this series, such as bipolar disorder, depression, and eating disorders such as bulimia and anorexia. There are also many representations of the risk-behaviors associated with these disorders, such as severe drug abuse, anger management issues, self-harm and murder. The show gained so much viewership and traction that it was remade into a U.S. version in 2011. Despite my obsession with the U.K. version, I never watched the American version because I heard that the plot is less focused on the intimacies of the characters, but more so on what goes on around them. Content from the U.K. version of the show, along with American Horror Story, was what I saw most on Tumblr when I was a teenager. However, I hadn’t seen the series yet. I reblogged GIFs similar to the ones we will analyze later while having zero insight into the context of the show and it’s characters. I remember spending so much time following the trail of GIFs, images, and hashtags that were circulated from this show in order to figure out what it was called so I could watch it. In other words, I watched the show because of the GIFs. My obsession with the show only grew when I binge-watched the whole series (consisting of 7 seasons) in less than a month, but ultimately, it was the show’s immense presence and the romanticization of the show, and mental illness, that sucked me in.
GIF Analysis
I chose this GIF (Figure 4.3) because most of the other GIFs we have analyzed have included text that has subliminally guided our opinions or thoughts about the GIF and its contents. This GIF and it’s popularity, however, rely solely on the emotion, facial expression and positioning of the character in the GIF and how much the users who share this content relate to the sheer emotion showcased. So, what are those emotions that Tumblr users are relating to so much? First and foremost, we need to talk about the character in the GIF. Effy, played by Kaya Scadelario, has a whole fan culture dedicated to her performance in Skins UK. She became wildly popular on Tumblr- similarly to Violet from American Horror Story. Personally, she became a fashion icon for me, but I must admit, it was her chaotic and depressed representation that made me, and many others, want to be her. In this episode (Season 4, Episode 5), Effy’s boyfriend Freddie arrives at her home when he realizes she has thrown a party. It caught him off guard because earlier that day she was severely struggling with her mental health. Freddie begins looking for her but she is nowhere to be found. Before he discovers her, he notices that she has completely covered her bedroom walls with scraps of paper, drawings and images, which is representative of manic behavior and often a symptom of bipolar disorder. Eventually, he finds her completely alone and crying under her bed as the party rages on below them. Next, Freddie lies down and comforts Effy. Similar to the lack of text in the GIF, there isn’t much verbal communication between Freddie and Effy in this scene, which makes it even more chilling. There is something about the way he simply sits with her and lets her know he is there for her that makes this scene so powerful. She is also looking directly at the camera which is placed where Freddie is sitting, thus, breaking the fourth wall. The fourth wall is an imagined, invisible wall that separates actors from audiences. However, this is a very rare performative convention, which is why it’s worth discussing. By looking directly into the camera, the character seems to be directly interacting with the users on the other side of the screen. This could evoke a sense of comfort for many users because it’s as if Effy is right there next to them. In this case, this GIF is most likely circulated by fans of the show, or those who relate to the out-of-context emotion evoked by the GIF.
This GIF (Figure 4.4) is similar to Figures 3.4 and 3.5 in that the text imposed onto the GIF matches perfectly with Effy’s lips as she says, “I’m officially off the rails.” In the frame, we can see another person, which is unlike many of the other GIFs we have seen so far. In the other GIFs, the characters seem to be alone in the shot. We assume they are speaking to someone, but rarely see them. The effect this has on viewers is a feeling of loneliness or isolation, so in this GIF, those feelings are felt on a lesser level.
There is also a strong sense of confidence within this GIF. The way that Effy tilts her head and almost smirks as she expresses that she’s “off the rails” comes off like she’s proud to feel frenzied, unstable, or even manic. Mania is a symptom or side effect of bipolar disorder, and the term “unstable” is often used to describe those who suffer from bipolar disorder. By reblogging this, and GIFs similar to this, users are participating in the construction and curation of their identity-- bipolar or not. They may feel as though they are also “off the rails” or even want t o be unstable.
When I was a depressed teenager, I remember self-diagnosing myself with bipolar disorder based on how my life appeared to match up with Effy’s and the kinds of things people were saying on Tumblr about the disorder. Later, I was medically and professionally diagnosed with bipolar disorder, but at the time, Tumblr assisted in blurring the lines between what were symptoms and what I wanted to be symptoms in order to better understand my identity. Based on the conversations I’ve had with other Tumblr users, I’ve heard similar things in regards to users self-diagnosing themselves with depression or anxiety disorders. It wasn’t until they sought help from a medical professional that they realized the error in their thinking. This made me wonder, why do people ever want t o have symptoms of a mental illness when there is a chance their mental health was just deviant at the time? It’s because mental illnesses are romanticized in films and on social networking sites such as Tumblr.
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