By BA Haller© Media dis&dat
The highly acclaimed British TV drama "Skins," about the turmoil in the regular lives of teens, has come to America again, and Season 3 features a character, JJ (pictured), who appears to have Asperger's. Each episode highlights a specific episode and JJ's episode is Sept. 17 on BBC America, 9 p.m. EST.
Because the episode is almost a year old when it is broadcast in America, it didn't take much sleuthing to confirm that the JJ character (played by Ollie Barbieri) is meant to have Asperger's syndrome. (The Wikipedia entry about the JJ episode says he has Asperger's.)
The Sept. 17 episode will explore JJ coming to terms his Asperger's, and he's helped in the process by forging a friendship with another "outsider" character, Emily, who is coming to terms with her sexuality. They meet in a counselor's waiting room and discover they are prescribed the same pills. Emily, who was featured prominently in the Sept. 10 episode because it was about her love interest Naomi, encourages JJ to be honest with his friends about what he wants. (You can find sections of the JJ episode on YouTube. It's episode 7.)
Because the episode is almost a year old when it is broadcast in America, it didn't take much sleuthing to confirm that the JJ character (played by Ollie Barbieri) is meant to have Asperger's syndrome. (The Wikipedia entry about the JJ episode says he has Asperger's.)
The Sept. 17 episode will explore JJ coming to terms his Asperger's, and he's helped in the process by forging a friendship with another "outsider" character, Emily, who is coming to terms with her sexuality. They meet in a counselor's waiting room and discover they are prescribed the same pills. Emily, who was featured prominently in the Sept. 10 episode because it was about her love interest Naomi, encourages JJ to be honest with his friends about what he wants. (You can find sections of the JJ episode on YouTube. It's episode 7.)
"Skins" is an excellent show, filled with complex character development and true representations of the angst in many teens' lives. MTV is apparently developing an American version of "Skins." Thankfully, the British producers will be involved in the American remake. After all the horrible American remakes of UK shows, (U.S. version of "Coupling" anyone? Yuck!) here's hoping for a "Office"-like standard.
