"GOT now't else to do up here but breed and feed have we?"
The inspirational rhetorical question spoken by Dean, the main man filmed in Channel 4's latest escapade Skint. Following the lives of people living in Scunthorpe, the show aims to educate the stiffer middle-upper class on "how the other half live". "Drink beer, smoke weed" appears to be the phrase etched onto the inside of the residents' eyelids, while they sit and bleat to the wearisome cameraman about how awful their lives are, how there's nothing to do but get off ya rocker from substances brought from the "off license".
They snigger. Myself, as a viewer, doesn't.
I cringe at how much leeway these people seem to have to roll around in a metaphorical bath of their own glorified self pity and the emerging stereotype, perhaps a product of an overly-generous benefit system, they seem happy to present to the nation.
The characters of the show seem to inhabit a constant world of delinquency, where they fail to see the purpose of going to school when there's "nothing at the end of it".
Connor, Scunthorpe's number one lethario, is 15 and has been expelled from seven schools.
Worryingly, it seems as though Connor will end up similar to Dean and his terribly hard-grafting pals, who happily claim benefits, because, oh I almost forgot, they deserve it, don't they? For all they replenish into society.
The narrow mindsets displayed by those starring in the show are becoming the norm in more places than just Dean's utopia of Scunthorpe.
People are starting to take up home in this self-imposed state of poverty, blaming the world and his dog for the hand life's dealt them.
Funny thing is, they're the ones who, like Connor, don't go to school and consequently aren't being handed a job on a plate. They're the ones who continue to decide not to leave the walls of security Scunthorpe offers so highly, to maybe go and find a job (god, heaven forbid getting a job).
They're the ones who, despite having sex, decide not to go on contraception and therefore get lumbered with a baby at 15 (cue a vast majority of the women on the show).
I find myself, 20 minutes into the wannabe hard-hitting eye-opener, wondering what Dean's doing. Apart from becoming a super Z-list celebrity starring on Skint (only suitable for the super tough due to its heart-wrenching content) I wonder if he's aware he's declaring his state of poverty to the nation or whether he was tricked into it by the bosses at Channel 4.
After all, it takes some nerve to stand on camera for 40 minutes showing a cameraman, who is only doing his job, around your "hood" to meet your friends who, similarly to you have no job, no aspirations and no interests other than going to prison when life in utopia gets a bit tough and they "need a break".
Moreover, as a viewer, it worries me how Dean justifies buying knock-off stolen goods from a woman, because of the prices mainstream supermarkets charge.
I'm struggling here Dean, the supermarkets are going to have to charge more if your lady friend and others like her continue to steal from them.
I wonder what Dean would say if his daughter were to turn into the woman he so willingly buys stolen deodorant and razors from?
I understand Skint has been cleverly manipulated by editors to humiliate Dean and his pals and, is clearly a provocative tool for Channel 4 to boost viewing figures and put a death sentence on Scunthorpe, but the attitudes and stereotypes the show demonstrates appear to represent far too many in today's society.
If, even after the broadcast of the show, you're still living in Scunthorpe. Why? According to Skint, there's very little there and house prices aren't set to rise anytime soon. If you should be so unfortunate as to find yourself condoning Dean's dodgy dealings and his mind-numbingly dreary way of life, then you need to get out more, the community on this programme make a complete mockery of not only Britain, but the north, too, showing us all to be scroungers, teenage tearaways and thieves, who like nothing more than a good bottle of Frosty Jacks at the end of a hard morning waiting in line at the Job Centre.
Is this really representative of our communities and young people?
