Character Analysis: Skins

Character Analysis: Michelle Richardson "Like you mean it you little shit."

Michelle is a character that many are split on. Some love her, others are indifferent, and some dislike her especially for her actions in Series 2. This post is not an argument for any of those camps but more a focus on the motivations and personality of Michelle. More under the cut.

There are so many questions that one can ask about Michelle: Why did she stay with Tony for so long? Why did she treat Tony the way she did in Series 2? Why did she gt with Sid in Series 2? All of these questions will be addressed in this post. The one thing that I enjoy Michelle for is her normalcy. She really is a normal teenager worried about boys, acceptance, attention from her mom, the future, and all the other things that most teenage girls worry about. She is not an extremely dark and hard to understand character who has issues that are somewhat ambiguous or overly complicated. However that does not mean she does not have depth.

In the beginning of Series 1 we see that Michelle and Tony have been dating for quite some time. Michelle is seen as a beautiful girl by the outside world. Though Michelle still has the same insecurities that most of us girls have. Sometimes we want to be told we are beautiful. Tony on the other hand often times makes fun of her especially when it comes to her breasts. Michelle tells him to stop however he usually keeps doing it. Michelle in many respects is Tony obsessed and is afraid of losing him. She often does not want to believe so many of the stories that go around about him especially in terms of cheating. She gives Tony everything. Tries to make him happy. Tries to keep up. Tries to figure him out and by the time we meet Michelle we are beginning to see that she is becoming tired of the chase. Tired of not getting the respect she deserves but too attached to say anything.

Sid is someone who worships her and treats her with kindness and respect. However he is not the one she wants. We see this in Series 1 that when Tony is being a dick she gravitates toward Sid in the hopes he will compliment her and make her feel less like shit. However as soon as Tony wants her back she goes all to willingly. Until she sees him go down on Tony right in front of her in the most twisted of ways. This was the last straw and the final push for Michelle and she decides she needs something more. She is exhausted. Emotionally drained. Prodded. Poked. Absolutely sick of it. She needs Tony to do something big. A gesture that shows he can think about her more than he thinks about himself.

Tony finally gave her that declaration she needed only to be found in a different situation. The guy she loved and has obsessed over has now been involved in a tragic accident one in which left him weaker than he has ever been before. Michelle does not know how to process this new Tony and finds it hard not to take it personally. She has to start over with Tony and she has already drained herself dry trying with him. She begins to act quite selfish and keeps Tony at a distance especially after he had a hard time achieving an erection due to his injuries. Michelle is also upset that Tony allowed himself to be tricked into thinking he is involved with Abigail. She wanted him to remember her and she wanted to be someone worth remembering. Remembering what they had and how he felt. They are selfish feelings.

Michelle feels lonely, heartbroken, and angry over the accident and at Tony. Her Mom who is someone that Michelle loves though has an angsty relationship with due to her marriage fetish. Constantly trying to find that perfect guy only to be let down again. In many ways I think Michelle is a bit like her mom in terms of looking for that perfect package. Tony fits most of the boxes. He is beautiful, sexually gifted, powerful, ambitious, smart, but he lacks emotional depth. He seems perfect but she is finding out how exhausting it is to keep trying to make him perfect.

In Series 2 Michelle then gets into a sexual relationship with Sid due to their mutual loneliness and desire for another. Tony breaks them up later on in the series by calling their bluff which angers Michelle. Because Tony still has this power over her that she cannot shake though she wants to think she can. Eventually Tony makes another gesture that Michelle responds to and they try to repair their relationship just in time for school to end.

Another thing that I wanted to point out about Michelle is her ability to love. She is quite selfish sometimes; however, she does care about people. Her friendship with Jal was wonderful even though they had their imperfections. She also wants her mom to be happy as well. I do find Michelle to be quite loving even if she will slap a bitch if need be and will of course have her moments of selfishness. Especially when it comes to Tony.

Michelle wants to be loved. Fully loved. She thought she almost got everything she wanted at the end of Series 1 only to lose it. However what she gained was her independence. Something fair better in my opinion.