Gossip Girl: A Downer?
The Watcher's Maureen Ryan asks why the premiere of Gossip Girl is so depressing:
"This show posits that teens, at least these rich, vapid teens, live in an environment so competitive that the most ravenous shark might feel a twinge of pity for them. Their parents are unsympathetic and self-absorbed; their friendships exist solely as a means of establishing or reinforcing the pecking order; even the sex on the show — and there’s a good amount of sex or near-sex — is either sadly mechanical or imbued with more than a hint of nasty violence."
Her take is a dark one indeed... but is it sort of true?
At first we were kind of surprised at the post, since we really enjoyed the pilot, in spite of (or perhaps because of) the somber mood. It's true that funny or heartwarming moments are few and far between. But we still think the Humphrey family lightens the mood. The bond between siblings Dan and Jenny proves strong in the premiere, and the kids clearly love their aging rock star dad. Here's one family that cares about more than getting smashed at the hotel bar.
That said, Maureen is on target when she says "...the relentless climb up the social ladder is the grim focus." Very true. On Gossip Girl, who you are, what you're invited to, and what you're wearing is all that matters. But then, isn't that what high school, regardless of location, is all about? Hey, our high school experience was far from the elite Upper East Side shenanigans of this show, but we can relate to not hanging with the cool kids. Who didn't know someone that would do sell her soul -- or at least sell out her best friend -- for a chance at popularity?
Maybe that's the most depressing part -- that in high school, nonstop social climbing, often at the expense of others, is universal. Those of you who've already seen the premiere, what do you say? Exciting? Depressing? Or just plain good TV?
Comments
the main reason why i watched the pilot is because i read the books and really seemed to enjoy them. i personally loved the pilot because it reminded me so much of the book. but if your not really feeling the pilot i highly suggest reading the books. the pilot depicts rich good-looking teens who are a little screwed up. maybe it's not really accurate to reality but who wants to see that?
Posted by: magdalina | September 20, 2007 6:05 PM
if you read the book then you know why the first show was like that. it is based on the book. duh. its not reality either, so just because u live in ny doesnt mean anything, and im such some expensive private school is like that. anyway its based on the book, & i thought it was really good.
Posted by: jennifer | September 20, 2007 2:44 PM
I agree with the review. I thought it was depressing and very predictable. And the bad guy a little too over the top and one dimension. He's suppose to be one of the elite cool guys and he's on the verge of raping two girls in one show? Get me a break. I could have believe it more if he had tried to charmed Jenny and than took advantage of her, but to just force himself on her right off the bat, thought that was a little to dark and a big reach. Most the of the plots were the same ones we've seen a millon times only this time the acting and/or dialogue were very bland. There is surely a lack of chemistry and charm with the cast.
Posted by: Anonymous | September 20, 2007 7:38 AM
OK. My school background - I went to a catholic elementary school and I'm currently attending an all-girls private high school on the upper east side (where the 'gossip girl' school is placed). There are some girls in my school who have had parties like Blair's 'Kiss on the Lips' party and their parents really don't care how much alcohol they drink - usually they provide the alcohol at their home so that they can 'watch' over their kids as they drink with their friends. Their rationale is that if the teens drink with them, they know they won't be drinking anywhere else - which is like, the stupidest idea ever.
Take the limo ride to Blair's party. Think that the amount of drugs and alcohol was too much to be true? Think again. Lots of teens can get these things, espesh here in new york.
Posted by: Brooke B | September 19, 2007 9:56 PM
I went to a school in America -- Brooklyn, NY to be more specific and we didn't have a "caste system." There were no cliques and the cheerleaders and athletes didn't rule the school. I went to a school where the majority was hispanic students (myself included) so I'm wondering... maybe it's just white people who like to impose a social hierarchy to make themselves feel better. No offense!
Posted by: Krys | September 19, 2007 3:30 PM
hey, i'm french and i just graduated from high school 10miles from Paris and my experience of high school was no quite as hard as americans have.
It's not all about popularity or wearing louis vuitton D&G, CK, diesel etc.. or hanging especialy with a group.
Of course in France we have different kinds of people.. you have the ones who have fancy clothing (we are in paris, remember) but we don't focus on it everyday we go to school, there are the skaters and whatever.. but every one can't talk to everybody.. maybe because we don't have jokes or cheerleaders and because we spent a lot of time (all of the students) at school (30hours a week or so) so we'd better stand spending time with guys we have around us.. the only group that may be a special case are the geeks who doesn't really talk to the others because they are in their world and doesn't talk about anything else that maths or science and who are all the time on their computer...
that said, it is true that some people are more popular than others but not in a bad way, they just know more people than others do because they make friends easily or because they smoke (it might surprise you but smoking can be a popularity factor here, especialy when you're good looking and well dressed, 1french out of 3 smokes so it can make people come closer, as silly as it seems) the ones that stand aside are only the ones that doesn't want to talk to others because they don't talk about the same thing.. In french high school it is really easy to make a lot of friends if you try; when you talk to someone, this person won't ignore you in front of their friends the next time you see them.. but of course we talk about popularity and it exits but not like in america where it seems there is a huge gap between popular one and the others.. this doesn't make high school any easier..
After all that we still love to watch shows such as OTH, 90210, The OC, Dawson's creek, and surely Gossip Girl.. Those shows are very very popular in France (OTH rocks, we have a huge fan base and this is why this show can't be cancelled after the up-coming fifth season...
Posted by: loulou8810 | September 19, 2007 12:23 PM
High school is all about wanting to be accepted. In order to do so, many teens try to be something they are not. Out of fear or insecurity. Popularity becomes a driving force which leads many teens to believe popularity = happiness.
Personally, my closest friends and I talked to anyone and everyone. Hung out with other cliques - separate or together, and didn't judge or criticize each other. It didn't matter to us if someone was "cool" or not, if they were a new kid, what race, religion, etc. I suppose one could say we were the "open-minded clique".
Our friendships were never based on anything false. 13 years later, we all remain friends.
Posted by: jul | September 19, 2007 8:51 AM
Where the heck did YOU(previous post) go to school? There are groups everywhere, in all countries. Maybe you just weren't aware. But yes, it is always interesting to see screwed up teens behaving badly.
Posted by: joyb | September 18, 2007 6:15 PM
I'm not from the US so my "high school" experience is different from that of many Americans. We didn't have different groups... there wasn't a popular crowd or geeky crowd or whatever. Just one big group of equal individuals who enjoyed studying and hanging out with each other. If you were a geek then that was cool and if you were an athlete then that was cool too and you could wear whatever the hell you wanted. Everyone was welcome everywhere. So I can't really relate... still it's always sickingly interesting to watch screwed up teens on TV. We've been watching Beverly Hills 90210, The OC and countless of movies with high schoolers... nothing particularly new about theme of social climbing and rich kid issues.
Posted by: Anonymous | September 18, 2007 5:08 PM