XOXO

From the minute I started watching Gossip Girl, I was hooked. I loved pretty much everything about it. The plot, the setting, the characters etc…I loved how I could talk about it with my friends right after an episode premiered. I loved how easily I could look into a city I’d never been to through the eyes of the rich and glamorous. One of the most captivating aspects of the show, which made it stand out more than any other program I watched, was fashion. Not every teen gets to parade around in the season’s hottest trends and do it in New York, no less. I couldn’t believe, and I still can’t believe, how gorgeous and fashion-forward Blair, Serena, Vanessa, Jenny and all the other characters manage to be at every moment. In 8th grade, I remember it was my goal to buy a plaid trench coat because I was so enamored with the ones they wore on the show. Sadly, I never did buy one and now I don’t think I would, but it was definitely Gossip Girl that influenced me to love and becomes obsessed with fashion. On the premier episode of each season, it’s always a thrill to see what the characters are wearing and they never fail to impress. During the first episode of Season 4, I couldn’t get over Serena’s dress and found myself doodling models in class wearing something a lot similar to it.
On the more negative side of things, Gossip Girl caused me to develop a view of New York City that isn’t entirely true to what it is. In Gossip Girl, you see the glamorous Upper East Side…and that’s pretty much it. Whenever the show travels to Brooklyn, it’s portrayed in a much more negative light and the characters view it that way too. So it’s not hard to assume that I developed that same view. I thought that when I traveled to NYC, it would all be similar to the Upper East Side. It wasn’t until I finally came to the city that I realized it’s so much more diverse and interesting that what you see on Gossip Girl. There’s so much more to see and so many things that are more captivating than fashion, fancy penthouses (even though I wouldn’t mind living in one of those), and the Upper East Side. And Brooklyn is much cooler than I imagined it to be. Gossip Girl shows you, through a very tiny lense, a certain part of New York City, not the whole of it.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m still in love with the show. But now my relationship with it has changed. Instead of letting the show control my view of New York City and everything about it, I just enjoy it for what it is and I let it take me to a different world every week. And that’s exactly what I think Gossip Girl should be to each person. But if it inspires you in some interesting way, let it! I’m not afraid to admit that Gossip Girl was one of the main factors for why I love fashion. Just don’t let it be the only source you use to analyze and get information on New York City.
This makes me wonder how others view the show. I think the people in my parent’s generation see it as a glimpse into how technology is such a huge part of pop culture for my generation. But Gossip Girl is a lot different for me. I don’t focus on the technology aspect of it because using my phone and my computer is so normal for me. And why would our parents watch it when it doesn’t really affect them? It delves into a lot of the issues that teens face. High school drama, college admissions, cliques, dysfunctional families etc...from more of a teen point of view. And though Gossip Girl puts those issues into a different setting and makes them much more dramatic, there’s something in the show that’s still relatable to me; and when you really get down to it, it’s just fun to watch.

Sophia N.