Tonight I would like to stray from my usual remarks about points in television episodes that nobody cares about. Instead, I will talk about a television show that nobody who checked the ‘Hetro’ box seems to talk about. Except, of course, myself, and the jury may even still be about on that, according to my latest horoscope.
Gossip Girl, at least for my money, is the best new show of the season (sorry, Reaper, it pains me to say it.). Initially it was because Leighton Meester is perhaps the cutest thing on TV (again, I am not using the prefix perhaps in some kind of smartass sarcastic manner, I am using it to cover myself*), but it’s certainly started to come into its own.
Perhaps the primary reason for this is that I have stopped comparing both the general premise and the characters themselves to the O.C, something which is central to enjoying it.
Sure, there are some similarities (Does Serena’s mum look like Kirsten or do I have middle aged blonde woman glaucoma?) but I probably wouldn’t have even known they had similar creative teams had I not been told. Perhaps the biggest difference lies in what I feel is going to be the ultimate appeal of Gossip Girl. The O.C was (at least for one and a half years) a cultural zeitgeist for young people. Gossip Girl is probably never going to come to this (in fact I get the feeling it’s going to be one of those ‘I wish it had lasted’ TV shows)
Not only did it include (be it in stereotypical form or not) most subcultures relevant at the time, but it had morals, but never veered into being ‘Very Special’ (I of course neglect to mention the Pot plotline, as nothing after the Senior Prom episode exists to me**).
Gossip Girl on the other, seems to bathe in excess, and (you are now rapidly approaching the dumbest thing I’ve ever written!) almost seems to have an element of Film Noir in the way that there are no good characters. It contains two types of characters: people who you know are assholes, and people who are probably assholes (the exception is Dan’s dad, who is rapidly becoming my new idol.)
Far be it from me to say it, but maybe this an example of (particularly youth ‘dramedy’)television moving towards darker themes. All of the characters have poor parental relationships and fucked up badly at least one in the seven episodes (or just beforehand). Is it just me, or just this somehow make for relatable characters (despite the class divide) or it just my misanthropy at work again?
In a more personal sense, Blair is absolutely my favourite character, and not only because she should be sewn on to the front on every cardigan (cute? Button? Hello? Is this thing on?), but also because she is bat-shit fucking insane. A close second is her (not so cute) usual partner in crime Chuck Bass, but is the perfect personification of everythin that Gossip Girl is trying too…well…personify… Also, in a strange twist I don’t find myself hating any of the characters, although Dan’s stupidity sometimes makes me question his sanity (which in turn makes me question my own, as I am questioning the sanity of a fictional character).
The darkness is also evident in the settings of both Gossip Girl and the O.C (In case the name didn’t tip you off) Orange Country suited the decidedly more gentle and less and intimidating plotlines of the O.C. People were assholes, but they were generally good assholes, and was a pretty happy place. You knew who your enemies where, be them crazy Surf Nazis or crazy Cute blondes who like Bright Eyes.
Meta-narrative is turning out to be to the biggest talking point for people (such as myself) with too much time on their hands. In the O.C Ryan almost acted as a guide to the viewer, both of them being thrown headfirst into the cultural excesses of Orange County (don’t call it that…).Through him The O.C was always skeptical of both popularity and excess, and yet Gossip Girl positively idolizes and encourages them.
This is true to a degree with Dan (or maybe the unnamed narrator) in Gossip Girl, but positively comparing the two any further would be an exercise in futility (and I can tell you a thing or two about that) The O.C was always skeptical of both popularity and excess, and yet Gossip Girl positively idolizes and encourages them.
Yes, after reading this again I am aware that I have done almost nothing but compared Gossip Girl to the O.C, evem whilst I said that I wouldn’t do it anymore. But just like telling your favourite celebrity to shut the fuck up, I am doing it out love, not hate. I still feel that it’s being grouped with the O.C way too (check out the latest A.V Club T.V entry for proof, although the review is other wise great), but whatever right?
I also know that I haven’t so much talked about Gossip Girl as I have utter crap.
*Coincidently, this sarcastic use of words like ‘perhaps’ and ‘slightly’ is one of the most annoying literary abominations ever, along with combining ‘man’ and ‘Activity or Product X’ to come up with a delightfully witty pun. Example ‘Manernoon’ (yes, that word actually exists), What the fuck does that even mean, and why is it needed? Rest assured, this will be discussed in more, agonizing detail later.
**Except Rachael Bilson, who could murder everyone I loved and I’d still probably help her dispose of the bodies. Well, I’d at least move them, but I sure as hell ain’t digging a grave, too much work.
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