Does it Live Up to the Hype?
Lots o’ XOXO Gossip Girl
By Sadie McCrary
When The CW Television Network introduced “Gossip Girl” in fall 2007, the show didn’t even register with me. In fact, at that time, I am pretty sure I didn’t even know that a network called “The CW” existed. Truthfully, I was more concerned if Derek and Meredith would get together on ABC then about what a bunch of privileged Upper East Side brats were doing on The CW.
My, how the tables have turned.
At the urging of a friend, I purchased the first season of “Gossip Girl” this summer and watched all 18 hour-long episodes in one weekend. As furiously as one of the characters checking the Gossip Girl blog for the latest on-dits, I absorbed every episode back-to-back, eagerly anticipating how each story would unfold. Would Blair and Chuck get together? Could Lily marry Bart Bass even though she was in love with Rufus? Serena and Dan! Nate and Vanessa! Jenny and…Jenny! I was hooked faster than you can say Serena van der Woodsen.
Thankfully, I am not alone. Since season two began last fall, “Gossip Girl” has become one of the most-talked-about shows on network television. From the uproar over its racy advertising campaign to the chagrin of angry parents groups over its sexy, sometimes inappropriate storylines, “Gossip Girl” has certainly earned its “guilty pleasure” moniker.
The show embraces its role as a guilty pleasure – that’s what makes it so fascinating. The characters are catty, wealthy, spoiled and entirely concentrated on their own pleasure. And though the characters are supposed to be in high school, the plot twists and relationships depicted in the series are extremely adult. The writing is smart, and the actors really understand and nail their characters. So, for those of you who would dismiss “Gossip Girl” as a teen drama, perhaps you might give it a second look. It is definitely a series that you can’t ignore – or stop watching.
Let’s face it folks, with the economy crashing and jobless claims on the rise in “the real world,” it’s nice to glimpse how the other half lives – or how we peons imagine they live. The fictitious world of “Gossip Girl” allows us to bask in the glow of Versace, Chanel and Prada dripping off each of the characters and, for an hour each week, we are able to immerse ourselves in that world. It’s a kind of escapism unmatched in primetime television since “Dallas” in the 1970s and 1980s. Instead of J.R. Ewing, we’ve got Chuck Bass.
“Gossip Girl” has arrived at a time when all of us need a bit of respite from all things real. And, though we’re like children standing in front of the toy store window, I for one am happy to have my nose pressed to the glass. XOXO
E-mail the authors: Sadie McCrary
