Gossip Girl here and welcome to the scandalous lives of Manhattan’s elite.
As a loyal follower of Serena Van der Woodsen, Nate Archibald, and Blair Waldorf I was over the moon when the show was announced to return.
Not going to lie girls, it was a rough go at first. The most shocking thing about the relaunch of this series is the mind behind Gossip Girl- the teachers.
For me, it is hard to get believe that teachers who are removed from their students lives and have a decent age gap between them can hold their own in the gossip mill that is Manhattan. The main teacher running it also seems to have a problem with being the teller of all the information which makes it hard to be Gossip Girl. It is a cutthroat, publish-what-you-hear type of role. Gossip Girl kept the main characters human. She made them humble. She established the relationships that we knew and loved. How can she expect to hold their attention if she tells a softer version of the truth?
I understand the youth of today, including myself, appreciate an hour-long show with interesting characters, a climax, and then a simple resolution. I do feel though, that this is breaking what the original show was about. Nothing as humans is ever wrapped up in a neat bow with forgiveness without working for it.
Along with that, nothing is ever truly forgotten. No show was ever truly concluded with some real-life drama about family, friends, identity, or other serious issues. I wish the new show would have created more grounding issues within the characters instead of trying to fix everything in the span of an hour.
Although with a fresh face, the new Gossip Girl series incorporates some more concepts we face today as teens- the inclusion of the LGBTQ+ community, being an influencer, and dealing with perception on social media. Gossip Girl is now an Instagram account instead of a blog which makes more sense to appeal to the viewers of today. Some of the characters are bi-racial and are a part of the LGBTQ+ community, and all of them trying to figure out their identity, something everyone struggles with.
The core of this show is the viewer’s love/hate relationship between all the characters, and the moment it seems everything is figured out, we come to the end of the season, and something is revealed that upsets everything. This show also just demonstrates how hard we all try to be Jenny Humphrey, scale the walls of the elite, and walk around with their money and prestige. However, we all just need good friends and family to get through life and the chaotic worlds of high school and college.
Long story short, the new show captures most of the essence of the original Gossip Girl, but maybe it’s just my nostalgia wanting the old show back again.
XOXO,
Gossip Girl