Gossip Girl

I have problems with sleeping. A remedy for it, I have found, is to write. This morning I'm going to write until I fall back asleep for a little while, or until I decide to just get ready for work.

I feel this intense urge to reflect on my feelings about the tv series, Gossip Girl. If you are not familiar, it is not important to change your current status. The show is almost so bad, it's hilarious. I watch it just as one could not pull their eyes off of a train wreck. Don't get me wrong, I love a juicy teen soap-opera-like series as much as the next chick. I have been faithful to The OC ever since I turned it on around the age of 14. Jesus, I own the box set!

The OC was comprised of a very tasteful blend of elements that brought the show to such a cult classic standing:
A) Good looking people
B) The fashion. Timeless. Tasteful.
C) The soundtrack (I knew I was in love with the show the first time I heard Spoon in the background - this was also way before "indie" was so popular)
D) A relatively true story line - pretty believable
E) Characters are consistent
F) Witty commentary
G) A stand on current issues
H) It's shot very well, clean, almost movie-like

The show was an exaggerated reflection on life, but nonetheless, it was a reflection on life that most people experience to one extent or another - every one of the characters were relatable. I look at Gossip Girl and it's sad how hard they are trying. It's a wannabe OC show meets one of the bad remakes of Cruel Intentions.

With Gossip Girl, I will try to correspond with my previous list of the elements of The OC:
A) The people aren't that good looking
B) The fashion pushes too hard on trends - and not in a before it's time way.
C) The soundtrack is made up of whatever new "indie" band that releases a single that month... it seems to be entirely made up of bands that are freshly sold out.
D) The story line desperately searches out drama - there are only some vague traces of morality. These kids fly off anywhere in the world without and kind of repercussions. There are some insanely rich kids out there, but there are very few people in the world that live that way. A fucking Lord shows up out of nowhere? Mostly the show says "fuck morality, all we care about is hot and steamy hook-ups".
E) The characters suck - sweet and innocent Jenny Humphrey turns bad ass all the sudden (this is shown mostly by slopping on a pound of heavy black eyeliner) then again she has a small spout of morality (while she finds a cotton ball and make-up remover). Her brother, Dan, is in looove with one girl and is also suppose to hold some sort of moral code... next thing you know he is fucking a teacher in a prop closet in school and then hooking up with half of the girls in New York City. Their best looking character on the show, Nate, has had an affair with pretty much every girl on the show - including little miss "sweet and innocent Jenny" and a married woman... who turned out to be a queen. If you haven't seen the show and you are reading this in disbelief, I promise to you I am not pulling any of this crap out of my ass... it's really on the show.
F) Don't. get. me. started. This show is a far cry from witty. There is no humor. Except in making fun of it.
G) The show makes Americans look bad. To the rest of the world we are all spoiled rich kids. We don't care about shit. We just love our hot and steamy hook-ups. Gossip Girl is about how good it is to have money and how the rich are better than the poor - it insults it's viewers. It's so superficial, it hurts. I'm glad I wasn't the fourteen year old that happened upon it. Okay... I won't be entirely critical - Chuck loses his dad, Blair has an eating disorder and Serina deals with issues of neglect. The show however deals with these issues in a very half-ass way. One section of an episode deals with it and on to the next hot n' steamy hook-up.
H) I watch this show with a friend of mine who is currently studying film at Columbia in Chicago. We laugh about all the choppy cuts, the dark lighting to invoke drama (because the acting sure as hell can't do it alone), and the awful angles they take (probably trying to work with the not-so-made-for-screen actors). My favorite episode to laugh about as of recently was basically an entirely too long and pointless flashback. The "eighties" were shown with this weird and stupid filter - but in every shot they had to fit in some weird, stupid, pop-culture element - it was full of fanny packs and rubik cubes (in bad lighting).

Okay, okay, I love Gossip Girl. I can't miss an episode because it is so entertainingly bad. I think I love to be critical and it's the perfect excuse! Who knows what I would do without Gossip Girl in my life? But really, don't get me wrong... I think there is something severely wrong with you if you follow Gossip Girl closely and take it seriously. It's probably one of the most contrived and most made up things on television.


Alright, it's 7:30 and now I must get ready for work. I gatta take off the party clothes I fell asleep in last night and throw on an ugly, light green t-shirt with children running across it. I wish I had a fashionable job... More posts coming later. This is a busy summer, I don't think I'll be able to update on everything but I'll try to keep up on some of the most exciting occurrences.