Gossip Girl may have caused the world to become entranced with the scandalous lives of Manhattan's
elite, but looking back at the iconic show... is it as juicy and entertaining as it was
when it first debuted? How has it aged in the modern era? Here are some things that
only adults notice about Gossip Girl.
One of the things that makes Dan Humphrey so different from the elite upper crust of
Manhattan's Upper East Side is that he's from — gasp! — Brooklyn. In the world of Gossip
Girl, this is a greater sin than wearing last season's Chanel. By Upper East Side standards,
hailing from the not-exactly-cheap neighborhood of Williamsburg makes you part of the unpopular
crowd.
We're meant to feel sorry for Dan, the perpetual outsider, but the fact that he's from Brooklyn
and goes to a school on the Upper East Side seems like a pretty contrived plot point that's
just meant to differentiate him from his snobbier classmates.
"I'm on a partial scholarship, my parents have no way of buying my way back into this
school, or any other."
First of all, Dan lives in a nice apartment in a nice neighborhood and is the son of a
rock star. He's not exactly impoverished. Second of all, commuting daily from Williamsburg
to the Upper East Side is pretty unreasonable. According to Google Maps, that trek would
take Dan nearly an hour by public transportation, assuming the trains are running on time. Surely
there are great schools in Brooklyn where Dan could also get a partial scholarship and
not be teased for his "humble" origins.
On the surface, Gossip Girl is all about the glitz and glamour, a glimpse into the lives
of the ultra privileged. But the more you watch the show, the more you realize that
the point of Gossip Girl is to show that even though the super rich live incomprehensibly
lavish lives, they're still people — no matter how much money they have.
A lot of serious topics are dealt with on Gossip Girl. Its characters struggle with
substance abuse, eating disorders, and even suicidal ideation. We see that even rich people
can be lonely and that even the extraordinarily wealthy struggle with very real problems.
Sure, they might be able to go on shopping sprees at high-end stores, but all the money
in the world can't help them escape their very human and surprisingly relatable lives.
The real magic of Gossip Girl is that, as charmed as the main characters' lives seem,
they really do feel the same emotions as everyone else.
Remember that really complicated storyline in which Vanessa's mysterious new boyfriend
turns out to be the secret love child of Rufus and Lily, who was put up for adoption and
thought to be dead? Yeah, we forgot about it, too. It wasn't really that hard to forget
actually because, after a dramatic buildup and an even more dramatic reveal, Dan and
Serena's half-brother, Scott, just... disappears.
"What, do you know him?"
"Yeah, that was--"
"Your love child. Yeah, not dead. Congratulations, it's a boy."
What exactly happened here? Not only does Scott vanish after he finds the family he
wanted to know so badly, but people just stop mentioning him. He doesn't even show up in
the series finale. Even if the actor who played Scott couldn't come back to the show, you'd
think that someone would mention him. Or maybe Dan and Serena wanted to forget about him
in light of their renewed romance. It's understandable that remembering you actually share a brother
with your significant other might kind of be a mood killer. You'd think that at least
Rufus and Lily would want to stay in touch, though.
Most of the Gossip Girl teens attend an elite private school. They each have to wear a school
uniform, but these aren't the shapeless kilts and button-up shirts that generations of private
school kids have been forced to wear.
"It's going to be so hot, the clothes are gorgeous."
Somehow the kids on Gossip Girl all seem to wear uniforms that look like they're tailor-made
for them. The girls, in particular, have a knack for making the uniforms look like they're
straight from a fashion magazine.
Skirts tend to be on the shorter side, and students frequently embellish the base uniform
with scarves, jackets, and other accessories. While the uniforms look great, we've got to
wonder how they're getting away with this level of originality. Schools with uniforms
tend to have some pretty limiting rules, and you'd expect the dress code to be more strictly
enforced.
"I'm going to the bar."
"What?"
"Bar!"
The legal drinking age doesn't seem to exist on Gossip Girl. High school-aged kids walk
in and order at bars without anyone batting an eye. Cases of champagne are delivered to
Serena outside of her school without anyone asking for identification. Teenagers who aren't
even old enough to drive get drunk at weddings with no repercussions.
What's even more perplexing is that it's established that some of these teens are pretty well known
around the city, which means that some of these bartenders are most definitely aware
that their clients are underage. Being filthy rich might be enough to keep Blair, Serena,
and the gang from getting in trouble for underage drinking, but it certainly won't keep a bar
from losing its liquor license. You'd think that at least some of the bars they go to
would card them or, more realistically, refuse to serve them.
The way the publishing industry works on Gossip Girl is just ridiculous. You can't just walk
into a publisher's office, hand them a manuscript, and expect it to be published within a few
months. That's something J.K. Rowling might possibly be able to get away with, but most
publishers aren't going to be clamoring to publish an anonymous, unedited novel written
by a teenager.
And yet, this is something that's possible in the world of Gossip Girl. Vanessa steals
Dan's work, hands it off to a publisher, and then informs Dan that he'll be receiving royalties.
Aside from the murky legal situation this would create, there's also the fact that Dan's
manuscript doesn't even go through an editor before it's ready to publish. Dan's novel
-- or the thinly veiled expose of his friends' lives -- somehow lands a publisher without
even a single round of edits.
Chuck may have reformed his evil ways by the end of Gossip Girl, but it doesn't explain
how everyone is okay with all the heinous stuff he did for so long. The guy sexually
assaults Jenny, forcefully comes on to Serena multiple times, and is generally a jerk to
everyone he meets.
"I can't look at you, Lily. You disgust me."
Yet his friends just laugh off most of his despicable behavior.
Chuck is a pretty unlikable guy for much of the series. We know that a lot of that stems
from his abandonment issues, but it doesn't justify his behavior. Even more concerning
is that we don't see Chuck actually seeking serious help for his behavior. His reformed
ways might be more convincing after years of therapy to deal with his underlying issues.
How else can we trust that he's had a genuine change of heart and isn't simply manipulating
everyone around him? He's proved that he's more than capable of kicking up the charm
in order to get his way.
As much as we love Gossip Girl, we've got to admit that some of the storylines seem
pretty forced. Take the relationship between Dan and Blair, for example. Blair already
knows that she and Chuck are end game, but even after all barriers to their being together
have been removed, Blair still gets together with Dan, giving Chuck some nonsense excuse
about timing.
"And I love you. I always will. But that doesn't mean I'm in love with you."
The Blair and Dan relationship provides for some of Gossip Girl's most cringe-inducing
moments. They have zero chemistry, their personalities are incompatible, and it just feels weird,
especially because Dan spends most of the series pining for Blair's BFF. None of it
makes sense, and the relationship was clearly just the result of writers desperately trying
to keep Chuck and Blair apart until the season finale.
For a couple seasons of Gossip Girl, getting into a good college is the top priority of
many characters. Dan and Blair want to go to Yale, Serena wants to go to Brown, and
Nate wants to go anywhere except where his dad wants him to go. Their college plans fuel
many storylines, like Blair and Serena's brawl at Yale, Dan's attempt to write the perfect
story, and Blair's manipulation to get into private events.
While not everyone gets into the college of their choice, most of the gang is accepted
into a good school. Except for Chuck Bass because, well, he's Chuck Bass and doesn't
care about college. After a season or two of them being responsible college students,
though, it seems like no one is going to class anymore. Plot-wise, this seems to have been
done to make way for more adult storylines, but it seems pretty out of character for some
of them to just stop attending. Did a single person on Gossip Girl actually graduate from
college?
If it weren't for the skyscrapers, traffic, and snide remarks about Brooklyn…
"How can you do this? Letting some girl from Brooklyn carry on our legacy?"
...it would be hard to tell that Gossip Girl takes place in New York City, one of the most
diverse cities in the country. Most of the main cast is white. Most of the people they
date are white. Most of their classmates are white, and most of their friends are white.
There are only a handful of recurring people of color on the show, and Vanessa is the only
non-white person of the main cast.
One of the few recurring non-white characters is Nelly Yuki, an Asian student who is basically
a walking stereotype. Academically driven, Nelly is Blair's biggest academic rival and
is portrayed as a nerd. She's hyper-focused on school and wears glasses. We never get
much of her backstory, and Nelly remains a one-dimensional trope throughout the show.
Not only is this lack of diversity problematic, but it's also simply not realistic. New York
City is incredibly diverse, and it seems strange that there aren't more non-white characters
on Gossip Girl.
"OMG. You are not going to believe who Gossip Girl is."
Sorry, but we just can't buy Dan as Gossip Girl. While the show's creators claimed that
they envisioned Dan to be Gossip Girl from the very beginning, there are plenty of scenes
that make it seem pretty clear he isn't. He reveals sensitive information about himself
and the people he cares about, and he also seems shocked by some of the things that Gossip
Girl reveals.
If Dan actually is Gossip Girl, then he might be an even worse person than Chuck. What kind
of person stalks their friends for years, publishes details about their underage sister's
love life, harasses pretty much everyone he's ever met, and then claims he did it in the
name of love?
"This whole time, I had more power than you."
"But what he did with that power was write a love letter, not just to me, but to all
of us."
Uh, no, Dan. That's not love. That's toxic and abusive behavior.
Even more shocking than the reveal that Dan is Gossip Girl is that people are upset for
about five minutes before moving on. Come on, everyone. Dan made your lives complicated
and messy for years. How are you just going to let him off the hook like that?
Let's be real: Dan and Serena are doomed. First of all, their relationship is completely
based on lies. Think of all the times Serena's actions were scrutinized because of Gossip
Girl, who turned out to be Dan. There's just too much history for Dan and Serena to possibly
live happily ever after together. Their relationship is problematic and toxic, and there's also
the fact that they used to be step-siblings who share a biological brother. Yikes.
It's only a matter of time before the couple get divorced. Dan is basically a desperate
stalker who's hung up on his high school girlfriend, and Serena can do so much better than him.
The fact that they even made it as far as five years together following the reveal that
Dan is Gossip Girl is shocking.
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