The Slut on Gossip Girl
Gossip Girl, like all wildly unrealistic prime-time soaps for teens, makes for a fat punching bag. Here's my personal grievance with the show: again... and again... and again... and again... viewers are reminded of what a big slut the lead character Serena is.
The plot line, for those who haven't been watching the show: Blair and Serena used to be best friends. Then Serena slept with Blair's boyfriend, Nate -- and Nate's best friend, Chuck, watched. When Nate confesses to Blair about the cheating, it splits Blair and Serena apart -- but Blair keeps with Nate and Chuck's knowledge of, and complicit secrecy in, the cheating is never brought to light. Nate the cheater is still a dreamboat, who has not been punished not one iota for cheating on Blair. And what happens to Serena?
In the first episode, when, after being caught by her while pretty much date-raping a freshman girl, Chuck screams at Serena, "Slut!"
In the second episode, Serena asks Blair, "How do I make this up to you?" and Blair icily replies, "You don't." Later on in that episode, Chuck tricks Serena and Nate into be discovered by Blair in a hotel room and Serena's confronted by all these kids in a creepy attack squad, where Chuck calls Serena (and Dan's little sister -- though that's an entirely different sub-plot) a slut again. Serena's punished by losing Dan. Blair and Nate? They spoon in bed together, cooing about forgiveness.
In the third episode, which is the latest one, the kids attend a seminar on applying to the Ivy League colleges of their choosing. Blair makes moon-y eyes at her boyfriend, Nate, the whole time but snaps at Serena afterwards, "Brown doesn't offer degrees in 'slut.'"
This show is a textbook case in the sexual double standard: tearing down women for their sexual indiscretions while the indiscretions of males are laughed off, ignored or cheered. One could argue that the plot hinges on this tension: the antagonists who call Serena the nastiest of names are the inwardly ugly ones who viewers are supposed to hate, while we feel sympathy for this girl. Fair enough. But call her a traitor. Call her a backstabber. A betrayer. Even call her a bitch. I'm channeling Tina Fey in Mean Girls when I point out that when it's okay for sexy, rich, enviable teenagers (on a popular show that's on the cover of tons of magazines and TRL and all over Gawker.com) to say it, it's okay for real-life 16-year-old girls and boys to say it. And to that end, is it not okay for Don Imus on the radio to say it, or Isiah Thomas to say it in the Madison Square Garden office, why is it great TV when actresses say it to each other?
I've read most of the books in the Gossip Girl series, so I know I'm about a decade older than a lot of the fans -- which is to say, a lot of them are still in the 9th grade and are going through (or will be going through soon) their first relationship drama. Here's hoping the show's making some kind of deep statement about the double standard that high schoolers are picking up on and it's just going over my literal-minded head. Does society really need another generation inculcated by this crap?
Maybe it's my fault for expecting too much out of a teen soap on the CW channel. Maybe in an upcoming episode, Serena will say to something more evolved to Blair, like, "Hey, I can understand why you're so mad at me. I betrayed our friendship -- but why are you still dating a jerk who cheated on you? That's stupid." Until then, I'm going to find it hard to enjoy this guilty pleasure every week. And somehow lowering one's expectations never seems like the solution to any problem.
Loading comments…
Want to reply to a comment? Hint: Click "Reply" at the bottom of the comment; after being approved your comment will appear directly underneath the comment you replied to
My teenage neice who lives with me now (along with her sister) watches the show and she's 17 and doesn't get the bit about Nate either.
She doesn't like the character and thinks Blair's refusal to see what Nate really is, which is a rapist and total boy slut, is perpetrating the myth that girls who sleep with more than one man in any given year is a total "Slut" while the buyslut is just "experienced" and to be admired.
She doesn't get that bit at all and says it's unrealistic, but she still watches, but think's it's backwards writing from another time period. Real girls today would have kicked Nate to the curb a long time ago.
See Rachel Sklar's Profile
Much as I am enjoying the series, there's no way I can suspend disbelief - or feminism - to the point of not agreeing with you totally. The test of this show will be if it can maintain it's deliciously, outlandishly dishy feel while swinging the characters - who at this point are still established stereotypes - around to real change, conflict and humanity. Ha, I just said that about "Gossip Girl." And I totally got my degree from Brown!
Oh for heaven's sake. Let's see. Mostly very wealthy kids, all really good looking. The two main characters are girls: Brenda and Kelly? No, whatever the names are. And there is the not-rich-b
This is 90210, Upper East side version. It worked once.
And the kids all learn lessons. They learn not to get drunk because you might end up having sex with your best friend's boyfriend. And watch out what you drink at a party, because some guy might slip some drug into your drink and try to rape you. (Nice-but-poor boy's nice-but-poor sister).
And for heaven's sake, if some guy you vaguely know innocently and with wide eyes tells you that he gets together with some friends to play poker once in awhile, and the friends live out in Brooklyn or Queens and have names like Rasputin, don't say "Oh yeah, that sounds like fun, let me get my checkbook and I'll go with you."
It's a nighttime soap opera for teens. Why all the fuss? If you don't want your kids to watch it, turn off the TV.
coulde'nt get past the 1st 3 sentances of the blog (no disrestect to you jessica), no wonder why i never watched this show......
It seems perfectly stupid when analyzed by your cerebral cortex.
What they're selling is an S&M-influenced lifestyle of hair-pulling, face-slapping, cheating, calling each other slut and bitch.
this series was born from a book series ADORED by pre-teen girls.
I watched the first episode with my 13 y/o daughter and there is no way I would let her watch that again.
EVERY single scene included alcohol and/or sex.
Teens in bars guzzling martinis
Teens in limo pouring champagne
Teen sulking in corner sipping beer
My daughter actually asked me if teens in NY are allowed to drink.
It's like underage Sex-in-the-City.
The show has been advertised all over MySpace and every teen website.
BOOOOOO, CW!!!!
I have a problem with someone who expects anything on the CW with the title Gossip Girl to be anything other than a piece of trashy fluff.
Why yes, you are expecting too much from a TV genre predicated on the idea of wealthy high school kids partying and fornicating in an environment free of both consequences and parental oversight. These shows require such manufactured drama to fill the hour because they're set in environments so pleasant and incident-free that people have to go looking for trouble just to have something to do.
The interesting question is why this series of tropes continues to appear in teen shows (and "grown up" shows for that matter)? You'd think if treating certain characters like slutty fools was unpopular, people wouldnt watch, and, err, it wouldnt happen as often.
It's a subset of the perennial: if TV and movies are so crap, why do they continue exist? Which then leads to: since they are, in fact, so crap, what on earth can we do to change them? (Exhortations not to watch dont seem to go very far, do they?)
I never thought I would be able to read passed the first like of a column with words "slut" and "gossip" in the title. But believe it or not, you actually got me interested in the story! it brings back memories..
I have never seen this show, but this sounds like exactly the kind of pandering crap that I have always hated on television. (My Super Sweet 16 is another perfect example.) It treats women as objects of derision, admired for their sex appeal and scorned for everything else about them, as if that were a fair tradeoff.
On the other hand, if Serena's looking to pick up the pieces, I'm here for you, baby. I don't believe in labels. I just believe in love.
I felt the same way about the use of the word "skeezeball" in the short-lived "Encyclopedia Brown" animated series.
Having high expectations over a teen soap called Gossip Girls is like expecting culinary sophistication at Long John Silvers.
Sounds like lazy screenwriting to me.
You must be logged in to comment. Log in or connect with
