Are there really families who own brownstones in Manhattan? Do their kids really attend private schools and wear uniforms everyday? Is their idea of an afternoon outing to spend hundreds of dollars at Bloomingdales? You will receive answers to all of these questions and more if you watch Gossip Girl.
Cecily Von Ziegesar (the writer of the novels) and the producer and director of the TV show are curators of society. They depict the lives of the elite of Manhattan, revealing their secrets. Cecily von Ziegesar attended Nightingale Bamford, a private school for girls on the Upper East Side. Much of the novels are based on her experiences growing up in Manhattan.
Many Manhattan parents are intense when it comes to their children’s education and future. I remember distinctly, Nate and his father running in Central Park in one of the early episodes of the first season. As they are running, Nate’s father reminds Nate of his future – he will continue the family tradition of attending Dartmouth. Nate questions his father asserts that he has other plans for his own future. In later episodes of the season, Nate’s father is forced to flee the country after facing criminal charges related to drugs and other issues. Although their lives appear to be perfect, Gossip Girl clearly shows the viewer that “everyone has a story.”
When I was in high school, I decided to go to Bloomingdale’s one afternoon during my President’s break in February. Many of the private schools in Manhattan are in session during this week. While walking around Bloomingdale’s, I noticed a few girls wearing their school uniforms and concluded that they were shopping after a long day at school. Shopping after school was not part of the culture of the suburban neighborhood in which I grew up. Upon dismissal from my high school, most students had sports practice, remained in school for club meetings, or went home to do homework and study. It was from Gossip Girl that I was introduced to a group of kids who went shopping and walked around the city after school.
The lives of the teenagers on the TV show Gossip Girl are filled with lavish parties and backstabbing friends. On almost every episode, Blair, Serena, and other members of their posse are ready to use each other to their advantage. They fight over boys and are always jealous of one another. Regardless of what happens, their parents are ready to come to their rescue, so they have very few worries other than looking pretty and winning boys over. This lifestyle really does exist in Manhattan – although Gossip Girl might be a slight exaggeration – and the creators of the book and TV show expose this reality to the readers and viewers.
Personally, I would have no inclination to be friends with these types of people and to lead lives similar to those of the characters on the TV show; however, many teenagers aspire to live like Blair and Serena. They are able to walk into Bloomingdale’s and Barney’s and purchase anything on the rack with their own American Express cards, but they have no morals and values. They don’t view school as a place of learning, but rather a social arena. Blair is always scheming and using Chuck and Nate to get ahead in life. As crazy as this might seem, I actually get nervous watching the show, imagining all of the horrible things Blair might do over the course of the next hour.
On the TV show, many of the kids, including Dan and Serena, have parents who are divorced, which is very common nowadays. The TV show also represents the small nature of the world we live in. Dan’s dad, Rufus, and Serena’s mom, Lily, knew each other from their past and are reunited by chance, as are their kids.
Gossip Girl is definitely a reflection of a specific society and group of people. The attitudes and personalities of people living on the Upper East Side might change in the upcoming years; however, the current views on the teenagers currently living there will be archived by this TV show. For this reason, Cecily Von Ziegesar and the members of the CW TV network are most definitely preserving the culture of a group of people at a specific time.
