I, a college senior, watched Gossip Girl (2007-2012) for the first time
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Gossip Girl (2007-2012) continues to be a beloved drama by many over a decade after its finale.
A 21-year-old can expect to hit certain milestones in their senior year of college: a horizontal ID, a Bachelor’s diploma, and, if a fairy godmother waves her wand, a full-time job offer. With the fall semester still making headway, I can confidently say those last two goals are stored in the vault of my mind, seeking to be opened on a much later day. Instead, I have been dedicating the past three months to watching that one drama everyone watched as a tween: Gossip Girl (2007-2012).
Like other mid-aught teen dramas, such as Pretty Little Liars (2010-2017) and One Tree Hill (2003-2012), Gossip Girl (2007-2012) was another show I avoided in my adolescence. I knew that messy romances and conniving frenemies drove my middle school friends to the screen, but for reasons still unknown, I never followed suit. So, to finally conform to society and celebrate the fall season, I decided to watch the most autumnal drama I could think of.
Gossip Girl (2007-2012) follows the lives of privileged prep school students on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Most of the cast, except for Brooklyn-residing Dan Humphry, are socialites with generational wealth and questionable morals. In life, there is always an in-group and an out-group; if you enjoy being an outsider listening in on the drama and pettiness festering in the socially wealthy insiders, you will love this wild ride of a show.
I appreciate how little I relate to the characters in this setting. If their status and lavish lifestyle were not enough, their thievery, infidelity, and treachery helped me separate myself and watch these morally tragic characters destroy their stage. One could say it is frustrating —to watch characters make decisions you can not get behind or understand— but I say it makes for an excellent guilty pleasure.
Take the main character Blair Waldorf, a snobbish, scheming, self-proclaimed “princess” of the Upper East Side. Her actions against her classmates, friends, and even her mother are —more often than not— disgusting. Yet, there is excitement in witnessing Blair’s wrath against others; although shameful, her behavior showcased her confidence, ambition, and power as a woman in that world— character traits I admired despite her schemes’ wicked nature.
The morally gray nature of every character, not just Blair, makes for interesting dynamics and plot. Especially in the beginning, I would sit on the couch, not knowing who to root for when watching yet another fight between the most iconic frenemies in New York City: Serena and Blair.
There is something relaxing about simply sitting back and watching a car crash of relationships without having a stake on either side. Of course, the characters develop over the seasons, and the viewer can see more intimate, vulnerable traits that offer a realistic glimpse of their psyche. Even still, my thesis remains: watching bad people do bad things to other bad people can be fun.
With Thanksgiving right around the corner, there could not be a more perfect time to watch this show. Fashion, diamonds, gin martinis, and paparazzi may be iconic components of this drama, but nothing outshines the numerous specials revolving around Thanksgiving in New York. I may pray to a higher power never to encounter any of these main characters in the real world, yet still, I would be there in a heartbeat if offered to spend one Thanksgiving at the Vanderwoodsens, the home of another beloved main character, Serena Vanderwoodsen.
Gossip Girl (2007-2012) is a show I thoroughly enjoyed, even if I had to trudge through the last two seasons. If you are a sucker for luxurious apartments, parties on the Empire Hotel rooftop, and limo rides, you will get a kick from vicariously living through these characters. With all seasons of the show recently added to Netflix and the weeks of November passing by, there is no better time to start your journey into the Upper East Side.