Ten things I miss about Gossip Girl – Open Letter

Dear Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage,

I’ve been a loyal Gossip Girl fan ever since the show first aired in 2007. And I’m pretty sure I’ll never stop watching (although I’m not sure how many more seasons the show has in it). But I’ve been thinking lately: I miss how the show used to be. I think that viewers would agree, although it’s been hard to put my finger on what exactly it’s been missing. Here I’ll try to sum it up.

Ten things I miss about Gossip Girl:

1. The Met steps. This was a quintessential element of every episode while the girls were still at Constance. Not just the physical act, but what it meant. When I think of the show, pretty much the first thing that comes to my mind is Blair sitting higher than everyone else, making someone get her a yogurt.
2. School, in general. (And no, college doesn’t count. Blair’s reign isn’t quite as effective at NYU or Columbia.) Gossip Girl is, at least in part, about mean girls in high school. Not working for a politician, drinking coffee in a Village cafe, or interning at W. It’s about the Queen Bee and her minions. And it’s about everyone walking in the hallways while Gossip Girl texts a blast, and groups looking around to witness someone being humiliated. (Wow, this paragraph makes me sound like a horrible person who likes bullying. Not so, I assure you! It’s just what made GG so true-to-life, aside from the parts that are so obviously unrealistic.)
3. Little J as a young, fresh-faced, uniformed underling who, despite being “from Brooklyn” and therefore uncool, was still a nice girl. Who we rooted for. Hey, I’ll even take the Little J who designed clothes and was pretty good at it (pre-crashed-gala-turned fashion show). I liked it better when she’d just have her own little space in her room and make stuff for people to wear. She was like a Project Runway fairy godmother. It was when she started getting all mouthy and goth (and then started cutting school, backstabbing Eric, lying to Rufus, and trying to steal Nate from Serena) that I really started to dislike her. And then she went away, which was convenient, but … it feels like there’s something missing.
4. Lonely Boy when he was actually lonely. And when Blair hated him, and he hated her. Not that sharing a pizza in Brooklyn isn’t cute, but it’s just not what Gossip Girl was based upon.
5. Nate when he was actually sort of hot, and didn’t look, as my friend Murray says, “like a Keebler Elf or a motel painting of a little kid with glassy eyes.”
6. Remember those posters that used to advertise GG by showing a racy photo and adding provocative review quotes (such as “Every Parent’s Nightmare” – Boston Herald)? Well, it’s sort of lost a bit of the “oversexed teenager” slant. I suppose the characters still do in fact undermine and defy their parents, but it’s more in the method of, oh, I don’t know … defending a criminal, trying to save a sinking business, or telling your mom you don’t want to work for her. I don’t really feel that any parents who might watch GG these days would gasp in horror at the amount of sex these people are having. If anything, they might shake their heads and say, “My word. With all these parties, how do these people ever study?”
7. Vanessa when she actually had morals, friends, and was somewhat of a likeable character. I have to admit that I cringe every time she comes on screen now.
8. Serena when she was a mysterious sex symbol. Now she is just kind of trashy without being super-hot (guys, disagree if you like, but I think she used to be better looking). Also, part of the allure of Serena Van Der Woodsen is her elusiveness, and she’s becoming extremely easy to figure out. I suppose her character sort of jumped the shark in season one, because nothing could beat her return after being “sent away,” and all that unfolded — and all that was revealed — as a result. Not even the recent “drugged by Juliet” scandal really did her character any justice. As usual she is fickle when it comes to dating guys, but for some reason it is just getting really tedious this season.
9. Rufus when he used to not only live in the Brooklyn loft, but used to “seem” like a Brooklyn guy. Now he’s wearing man-jeggings and living in an apartment with Prada pop-art on the walls. Not cool, man.
10. Is it just me, or is the voice of Gossip Girl (the almighty Kristen Bell) getting weirder and cheesier to listen to with every episode? Her blasts and narrations used to be cutting, clever, or just plain cruel. Now they’re plays on Rolling Stones lyrics or double-entendres about keeping warm in the cold.  Blah.

Viewers, what do you miss about the show? Or do you like it as it is now?

Anyway, as I said before, I’ll keep watching … but it felt good to reminisce.

XOXO,

Rachel

Clacked by Rachel Blum-Jose
on Mar 04, 2011 @ 15:15 EST5EDT