finally, challenge question #2--gossip girl
While I enjoyed Rats Saw God, I think trying to “justify” or maybe analyze Gossip Girl is more interesting.
As a “black comedy” or satire of have-it-all, upper class teens, the book excels wonderfully. When Janet Malcolm mentions Von Ziegesar’s “program of provocation” in writing about her subjects, she sums up my experience (and I’m sure many parents’) admirably. While at first I thought of the book (and all its imitators) as trash fiction (and I still do), there’s something enjoyable about gazing in at the admittedly shallow lives of the main characters. As she writes each excess, from fashion, to food, to heavy drinking (I think Blair’s liquor intake would give James Bond a run for his money), and so forth, it seems almost every scene is staged to get a rise out of the reader. Every so often I would read a section, shake my head in amazement at the almost Bacchanalian lives of the characters, then chuckle at their inevitable self-destruction. Of course, they never really crash and burn like they should (where would the series go, then?) but fail they do, nonetheless.
Not to say there aren’t any compassionate moments in Gossip Girl. They do exist, perhaps only to provide a break in the self-absorbed debauchery. I did feel bad for Blair’s bulimia. Jenny’s blindness at the “Save the Falcons” benefit frightened me; thankfully she was rescued before Chuck could have his way with her. And I must disagree with Malcolm’s assertion that Serena is “somewhat boring.” On the contrary, I found her to be a slightly refreshing character, indicating that there is some hope of redemption for those teens. Her time in the boarding school, away from her backstabbing, overindulgent environment, appears to have given Serena a fresh view on things.
Oddly enough, I also viewed the book through the lens of Amy Pattee’s article. Not the “sexually explicit” part of her article’s title, but the “YA lit as information source” part. Having no knowledge of fashion, and but the barest of the environment of which Von Ziegesar writes, I found Gossip Girl to be actually informative. Many times it was like reading a documentary on this lifestyle of wanton excess, with place names I’ve only heard of, and designer names that thankfully bring up no visual reference whatsoever. I wonder if the television version could actually afford to display the brand names so casually mentioned by the author.
As a “black comedy” or satire of have-it-all, upper class teens, the book excels wonderfully. When Janet Malcolm mentions Von Ziegesar’s “program of provocation” in writing about her subjects, she sums up my experience (and I’m sure many parents’) admirably. While at first I thought of the book (and all its imitators) as trash fiction (and I still do), there’s something enjoyable about gazing in at the admittedly shallow lives of the main characters. As she writes each excess, from fashion, to food, to heavy drinking (I think Blair’s liquor intake would give James Bond a run for his money), and so forth, it seems almost every scene is staged to get a rise out of the reader. Every so often I would read a section, shake my head in amazement at the almost Bacchanalian lives of the characters, then chuckle at their inevitable self-destruction. Of course, they never really crash and burn like they should (where would the series go, then?) but fail they do, nonetheless.
Not to say there aren’t any compassionate moments in Gossip Girl. They do exist, perhaps only to provide a break in the self-absorbed debauchery. I did feel bad for Blair’s bulimia. Jenny’s blindness at the “Save the Falcons” benefit frightened me; thankfully she was rescued before Chuck could have his way with her. And I must disagree with Malcolm’s assertion that Serena is “somewhat boring.” On the contrary, I found her to be a slightly refreshing character, indicating that there is some hope of redemption for those teens. Her time in the boarding school, away from her backstabbing, overindulgent environment, appears to have given Serena a fresh view on things.
Oddly enough, I also viewed the book through the lens of Amy Pattee’s article. Not the “sexually explicit” part of her article’s title, but the “YA lit as information source” part. Having no knowledge of fashion, and but the barest of the environment of which Von Ziegesar writes, I found Gossip Girl to be actually informative. Many times it was like reading a documentary on this lifestyle of wanton excess, with place names I’ve only heard of, and designer names that thankfully bring up no visual reference whatsoever. I wonder if the television version could actually afford to display the brand names so casually mentioned by the author.