ONTD original - reboot remix or: finessing & fixes for Gossip Girl 2021
After months and months of leaked set photos, wild mass guessing & a teaser trailer the 2021 iteration of Gossip Girl landed onto screens last week, making a splash and becoming an instant ratings hit. There's a lot to take in and potentially happen this first season so on the eve of episode 2 here's 5 issues I both have with it and hope are somehow addressed (Umm, as a side note - general spoilers for all of the OG GG and through the first episode of the 2021 version & minor rumors/details to come so no whining about being spoiled OKAY?!):
They are GROWN creating a blog about teenagers #GossipGirl pic.twitter.com/rHWJMykhcZ
- jolt de haan (@Meltborne) July 8, 2021
Issue 1: The subpar savior complex or - Why are these damn teachers Gossip Girl
When it comes to adult characters on teen shows (with some exceptions obvi) they tend to fall into the categories of 'useless', 'oblivious' 'pathetic' or 'predatory' so there's something to be said about these teachers falling into all of them simultaneously during the pilot. From Spending extended time picking out 'an outfit [you] thought they'd approve of', to spending their limited free time streaming a show their students are in they need to get lives.
There's understandable frustration in that they should be able to teach and give out fair grades without it costing them their jobs but any sympathy I could have for them is washed away by actively creating a web entity to terrorize the very students they claim they want to save. I'm not opposed to us both knowing who GG is and to an 'outsider' being so but there's a stark difference between a creepy teenage boy doing so because he feels left out and a group of fully grown, college educated adults deciding to cyberstalk and bully their charges. And god help me if I ever care so much about what literal children are up to. Speaking of -
tavi gevinson when the gossip girl casting directors made her play a teacher even though she’s younger than half the cast pic.twitter.com/BROCjPNBIw
- eleanor (@softcatplushie) July 8, 2021
Issue 2: 'What's my age again?' or the lack of space between teens and adults
If there's one thing GG definitely had going for it in a positive way it's that all the grown characters were old enough to both be parents and to have their own messy inner lives and storylines. Why they cast actors to be teens that are closer in age to the teachers and vice versa is indeed odd - Julien's, Max's AND Luna's actors are all older than her IRL - but then again so is the choice to make this High School again.
Perhaps it's arguable that something like a Gossip Girl would be more effective in this age group - as college kids would be too busy or tired to care about some random instagram doxxer - but I'd argue making everyone college age raises the stakes as that's when characters like these are more firmly trying to grasp the transition into adulthood in a way that will set them up for their coming future. A high schooler being brought down a peg can easily start over in the next semester or school year but a college kid? Not so easy. Plus, making these teachers TAs and everyone over 18 adults would allow more interplay for them to be immature with and against each other.
#gossipgirl
what THE FUCK is a teacher doing taking pics of their students, MINORS getting undressed for pic.twitter.com/EMteGTlzg6
- j ४ has reindeer games (@joeytruongg) July 8, 2021
Issue 3: 'Ugh Jesus, Gross' or the adult sexualization of minors
For the record, I'm aware that teenagers and sexuality in general go hand in hand with 'coming of age' dramedies and I'm not opposed to these things playing out on an HBO show in general but the way these things are shown in general for hollywood is very offputting to me. On Riverdale - which, we could have a whole SEPARATE post on - 19 year old KJ Apa played an initially 14 year old who was assaulted by his teacher and frequently either shirtless or in just underwear, Pretty Little Liars featured a main character who not only continued seeing an adult teacher after knowing their age difference but went on to marry him and in the pilot for GG 2021 we had a grown man standing IN THE RAIN to take a picture of a 14 YEAR OLD in her bra to turn over to his colleague to publish on the internet. Again, JAIL IMMEDIATELY for all of them.
I can't speak as to why this has always been so popular as a trope (perhaps it fully crystalized with 'the Graduate' IDK) but it's always been wrong and hot off the heels of a show like 'Cruel Summer' properly contextualizing how disgusting it is the rumors of Max having a 'fling he pursues' with his adult teacher is very awkward and something I both hope doesn't happen but am sure will for whatever reason. This is, again, not something original to even the GG franchise - IIRC Dan had a similar 'fling' with a teacher during the original series - but I still wanted to note it all the same.
Kate Keller is the MA of the Gossip Girl universe and I have been waiting almost a calendar year to say this! pic.twitter.com/U51Inlb3qe
- Muffin Hemingway (@MatthewKBegbie) July 8, 2021
Issue 4: 'And I was like, why are you so obsessed with me?' or, the curious case of Kate Keller
Between following Julien on instagram, curating looks straight from Serena Van Der Woodsen's closet to appease her students, taking it TOO PERSONALLY when they make a quip at her zara blazer & being the ring leader of the teachers there's something a bit OFF about Kate Keller. Unlike these other problems I believe this one is intentional so now it's about spotting exactly why all of this means so much to her. She both intrigues me AND most makes me want these teachers to be thrown under the jail. I haven't seen any spoilers but I'm eying her to potentially be some sort of former socialite - or would be socialite wannabe in the past - brought down to earth by different rich kids; perhaps, even, that she's connected to these ones in a way we don't know? Who can never be sure girl but let's find it out and get her gone ASAP honey because she's not as smart or clever as she thinks she is. CASE IN POINT:
When Monet uses the rivalry between Zoya and Julien to become the new supreme >>>> #GossipGirl pic.twitter.com/UxqKlVJYBa
- Zo Anders 💫 (@MelanatedHeaux) July 8, 2021
Issue 5: 'The (wrong) girls are FIGHTING!!' or - the importance of rivalry balance
Siblings fighting in media is a tale as old as time, especially over a love interest so on paper sure this works but the teachers themselves namechecked Serena and Blair being epic rivals and Julien & Zoya? NOT GIVING!! Personal connection aside what made Serena vs. Blair so potent was both that they were childhood friends and that they were equally matched as far as wealth, connections and upbringing. The teachers are positioning a 14 year old against her much more famous & moneyed older half sister is a mistake because they don't know Zoya and Julien's true relationship or if Zoya's even the kind of girl who would be willing to continue a fight she has no real stakes in. What would happen if she just up and left? (she obviously won't but for arguments sake and all) And how does this even speak to their original point of shaking up the teens anyway. Furthermore, of the popular girls clique Julien is the only one that was actually nice to Kate from the beginning - as it was Monet and Luna who were hard on her - but perhaps this is another thing speaking to Kate's awkwardness.
For better results, seeds of doubt should be placed directly against this show's actual Blair archetype in Monet - Beautiful, popular and wealthy enough that her family provided an entire wing of the school - which would force the friends to choose sides and hold actual stakes. But perhaps that's to come in the future, we'll see.
In any case, GG 2021 isn't an awful abomination completely but clearly needs WORK and I'll do my best to remember to check in both when the first half of the season ends in a few weeks and when the actual season finale happens this fall.
Until then, you know you love me XOXO - Sailor moon Pika
Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 & my thoughts & opinions