we have a thread about twilight, so let's have a thread about gossip girl! what do you think of this series? i first saw the books three years ago. hated them because i knew they were trashy. hated them more because their trashiness was exactly what would made them popular. i read the first three chapters and felt nauseated. recently, i decided to skim through the first book in case i've changed my mind (after all, if it was so popular there must be something good about it, right?). i haven't. now that there's the tv series, almost everyone has heard of it. one of the main things that worries me is how the characters' behavior are going to affect the younger generation. i must say i agree with america ferrera about this kind of shows (and therefore books of similar nature). as you can see, i'm trying to have a let's-bash-gossip-girl thread rather than an objective discussion about the book. anyone who openly disagrees with me should be very wary about sleeping with their windows open. yay!
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I've watched the show... Not for me, and It was on the same timeslot as dexter (In my country) so I watched one time they ran a rerun. It was meh.
I disagree with America Ferrera's view that books like Gossip Girl condition girls to be mean. Mean girls are mean to begin with, by my experience. But, I always say that writers should take more responsibility for the ideas they put out there-- not that we should censor reality in fiction, that's just hiding our heads in the sand. But, I think stories should illuminate, not just sell. Unfortunately, it looks like the books that sell best are the ones that glamorize the worst cultural habits.
1). The GG TV show should be renamed "The Amazing Adventures of Chuck Bass." 2). The books are unmitigated crap. 3). That being said, Gossip Girl threads on ONTD are fairly amusing. 4). Blaming TV shows that have fully embraced over the top camp for petty, catty behavior is counterproductive. 5). The Twilight series is much more offensive to women anyway. (Disclaimer: I read the Twilight thread, and no, I am not going to argue with you. I read the books from a strongly feminist perspective, and you aren't going to convince me to change my mind. Fo' reals.)
hmm... i need to reread what america ferrera said exactly. however, i maintain that tv shows (as well as books, commercials, etc.) do influence the behavior of kiddies today. you'd be surprised at how much kids idolize the characters they see on a regular basis and imitate their behavior. and by kids, i mean people under the age of 18. sometimes older. not sure how to respond to the last post point #5... watup with what?
I agree with #5--mean girls are already mean. They don't need Gossip Girls to learn how to be narcissistic, impatient, selfish jerks.
Depends on the kid. After the kerfuffle with Vanessa Hudgens, for example, my friend's niece (she's six) said, "She did a bad thing! So I like Sharpay now." Later I said that was better than copying Hudgens, which is what most people would expect of the young and impressionable, but my friend told her anyway: "Umm... how about let's get you get off the Internet, and read more? Reading, yay!" I meant that if showing a dynamic like Gossip Girl puts up a harmful image of female relations, that doesn't mean we should fluff it up and only write about people with very very good friends. If that's the setting, no matter how realistic, I think writers have the responsibility to illuminate it-- why are they like that, and/or why is it bad, and/or how can people stop it? Not only, "what will be exciting enough to make people want to buy this." Because excitement alone (ooh, scandal! ooh, emotionally abusive vampire boyfriends!) I agree, it feeds bad behavior in society.
All I Want Is Everything, Gossip Girl novel, written by Cecily von Ziegaeser is a book full of action and drama. I read this book a few weeks ago and I have read it along with all the others in the series. This book is number 3 in the series. So I suggest that you read the two others before starting this one because it might not make sense. In this book, Blair and her new best friend Serena go to St. Bart's for the Christmas vacation with Blair's family. Blair recently broke up with her boyfriend Nate and is meeting all new kinds of guys, but at the same time, she really misses her ex-boyfriend. Also Blair, the main character in this book, is trying to get into Yale. If you are a teenage girl, who loves realistic fiction books, you will love this series! Enjoy your reading!
