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Karina Ozuna

COM 490

Professor Vanderhoef

April 4, 2022

Media Analysis

In 2021, HBO Max premiered the first episode of their Gossip Girl reboot series. Many

were skeptical about the new show staying true to the original series, and it brought up some of

the most memorable, and problematic issues from the original Gossip Girl. The original show

premiered in 2007 and ran for six seasons, which ended in 2012. The show gave us characters

such as the iconic best friend duo, Blair Waldorf, and Serena Van der Woodsen, as well as the

infamous Chuck Bass and Dan Humphrey. The show also gave us memorable lines that marked

our youth, if you watched the show then you know what I am talking about it. Although the show

gave us some iconic moments, we cannot let those moments overshadow the problematic

moments, and there were quite a few issues that were never thoroughly discussed on the show.

This show used topics such as bullying, stalking, suicide, eating disorders, drug abuse, sexual

abuse, miscarriages, etc., to make the show more appealing and dramatic. The biggest problem

with this show is the way these topics were used, with the show centering around a group of

teens who come from well-off families, these problems were made to seem almost inconvenient.

The first problem with this show is the blatant undertones of stalking, I would be terrified

of Gossip Girl if she were real. Just think about a faceless person out there watching your every

move and then telling the world about it, how did they get away with everything that they did, all

the people who suffered at their words, and how come no one reported the website. According to
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an article written for Swansea University, people under 25 who have been victims of

cyberbullying are two times more likely to self-harm and have suicidal thoughts. In a random

sample study, the cyberbullying research center found that over 14 percent of students admitted

to cyberbullying others in their lifetimes. The adults on this show ignored the harm that the

Gossip Girl blog was doing to their children, they even went as far as to cover up for their

children. An important topic that was brought up in the first season was suicide. The series

begins when Serena Van Der Woodsen comes back from boarding school because her younger

brother Eric attempted suicide. The topic was never discussed after Eric was released from the

hospital; it was as if it had never happened. That was not the only time that the creators

mentioned issues that many viewers may have been fighting with.

In the first season, we also learn that Blair Waldorf suffers from an eating disorder that is

brought on because she is constantly trying to prove herself to her mother. Throughout the course

of the series, Blair suffers many obstacles, and you cannot help but begin to feel a little sorry for

her. Throughout the series, Blair is often overlooked by her mom, in one episode her mom asked

her to model for her fashion label, but her mother soon replaces her with Serena. Blair and

Serena’s friendship is complicated, they are both always fighting to be the better one. Blair is

often the one that had to be the bigger person in the friendship, even though Serena was the one

that was in the wrong. This happened a lot in their friendship, Serena never faced her

wrongdoings, she would blame others for her problems, and Blair always tried to be a good

friend. I am not trying to excuse her actions because she was not a great person, but she went

through her fair share of traumatic experiences. As we get to know her character, we begin to

understand why she did some of the things that she did.
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While most of the characters on the show were problematic, the two most problematic

characters are Chuck Bass and Serena Van Der Woodsen. The show begins when Serena returns

from boarding school, and quickly finds out that she left without saying goodbye to anyone

including her best friend. Later in the show, we find out that Serena was involved in drugs and

witnessed someone dying from an overdose. Serena left the man to die and ran away, she never

had to face the consequences of her actions, she did not have to face any legal action for her role

in his death. Throughout the course of the show Serena does some terrible things that affected

the lives of many of the characters, and not once did she acknowledge her mistakes, instead, she

would put the blame on others. At the start of the series, Chuck Bass is an arrogant teenager, he

thinks he is untouchable. The most problematic issue on this show involves Chuck Bass, and it

should not have been overlooked. The issue was the sexual assault of Jenny Humphrey, Chuck

isolated her and when Jenny said no, he tried to force himself on her. Dan, Jenny’s brother,

found them and managed to get Chuck away from Jenny before anything happened. Neither

Jenny nor Dan reported the incident, and it was never discussed again, until the episode when

Gossip Girl puts out a blast about it and Blair banishes her from New York.

We could go on and on about the problems with this show, and how the creators handled

those issues. The characters on this show faced many issues, such as, eating disorders, assault,

drug abuse, and so much more. While most of the characters were supposed to be teens, there

were a few adults who involved themselves in the issues that their children were facing, and

instead of helping them, they covered up for them, failing their kids as parents. This show is

about teenagers living in New York City’s high society, and how they navigate through life.

Gossip Girl glorified cyberbullying and it also pushed the narrative that money can get you

anywhere.
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Works Cited

Catrin Newman. Young Victims of Cyberbullying Twice as Likely to Attempt Suicide and ... 19
Apr. 2018, https://www-2018.swansea.ac.uk/press-office/news-
archive/2018/youngvictimsofcyberbullyingtwiceaslikelytoattemptsuicideandself-
harmstudyfinds.php.
“Enough Is Enough: Cyberbullying.” Enough Is Enough: Cyberbullying,
https://enough.org/stats_cyberbullying.
Paula, et al. “Our Latest Research on Cyberbullying among School Students.” Cyberbullying
Research Center, 21 Oct. 2015, http://cyberbullying.org/2015-data.