TV Review: Gossip Girl

By Sierra Filucci

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What Parents Should Know
Parents need to know that this over-the-top teen soap is based on the best-selling book series. The young, privileged, label-obsessed characters drink, do drugs, have sex (including a threesome in one case), and treat each other badly. While some characters mean well, many are superficial and emotionally cruel or distant, and some are downright criminal (one feels so entitled by his social and financial position that he preys on vulnerable women and tries to sexually assault them). Characters play dirty tricks on each other and otherwise try to undermine, backstab, and hurt those who are supposed to be their friends. Suicide, eating disorders, rape, infidelity, and losing your virginity, and more are all part of the story, but they're not addressed in constructive or realistic ways.

Families can talk about the behavior portrayed in teen soaps like this. Parents, watch with your teens, and ask them if their friends are doing what these kids are. Talk about safe sex and the consequences of drinking and hurting other people. Your conversations could lead to real revelations about your kids' lives or expectations. Try to put your two cents in about what's realistic and what isn't. Ask your kids how the issues and conflicts on the show are similar to and different from those in real teens' lives. Who are the "good" characters, and what makes them different from the "bad" ones?

GOSSIP GIRL, based on Cecily-von-Ziegesar's best-selling book series of the same name, follows the exploits of privileged teens from Manhattan's wealthy Upper East Side as they hook up, party, and play out adult-sized dramas. At the heart of the action are best friends Serena van der Woodsen (Blake Lively) and Blair Waldorf (Leighton Meester). These two beautiful, rich girls rule the social scene at their elite private school, but their friendship becomes strained -- and sometimes vicious -- when they tussle over the same guy. Serena and Blair's schoolmates include Dan (Penn Badgley) and Jenny Humphrey (Taylor Momsen), siblings with a more middle-class background whose father was a popular rock star in the '90s. But the sweet, charming, and well-behaved Humphrey kids are attracted to the rich kids' chic lifestyle, and, through their association with them, get tangled up in some not-so-nice business. The series is narrated by the titular Gossip Girl, an anonymous blogger who keeps track of all the popular kids' actions (secrets travel fast when everyone gets them via text message...).

Because some of the creators of The O.C. are behind the show, it's no surprise that the addictive adolescent drama is chock full of bad behavior. These sophisticated, label-savvy teens have no problem getting served martinis at fancy hotels or smoking marijuana during walks in the park. Their parents are rarely good influences, either, since many are focused on their own problems. The mothers seem particularly jealous of their young daughters: One even tells her teen that she'll never be as beautiful or as thin as she is now, so she should make the most of this time.

It's all very titillating and addictive, but teens who watch (and they will) will surely get confusing ideas from the show. One particularly disturbing scene intercuts a wild makeout/sex scene with a sexual assault. How the two are connected, other than that the same girl was involved in both, is unclear, but some young viewers might get the message that all sex is bad -- or that the girl deserves the assault because she's been sexually active in the past, or even that the acts are nearly indistinguishable in that they're both vigorous and intense. Other scenes show teens spending money like crazy, drinking, smoking, and doing drugs in limos or in clubs, and generally having a great time with few repercussions. In other words, if you have teens, proceed with extreme caution.