The Cotton Candy of Teen Writing:A Critical Look at the "Gossip Girl" Books
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It’s understandable how the “Gossip Girl” books have taken off. They have cute covers; each is lavished with pastel colors and supermodel- looking girls stepping out of limos or tanning in bikinis. The covers also feature catchy titles such as “All I Want is Everything”, “I Like it Like That.”
But what is this series actually about and why has it spent months on the New York Times best seller list?
For those of you who have never actually picked up one of these books, here’s a quick plot summary of the first one. It follows a few days in the lives of a clique that consists of rich, preppy, Manhattanites. Everyone’s abuzz because Serena van der Woodsen has returned from boarding school. Her best friend Blair is less than happy to see her because she was the most popular girl when Serena was away and there’s some boy trouble with a guy named Nate.
If you haven’t figured it out yet, there isn’t a lot of depth to these novels. It wouldn’t be entirely untrue to say that the “Gossip Girl” series is the cotton candy of literature: cute, fluffy, sugary, and in essence made entirely of nothing. Well… air, if you want to get technical
The books have been deemed excellent vacation books by review Web sites. I completely agree with this assessment. These books are shallow and petty and thus perfect for reading on the beach during the summer or in the car. They are essentially just about pretty people with pretty clothes acting pretty bitchy to one another. It’s drama…lots and lots of drama that doesn’t amount to much when the book is over.
However, I don’t believe that certain readers treat them as the superficial, easy reading for which they were intended.
The argument used in defense of “Gossip Girl” is, “We know it’s fake!” All the Darien parents I’ve met who have bought these books in bulk for their kids at Barrett Bookstore have said, “It’s just a joke…they know it’s not real. And hey, as long as she’s reading right?” Um…wrong. All you have to do is look at the 156 five-star reviews on Amazon.com to see that people do not think these are fake. Here are some examples taken from reviews at Amazon.com… “ (The book) brings you into the lives of some of New York City's wealthiest families” “These who live in Upper East Side all act snotty to each other and go around spreading nasty little rumors.” “All of the glamour and scandal that you find in the high class society.”
Some people are looking at these books and saying, “That must be what it’s like.” Or “I want to be like that.” In our community, however, I have to wonder if some people look at them and say, “I am like that…” or “I could be that.” It’s entirely plausible that in our area, people our age could (and do) have oversized Coach bags, the newest Palm Pilot, Gucci sunglasses, and six pairs of Juicy sweatpants. It’s possible to say that in Fairfield County, some people measure success by how many cars you have or how expensive your jeans are.
It’s true this stereotype applies to other towns and communities, but it’s impossible to deny that we live in the one of the richest areas in the country: New York and Connecticut dominate Wikipedia’s list of highest income states.
This is the area that the “Gossip Girl” books take place. This is the place where many Gossip Girl readers of the country think these “realistic” characters live. “Gossip Girl” makes it seem like backstabbing, martini sipping, Prada wearing, Botox injected, blonde bimbos who spend their daddy’s money all day are “really how the other half lives.”
It is so unfortunate that people want to be like that. It’s sad that people are jealous of these characters’ lives and really wish that they could be them or know them. It’s disappointing that a book that has no morals or redeeming qualities is so popular that bookstores can’t keep them on the shelves. It’s especially regrettable that the books are so popular in our community when they impose embarrassing stereotypes.
A girl at Darien High School who preferred to remain anonymous said, “I like the characters because they live life to the fullest…they don’t think about tomorrow or consequences.” Is that really a good thing? Is it right to commend a person for getting wasted and getting high because they don’t worry about what other people think? It’s disturbing to think that to some of the teenage population, living life to the fullest means losing friends, stabbing friends in the back, buying as much as you can, having sex in dressing rooms, and partying all the time.
I’m not trying to say that these books are successfully corrupting the youth of America. All I’m saying is that all that cotton candy will eventually leave you hungry for something more substantial.
