A popular genre of novels is the novel written for teenagers. During the formative teenage years, those who choose to read may find adult books too overwhelming and irrelevant, while novels for teens have appropriate subject matter and are written in a style that is both accessible and entertaining. A series of novels that has caught on with today’s teenager is the Gossip Girl series written by Cecily von Ziegesar. Gossip Girl is also the pen name of the narrator of the novels, and she is one of a group of teenagers that live in the glamorous Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. Gossip is central to their interaction, but they also deal with problems typical to today’s teenager. The novels have been adapted into a television series that airs on CTV and the CW.
Author Cecily Von Ziegesar was born on June 27, 1970 to a wealthy family in Connecticut, but she attributes her “growing up” period to her experiences in the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Her parents’ marriage was falling apart when she was born, an experience that she draws from in Gossip Girl. She attended and graduated from the prestigious Nightingale-Bamford School, an all-girl private school in the Upper East Side of Manhattan. The private school that the girls attend in Gossip Girl is an exaggerated version of her high school, one that she had to commute to through Grand Central Station after waking up at 6:00 AM. When she graduated from Nightingale-Bamford, she attended Colby College and then spent a year in Budapest working on a local radio station. When she returned to the United States, she studied creative writing at the University of Arizona. Her inspiration for creating the Gossip Girl series of books came when she found a job with book-packaging firm Alloy Entertainment.
The Gossip Girl plotlines revolve many all of the things that teenage girls living in an expensive, prestigious part of New York City could concern themselves with. The first novel in the series focuses on Blair Waldorf, a pretty prep girl who is not averse to partying with her friends. During one party, she sneaks off with her boyfriend Nate, a romantic escapade that is cut short when Serena van der Woodsen, Blair’s old friend, arrives at the party. Serena always overshadowed Blair, so when she left to boarding school for a year, Blair was relieved to finally have some of the spotlight. Needless to say, her arrival is a problem for Blair, and Serena is not quite happy to hear about Nate and Blair’s relationship. Serena is also displeased by the fact that all of her friends seem to be ignoring her, something which the reader knows Blair is partially responsible for. An overarching theme throughout the novel is the blog site Gossip Girl which is used to spread rumors and gossip and obviously the source of the novel’s name. There are twelve entries in the Gossip Girl series of novels, and there are no more installments slated to be released since the story is continued in spin-offs. Throughout the series, Blair, Nate, and Serena create something of a love triangle, their interactions at times friendly and at times venomous.
The Gossip Girl television series evolved from a possible movie adaption of the books that would star Lindsey Lohan as Blair Waldorf, but the plans were scrapped. The first attempt to make the Gossip Girl television series was again scrapped when it was slated to appear on FOX. Finally, the concept stuck when The CW reconsidered Gossip Girl for adaptation into a television series. On May 15, 2007, the series was given a thirteen-episode order by the network. The show is entirely filmed in New York City, mostly in and around the borough of Queens, Brooklyn, and Manhattan. Described as a character in the story, New York City is featured as much as possible even though the interior scenes are filmed in a studio in Queens. The show was originally scheduled to air on September 26, 2007 but was moved a week earlier in order to accommodate the Television Critics Association summer press tour. The pilot had already been distributed as a free downloaded on iTunes, allowing interest in the show to be cultivated before the show aired. On September 18, 2007, the show debuted in Canada on CTV, and then on the CW in America on September 19, 2007. Because of the Writers’ Strike, the show was pulled off the air from January to April, at which point The CW re-aired the first thirteen episodes, hopefully to lead up to new episodes.
The series returned on April 21, 2008, with five new episodes. These would continue the precedent set by the first episodes in the series, with nine regular speaking roles. Because of the fact that certain features of the novels would not translate well to television, there are several differences. Among the similarities is the fact that the omniscient narrator Gossip Girl remains unseen and that she continues to run the gossip commentary blog. Most of the characters from the novels are represented in the television series, although certain characters in the show do not match up with the physical descriptions given for them. As far as the chronology of events go, the novel and the television series do not match up perfectly, nor do the interactions and love interests between certain characters. All in all though, most of the major plot points present in the novels are represented in the television series, as author von Ziegesar attests.
Throughout the show’s run on television, it has been met with mixed critical response due to everything from the quality of the shows, their writing, and the acting, to the Gossip Girl franchise itself. Certain critics think that the subject matter is not appropriate at all for teenage readers because of the fact that it emphasizes things that are traditionally discouraged by parents throughout the country. Some have also criticized the series as taking too heavily from Sex and the City, maintaining the same atmosphere and creating similar characters. Although the pilot show was met with critical approval and interest on the part of viewers, the ratings for the series have been less than consistent. The first episode in the series had 3.66 million viewers, but the second episode lost over 1 million viewers. The series never managed to replicate the success of the first episode. Because of its struggles in the ratings department, it is currently being decided whether the series will be picked up for a full season.
Some people would say that even if you do not think the subject matter is appropriate for teenage girls to be reading about, it is great to see teenage girls reading at all. The Gossip Girl series certainly does not reflect the more innocent parts of adolescence, but it could be argued that the days of innocent teenagers are reaching their end. Regardless of this, the Gossip Girl series is at least interesting to watch, giving insight into a part of our culture that is not quite native to the majority of viewers: the wealthy Upper East Side of Manhattan in all of its glory.
Tags: Entertainment by Kori Ellis
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