“Gossip Girl here! Your one and only source into the scandalous lives of Manhattan’s elite.”
You settle into your couch as the familiar voice of Kristen Bell announces the start of another Gossip Girl episode. What deal will Chuck attempt today? Are Blair and Serena still fighting? Questions roll through your mind as you start to realize how wildly unrealistic "Gossip Girl" can be.
Don’t get me wrong, I love the show as much as the next person. However, what 18-year-old male strikes up a million dollar business deal shortly after high school? What best friends fight so frequently and so intensely as S and B do? And these are just mild examples of the show’s unrealistic side. These next few situations really prove the lack of reality or basic logic written into the lives of all the characters.
- Serena’s affair with Tripp: At age 18, Serena finds herself stricken with love for a new beau--who is not only married but also a United States Congressman. The fact that this affair even played out a little bit is wholly crazy. Sure, Serena is beautiful and comes from a good family, but this does not make her affair with her friend’s cousin feasible.
- Charlie Rhodes: Need I say more? Seriously, the whole “fake Charlie” situation was by far one of the most ridiculous plotlines the writers included on the show. You expect me to believe that CeCe, Lilly, and the rest of the family were completely fooled by a girl who just claims to be part of the family? Not buying it.
- Chuck’s European adventure: When Chuck travels to Prague for a visit, he gets shot and then abandoned in the streets, and later found and cared for by Eva. The fact that the writers thought that having a small, blonde girl save a random male on the streets seemed logical baffles me. What's even worse, no one in America attempted to contact or save him strikes me as more unrealistic. This little adventure just does not add up.
- Bart Bass's fake death: It’s not necessarily the way Bart died originally that is far-fetched. It’s the fact that in season five, he suddenly showed up as alive. The way he died was realistic and the show carried on post-Bart seamlessly. His reintroduction, however? Not so seamless and definitely not realistic.
- The underage drinking: Sure, high school kids do have their ways of finding alcohol. But Blair, Dan, Serena, Chuck, and Nate are always being served by any and every bar around New York feels like a stretch. That never would have worked if I visited those bars at age 18.
- Dan dating Rachel: With this pairing, the writers have added yet another unrealistic couple to the mix of the show. Teachers have a responsibility to not date their students; For Rachel to date Dan, she would have had to completely forget about this responsibility, or simply not care. Both options seem illogical.
- Blair’s deal made with Jack Bass: When Chuck tried to regain control of the Empire Hotel, Jack only agrees to this if he can spend a night with Blair, the love of Chuck’s life. This ludicrous plan sounds like it should be a non-option, however, Blair ends up obliging. For a girl who is supposed to love Chuck, it seems like she would never sleep with someone who hurt Chuck so much.
- William van der Woodsen convincing Lilly she has cancer: Lilly is an intelligent woman but she was so quickly persuaded by her ex-husband that she had cancer. With such a serious illness, you would think that she would find a second opinion to confirm or deny the disease. Apparently Lilly didn’t deem this necessary, though.
These few examples proved to me how unrealistic the writing for this show is. Each episode is filled with intense drama that could never happen in the lives of the general public. However, isn’t this why we love "Gossip Girl" so much? The never ending drama encourages our binge watching on Netflix as we wait to hear the voiceover announcing the brand new stories that are about to unfold.
