Welcome Back to the Upper East Side....
Graphic by Michelle Hong. Image via Vogue.
TW: Mention of sexual assault
Donning matching plaid uniforms by day and glamorous ball-gowns and tuxedos by night, the characters of “Gossip Girl” were figures nearly every 2000s child and teenager knew. The show built a cult following of people desperate to get a taste of an exclusive look into the life of New York’s top 1%. Whether you were team Blair or Serena, you had some attachment to the show, and yes… it might have inspired some wishful thinking too.
Fast forward to 2021, almost a decade after the show went off air, and the glamorous lives of teenage Upper East Siders are back on the big screen.
“Gossip Girl” thrived off of its allusions to glamour and exclusivity, and the narration by Gossip Girl herself made you feel like you were being let in on a scandalous and salacious secret. Before I go on pouring out my love, it must be known that I have watched “Gossip Girl” four times through in its entirety, at every tumultuous period of my life. When it gained more traction than ever, despite having been over for a few years, I was in eighth grade. When I started high school and was entering a new, scary domain, I turned to “Gossip Girl.” When I was waiting to hear back from my dream school and couldn’t handle the anxiety that accompanied the anticipation, I turned to “Gossip Girl.” When I was finally in that dream school and it didn’t turn out to be such a dream, I turned to “Gossip Girl.” The show has been with me through it all, and I love it ever more for all that it is. But it’s not without its problems.
Created in a time before the rise of social media, “Gossip Girl” got away with too much that would not stand the test of time. The show received criticism for its “bad boy” character, Chuck Bass, sexually assaulting multiple characters and for glamorizing the toxic relationship between Bass and his girlfriend, Blair Waldorf. The show also featured a majority white cast, but on top of that, one of the only Black characters was of a lower class than other characters and clearly looked down upon. With the exception of one LGBTQ+ character, “Gossip Girl” was also exceptionally heteronormative, perpetuated racial stereotypes and lacked any form of accountability.
Despite all this, the show is set to see a reboot this year on the streaming platform HBO Max. This raises the question: what will the “Gossip Girl” of this day and age look like? The latest behind the scenes shots taken this past week could shed some light on this.
The show started filming in 2020 and features a much more diverse cast than the original series. In a Twitter AMA, screenwriter Joshua Safran said he is most proud of “the majority of characters being diverse and/or queer.”
Paparazzi pictures from the set show the new cast sitting on the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where the girls of the original “Gossip Girl” had their exclusive lunches. True to Safran’s word, the cast features a more diverse crew, with a Black woman, Whitney Peak, set to be one of the show’s main characters. Safran said the leads this time around are “nonwhite,” with the aim to be more representative of what the world looks like.
However, it is not enough to simply cast more people of color. It is vital to hold the director and creators accountable to properly represent them as well. The show failed too many times with respect to proper representation in the past, and it is essential to continue to call it out until it correctly represents today’s society. In this regard, my fellow Gossip Girl fans, as much as we may love the show, always watch with a close eye and think to yourself, is this representing society correctly? If the answer is no, let those creators know.
While less vital than increased inclusivity and accountability, the fashion, too, has seen a refurbishing. The show’s original costume designer, Eric Daman, is returning to the world of the Upper East Side and designer clothing. “I think we were just trying to change television and make it look like a living editorial and emulate this wealthy, crazy world, that you can just have fun with clothing to express yourself,” he told Fashionista.
From the first photos, it seems the reboot has not strayed far from the signature preppy and expensive look that Daman first showcased in the original series. However, the costumes have gotten a 2021 update.
The girls on the steps are donning knee high boots, shaved heads and oversized fuzzy (and yet plaid!) sweaters.
Image via Refinery29.
While Jordan Alexander’s (center) character is sticking to Blair’s signature white button down and blue loose bow tie look, she makes it her own with what looks like navy bike shorts and a red Fendi bag. She tells us that these may be the new generation of Constance-Billard students, but they are no Blairs and Serenas — they are Gen Z Upper East Siders.
What will this mean for the plot of the show as it delves into the social media empire and more equity-driven world of 2021? Only time will tell. Until then….XOXO, Gossip Girl.