I have to admit I am already a Gossip Girl addict. I think I was hooked as soon as I saw the trailer for The CW’s flagship new show for this season. I am not sure if my obsession (we are only on the second episode broadcast last night) has anything to do with my sexuality but I know a number of my gay friends are also fans of this story of a bunch of super-rich, super-beautiful high school students living a super-glamorous lifestyle on the Upper East Side of New York. I even felt the need to update my Facebook status yesterday to share my excitement about the latest installment of the lives of Nate, Serena, Dan, Blair and Chuck.
I will leave aside the deep-seated reasons for why I love this show for the moment. I suspect it probably has more to do with a combination of escapism and a feeling of immense disappointment that my life as a teenager was not quite so fabulous, than being directly linked to my sexuality. I will leave that to a sociologist or decent shrink to analyze.
When I read Steve’s post this week about the latest GLAAD survey of LGBT characters on television, I e-mailed him to say I was surprised that none of the new shows on The CW – including Gossip Girl – featured gay or lesbian characters. I have to admit I also sent of a clip of the show and insist he watch it!
I do not think a show like this must have a gay or lesbian character to attract viewers from an LGBT audience. I would watch it anyway. But for a show aimed at a young demographic it is surprising.
I researched it a bit more and discovered that it is loosely based on a series of novels by Cecily von Ziegesar, and there are likely to be gay storylines if the books are anything to go by. There will apparently be a question mark over Chuck’s sexuality, some storylines involving “gay experimentation” and the father of one of the lead characters Blair will turn out to be gay and be living in French chateau with his model boyfriend. The involvement of Josh Schwartz, the man behind ‘The OC’ also suggests that the series will not shy away from gay storylines.
I am sure there will be some stereotyping and sensationalism if we do see gay plots develop but I am fairly relaxed about that. That is what the show is all about after all.
I think it is a shame that in a show set in cosmopolitan New York City we have not seen openly gay characters from the start but we will have to wait and see.
It would be great if this new show that will no doubt gain a loyal following among teens and twentysomethings decides to reflect their lives in terms of the experiences they go through – including being gay and having gay friends. It is not supposed to be reality. It is aspirational but that still means it should be in touch with everyday experiences even if that is done against a more beautiful, more glamorous, more sensational lifestyle than most of us had when we were 16 or 17!
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I’m enjoying the show as well. If Chuck or Dan turn out to be gay, as is implied in the books. That would be cool, but they’ll have to have a gay character at some point. This is the 21 century after all.
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