5 Gossip Girl mistakes that the reboot should fix

SPOTTED: The cast of the Gossip Girl Reboot getting cosy on the steps of the Met. Already swapmed with criticism and online hate from just one look it seems that they have a lot of cold hearts to thaw. I'll be honest, after eight long years I'm more than ready to get back into the game... our new scandalous teens have already proven that no one is safe. Xoxo Gossip Girl. 

I'll never forget the day that I decided to start watching Gossip Girl. Posters promoting the show had been plastered all over buses and billboards throughout my childhood but I had always written off the series as one of those boring programs for adults and my Disney Channel obsession wouldn't quite let me venture out into the world of The CW, even as a teenager. 

The day that I gave good old GG a chance was in a sense the day that everything changed for me. This might sound very dramatic but that's because it is. I've realised that so many of the things that I love and want now, I love and want simply because a TV show inspired me to and I know that I'm definitely not alone in this. My devotion to the Gossip Girl universe doesn't, however, prevent me from recognising that the show had some major flaws and along with other fans of the series, I hope to see these rectified in the upcoming Reboot. 

1. The complete erasure of BIPOC New Yorkers... 

Did the writers of Gossip Girl seriously expect us to believe that Isabel Coates was the only black high-schooler on the Upper East Side? It seemed that when the show was seriously lacking ethnic diversity a token black character was haphazardly thrown into the mix *cough - Raina - cough*. The creators of the TV series have expressed that they regret not incorporating more BIPOC and LGBTQ+ characters but viewers like me are not prepared to let it slide. 

NO Eric's storyline was not enough to represent gay teens and don't even mention that Asher dude. 

The truth is that everyone was watching Gossip Girl when it aired and everyone wanted to be in it; non-white and non-straight viewers deserved adequate representation then as much as they do now. 

2. That Chuck Bass 'redemption' arc

Now to unpack the Chuck-Jenny storyline that makes my skin crawl. In Season 1, Chuck attempts to rape Jenny. Chuck was undoubtedly introduced as one of the more malevolent characters in the pilot but I do feel that viewers were encouraged to forgive him way too quickly. Perhaps Chuck's redemption arc was purely intentional and existed to expose the fact that the world is skewed to benefit wealthy white men; the Chuck Basses of the world will do the crime and always avoid doing the time. 

There is one quote from Blair that will always stick in my mind: "Chuck likes to brag about his conquests, not his victims". To me, this has always insinuated that he often took advantage of girls and everyone knew about it but no one seemed to care. At least this storyline did raise awareness for the issue of rape culture in high schools and colleges. 

3. Absolutely no closure on the whole college thing 

If we're made to sit through three seasons of Gossip Girl 2.0 that revolve around the characters competing to get into their dream schools just for the whole concept of college to be subsequently erased from the entire plot... I'm gonna lose it. One of the most frustrating mistakes that the original show made was underestimating the intelligence of its viewers (a large portion of whom were young people with a pretty sound understanding of how the college process works). We didn't even get to see them graduate! The study blogger in me was very disappointed that we didn't get more nerdy shots of them cramming for exams like we did in Season 1. 

4. Vanessa.

 As someone who actually read the Gossip Girl prequel, I was heartbroken to discover that we were tricked into hating Cecily Von Ziegesar's best character. In the books, Vanessa is a badass bald filmmaker who lives with her sister and actually attends Constance! 

Vanessa in the TV show was just plain annoying which seriously irritated me as a black female viewer! Vanessa just felt like an afterthought and her character was never really explored in depth or developed. She was just in love with Dan, hated rich people and did a little scheming (what was even the point, right?). 

Jordan Alexander is the baddie in the photo whose character arguably has the most interesting aura about them. I mean just look at those boots! I'm predicting that her style might be loosely based on the original Vanessa, which would be awesome.

5. Gossip Girl's Identity 

If you're anything like me, you tend to forget that this even happened. 

I fundamentally disagree with the entire notion that Gossip Girl's identity had to be revealed in the first place, it literally just ruined all the fun! In the books, we never find out and it's better left that way. 

Now that Gossip Girl is all around us thanks to social media hopefully we won't have to deal with another terrible ending. 

With all the complaining that you've just read you might find it hard to believe that Gossip Girl is my favourite TV show but despite any personal qualms that I may have with the series, I'll always romanticise the lives of the "Non-Judging Breakfast Club" and day-dream about living in Manhattan. 

Until next time, 

Ranyechi xoxo