I am thankful for… November 18, 2008 Jill The fact that Gossip Girl has been on for a whole year. Where did the time go? And, to distract from the various unpleasantries happening in other threads, I pose a question for you, Feministas: Who was your Aaron Rose?
You mean to tell me you watch Gossip Girl? A show about rich, white teens? I am so sick of these shows. The Hills, Gossip Girl, the new 90210 … they are all exactly the same, and all feature same girls that all look the same. Yawn.
I am beginning to resign myself to the fact that Gossip Girl is a meaningful cultural phenomenon. I was a bit skeptical. I wanted to hate it without seeing it. I think I’ll have to give it a chance, especially if it is getting the continued imprimatur of Feministe.
Yes, I watch a show about rich, white teens. For shame! I should have known I wouldn’t be able to get away with posting something light.
I’m with you Jill…I love GG. I (fortunately) never had an Aaron Rose, but my sister-in-law is enmeshed with one as we speak.
It’s Ok Jill, lots of smart people watch Gossip Girl. It’s obviously ridiculous but it makes my brain feel all empty and nice to look at the pretty girls in their pretty dresses.
Whenever Slacktivist posts about abortion, it’s coupled with a super-benign topic that makes lots of people happy, like pie. http://slacktivist.typepad.com/slacktivist/2008/09/apple-pie.html
I’ve never had an Aaron Rose, but I love GG. TV is TV, and while I notice the issues that I could criticize, I watch for entertainment. This show entertains me to no end. (When I get on the subject of Heroes I get a lil more testy, since it set itself up as one thing and has turned into something else entirely.) GG has never pretended to be anything other than it is – and I like that. Can’t we indulge ourselves once in a while?
Could you PLEASE stop trying to lighten the mood while we’re busy trying to be self-righteous, cranky and disrespectful?
I like Gossip Girl too. Even if I’m just a smidge too close to 17 to suspend reality enough to really fully enjoy it. (I’m 22, 23 in February.) I guess my Aaron Rose is my current partner, who waited patiently and went through a lot of brick walls to get to know the real me. I’m one of those sappy romantic types, though.
Ugh, I take that back. I was totally referring to the part where he told Serena he didn’t want to read her file!
Could you PLEASE stop trying to lighten the mood while we’re busy trying to be self-righteous, cranky and disrespectful? Honestly, Jill. We, the commentariat, hereby notify you that we are offended and YOU NEED TO DEVOTE AN ENTIRE BLOG POST TO MY COMMENT. My being miffed is so much more important than those silly little issues you feminists right about. *Flounce*
People confused by the Aaron Rose question – read the link. And I’m glad to know I’m not the only feminist who is addicted to silly dramas about rich white teens 😉 Oh – and my Aaron Rose was the guy I dated when I first started college…. and then again right after I finished college (I’m a slow learner).
Roses, I also had two Aaron Roses — one at the end of college and the beginning of law school, and one my second year of law school. I am also a slow learner.
There’s watching TV and movies for entertainment sake, and watching horrible TV shows that degrade women. Gossip Girl and its ilk is pretty much exactly what this site is against. And you call yourself a feminist? Disgusting.
Not to say GG is the height of feminist rhetoric, but what exactly do you find so degrading about it, littleapples?
Nothing wrong with a little love for GG. Sure, its superficial, but largely the show has some good messages: family (traditional and nontraditional) is paramount, don’t have sex with randoms from bars, always have your friends backs, keep your camera phone at the ready ALL THE TIME. Plus they have an openly gay teenage boy who is not promiscuous, is accepted by his parents and they didn’t have to have a “very special episode” to explain his sexuality.
I LOVE LOVE LOVE Gossip Girl…but I have to agree, I have some serious issues with it. The biggest one being that Chuck is a serial date rapist, but this is somehow supposed to be just kind of charming and worthy of nothing more than a shrug: Oh well, Chuck will be Chuck. In the pilot episode he sexually assaults TWO female characters, but no one really shuns him for it. There was also an episode this season where he hires a group of prostitutes and then brags that none of them speak English…my impression was that this meant that you could sexually assault them however you want, because they won’t be able to tell anyone? I don’t know. I wish that the writers would stop acting like this is all a really funny joke, because it just makes me uncomfortable, and detracts from my enjoying the show.
No one said Gossip Girl is feminist, littleapples. And if every feminist is only allowed to enjoy totally feminist-approved things, then I suspect we’re all out of the club.
And if every feminist is only allowed to enjoy totally feminist-approved things, then I suspect we’re all out of the club. Well then what the hell is the point of the Acceptable Feminist Pleasures Committee’s List of Officially Acceptable Feminist Pleasures??? (And what did I predict about this thread in our gchat? Prophecy realized!)
Cara, you are a fucking prophet. Well it’s about time someone realized it! Just wait ’til I tell everyone I wear high heels(!). *Gasp of extreme horror*
i think i just realized that my aaron is the guy who just broke up with me. oh, how enlightening you are, GG!! . . . god i hope mine grows terrible bangs that make him infinitely easier to get over.
Gossip Girl is a guilty pleasure of mine. Over the summer, I started reading some of the books. Something that annoyed me about the show is how they change the characters to appeal to the viewers… For example, in the book, the character Vanessa was an awesome chick who shaved her head and walked around in combat boots. God forbid a character look like that on the show. Also, Dan was skinny and pale, shy and overly shaky from too much caffeine. And Aaron Rose came off as a greasy dude who rarely bathed and sported blonde dreadlocks. However, Cyrus Rose on the show looks exactly like I pictured him while reading the book. Heheh.
I don’t understand why everyone assumes someone automatically idolizes a show by merely watching it. Why can’t you genuinely appreciate equally the ridiculousness of a show’s over-the-top dramatic story-lines and the true-to-life moments? Why do you assume watching a show is a passive action? That by watching GG we immediately idolize the lifestyles and unquestioningly adopt the value systems of characters. Or is it that if something is obviously unrealistic it cannot have any redeemable values? I don’t understand. And more importantly, how is it exactly that one is not a feminist if one watches GG? I’m very confused on the specifics and rationale here. I don’t understand littleapples comment about GG degrading women. I think certain characters on the show degrade women, but that is made explicit and becomes a part of the story-line. I assume all of this is a knee-jerk reaction to a show that on the surface (via commercials, tween magazines, and the like) indicates nothing more than shiny, pretty, glossy, thin things. Fine. I understand if you would rather watch, read, or do something else. But to form so passionate an opinion about the people who watch the show is ridiculous. I think the show is incredibly entertaining, sometimes for its campiness, sometimes for its Gilmore-Girls-ish pop-culture references, and sometimes just for the shiny, pretty, glossy, thin things. I don’t think that means I’m not a feminist or I’m materialistic. It just means I can personally find value and entertainment in the show. Now, what the hell is it to you? Anyway, to the question at hand. Yes, Jill. I have had an Aaron Rose. Many actually. Too many, come to think of it. One of striking resemblance to the original. All gross, and all who to this day probably feel sorry for me, but screw them. Screw them and screw the real Aaron Rose. I hope his story-line is dropped soon.