XOXO by Ali Crutcher

XOXO

By Ali Crutcher

Gossip Girl aired from September 2007 through December 2012. For those of you who know not of this production I hold so dear, let me paint a picture for you.

It depicts the lives of a group of privileged youth from the Upper East side of New York City. The story is centered around a beautiful leggy blonde named Serena Van der Woodsen. Serena is a socialite that naturally, comes from a very wealthy family. The show starts with her coming back to the city after leaving abruptly to attend boarding school upstate. Her best friend named Blair Waldorf is also a socialite and daughter of a prominent fashion designer. And let’s not forget about those boys. Nate Archibald and Chuck Bass are a major part of this influential group of friends. Both only sons of wealthy New York moguls, they party together and stick by each other's side no matter what. They are the girl’s love interests and confidants.

Across the bridge in a far off land by the name of Brooklyn, the Humphreys reside. Dan and Jenny are siblings that go to school with the others. Even though they are in close proximity to this magical world of fashion, champagne and lavish parties, they are still on the outside desperately working to be a part of the in crowd.

There are many more characters that add to this multi faceted, dramatically complicated story including parents, siblings, housekeepers, old friends and new acquaintances.

Perhaps the most important and vital part of it all, is the one who the series is named after. An anonymous blogger that goes by the name Gossip Girl, makes a habit and career of exposing “the scandalous lives of manhattan's elite”. Her anonymity is what ties the show together. Nobody ever sees her but she sees everything and immediately reports it to the world. She is sent tips, proof and is constantly being fed information that threatens reputations and lives.

The whole tale is about the character’s indiscretions, lies, manipulations, and the lengths they go to in order to cover it all up while maintaining their social status. As distinguished members of society, they all have an image to uphold. Not to mention the type of trouble they get in is quite literally other worldly. Stuff that to most, seems like a stretch to the imagination.

In the end, and by the end I mean the very last episode, we finally find out who was behind the screen, spreading all the rumors and stressing everyone out all the time. All in all, it gives us a look into a world of influence and opulent wealth. The kind of wealth that grants you access to an Ivy League education, extravagant vacations and the right to a prestigious name.

I’m incredibly drawn to the lifestyle these characters represent. You may not be able to immediately tell, but I have a bit of a bougie side. I am no stranger to spending ridiculous amounts of money on unimportant inanimate objects.

A little Gucci never hurt anybody.

I grew up across the border in Tijuana, Mexico. I was fortunate enough to have a very hard working mother, who did everything she could in order to ensure one thing: my siblings and I were to have a private education.

I graduated from an extremely reputable catholic school. Back then it was the best in the city. The kind of school everyone wanted to go to. Only 150 students were admitted per class and only about 120 actually graduated.

It was tough. The curriculum was challenging, the hours long and the stakes felt incredibly high.

All of that was nothing in comparison to the social aspect of it all.

I went to school with, for lack of a better term, rich people. People that had old family money for the most part. Children of prominent business men, politicians, doctors, lawyers. It seemed like everyone had a legacy to uphold and an insatiable need to impress everyone around them.

It was difficult to keep up. When I was younger I resented the fact that other kids were privileged.

As years passed, I learned to embrace the fact that I, like Dan and Jenny Humphrey, would always be on the outside. These kids I was around every day, were born into having everything at their fingertips with no need to work hard in order to obtain success.

As I started creeping into adulthood, my perspective changed on many things. I moved across the border to the USA as I was turning 21 and I started to discover true independence. I met new people, I grew up and I realized that I could have all of the things everyone in my world had too. I just had to push myself to get there.

When I watch Gossip Girl, although in a different setting, the story seems all too familiar. Very close for comfort.

The reason I like it so much is two fold as well as maybe contradictory.

It allows me to reminisce on things that now seem like they were part of a distant past as well as keeping that impossible dream for my future alive. The one where I pick up my things and move to some park ave apartment with a doorman. The dream of buying designer clothes without thinking about the price. The dream of immersing myself into the big city and finally being granted access to an elite social circle.

Ever since I can remember, I wanted to live in New York.The fast pace, the scenery, the mixture of cultures, the bright lights and tall buildings. To me it seems like the place where anything is possible. A place where anyone can reinvent themselves and become exactly who they want to be. I not only want to be there, I want to belong there.

I have watched the entire Gossip Girl series over 5 times. All 121 hour long episodes. I never get sick of it. When I play an episode it’s as if I am doing so for this first time again.

I know the whole story yet I can’t wait to watch what will happen next. My obsession with the series raises a curious question: am I content with knowing that what I see on the screen is merely fiction? Or will I live my life with regret unless I somehow become part of that world? That's one secret I’ll never tell.

XOXO