I’d stake my sizable knowledge of television pop culture on the fact that if we could ask a “Gossip Girl” character for those same associations, the result would be a disjointed string of words like sex, parties, power plays, Louis Vuitton and martinis.
The two most recent seasons of the show have, theoretically, taken place while its characters are in Ivy League universities. We’re not talking about generic university-type settings with made-up names like “Hearst College,” but actual, real-life academic institutions. Serena van der Woodson, who has spent four seasons finding every bad decision on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, is attending Columbia. Blair Waldorf, who seems to spend every waking moment plotting devious ways to get Chuck Bass into bed (or onto the grand piano) with her — while claiming to loathe him — manages to attend Columbia as well. If this all seems highly improbable to you, that’s because it is.
So why does “Gossip Girl” portray the lives of college students as one party after another, where one dress can easily cost more than a year of tuition at UCSD and a textbook’s only use is as a prop?
Perhaps an answer can be found in a comparison with another highly popular TV show. NBC’s “Community” is on the complete opposite end of the crazy spectrum from “Gossip Girl,” but the two shows have something in common: they are both set in a college environment.
“Community” throws a group of misfits together in a Spanish study group at a fictional community college, and then lets the ridiculousness run rampant; thieving monkeys and post-apocalyptic paintball wars mix it up with high school crushes and Spanish exams. It’s here that we see the difference between college on “Gossip Girl” and college on “Community.” For the latter, school brings the characters together (who share their cafeteria lunches, study for tests and work together to fight off zombie epidemics).
For “Gossip Girl,” college is nothing more than a backdrop for more drama, because high school had to end at some point. After all, they couldn’t just drop the pretense and become artfully uneducated trophy wives and playboys without at least pretending to aspire to other things.
But then, do we really watch “Gossip Girl” for the realistic scenarios and relatable character arcs? If you answered yes to that question, turn off the TV and go outside, because our world is not that world, and their problems should not be your problems. “Gossip Girl,” and the CW in general, is good for pretty faces and crazy plot twists, but definitely not realism.
In contrast, “Community” balances the lunacy of a pillow fort developing into a thriving, ethnically diverse metropolis and the very real consequences of lying to your friends, all in one half-hour episode. As illogical as the show gets, it is always about real people as well. An added perk of its community college setting is its diverse cast, allowing people to identify with different characters and situations.
Under the shared banner of a college show, “Gossip Girl” and “Community” both push the boundaries of absurdity, but they handle the crazy much differently. While one relegates college to backdrop status, the other bases the entire show on the interactions that can occur in a classroom, making the show more relatable.
It’s important to note, however, that neither show displays college in a realistic light at all. But really, that wouldn’t make for interesting TV anyway. Who needs stressful finals when you’ve got teenage sex and classroom shenanigans?
