So, Twilight fans, Gossip Girl fans... prepare yourself... I'm about to go on a little bit of a rant...
First of all, let me say - I am a huge Gossip Girl fan. I've followed it from the beginning. And while I haven't managed to get through the first chapter of the first book yet, after several attempts, the fact that out of three Twilight films, I've collectively seen them five times in the cinema and own the first movie on dvd tends to suggest that I'm not entirely averse to the Twilight phenomenon either. So this is not about criticising fans - that would just be hypocritical. This is more of an interrogation of a couple of storylines which seem to be creating a bit of a buzz, but, quite possibly, for all the wrong reasons. I'm not sure. We shall soon see...
Chair and... well, Edward and Bella don't seem to have a joint name, that I've heard of anyway. Bedward (I can't actually believe how perfect that would be considering the fourth in the series subject matter) or Edlla, don't really have much of a ring to them I guess. Bedward will have to do ;) Anyway, these two couples have reached out to millions of the show and films fans, convinving young girls that somewhere, out there, their very own Edward Cullen or Chuck Bass is waiting for them. Brooding and indescribably attractive, these two characters, both portrayed, incidentally, by twenty-something year old English actors masquerading as smooth talking American teens, are what current teen girl fantasies are made of. What I wonder, however, is just how appropriate this current obsession really is...
I remember laughing to myself (bear with me, this sentence sounds ridiculous) in the toilets in university one day last year, when I noticed, scrawled acorss the cubicle wall amongst the endlessly rambling scribbles, a hilarious response to one of the most legible notes... 'Team Edward or Team Jacob', read the first. Written beneath it, 'Team not liking twilight as it promotes obsessive, unhealthy relationships'. At first, I just thought of it as a Twilight haters way of venting her frustration at the seemingly unstoppable franchise Stephanie Myers books have so quickly turned into. But, the more I thought about it, the more I realised that there is clearly a great deal of merit in that comment. Sure, we all lust after the spectacularly broody Rob Pattinson, all sparkly with his Vampire diamond-infused skin and pouting longingly after the girl of his dreams, but the nature of their relationship is intense to say the least. Bella is 18, has never been in a relationship before and suddenly, her entire world revolves around one person. She ditches her friends, loses focus in school and actively seeks out dangerous situations, just to be close to him. Cinematically speaking, I thought the scenes in New Moon following the Cullen's departure from Forks, were brilliant. The song was perfect, the camera circling Bella as she stared blankly out of her bedroom window - amazing. But the subject matter... not so much. These scenes depict a broken, completely inconsolable figure, who has lost all interest in life... and why? Because her boyfriend has dumped her. Now, many fans will argue 'but he's her soul mate, he's the love of her life'. Maybe. But does that mean that every eighteen year old girl who is ever dumped by the guy she is in love with will fall to pieces to the extent that she screams horrific, pained cries into her pillow every time she falls asleep? I certainly hope not. Yet we cannot help but champion the couple, with fans across the globe all rejoycing in the knowledge that the couple are, once again, back together. I remember the sense of relief even I felt during New Moon, in the dramatic scenes in Italy as Bella throws herself across Edward, saving him from certain death and reuiniting the pair who have been separated for the rest of the film. But why? What is it about these two that has created such an emotive response? Bella's entire life has to change for Edward. She must leave her family, her friends, her life, behind her, and live, soulless (as is made very clear in the movies) with Edward, for all of eternity... and yet we can't seem to get enough of them....
This brings me to Chuck and Blair. Two spoilt rich kids from New York's upper east side with too much money and not enough sense... but can we resist the pull of these two together? Nope. There is something unstoppable about the relationship between them, with fans of the show everywhere campaigning for them to stay together. Their scenes are so memorable. Who could forget the opening episode of season two: 'Three words. Eight letters. Say it, and I'm yours.' Even thinking about it I can't help but want to see them together again. But let's consider the turbulent relationship of Blair and Chuck, and the many, many betrayals which have left their time together so fragmented and unstable....
Season One - Blair is left heartbroken after her relationship with childhood sweetheart Nate Archibald comes to an end. How does she console herself - by losing her virginity, in the back of a limo, to Nate's best friend. One could say the girl is simply looking for comfort in the wrong place, and that anyone could make that mistake - very true. What we choose to ignore, however, is the fact that Chuck Bass is a womaniser, who has near attacked fourteen year old Jenny Humphrey at a party and did much the same to Serena Van der Woodsen in the pilot episode. All of this, and he's seventeen? Anyway, moving on, fans will argue till they're blue in the face that 'Blair has changed him', with the final scenes of season 2 elliciting a collective sigh of romanticised relief from viewers when Chuck finally, after toing and froing with Blair's feelings for two entire seasons, admits that he loves her. Season three, however, sees the really problematic aspects of the relationship begin to emerge. In order to save his hotel, (yes, for non-Gossip Girl fans who may be confused by this, our eighteen year old lothario is indeed the owner of a swanky New York hotel), Chuck willing sets up his 'beloved girlfriend' to sleep with his incredibly creepy uncle, in exchange for his hotel back - but what's worse is, he creates the situation in such a way that ensures that Blair thinks she has come up with the idea herself... he knows that she loves him so much, that she would be willing to do absolutely anything to help him. Devastated, Blair breaks up with Chuck, finding herself unable to forgive him. Hooray, you say. Well, the common sense doesn't last long. Eventually, Blair finds herself pining for her man, and arrives on his doorstep, willing to give him another chance. And what has he been doing in the meantime? Ahh yes, sleeping with Jenny Humphrey, another vulnerable teenage virgin who he beds just after she's been through a series of traumatic events. Yes, Chuck does seem to be heartbroken over Blair, and again, fans will argue that his liason with Jenny is nothing more than a moment of madness when he thinks Blair will really never come back to him. But can we really justify his actions with this excuse? Let's, for a moment, imagine that Jenny is one of our relatives? Or Blair, for that matter. It wouldn't matter how much chemistry the pair had, or how perfect a couple they once seemed - if a guy did that your sister, or your best friend, you would hardly be praying for her to give him another chance. Yet I, as I did with Twilight, found myself thoroughly disappointed when Chuck's rendezvouz with Jenny was made public, causing Blair to once again cut ties with her untrustworthy boyfriend.
Now, since I haven't yet seen season 4 of Gossip Girl I don't know what happens next for the pair... but I have to say I am intrigued to find out. The writers of the show are aiming this, for the most part, at teenagers - so what exactly does this relationship say for the future of teen romance. I'm not naive enough to think that all love stories should be hearts and rainbows and happily ever afters, but come on - surely the representations in Twilight and Gossip Girl are not the only alterntive to a perfect romance? Should we really be encouraging young girls to believe that relationships can only be right if they are fraught with constant conflict, and suffering? Or that to meet your 'soul mate' (not that I believe in the term, but let's just go with it), you have to give up everything else in your life? Your family, your friends - sacrificed in the name of a relationship with someone you've just met? I hardly think this is the recipe for a happy existence. But oh well. That's just my opinion. Let me know what you think, and please, feel free to defend Bedward and Chair - like I said, I can't help but be sucked into their stories myself! Anyway, till next time, I think I'll leave it at that!
Lynsey x
