Tv show writers need to stop giving the “broke” characters huge apartments in expensive cities, that are fully furnished with all the latest design trends 🙅🏾♀️
But.. THEY NEVER CALLED HER BROKE? or even less fortunate. Just next to extremely wealthy people… she is less fortunate. She’s living in an apartment, they’re in mansions. She probably uses cantu. They use Shea moisture😭 they on a different level
dan was "private school poor". i had gone to a private school most my life, but I wasn't nearly as rich as any of my classmates. It legit fucked with my perception of wealth to much that the first time I realised I was rich was when I was 18.
@@theoscarlessactress2748 converse dont run cheap, depending on where you get them from lol. Then again this is coming from someone who's been lower class my entire life. I found a pair for 4$ at a thrift store a few years back and they look dingy asf now, but I love those things to death 🤣
i find it strange that many rich people especially celebrities like to put on this front of being 'authentic' by portraying themselves as less wealthy than they are, it irks me the most when nepotism kids do this
@@dibyoshreepaint9241 Exactly. It's more authentic and powerful if they recognize their privileges and attempt to give back, not pretend like they were down here getting free/reduced lunch with the rest of us. Tf
It really is that deep though. GOSSIP GIRL was a book series based on the writer of the book series' time at private schools in Manhattan. Also, as a New Yorker who was born and raised here, Rufus didn't have to send his kids to private school. Nyc has one of best school systems in the country, even for public schools. We literally have this big book of school for each grade system (kinder, grade school, middle school, high school) and each one has over thousands of choices. And thats just for public schools. It's literally like a college application. He could've sent them to Stuyvesant high school which was the number one school back when it was being filmed. Not to mention there are really good charter schools, montessori schools, the whole nine. There are so many educational options in nyc for which Rufus would be more than aware of because of his tax bracket circle. So yeah, it was a choice.
I think the choice was driven by his character having interacted with people who came from schools like that. He fell in love with Lily, who was eventually given an ultimatum by her mother to choose between Rufus or her inheritance and she chose the latter. She then married William, who was an old money Upper East Side type. He expressed regret about losing Lily and felt insecure about his background and I think that’s his real reason for wanting to send his kids to Constance and St. Jude’s, he just uses the guise of wanting a “better education” for them.
wow that’s interesting i never thought abt how the US educations differs from state i know that must’ve been obvious lol but it really never crossed my mind, i grew up in NC notorious for not paying teachers enough never clocked that we would always have to split 4 or 5 books between groups in the class literally every year until we got a grant and got tablets in 7th grade…. then one of those tablets LITERALLY BLEW UP at a kids home(he was alright idk about his house) but yeah wow that’s crazy!!!
@@gabrielmichael3701 um I don't just live here i was born and raised here. I don't need a reporter to tell me about schools I've actually had to go to/apply to. We're also talking about schools specifically during the time that gossip girl was being filmed. But, even besides that, NYC has an enormous amount of options for schools whether they be private, charter, or public. Not to mention the specialty schools like Montessori or ones that have specific teaching objectives. They're not public but they're not private. Either way nyc has more than enough OPTIONS besides just public schools but, again, because of the OPTIONS there are a bunch of good public schools some that were number one in the city. Stuyvesant being the example I presented as, when I was in school, that and a few others, were the ones you wanted to apply to.
@@gabrielmichael3701 I think it's interesting that you say you're not being an asswhole yet you're trying to explain a system that I'm very familiar with. Yes I know there are zoning laws and that it's preferred for kids to go to schools closest to them. Again, I went to school here. But I also know kids who lived in staten Island and still went to Lagaurdia. I knew kids who lived in queens and went to Beacon high. When it comes to high school depending on where the school lands and whether you're accepted or not determined where you would go. You had the option of applying to 12 schools and they would go down the list depending on whether you were accepted or not. Again. Don't know if that's still the case but that was the case for when I had to deal with it. If you didn't like the school you could apply to transfer to others during freshman year. Also, you're telling me that your journalist friend went to every public school in Manhattan or did he cherry pick the ones that would add to his storyline. Not trying to be an asswhole though. But, most importantly, the entire point of my comment was that Rufus didn't have to send his kids to private school and he most definitely didn't have to send his kids to THAT specific private school as there are MANY to choose from as well as others. The whole point is that the city, specifically those who can afford it, have options to choose from and are not completely barred from making other decisions besides private. Simple.
Zoya's situation is most like Rory's in Gilmore Girls in that she was afforded the opportunity to go to a private high school and Yale and experience that wealth even though she grew up lower middle class because of her connections. I think eventually the show will come to a point where they stop pretending like Zoya is so less fortunate.
@@phosphenevision I hear you. But we don’t know what type of lawyer Nick is. Not all lawyers make “good” money. When they were at risk of eviction, Zoya said they couldn’t afford to stay in the area. I think they’re middle class.
@@phenominiallmusic There are some lawyers who are poor, such as non-profit lawyers who handle cases (usually involving underdogs, social justice) they are passionate about instead of whatever they are assigned. Sandy Cohen on The OC hardly made any money from being a lawyer because of that, living wealthy through his wife.
@@hybridbutterfly3908 The difference between middle class and upper middle class is that upper middle class are educated professionals while middle class is the working class.
@@gracie7212 knew a girl who's parents paid that much for school in Jupiter ,Florida. She got straight D's in school. She got her shit together in college and is an overall down to earth and good person but I thought that was weirdly expensive for highschool ya know?
I can barely imagine parents paying that much for private K-12 schools for one kid, and when I think about them doing that for _multiple_ kids?? Holy hell.
@@sweetpeabee4983 I studied at a k-12 on a scholarship and I have this friend who has 4 siblings who were all at the school. One thing though they offer discounts for having two or more children attending the school at the same time it's not a major discount though.
Dan wasn't cosplaying poor on the old GG. The old GG wasn't about money. It was about old money and new money. Dan didn't fit in cause his father was a rock-star musician with working-class roots. He invested his money and had a comfortable life. Everyone else was a WASP. Dan could have all the money in the world, but he would never have the pedigree. That's how it works in the North East, it's not LA.
yeah I kinda got that when they started showing the extended families. Nate was a damn Vanderbilt, and when his family had problems because of his father, he was still accepted in all social circles. serena's family was clearly suposed to be one of those old money Dutch families. We never got Blair, but Waldorf is the name of damn hoel building on NYC so....also, it was obvious at some point that chuck bass's father was a sort of self-made man who demanded much to maintain their status. also IIRC Dan hardly ever complained about MONEY as in I have no money, he was sad that Nate got Dartmouth on name alone. He was exasperated on the things his more prestige peers got away with unlike him who couldn't afford to get into trouble. BTW I think this all got lost post-S2 but in the beginning I think it was there.
I feel like in The OG Gossip Girl Dan was like psychologically poor, he was not poor in real life just in comparison with his other classmates and still he wasn't poor. I liked how Zoya isn't really poor in the new GG but she really can't afford her life at NY without her Grandma's apartment and her scholarship, I really liked how they showed that in the first episode. Then I must say Obie is the worst rich kid of all and one of the most annoying characters, he acts like he is a shame of being rich when he chooses to but then he proceeds to rent or something like that a bunch of food trucks just for her girlfriend 😆😆😆😆
Obie is the worsttt. Were we supposed to find his "activism" endearing? He's always making a big show of rejecting his privilege, but when his friends are going through tough stuff, he always gives SUCH a privileged response by being like, "Why do you care about [something important]?" I'm waiting for someone to call him out
@@andreacastro8338 It wasn’t meant to be endearing. Zoya addresses his performative activism in the last episode, and it’s what’s deteriorating their relationship. Also the way he talks about social issues, especially when he was sat with Zoya and her father for dinner whining about gentrification, it’s clearly being written to portray his underlying ignorance. He’s such a phoney but the writers know that.
I don't watch Gossip Girl but using it as a base to talk about this topic worked super well! The way they're handling the reboot now is so telling of a disconnect and yet, with your case study, it's clearly real that rich people have no idea their privilege sometimes. Great discussion as always! I'll take these thoughts with me :)
You sum this up well. I never watch both 'Gossip Girl', but I do know I will not want to after watching Amanda's video. I do not like watching insensitive portrayals of the poor/upper working class. Shows like this are escape for reality for some, but not for me. It's repetitive at this point💯
@@JulianSteve I can't come up with any sort of list for shows that portray being poor accurately, which is a bit interesting don't you think? It feels like they only put in the effort for movies because that's more palatable..
@@michumomo yes! That's the only one I could think of, the intro episodes really made me reevaluate privileges like being able to pay for toilet paper. I haven't watched all of it so I didn't want to say it in case anything got exaggerated over time I didn't know about. I hope it stayed strong! Do you know any others?
not sure if you've heard of it, but the swedish show Young Royals does a pretty fantastic job of showing class dynamics in these elite and rich private schools. It was really well-done, I won't spoil anything, but highly recommend!
As someone who went to an exclusive nyc private school, I used to feel soooo poor. Like I live on the UWS and both my parents are doctors but I was comparing my parents' wealth to the wealth of billionaires. Like these kids would have the most lavish parties at the most expensive hotels and restaurants, the lux penthouse apartments, and the biggest Hamptons homes I have ever seen. They would charter their yachts and private jets to go to lux places like St. Barths, Aspen, South of France. I related to Jenny and Dan because my parents didn't have the money to do those things or buy me piles upon piles of expensive designer clothes. Once I got to hs, I was def more aware of our socioeconomic status bc of prep4prep kids who were from middle to low income families. But feeling poor when you aren't at a NYC private school is so real, you have no idea.
I would say that's a very important point as well. You can be relatively poor without being poor. Psychologically, you may feel a certain way because of being the poorest person relative to those around you, in which case Jenny and Dan make perfect sense. I just don't like the way they acted like they were genuinely 100% poor in general, although it could be said that they just weren't self-aware.
The interesting part about cosplaying poor on Tv is that they paint a picture that you can work at McDonald's and still own a fancy apartment coze that's how poor people live in America . I have many friends and relatives from Africa who think working as a janitor can make you a lot of money and make you rich coze that's how Americans live. I can't convince them otherwise.
I think it all depends on the worth of the specific country's currency in comparison to American dollars. I could guarantee that a person from an American middle class background, could be seen as someone from a higher social standing here in Latin America due to the value of our cash alone. The financial disparity and increasingly worthless value of our cash is just proof of this, unfortunately. So to me, is not that unrealistic that your friends would think that, if we're talking about going to America make money and come back with the cash that is. Even if it might be a short term solution lmao
Yeah, usually what we see in films and shows is our depiction of how life is in America and it's true that we think those kinda jobs can afford someone a decent apartment and life
@Motown Gayes i believe they don’t even know anyone “from Africa” because they thought Africa was all just desert and primitive, while countries like South Africa, Namibia, Nigeria all are quite modern
As someone who’s been financially unstable for years, it still astounds me when I tell people I’m broke and can’t spend money on an activity, so they offer a less costly alternative or mention a “deal” some place has. When I’m broke, I’m broke. I can’t spend $5 on anything even if I wanted to. I grew up middle class and I’ve always known what “broke” vs broke meant, so I don’t see why this is a difficult concept to grasp.
Broke is relative unfortunately because there are levels to standards of living in life. Some will never not have money but having less money than usual will be their version of broke.
Yeah it’s all definitely relative. I can’t say to people I’m poor cause even though I’m a recent grad going at it alone renting alone in Sydney one of the most expensive cities in the world, my parents, who I don’t leech of have 3 properties worth 10-15 million and plenty of spare cash if I ever needed it which I never ask for. So technically I have a safety blanket and my parents are willing to give me a 3 million dollar house for free but as someone who has too much pride I could never do it. I feel like I’m in that Catergory of being classed as individually poor as my salary atm is really low but always have a fall back if I needed it
@@tessy28 yeah. To me, when I say I'm broke or a friend says they are, the less costly alternative is literally what they're looking for. Yesterday, I asked my friend if he wanted to go to the city (nyc) for dinner to show his friend around who was visiting. I said we could all split an uber to get there if he didn't want to drive or take train, bc he seemed hesitant and I couldn't tell if it was bc he didn't want to be around ppl on the train, or if he didn't wanna spend time driving in traffic. He said no, bc he's broke and can't afford to go to the city. I asked if he wanted to go to rvc instead for food and we could show the friend around long island where we live. He said sure. And then we got food on long island. The difference was essentially whether he could afford to spend a few hundred or so in a day to get to city and back and get probably overpriced food, or just go spend 30 or so on for dinner and head home to watch TV. Its interesting bc it is all relative. I have an ex who would decline even going out for food when he's broke, bc when he's broke, he doesn't even spend gas money, much less any money on food. So I think ppl ask those kinds of questions to clarify the circumstances bc the relativity of the word broke is really high.
@@Jaimelikegem that wouldnt really be the right use of broke but i guess it has evolved into slang so maybe it could be argued that the meaning has been extended to encompass that way of using it
@@mooseyman12345 it’s good that you’re self aware and not downplaying your privileges. i’d say you have familial wealth, but individually low-paid. i think ‘poor’ still has more connotations of working class/people who genuinely have nothing to fall back on/have no alternate options etc. whereas obviously as you mentioned your parents are willing to financially help you out a lot. so maybe classifying yourself as ‘low-paid’ is more appropriate if you’re struggling with finding the ‘right’ word to describe your situation?
I grew up upper middle class. In my head, I knew we weren’t poor. But whenever I’d as my Dad for money to hang out with a friend, he would always tell me “even though we live in this town and it looks like we’re rich with this house, we’re actually very poor” So I grew up thinking that. When in reality, he just meant in comparison to the other people in my town who went clothes shopping every week and went on vacation during spring break. Even then, I learned that my Dad was very wealthy. He was just very stingey and anxious about money. I told my therapist that I couldn’t afford therapy because my parents didn’t want to pay for it. After I told her what my Dad’s job was, she raised her fee. I feel like I’ve been lied to. But also, I feel like I’ve known this all along. I have lived a very comfortable life which I am so grateful for. I just live with a family who is too scared to spend money on anything but the necessities. I can’t get mad at them for their choice on how they spend their money, especially if I have all my basic needs met.
My mom was like this too. When I would ask for snacks at the grocery store or clothes from the mall she would get frustrated at me and tell me how poor we were. She always blamed it on being divorced (even though my dad sent her thousands in child support each month). We had a pool, hot tub, multiple cars, house in a nice neighborhood. It took me until I was 23 to realize my privilege.
Your parents probably shouldn't have lied and instead straight up taught you to be tight with money and be very responsible with it. I don't think the lie did any favors. Though I am curious if any of their spending habits were passed on to you. I grew up middle class/lower middle class (never went on a vacation after the recessions and was pretty obvious my parents were barley keeping our usual lifestyle alive). I've always saved money like I've had none and it has definintely made me and my siblings good at saving. I know other ppl who spend as soon as they get their paycheck.
Yes I have mixed feelings about how my parents have treated money. I could never tell, and still can’t tell, how much money we have. They would CONSTANTLY talk about financially struggling, but would still somehow afford luxuries like private tuition & cars. I still remember the sinking feeling in my stomach when my dentist said I needed braces and how stressed my mom was on the way home. And the absolutely overwhelming guilt I had every holiday season because I feared my Christmas presents would leave our family broke. I really wish they would’ve not talked about money around me at all growing up.
I’ve just recently started watching the old Gossip Girl and Dan was the character I hate the most. He always talking bout how the rich kids don’t know how it is when he literally goes to a private school and lives in a big ass condo in New York on top of that he acts like he better than the rich kids when he’s just as bad
In the book, it is obvious that he is a poser (and also creepy), his sister calls him out for being pretentious, but they chose to make him sympathetic/self righteous in the 2007 GG
He's exactly like Michael Bluth, judges the hell out of his social circle not realizing he's the worst of them all just for being so self aware thinking that having self awareness absolves him of everything when really it just makes him guiltier than the others by him knowing better and still participating
@@mauve9266 i honestly spoiled it for myself and figured out he was gossip girl from the ep when they showed him at the computer even tho him being gossip girl doesn’t make sense
@@juliannehannes11 I was looking at it like this has got to be the YOU Origin story cause he weird like how you get mad Serena slept with a guy before she even knew you existed
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i think tv and visual media in general really struggle to show poor or even middle class people because it relies so much on aesthetics. is there a recent show or movie that doesn't either glamorize poverty, make it look dark and gritty or have faux poor characters? idk class is one of my fave things to discuss because it's so layered but i feel like that's the one aspect that consistently gets simplified on screen. i really like your ideas for an Actual Outsider character, the gentrification angle especially would be so interesting to explore! the stakes!! but yeah i've been skeptical of this gossip girl reboot, i feel like élite did it better (and also worse lmfao) and the tendency to reboot is just annoying, the og gossip girl is a perfect snapshot of a certain era and i feel like we'll look back on the reboot and see it as a confusing and eyeroll inducing time for the entertainment industry
Even though the final episode aired like 15 years ago I immediately thought of Malcolm in the middle ! I'm not even American, like I've always lived in "little" parisian HLMs which would be the french equivalent of american rent controlled public housing I guess ? But Malcolm's family house, day to day life and struggles always seemed so... Dare I say, relatable (and real) ? They were, what I'd consider to be, true middle class/lower middle class
@@abigailno6127 Raising Hope also a good sitcom about poor/lower middle class family. I feel like teen dramas always go for glamorization, which i'm sort of okay with because the shows just always tend to be so extra and far from reality. One thing I do like about Elite, even tho it's pretty bad at showing poverty at times, is that Samu spends many many scenes working afterschool, and doesn't just roam around town like he doesnt need to make money.
do you think Shameless does it well? I feel like it does make living on the poverty line appear to have a certain charm but also extensively portrays the negative aspects in a really realistic and in-depth way
The "unnatural" part of the Kim Kardashian photos might be how empty the house looks, just like the tour of their actual house. Even though they are in the frame, the pictures look like a liminal space because we noramlly see candid home photos look more "lived" in.
I’m glad you touched on the biracial characters lmao zoya is supposed to be fully Black but they casted a mixed girl for it??? the only one who is clearly black is monet and conveniently… she’s the villain.
Class analysis that is based exclusively on income level is kind of meaningless. According to a Marxist class analysis, class is about _how you make your money_ and not how much money you make. If you make your money by selling your labor you are working class. If you make money _by owning things_ then you’re a capitalist. A pro athlete sells their labor, so even if they make over $1 million they’re still a worker. A small business owner could make less than 100K, but because they made it by owning stuff and paying other people to do stuff, they are of the capitalist class. This is especially important when discussing the concept of a “middle class,” which is a flimsy concept that often describes professionals who would be indentifiable as working class _if they didn’t have the disposable income to make investments._ Like, who has cash to gamble on the stonks? Not the bottom 80% of households in the US. But notions of “class” just based on income brackets and cultural signifiers produces a lot of pointless squabbling imo, it needs to be backed by material analysis. Otherwise it becomes this weird shaming of people who have any disposable income, which encourages the poverty cosplay bs and more importantly directs attention away from the systems of exploitation that deserve our anger.
Thank you so much for talking about this. I grew up damagingly poor. I worked through college and graduated with negative net worth. I ended a couple friendships because people who lived with their parents and lived on credit cards paid by their parents complained CONSTANTLY about being poor. Hanging out in their bedrooms in 4+ room houses in neighborhoods I didn't know existed 🤦 I never mentioned my financial situation but would say often that I couldn't afford to do some things with them. I always had to spend money when I went out with them. It added a toxic kind of stress to being social.
It's not only the size of the apartments and houses it's also the way they're decorated. We were lower middle class and I could most relate to Malcolm in the middle.
The most significant thing about that care work is its unpaid. Imagine working 30 hrs a week taking care of a sick relative in addition to another job to bring in income.
As someone who’s considered upper middle class (Although my family lives “paycheck to paycheck” so we live middle class), I can understand why it’s hard to not realize you’re privileged when you’re right in the middle. It’s very confusing, because you know that you can’t afford everything in the world, but you pretty much get what you want. So, unless you or someone else “dissects” your lifestyle, you’re really not gonna notice. Note* I went to private school, but most classmates were lower middle class. I also don’t have any wealthy friends, but most of my close friends are middle class people and/or lower middle class.
They couldn’t have a true outsider because the glamour of gossip girl is seeing wealthy attractive teens have fun. That’s why people watch hence why they wouldn’t want a proper outsider. Is this good? No, but it’s the reality
Isnt the Upper East Side segregated and hasnt it been so since for ever? What are the odds of an older Black woman owning a rent controlled appartment in a building with a doorman?! I doubt her co-op neighbours would have just let her move in without putting a strongly networked resistance.
I know a black guy who is 60 who has a rent-controlled apartment on the upper east side in a doorman building. I think the rent control laws changed in the 1990s, so it is usually older people who have them. There are a lot of black people who live on the UES, but they are all college grads with high-paying jobs.
It's not as uncommon as you think. I'm not sure exactly how old Zoya's grandma is supposed to be, but if she were, say, a successful milliner in the 50s/60s and married decently, then she would easily have an apartment like that. Also, not that it makes a huge difference, but the apartment is UWS and there are people who live there who have apartments rent controlled for generations and pay in the $300-700/month range for multi-bedroom, which is ludicrous by today's standards.
I get help from my parents, but I say that I’m a broke college student because if my parents withdrew their support I would have nothing. Like I wouldn’t have a enough money to buy a place, I wouldn’t be able to continue classes at the school that I go to, and I don’t have a car.
Actually, in the OG Gossip Girl Vanessa was the one poor. Though not THAT poor, because she had a lot of rich friends and being homeless was never a threat for her family. It was always about the status. She was the only one in the show who WORKED as a waitress. Those who are poor would never be comfortable being friends with the richest kids, never be comfortable with visiting their expensive-ass condos and stuff. People would see the poor as a threat, as thieves and stuff. Poor people do not attend private schools in New York. Poor people don’t live among the rich, and that’s why the show was never able to show it properly.
I think people need to understand that "rich" and "poor" are sides of wealth. It's not binary. It's a spectrum. And it's all relative. Therefore to say Dan or Zoya aren't really poor isn't necessarily true because if you were to ask their classmates, they would be. But if you were to ask someone else they would be rich. I live in South Barrington, IL where houses can range from 500,000 to millions. Ask someone in say Skokie and they would say we are rich. But ask someone in Wilmette they would say we are "rich wannabes". So to "cosplay poor" isn't correct. Dan and Zoya are poor when compared to their peers which is the basis of the story regardless of our perception of their wealth. In fact the latter is a moot point.
I think the difficulty is that real "outsiders," kids who are actually lower or even lower-middle-class, just don't exist at these schools. I was solidly middle class my whole life going to an elite DC private school on scholarship and it just didn't get any "poorer" than me. And I hear NYC private schools are on another level. But I do think exploring other "outsider" perspectives would've been a great route to take. Even exploring a middle-class person who isn't American would've been more interesting I think.
wow those last lines really defined how I felt about this new GG reboot. To me, it seems stuck in the 2010s narrative with the whole "is she wearing zara?" and "swear on your Louis Vuitton" lame jokes. I hope I'm not the only disappointed in this "woke" version because it's far from being so.
*Fun fact: the cost of living is 164% higher in the Manhattan area of New York City than Cleveland, Ohio.* *If you lived in Cleveland and earned the median national income ($40,000), or average national income ($51,000), you would have to make between $105,000-$165,000 in Manhattan to maintain that same standard of living.* *Outrageous.* 🤦🏿♂️🤦🏿♂️🤦🏿♂️
yeah Manhattan is just outrageous. Other boroughs aren't too much better in all honesty. This area is just so unaffordable. In my 20's making 60k and it doesn't go far at all.
How I felt living in vancouver. My family was called white trash by my classmates. Wasnt until I moved to Sherbrooke that I realized we were middle class.
Let’s be real: when we watched OG Gossip Girl, we didn’t care that it wasn’t woke, we cared about the well written characters and their relationships (so basically Blair and drama lol) so idk why they felt the need to reboot it into something that clearly wasn’t an expectation from the show.
@@II-bn8gc Let's be real - they're trying to be woke. Filipino american actor, latina, black actresses, bisexual, gay and transexual characters, and mentioning woke shit from time to time in episodes...yeah they are trying to be woke lmao
@@me9981 the social commentary is woke-leaning but their casting isn’t an attempt to be woke when it’s quite realistic. only 3/8 of the student characters are white, sure, but 8/10 of the adult characters are white. for their setting, it isn’t a far reach. and luna is transgender, not that term.
@@corneliastreets I didn't explain myself well enough because english is not my first language. They are throwing all the representation at us without giving us a good story, good writing, a good show...that's my point. I know it's realistic for new york, but why would I watch a show just for the representation if the show itself is not good. I would rather go back to original gossip girl tbh. (even though they too had many problems lmao) Edit: To add to that - I'll continue to watch the reboot for a few more episodes just to see how it continues but if the story continues to be trash well...I'll be sorry to have to stop watching because I think they actually picked nice cast. I hate how people are talking trash about them 😑
I was pissed off that in on of the only times we see a brown (middle eastern,northfrican and/or south asian) character she is one of the creepy teachers who leaves in like the third episode they had a chance to present us with a great brown character and yet again they blew it, as a middle eastern girl I barley see any good representation of brown people so seeing the only brown person in the entire show being a weird creepy character was very dissapointing
i feel like ppl who cosplay poor do it as a means of protection, especially those in the middle to upper-middle class. so many ppl young or old, who are well off individuals use money as a way to flex and turn up online and in certain areas, and the worst-case scenario happens sometimes. in my head I feel if someone like j.cole who doesn't wear the nicest designer clothes or childish gamnio who wore old sweaters. don't try to act real or hard or relatable but simply are not trying to feed the monster that is the desperate poor. idk just my thoughts on the idea
Ma'am! Great topic & I'm excited to listen! I just read how Billie Eilish said her broke and poor fans were "cute" and that she wished she was "broke like them". Why do the rich do us this way 😭
Gossip girl never portrayed Dan as “poor” but just that he didn’t come from a ridiculously wealthy, high-society family with status like the others on the UES.
@@kimbutton4419 Jenny especially talked about their money a lot, but their perception gets warped by the fact they’re always surrounded by kids much richer than them so it makes them feel so much less than.
i've never watched gossip girl but this is the video i didn't know i was waiting for....i feel like i need to send this to half the people i know. i get the feeling this growing up rich without knowing you're rich can only happen if you/your family/your friend group is all within the same class bubble...and that a lot of the denial of wealth one sees in upper middle class/wealthy circles is an attempt at escaping the responsibility linked to privilege "confectionary progressivism" is such a pefect phrase!!
i feel like this whole effort of “wokeness” in the reboot was never gonna workout because of the appeal of the original show (messy and exaggerated plot lines) so honestly i don’t think there’s space for “wokeness” and as we can see in the reboot it just doesn’t reflect the same appeal the original did
all these shows seem to do the same thing nowadays. Diverse cast, black character that doesnt look too black, token gay, token trans, something feminist said every episode... it can be cringey sometimes and focus clearly isn't always on telling a good story and making the characters 3 dimensional. Degrassi still beats most of this new stuff and it doesn't have to go out of it's way to keep reminding you how diverse everyone is.
Man i wish u were in that writers room because your ideas of how the show could have been told alone is brilliant to say the least! Would have made for a very interesting show!! Right now its not giving much on the topic other than the dynamics of the friends themselves
100% agree with you. The original gossip girl was partly based off of Cecily von Ziegesar’s experience swimming in the world of opulence and how she translated that into books with characters that actually had substance. This new gossip girl feels rushed and partly unreal because even if we dont want to accept it, the upper east side is STILL the house of white millionaires, old money, you could say. The new gg doesnt feel like escapism. It feels like an attempt at how the show’s writers would like the upper east side to be. Maybe season 2 will pick a side as you said. They might either go full opulence or one of its characters could lose it all and might become relatable. Loved your video. xoxo
I wouldn't say that. Elite is much more open about it, which I appreciated. But in OG Gossip Girl, the rich kids (except Nate) have parents that are "new money" but while working in formal companies. Whereas Dan had a former rockstar dad and came from a more left-wing background. There is a huge difference between the rich kids but it's not as clearly written as in Elite. So I would say Americans are aware of classism but don't know how to tackle it.
This was such an amazing and thoughtful video. I learned so much-thank you! If you're looking for something similar to GG with a lot more nuance, I'd recommend the new young adult book Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé. I just finished it over the course of two days-it was seriously impossible to put down. The book is based on the premises of both Gossip Girl and Jordan Peele's Get Out. We go through the story of two Black students at an elite private school, as they deal with racism, classism, and their sexual identities.
This is a very thought provoking video. I appreciate the time you spent on it. I have also claimed to be a broke college student and now a broke law student, but I have not and do not consider myself to be poor. I definitely see the difference between those two terms
i grew up middle-middle class and while we never were in deep shit, my parents could have NEVER afford tuition to NYU. So while i know i have generational wealth, watching og and them being like "im poor i cant afford to go to yale or live on the ues in a billion dollar apartment", im like. you're in a higher bracket than me and i dont consider myself poor. honestly, with luna's comment about zara, it would've been REALLY interesting to see the disparity in perspective, in terms of clothings for example. like for low income and middle class ppl, zara is an expensive shop. but for the rich, it's terrible. and while the humphreys are definitely NOT poor, jenny trying to fit in by selling her stuff and making dresses that look high fashion is a concept that i liked from the og and that should've been adapted in ggrb. also, possibly, a character like cayetana in élite. not to say that élite is the best show ever, but it's more class concious than either og or ggrb.
I mean i think it would’ve been interesting if there was a poc character and they’re only attending the school because of a scholarship and all the students were competitive and tried to make her feel less than and that she doesn’t belong there, that she just there because she’s a poc. I think it’d actually show how less fortunate people never feel good enough against richer people. Or maybe the character was the child of a janitor who works at the school or something. Idk. But it’s literally just focusing on teens so I don’t really understand why they’d try to make it more “woke”
In our school, the daughter of one peon was in my class, n our principal paid 50percent of the fees, n 50 her dad, n she was least intelligent/smart student in class (based on grades n extracurricular activities) I don't say it's her fault but Maybe she can't afford the extra classes/private tutor but she was not studying, like just didn't , ecen though her dad put so much effort on her, idk if she had internalized her poverty or not. She did work for everyone like if some forgets that bottle on different floor n they would ask her to go get it and she wouldn't refuse though she didn't liked to do it , she did it n people asked her!
@Motown Gayes yeah, I thought maybe it could even help show though how class can effect those from the same race. Like how there will be rich black people but some tend to separate themselves from the lower class and stuff. If that makes sense. I agree though, and she is really pretty.
ugh your conclusion was BEAUTIFUL!!! so true.. It’s even worse bc iirc all the writers are white & likely nepotism babies 🤢🤢 on twitter they’re all just parading their writing around when it’s not even good! (endless references to niche things than actual substance, & definitely sounds millennial) .. they’re so out of touch with what it means to be poor, never mind nonwhite........ as for the show, it is sick how they portray Obie as a good guy when he’s comfortable with and benefits from his statue (literally pay the strikers with your assets instead of buying them bullshit???) and his social wokeness is performative, vapid, & only to get cool points to show he’s one of the “good rich” ,,,,, which.. 🤮 also more importantly, the way they write the teachers is giving huge “evil poor” vibes/trope when they actually could act justifiably for the genuine grievances about the corrupt systems of higher/private education ... it would definitely be timely too, considering varsity blues ! also them throwing the only teacher of color under the bus 🤮🤮🤮 that wasn’t even any kind of social commentary that was just racist..... just.. so many missed opportunities ...... it’s just interesting how a show marketed on being woke perpetuates the same, if not worse, stereotypes about class ....
If I’m being honest I feel like it’s an issue with the writers and creators not knowing how poor people live or the experience I feel like characters like dan and jenny were genuinely meant to be poor but they had no idea how to present that in the show to fit the “glamorous” aesthetic
Fantastic video! I grew up genuinely poor, like homeless and going to food banks, but I tested high and went to public schools in the wealthy part of town. It was a harrowing experience to say the least, and I would love to see a show that depicts what that experience is really like.
I fucking loveee the original gossip girl (can’t wait to watch the new version) but I definitely agree with this video. I’m not surprised by the casting. Hollywood is still trying to hold on to the brown paper bag concept.
I mean I think they wanted to show that black people can be rich too because we can. Maybe it’s an issue that she’s seen to be portrayed as “broke” but to me she isn’t. Her story is more of her being someone who’s an outsider because she’s younger and from a different area. They never called her poor or broke, she’s just seen as average or “less rich” idk why u mentioned the African American statistics because obviously you know it’s not unlikely for black Americans to be upper middle class. I think they did it better this time around lol
Thought-provoking concept, "cosplaying poor". I'm definitely guilty of calling myself broke for having no money in my bank whilst also knowing that if things got truly bad, I could always call my mom, and the brokenness would disappear. There's much more freedom to take risks and fail here and there for some "broke" students than for other broke students, and I wish every nation everywhere would provide a social safety net big enough so that every student would be "broke", instead of broke.
In the end, we all find out that Dan was an opportunistic, dissatisfied villain. In contrast, the writers fully fleshed out Chucks storyline. Chuck fully owned who he was . Eventually his personality and humanity finally seemed to shine true. The way that the writers wrote Dan, portrayed him as low key sociopath. A young man that would do whatever it takes, to rub shoulders with the elite while simultaneously harboring envy and hate towards his more "privileged" peers. Seems like Dan's character, is viewed through the perspective of the elite and wealthy.
I wrote an article about this where I basically reiterated the points I've been making since the reboot was announced. The OG Gossip Girl was very much a product of its time. Petty socialite drama in fiction is something we've seen before, and it doesn't really have a place in the current climate of entertainment anymore. The showrunner's attempts to pander to Gen Z audiences who weren't raised upper-middle class was just despicable
18:55 Did anyone else think of Cayetana from Elite when she said this? Homegirl literally made up a fundraiser event to scam all her rich peers and their families and friends, just so she could get some money to keep attending that rich-ass private school. I think Gossip Girl needs to take some notes from Elite's Cayetana, she's a true outsider. I mean you even have Nadia, Samuel, and Omar for example as well. Now that I'm thinking about it I feel like Gossip Girl low key wants to be Elite, like just a little bit. You get what I'm saying?
Korean drama have mastered the class problem in movies or shows. They truly show how it is to be a poor student and an outsider among a rich wealthy student and private school
This reminds me of Francis ha when she says she can’t go to the movies because she should be saving to pay full rent when her roommate took a loan from family and is spending it on vintage raybans- she says she’s poor and he says it’s offensive to actual poor people but we do see her eventually become essentially homeless so it feels more rooted in reality
where gossip girl got it wrong, ELITE got it right, imo. If you haven't seen it, it's a spanish teen drama on netflix. In it, there are three poor kids who are now the new kids at an extremely rich, ELITE (hence the name) private school, filled with the children on very rich and powerful parents. (long explaination below lol) where this differs to both iterations of Gossip Girl, is that the main kid, Samuel, and his friends, live in a poor area and Samuel lives with his struggling single mother and his brother (how was in prison but recenty got out) in a somewhat run-down looking apartment. Samuel also works as a waiter at a nearby restaurant to help his mother with money. The poor kids, especially Samuel's friend Christian, are characterised as somewhat criminal. or at least "in with the wrong crowd". idk i cant really expain it well. basically, they are seen as "thugs", obviously a trope of poorer areas having more gangs/crime etc. Christian is the thug while Carla, for example, is a fair, elegant, heiress rich girl. There is also a poor girl, who is the daughter of a muslim family who own a small grocer business. Her father is very strict to her and her brother (who is more laid back and smokes weed etc) and she works very hard in school because she knows she has to, and there are other things to do with her personal conflicts etc THE BIG THING IS, Samuel and his friends only get to go to this elite school because their old school, a poor and underprivelidged, underfunded school **burns down**. (I believe due to incompetence of one of the rich fathers construction company) As a result, the surrounding schools now need to house the kids from the burned down one, and the rich school offers three places, filled by Samuel and his two friends. This makes a lot more sense why these actually poor, working class kids get to go to this top-in-the-country, Elite school. even with scholorships it would be way to expensive Sorry if that was all over the place, but the main thing is that it all makes so much more sense both realistically and thematically. Overall i think it's such a good show. A lot of the conflict, as well, is based around the struggles and prejudices they face while at the school and from the rich kids. And also goes into some of the strugggles of the girl, Nadia, with her being muslim etc. I think the Gossip Girl reboot was refreshingly diverse mostly, and it didnt feel forced or "too woke" to me. in a way, it felt like a genuine, more modern version of the GG school. However, I would say that ELITE showing the actual struggles or conflicts they faced as poor students and of a muslim family in spain etc, adds a lot more, idk. (side note, there are a lot of muslim people in spain especially the south i believe? and lots of 'muslim'/arabic influence on the architeccture and language of some regions from the somewhat large arabic population in the past. however nowadays, spain is quite christian, and muslim people face a lot of discrimination, as in many areas in the west. disclaimer, I am not spanish or have ever been to'/lived in spain, so.. pinch of salt? this is what I remember from what I've read about / was taught by my (Spanish) A level Spanish teacher) edit: Although, a critisism of the new GG is that all the non white characters are mixed, white and something else. even Zoya, who is supposed to have two black parents is played by a bi-racial actress. I watched an infomative youtube video a bit ago about colourism, and I try to be more concious about it when watching shows like this. It's something that a lot of shows do without me even noticing until i think about it. i didn't even realise it was an issue until i saw the video about it. It's kind of crazy how common it is. It seems ike a show is diverse, but its kind of not that diverse, really :/
I was so innocent once... In my early 20's I thought my new acquaintances at the work place were mostly all like me, come to know, they were cosplaying poor! I remember the day I realized it. We went to someone's apartment for the first time and I couldn't understand why this young girl had a high $$$$$ rise apartment on the best block. I didn't dare ask anything but it dawned on me. I was surrounded... It was in the 90s btw, so it's has been going on for ever and ever and ever for some reason. 🧿🧿 This was an awesome 👍 video 👌
I’m confused because Dan never cosplayed as poor it was the people at Constance Who kept on bullying him because he was not as rich as them so they would call him poor. Did yall watch the show. Because if you go to a school like that and you’re not as rich as them they will bully you for being poor because to them that’s what he was. It would be different if he was proclaiming that he was poor but he didn’t really do that. I didn’t even care for the show, I know this.
I grew up on the original GG and I am now currently watching the reboot. Something I really noticed is that zoya- although not the child of a famous & wealthy art dealer or musician- is not poor, unattractive, or less than in any way. I feel like GG shows how elitism truly works, because here in the south it is the same way. I near Dallas and there are many private schools in the city ranging from 20-100k per year. Majority of these kids grow up only knowing one another and eventually feed into elitist universities like SMU which is one of the most elitist universities in Texas ( still in Dallas ). So these kids never even leave the environment they were raised in to understand what it means to be poor or socially disadvantaged- similar to the women you mentioned in the video. Elitism to me is just another social construct created to separate one group of people from another, primarily through class and race. I also think this is the reason why zoya was casted as black (even though she is biracial) to show the distinction between wealth for black people and wealth for white/AAPI people. It goes without saying that JC father is the most prominent Bc he is white & a celebrity- hints why she is the QUEEN BEE. I enjoyed the first GG way more because it focused on the inner world of the elite and their children vs trying to pretend to be socially aware and “woke.” The OG kids of Constance knew they were socially unaware, wealthy beyond means, and the creme de le creme; and that’s what made it so iconic. I think producers need to revisit this in season 2, to create better character development.
I feel less inclined to accept that Dan ever cosplayed poor. I feel like it was clear that the Humphreys were firmly middle class and as they spent more time mixing with the UES crew, they were finding themselves fully indoctrinated in the lifestyle. I feel like it kind of gave desperate for class solidarity with the wealthy. I quite enjoyed watching Rufus go back and forth during his marriage to Lily as he wrestled with his own version of 'wokeness' lmao ok but that's all about that but THEN RE: The reboot omg bestie it is indeed not good but I have this theory that the showrunner(s) and writer(s) who carried over from the OG hadn't yet handled some childhood trauma that was clearly affecting them because why are we still trying to push student-teacher relationships?????? Even when Dan and Ms. English teacher happened, everyone was quick to shut that shit down, so what changed???? Also, I find it baffling that these writers seem to think that the hate for the rich has now ended now that *they've* started getting money. Like, NO, let's talk about how y'all have strange solidarity for the wealthy theater community in NYC..........And get rid of those damn teachers jfc cuz if you're trying to argue that these rich students are awful and that these teachers deserve to be paid more i would JUST WATCH THE ORIGINAL!! I need to HATE these students so that I can LOVE them ya know? Also, justice for Monet!!!!!! Ok thanks for entertaining me xx see u next time!
i havent watched the series but from what I’ve seen, I totally agree with the part “I need to hate these students to love them”. The whole premis of the OG show was getting an inside look on how awful rich people are lmao. We’re not supposed to relate to them. Also, I dont know if they did but I think it wouldve been interesting if the characters thought they were woke, and then the writers honed in on their ignorance and hypocrisy
@@mschell350 i feel like they're trying to do that with Obie but its been kinda half assed so far, im hoping they're just trying to build it up, i mean we are only five episodes in so i'll give the writers some time to play things out ig
I would be really interested to know your thoughts on the new Netflix show called Young Royals! While it centers on Swedish society, I find that the way they handle the rich v. poor dynamic is very honest and realistic for a teen drama these days. Great video by the way!
You do suuuuch a good job at these videos! I love your commentaries! Can you talk about teen shows that do a good job at depicting some of the topics you have covered like class wealth colorism sexism etc. I feel like their are some shows doing a pretty good job that I absolutely love but not that many people watch or at least talk about like - good trouble and grand army. I feel like these shows end up not getting renewed or cancelled because theirs not enough hype
Random realization: in the OG Juliet was the closest to an "outsider" as it gets (in their universe) in every sense of the word...and that's what kinda made her so relatable/a fan favorite, despite the great schemes obviously playing a part in it too.
Do you forget that people/press in UK and even in the world called Kate Middleton (Prince William wife) working class, a commoner, that she was living a fairy tail story because she was marrying a prince, when in fact her parents were millionaires (owners of a company) and she attended in a private school and even studies in the same University of Prince William? I think this happened with Dan and it is happening with Zoya. If I were a Kate Middleton parent I would have been so annoyed to be called poor and looking down for being a self made millionaire. That elite/ privileged/ old money word is nasty because they are always looking down people and make then feel that they do not ‘fit in’ in their world.
I feel that if you have a choice of whether you can skip a meal or your parents can actually help you pay for college means you're at the very least living a comfortable life. Not perfect or extravagant but comfortable. Not preoccupied with your very survival moment to moment.
i’m genuinely so tired of nepotism babies and “by the boot strap” minded yt men writing storied for teenagers i never realized how damaging it was but it really did a whole number on me like i thought i was the only kid i knew of who’s mom worked 2 jobs and went to night school(my mamas a trooper i know) like i’d be so embarrassed going back to school shopping bc it want rlly back to school shopping it was like a funded thing people would pay for my groups clothes and i thought everyone in school would somehow know that? like being 10 years old and being SO aware of your social stance and not even knowing the real meaning of money but knowing that you don’t have enough so young is not good for your mental when the whole world shows u why not having enough money is not only bad but also your fault(which isn’t fucking true to begin w!!!) thank you for this video my middle school self is happy dancing😂❤️
I don't watch gossip girl but I had heard that Dan was the poor one and never really thought about this cosplaying poor narrative. This is a great video thank you for making it
Ok so the Humphreys clearly aren't poor, but Dan and Jenny weren't raised to treat money as if it was disposable. Dan is not poor, but compared to the other people at Constance (Blair, Serena, Chuck, Nate), he might as well have been. Notice how when he went to NYU, the whole dynamic changed as his surroundings did. He was no longer the outsider, or "Brooklyn" in a society full of Upper East Siders.
Thank you for saying this because I've had all these thought about gossip girl with nowhere to put them 😅😅 but I agree. They should've just stuck with the vapidness of being rich because that's what made the origional work. They weren't trying to be socially conscious because their world doesn't require them to. Simple. And likw the new cast is beautiful and could really make a point if the writers were afraid of going outside their bubble.
Also, In the first episode they make kind of a big deal about Zoya only having those nice shoes because JC bought them for her, adding to this "they are poor because they are just getting by" sort of idea. and JC gives her a dress to wear when they go out. BUT THEN in every episode after that, shes wearing expensive things! When Zoya and JC are fighting, so JC probably isn't buying her nice things, you can see Zoya wearing a Louis Vuitton bag to school. WHere did she get that from? she doesn't have a job, and her dad seems like the kind of guy who would be very against buying her a LV bag just so she can be popular. like Mr. Humphrey is with Jenny in the original series. idk, seems like they didnt actually think about the costume design, or how that thematically makes sense.
THANK YOU i've been so disappointed in the new gossip girl and couldn't nail why -- it's because at least the first one was accurate in a sense that that is what life is actually like for those people. In the reboot, however, there is this added level of "wokeness" used to appeal to the 2021 audience.... but it's giving colorblind and insincere.
A lot of teen shows seem to be doing that now. The whole point of Gossip Girl was that Blair, Chuck, Nate, and Serena were often so clouded by their riches, they had no idea what life was like for true poor people and used the Humphrey's (who weren't even poor, just less rich) as a frame of reference. Blair calls Dan poor despite his dad being able to pay for his and Jenny's partial scholarships (each costing 10s of thousands of dollars alone) and 2mil dollar house, and Serena doesn't even consider that giving Dan flashy gifts makes him feel bad because he could never afford to give her something better, because she's so used to having money she can spend whenever she wants.
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Tv show writers need to stop giving the “broke” characters huge apartments in expensive cities, that are fully furnished with all the latest design trends 🙅🏾♀️
That’s her grandmother apartment
@@bt3376 And they were nearly evicted because he couldn't afford it on his salary
And the furniture design in her apartment is very old fashioned, may look expensive but it’s not what is trending
YOO I always see your comments on nearly every youtuber I actively watch the videos of, your taste is impeccable if I do say so myself 😌😌
But.. THEY NEVER CALLED HER BROKE? or even less fortunate. Just next to extremely wealthy people… she is less fortunate. She’s living in an apartment, they’re in mansions. She probably uses cantu. They use Shea moisture😭 they on a different level
dan was "private school poor". i had gone to a private school most my life, but I wasn't nearly as rich as any of my classmates. It legit fucked with my perception of wealth to much that the first time I realised I was rich was when I was 18.
i was around people who though converse was budget
i feel you
Yeah that’s it
@@theoscarlessactress2748 converse dont run cheap, depending on where you get them from lol. Then again this is coming from someone who's been lower class my entire life. I found a pair for 4$ at a thrift store a few years back and they look dingy asf now, but I love those things to death 🤣
@@skinni_the_P00hBear that is my point.. people in my school were so rich that CONVERSE was cheap.
i find it strange that many rich people especially celebrities like to put on this front of being 'authentic' by portraying themselves as less wealthy than they are, it irks me the most when nepotism kids do this
Yes, cuz obviously being authentic would be to acknowledge their privilege, instead they choose to cosplay poor and become hypocrites
@@dibyoshreepaint9241 right! they need to recognise their privilege properly
Exactly right. I can not stand that too. Be yourself and show your privilege when you know you have it, especially financially😭💯
I’ve seen some videos that indicate rich people cosplay as poor to avoid inciting the poor into some kind of revolution
@@dibyoshreepaint9241 Exactly. It's more authentic and powerful if they recognize their privileges and attempt to give back, not pretend like they were down here getting free/reduced lunch with the rest of us. Tf
It really is that deep though. GOSSIP GIRL was a book series based on the writer of the book series' time at private schools in Manhattan. Also, as a New Yorker who was born and raised here, Rufus didn't have to send his kids to private school. Nyc has one of best school systems in the country, even for public schools. We literally have this big book of school for each grade system (kinder, grade school, middle school, high school) and each one has over thousands of choices. And thats just for public schools. It's literally like a college application. He could've sent them to Stuyvesant high school which was the number one school back when it was being filmed. Not to mention there are really good charter schools, montessori schools, the whole nine. There are so many educational options in nyc for which Rufus would be more than aware of because of his tax bracket circle. So yeah, it was a choice.
Agreeeed
I think the choice was driven by his character having interacted with people who came from schools like that. He fell in love with Lily, who was eventually given an ultimatum by her mother to choose between Rufus or her inheritance and she chose the latter. She then married William, who was an old money Upper East Side type. He expressed regret about losing Lily and felt insecure about his background and I think that’s his real reason for wanting to send his kids to Constance and St. Jude’s, he just uses the guise of wanting a “better education” for them.
wow that’s interesting i never thought abt how the US educations differs from state i know that must’ve been obvious lol but it really never crossed my mind, i grew up in NC notorious for not paying teachers enough never clocked that we would always have to split 4 or 5 books between groups in the class literally every year until we got a grant and got tablets in 7th grade…. then one of those tablets LITERALLY BLEW UP at a kids home(he was alright idk about his house) but yeah wow that’s crazy!!!
@@gabrielmichael3701 um I don't just live here i was born and raised here. I don't need a reporter to tell me about schools I've actually had to go to/apply to. We're also talking about schools specifically during the time that gossip girl was being filmed. But, even besides that, NYC has an enormous amount of options for schools whether they be private, charter, or public. Not to mention the specialty schools like Montessori or ones that have specific teaching objectives. They're not public but they're not private. Either way nyc has more than enough OPTIONS besides just public schools but, again, because of the OPTIONS there are a bunch of good public schools some that were number one in the city. Stuyvesant being the example I presented as, when I was in school, that and a few others, were the ones you wanted to apply to.
@@gabrielmichael3701 I think it's interesting that you say you're not being an asswhole yet you're trying to explain a system that I'm very familiar with. Yes I know there are zoning laws and that it's preferred for kids to go to schools closest to them. Again, I went to school here. But I also know kids who lived in staten Island and still went to Lagaurdia. I knew kids who lived in queens and went to Beacon high. When it comes to high school depending on where the school lands and whether you're accepted or not determined where you would go. You had the option of applying to 12 schools and they would go down the list depending on whether you were accepted or not. Again. Don't know if that's still the case but that was the case for when I had to deal with it. If you didn't like the school you could apply to transfer to others during freshman year. Also, you're telling me that your journalist friend went to every public school in Manhattan or did he cherry pick the ones that would add to his storyline. Not trying to be an asswhole though. But, most importantly, the entire point of my comment was that Rufus didn't have to send his kids to private school and he most definitely didn't have to send his kids to THAT specific private school as there are MANY to choose from as well as others. The whole point is that the city, specifically those who can afford it, have options to choose from and are not completely barred from making other decisions besides private. Simple.
Zoya's situation is most like Rory's in Gilmore Girls in that she was afforded the opportunity to go to a private high school and Yale and experience that wealth even though she grew up lower middle class because of her connections. I think eventually the show will come to a point where they stop pretending like Zoya is so less fortunate.
In what world is Zoya lower middle class her dad is a lawyer
@@phosphenevision I hear you. But we don’t know what type of lawyer Nick is. Not all lawyers make “good” money. When they were at risk of eviction, Zoya said they couldn’t afford to stay in the area. I think they’re middle class.
@@BellesView They very clearly are upper middle class. By definition, lawyers are upper middle class
@@phenominiallmusic There are some lawyers who are poor, such as non-profit lawyers who handle cases (usually involving underdogs, social justice) they are passionate about instead of whatever they are assigned. Sandy Cohen on The OC hardly made any money from being a lawyer because of that, living wealthy through his wife.
@@hybridbutterfly3908 The difference between middle class and upper middle class is that upper middle class are educated professionals while middle class is the working class.
Kids whose parents can pay college level tuitions for private high school is insane to think about
Exactly like how are you paying 40,000-60,000 dollars a year for a high school education?
@@gracie7212 knew a girl who's parents paid that much for school in Jupiter ,Florida. She got straight D's in school. She got her shit together in college and is an overall down to earth and good person but I thought that was weirdly expensive for highschool ya know?
I can barely imagine parents paying that much for private K-12 schools for one kid, and when I think about them doing that for _multiple_ kids?? Holy hell.
@@sweetpeabee4983 I studied at a k-12 on a scholarship and I have this friend who has 4 siblings who were all at the school. One thing though they offer discounts for having two or more children attending the school at the same time it's not a major discount though.
I went to private school
Dan wasn't cosplaying poor on the old GG. The old GG wasn't about money. It was about old money and new money. Dan didn't fit in cause his father was a rock-star musician with working-class roots. He invested his money and had a comfortable life. Everyone else was a WASP. Dan could have all the money in the world, but he would never have the pedigree. That's how it works in the North East, it's not LA.
Thank you. That's how I understood it as well.
Yup, there's old wealth in the East Coast as snobby as the Queen of England
@@juliannehannes11 Maybe you should express yourself more respectful
yeah I kinda got that when they started showing the extended families. Nate was a damn Vanderbilt, and when his family had problems because of his father, he was still accepted in all social circles. serena's family was clearly suposed to be one of those old money Dutch families. We never got Blair, but Waldorf is the name of damn hoel building on NYC so....also, it was obvious at some point that chuck bass's father was a sort of self-made man who demanded much to maintain their status.
also IIRC Dan hardly ever complained about MONEY as in I have no money, he was sad that Nate got Dartmouth on name alone. He was exasperated on the things his more prestige peers got away with unlike him who couldn't afford to get into trouble.
BTW I think this all got lost post-S2 but in the beginning I think it was there.
@@Ryan-pg1tw You say this like I was ever in their social circle
I feel like in The OG Gossip Girl Dan was like psychologically poor, he was not poor in real life just in comparison with his other classmates and still he wasn't poor. I liked how Zoya isn't really poor in the new GG but she really can't afford her life at NY without her Grandma's apartment and her scholarship, I really liked how they showed that in the first episode. Then I must say Obie is the worst rich kid of all and one of the most annoying characters, he acts like he is a shame of being rich when he chooses to but then he proceeds to rent or something like that a bunch of food trucks just for her girlfriend 😆😆😆😆
Yeah Dan was such a whiner. It just showed his entitlement
Obie is the worsttt. Were we supposed to find his "activism" endearing? He's always making a big show of rejecting his privilege, but when his friends are going through tough stuff, he always gives SUCH a privileged response by being like, "Why do you care about [something important]?" I'm waiting for someone to call him out
Ehh. Pretty sure they just couldn't afford that kind of apartment in their neighborhood because that apartment is at least 6k a month on the market.
@@andreacastro8338 It wasn’t meant to be endearing. Zoya addresses his performative activism in the last episode, and it’s what’s deteriorating their relationship. Also the way he talks about social issues, especially when he was sat with Zoya and her father for dinner whining about gentrification, it’s clearly being written to portray his underlying ignorance. He’s such a phoney but the writers know that.
Deadass hes such a performative activist
I don't watch Gossip Girl but using it as a base to talk about this topic worked super well! The way they're handling the reboot now is so telling of a disconnect and yet, with your case study, it's clearly real that rich people have no idea their privilege sometimes. Great discussion as always! I'll take these thoughts with me :)
You sum this up well. I never watch both 'Gossip Girl', but I do know I will not want to after watching Amanda's video. I do not like watching insensitive portrayals of the poor/upper working class. Shows like this are escape for reality for some, but not for me. It's repetitive at this point💯
@@JulianSteve I can't come up with any sort of list for shows that portray being poor accurately, which is a bit interesting don't you think? It feels like they only put in the effort for movies because that's more palatable..
@@The_Open_Book I think the show Shameless offers a nearly accurate portrayal of working class life
@@michumomo yes! That's the only one I could think of, the intro episodes really made me reevaluate privileges like being able to pay for toilet paper. I haven't watched all of it so I didn't want to say it in case anything got exaggerated over time I didn't know about. I hope it stayed strong! Do you know any others?
@@The_Open_Book grand army was great and very realistic
not sure if you've heard of it, but the swedish show Young Royals does a pretty fantastic job of showing class dynamics in these elite and rich private schools. It was really well-done, I won't spoil anything, but highly recommend!
Absolutely!! I myself am a “scholarship kid” and it was relatable
YES it’s so so so well done !!
Loved it so much
Where can I watch it?
@@blueswan7655 Netflix
As someone who went to an exclusive nyc private school, I used to feel soooo poor. Like I live on the UWS and both my parents are doctors but I was comparing my parents' wealth to the wealth of billionaires. Like these kids would have the most lavish parties at the most expensive hotels and restaurants, the lux penthouse apartments, and the biggest Hamptons homes I have ever seen. They would charter their yachts and private jets to go to lux places like St. Barths, Aspen, South of France. I related to Jenny and Dan because my parents didn't have the money to do those things or buy me piles upon piles of expensive designer clothes. Once I got to hs, I was def more aware of our socioeconomic status bc of prep4prep kids who were from middle to low income families. But feeling poor when you aren't at a NYC private school is so real, you have no idea.
I would say that's a very important point as well. You can be relatively poor without being poor. Psychologically, you may feel a certain way because of being the poorest person relative to those around you, in which case Jenny and Dan make perfect sense. I just don't like the way they acted like they were genuinely 100% poor in general, although it could be said that they just weren't self-aware.
Excellent point!!!
oooOooooh nooOooooOoo
The interesting part about cosplaying poor on Tv is that they paint a picture that you can work at McDonald's and still own a fancy apartment coze that's how poor people live in America . I have many friends and relatives from Africa who think working as a janitor can make you a lot of money and make you rich coze that's how Americans live. I can't convince them otherwise.
I think it all depends on the worth of the specific country's currency in comparison to American dollars. I could guarantee that a person from an American middle class background, could be seen as someone from a higher social standing here in Latin America due to the value of our cash alone. The financial disparity and increasingly worthless value of our cash is just proof of this, unfortunately.
So to me, is not that unrealistic that your friends would think that, if we're talking about going to America make money and come back with the cash that is. Even if it might be a short term solution lmao
Yeah, usually what we see in films and shows is our depiction of how life is in America and it's true that we think those kinda jobs can afford someone a decent apartment and life
Shidd, the way this 7.25 minimum wage is set up over here?? Americans working at McDonald's can barely afford monthly car payments, let alone rent 😑
“from Africa” lmao Africa is a whole continent, just say what African country it is
@Motown Gayes i believe they don’t even know anyone “from Africa” because they thought Africa was all just desert and primitive, while countries like South Africa, Namibia, Nigeria all are quite modern
i’m still annoyed that there is a teacher and student relationship like……it’s just so icky
Honestly... Is this show base on H.S. students or college students?
@@JulianSteve high school
@@JulianSteve It doesn't need to be, especially when everybody looks and acts older, but... yeah, it's about high school students
@@_900_L Thank you for letting me know.
@@laninfapimentel311 Smh… High school students messing with their teachers?!? Yep, I’m not watching that🤦🏾♂️🤣
As someone who’s been financially unstable for years, it still astounds me when I tell people I’m broke and can’t spend money on an activity, so they offer a less costly alternative or mention a “deal” some place has. When I’m broke, I’m broke. I can’t spend $5 on anything even if I wanted to. I grew up middle class and I’ve always known what “broke” vs broke meant, so I don’t see why this is a difficult concept to grasp.
Broke is relative unfortunately because there are levels to standards of living in life. Some will never not have money but having less money than usual will be their version of broke.
Yeah it’s all definitely relative. I can’t say to people I’m poor cause even though I’m a recent grad going at it alone renting alone in Sydney one of the most expensive cities in the world, my parents, who I don’t leech of have 3 properties worth 10-15 million and plenty of spare cash if I ever needed it which I never ask for. So technically I have a safety blanket and my parents are willing to give me a 3 million dollar house for free but as someone who has too much pride I could never do it. I feel like I’m in that Catergory of being classed as individually poor as my salary atm is really low but always have a fall back if I needed it
@@tessy28 yeah. To me, when I say I'm broke or a friend says they are, the less costly alternative is literally what they're looking for. Yesterday, I asked my friend if he wanted to go to the city (nyc) for dinner to show his friend around who was visiting. I said we could all split an uber to get there if he didn't want to drive or take train, bc he seemed hesitant and I couldn't tell if it was bc he didn't want to be around ppl on the train, or if he didn't wanna spend time driving in traffic. He said no, bc he's broke and can't afford to go to the city. I asked if he wanted to go to rvc instead for food and we could show the friend around long island where we live. He said sure. And then we got food on long island. The difference was essentially whether he could afford to spend a few hundred or so in a day to get to city and back and get probably overpriced food, or just go spend 30 or so on for dinner and head home to watch TV. Its interesting bc it is all relative. I have an ex who would decline even going out for food when he's broke, bc when he's broke, he doesn't even spend gas money, much less any money on food. So I think ppl ask those kinds of questions to clarify the circumstances bc the relativity of the word broke is really high.
@@Jaimelikegem that wouldnt really be the right use of broke but i guess it has evolved into slang so maybe it could be argued that the meaning has been extended to encompass that way of using it
@@mooseyman12345 it’s good that you’re self aware and not downplaying your privileges. i’d say you have familial wealth, but individually low-paid. i think ‘poor’ still has more connotations of working class/people who genuinely have nothing to fall back on/have no alternate options etc. whereas obviously as you mentioned your parents are willing to financially help you out a lot. so maybe classifying yourself as ‘low-paid’ is more appropriate if you’re struggling with finding the ‘right’ word to describe your situation?
I grew up upper middle class. In my head, I knew we weren’t poor. But whenever I’d as my Dad for money to hang out with a friend, he would always tell me “even though we live in this town and it looks like we’re rich with this house, we’re actually very poor”
So I grew up thinking that. When in reality, he just meant in comparison to the other people in my town who went clothes shopping every week and went on vacation during spring break.
Even then, I learned that my Dad was very wealthy. He was just very stingey and anxious about money. I told my therapist that I couldn’t afford therapy because my parents didn’t want to pay for it. After I told her what my Dad’s job was, she raised her fee.
I feel like I’ve been lied to. But also, I feel like I’ve known this all along. I have lived a very comfortable life which I am so grateful for. I just live with a family who is too scared to spend money on anything but the necessities. I can’t get mad at them for their choice on how they spend their money, especially if I have all my basic needs met.
My mom was like this too. When I would ask for snacks at the grocery store or clothes from the mall she would get frustrated at me and tell me how poor we were. She always blamed it on being divorced (even though my dad sent her thousands in child support each month). We had a pool, hot tub, multiple cars, house in a nice neighborhood. It took me until I was 23 to realize my privilege.
Your parents probably shouldn't have lied and instead straight up taught you to be tight with money and be very responsible with it. I don't think the lie did any favors. Though I am curious if any of their spending habits were passed on to you. I grew up middle class/lower middle class (never went on a vacation after the recessions and was pretty obvious my parents were barley keeping our usual lifestyle alive). I've always saved money like I've had none and it has definintely made me and my siblings good at saving. I know other ppl who spend as soon as they get their paycheck.
Yes I have mixed feelings about how my parents have treated money. I could never tell, and still can’t tell, how much money we have. They would CONSTANTLY talk about financially struggling, but would still somehow afford luxuries like private tuition & cars. I still remember the sinking feeling in my stomach when my dentist said I needed braces and how stressed my mom was on the way home. And the absolutely overwhelming guilt I had every holiday season because I feared my Christmas presents would leave our family broke. I really wish they would’ve not talked about money around me at all growing up.
I’ve just recently started watching the old Gossip Girl and Dan was the character I hate the most.
He always talking bout how the rich kids don’t know how it is when he literally goes to a private school and lives in a big ass condo in New York on top of that he acts like he better than the rich kids when he’s just as bad
Hang in there cos if u hate Dan now just wait till the later seasons if u make it that far 😂
In the book, it is obvious that he is a poser (and also creepy), his sister calls him out for being pretentious, but they chose to make him sympathetic/self righteous in the 2007 GG
He's exactly like Michael Bluth, judges the hell out of his social circle not realizing he's the worst of them all just for being so self aware thinking that having self awareness absolves him of everything when really it just makes him guiltier than the others by him knowing better and still participating
@@mauve9266 i honestly spoiled it for myself and figured out he was gossip girl from the ep when they showed him at the computer even tho him being gossip girl doesn’t make sense
@@juliannehannes11 I was looking at it like this has got to be the YOU Origin story cause he weird like how you get mad Serena slept with a guy before she even knew you existed
i think tv and visual media in general really struggle to show poor or even middle class people because it relies so much on aesthetics. is there a recent show or movie that doesn't either glamorize poverty, make it look dark and gritty or have faux poor characters? idk class is one of my fave things to discuss because it's so layered but i feel like that's the one aspect that consistently gets simplified on screen.
i really like your ideas for an Actual Outsider character, the gentrification angle especially would be so interesting to explore! the stakes!!
but yeah i've been skeptical of this gossip girl reboot, i feel like élite did it better (and also worse lmfao) and the tendency to reboot is just annoying, the og gossip girl is a perfect snapshot of a certain era and i feel like we'll look back on the reboot and see it as a confusing and eyeroll inducing time for the entertainment industry
Try american honey! It shows poverty in a very real way. Also just a excellent movie
shameless i think does it extremely well.
Even though the final episode aired like 15 years ago I immediately thought of Malcolm in the middle ! I'm not even American, like I've always lived in "little" parisian HLMs which would be the french equivalent of american rent controlled public housing I guess ? But Malcolm's family house, day to day life and struggles always seemed so... Dare I say, relatable (and real) ? They were, what I'd consider to be, true middle class/lower middle class
@@abigailno6127 Raising Hope also a good sitcom about poor/lower middle class family. I feel like teen dramas always go for glamorization, which i'm sort of okay with because the shows just always tend to be so extra and far from reality. One thing I do like about Elite, even tho it's pretty bad at showing poverty at times, is that Samu spends many many scenes working afterschool, and doesn't just roam around town like he doesnt need to make money.
do you think Shameless does it well? I feel like it does make living on the poverty line appear to have a certain charm but also extensively portrays the negative aspects in a really realistic and in-depth way
The "unnatural" part of the Kim Kardashian photos might be how empty the house looks, just like the tour of their actual house. Even though they are in the frame, the pictures look like a liminal space because we noramlly see candid home photos look more "lived" in.
I thought it was so funny that in the reboot, the richest of the group (Obie) lives in a loft in Brooklyn, just like Dan did lol
LMAOOO REALLY??
@@mschell350 yea lol
Me too, but he said they owned the building so...
No Monet is the richest not Obie
@@oyinosolo5837 Monet is the richest girl but Obie is the richest period
I’m glad you touched on the biracial characters lmao zoya is supposed to be fully Black but they casted a mixed girl for it??? the only one who is clearly black is monet and conveniently… she’s the villain.
Class analysis that is based exclusively on income level is kind of meaningless. According to a Marxist class analysis, class is about _how you make your money_ and not how much money you make. If you make your money by selling your labor you are working class. If you make money _by owning things_ then you’re a capitalist.
A pro athlete sells their labor, so even if they make over $1 million they’re still a worker. A small business owner could make less than 100K, but because they made it by owning stuff and paying other people to do stuff, they are of the capitalist class.
This is especially important when discussing the concept of a “middle class,” which is a flimsy concept that often describes professionals who would be indentifiable as working class _if they didn’t have the disposable income to make investments._ Like, who has cash to gamble on the stonks? Not the bottom 80% of households in the US. But notions of “class” just based on income brackets and cultural signifiers produces a lot of pointless squabbling imo, it needs to be backed by material analysis. Otherwise it becomes this weird shaming of people who have any disposable income, which encourages the poverty cosplay bs and more importantly directs attention away from the systems of exploitation that deserve our anger.
Thank you! So many people don’t understand this. “Middle class” is basically a useless term
Also NYU is literally the most expensive school in Manhattan next to the New School.
Thank you so much for talking about this.
I grew up damagingly poor. I worked through college and graduated with negative net worth. I ended a couple friendships because people who lived with their parents and lived on credit cards paid by their parents complained CONSTANTLY about being poor. Hanging out in their bedrooms in 4+ room houses in neighborhoods I didn't know existed 🤦 I never mentioned my financial situation but would say often that I couldn't afford to do some things with them. I always had to spend money when I went out with them. It added a toxic kind of stress to being social.
So basically what Shane Dawson likes to do.
Shane "im not on forbes richest youtubers list, while living in a million dollar mantion in LA" Dawson
I don't like this man but he did start off poor. He still acts like he's poor though, that's the problem ik.
It's not only the size of the apartments and houses it's also the way they're decorated. We were lower middle class and I could most relate to Malcolm in the middle.
The most significant thing about that care work is its unpaid. Imagine working 30 hrs a week taking care of a sick relative in addition to another job to bring in income.
not to mention its a highly gendered task still. It means that women are often the ones doing the majority of unpaid labour. its fucked up
As someone who’s considered upper middle class (Although my family lives “paycheck to paycheck” so we live middle class), I can understand why it’s hard to not realize you’re privileged when you’re right in the middle. It’s very confusing, because you know that you can’t afford everything in the world, but you pretty much get what you want.
So, unless you or someone else “dissects” your lifestyle, you’re really not gonna notice.
Note* I went to private school, but most classmates were lower middle class. I also don’t have any wealthy friends, but most of my close friends are middle class people and/or lower middle class.
They couldn’t have a true outsider because the glamour of gossip girl is seeing wealthy attractive teens have fun. That’s why people watch hence why they wouldn’t want a proper outsider. Is this good? No, but it’s the reality
I think it's also escapism. They show came out right at the start of the recession too.
Isnt the Upper East Side segregated and hasnt it been so since for ever? What are the odds of an older Black woman owning a rent controlled appartment in a building with a doorman?! I doubt her co-op neighbours would have just let her move in without putting a strongly networked resistance.
I know a black guy who is 60 who has a rent-controlled apartment on the upper east side in a doorman building. I think the rent control laws changed in the 1990s, so it is usually older people who have them. There are a lot of black people who live on the UES, but they are all college grads with high-paying jobs.
It's not as uncommon as you think. I'm not sure exactly how old Zoya's grandma is supposed to be, but if she were, say, a successful milliner in the 50s/60s and married decently, then she would easily have an apartment like that. Also, not that it makes a huge difference, but the apartment is UWS and there are people who live there who have apartments rent controlled for generations and pay in the $300-700/month range for multi-bedroom, which is ludicrous by today's standards.
Everybody who answered missed the point: the upper East side is segregated. Black people have been prevented from buying for decades.
I get help from my parents, but I say that I’m a broke college student because if my parents withdrew their support I would have nothing. Like I wouldn’t have a enough money to buy a place, I wouldn’t be able to continue classes at the school that I go to, and I don’t have a car.
same. My mom threatens to cut me off all the time so thats why sometimes I feel broke.
Same
The badge of honor thing linked with the aesthetic of being broke is something I have been thinking about a lot when it comes to the starving artist.
Actually, in the OG Gossip Girl Vanessa was the one poor. Though not THAT poor, because she had a lot of rich friends and being homeless was never a threat for her family. It was always about the status.
She was the only one in the show who WORKED as a waitress.
Those who are poor would never be comfortable being friends with the richest kids, never be comfortable with visiting their expensive-ass condos and stuff. People would see the poor as a threat, as thieves and stuff. Poor people do not attend private schools in New York. Poor people don’t live among the rich, and that’s why the show was never able to show it properly.
I think people need to understand that "rich" and "poor" are sides of wealth. It's not binary. It's a spectrum. And it's all relative. Therefore to say Dan or Zoya aren't really poor isn't necessarily true because if you were to ask their classmates, they would be. But if you were to ask someone else they would be rich.
I live in South Barrington, IL where houses can range from 500,000 to millions. Ask someone in say Skokie and they would say we are rich. But ask someone in Wilmette they would say we are "rich wannabes". So to "cosplay poor" isn't correct. Dan and Zoya are poor when compared to their peers which is the basis of the story regardless of our perception of their wealth. In fact the latter is a moot point.
100% THIS.
I think the difficulty is that real "outsiders," kids who are actually lower or even lower-middle-class, just don't exist at these schools. I was solidly middle class my whole life going to an elite DC private school on scholarship and it just didn't get any "poorer" than me. And I hear NYC private schools are on another level. But I do think exploring other "outsider" perspectives would've been a great route to take. Even exploring a middle-class person who isn't American would've been more interesting I think.
wow those last lines really defined how I felt about this new GG reboot. To me, it seems stuck in the 2010s narrative with the whole "is she wearing zara?" and "swear on your Louis Vuitton" lame jokes. I hope I'm not the only disappointed in this "woke" version because it's far from being so.
@Motown Gayes "af"
*Fun fact: the cost of living is 164% higher in the Manhattan area of New York City than Cleveland, Ohio.*
*If you lived in Cleveland and earned the median national income ($40,000), or average national income ($51,000), you would have to make between $105,000-$165,000 in Manhattan to maintain that same standard of living.*
*Outrageous.* 🤦🏿♂️🤦🏿♂️🤦🏿♂️
yeah Manhattan is just outrageous. Other boroughs aren't too much better in all honesty. This area is just so unaffordable. In my 20's making 60k and it doesn't go far at all.
@@Ray03595
*Yeah. Definitely see if you can move.*
How I felt living in vancouver. My family was called white trash by my classmates. Wasnt until I moved to Sherbrooke that I realized we were middle class.
@@lotus_flower2001
*Right.*
*You got me fucked up if you think I'm gonna pay $3,800+/mo. on rent and I am NOT a millionaire yet?*
*Shiiiiiiiiit....*
Congratulations on 200k! You deserve this growth
Thank you so much!
Let’s be real: when we watched OG Gossip Girl, we didn’t care that it wasn’t woke, we cared about the well written characters and their relationships (so basically Blair and drama lol) so idk why they felt the need to reboot it into something that clearly wasn’t an expectation from the show.
It’s not woke at all, they just have people who aren’t white and a character played by an actress that just happens to be poor
@@II-bn8gc
Let's be real - they're trying to be woke. Filipino american actor, latina, black actresses, bisexual, gay and transexual characters, and mentioning woke shit from time to time in episodes...yeah they are trying to be woke lmao
@@me9981 the social commentary is woke-leaning but their casting isn’t an attempt to be woke when it’s quite realistic. only 3/8 of the student characters are white, sure, but 8/10 of the adult characters are white. for their setting, it isn’t a far reach. and luna is transgender, not that term.
@@corneliastreets I didn't explain myself well enough because english is not my first language. They are throwing all the representation at us without giving us a good story, good writing, a good show...that's my point. I know it's realistic for new york, but why would I watch a show just for the representation if the show itself is not good. I would rather go back to original gossip girl tbh. (even though they too had many problems lmao)
Edit:
To add to that - I'll continue to watch the reboot for a few more episodes just to see how it continues but if the story continues to be trash well...I'll be sorry to have to stop watching because I think they actually picked nice cast. I hate how people are talking trash about them 😑
@@corneliastreets Also, I was not talking about luna, I was talking about Max' dad.
I was pissed off that in on of the only times we see a brown (middle eastern,northfrican and/or south asian) character she is one of the creepy teachers who leaves in like the third episode they had a chance to present us with a great brown character and yet again they blew it, as a middle eastern girl I barley see any good representation of brown people so seeing the only brown person in the entire show being a weird creepy character was very dissapointing
i feel like ppl who cosplay poor do it as a means of protection, especially those in the middle to upper-middle class. so many ppl young or old, who are well off individuals use money as a way to flex and turn up online and in certain areas, and the worst-case scenario happens sometimes. in my head I feel if someone like j.cole who doesn't wear the nicest designer clothes or childish gamnio who wore old sweaters. don't try to act real or hard or relatable but simply are not trying to feed the monster that is the desperate poor. idk just my thoughts on the idea
It could also be that someone grew up poor and is just used to dressing a certain way
Ma'am! Great topic & I'm excited to listen! I just read how Billie Eilish said her broke and poor fans were "cute" and that she wished she was "broke like them". Why do the rich do us this way 😭
The funniest thing is that they portray zoya and dan are poor when they live in big apartaments in one of the most expensive cities in the WORLD
Gossip girl never portrayed Dan as “poor” but just that he didn’t come from a ridiculously wealthy, high-society family with status like the others on the UES.
Yes exactly he was never deemed poor just not the 1% like Blair, Serena, Chuck or Nate.
I disagree, he and his dad called themselves poor every few episodes. Exspecially Dan was whining about it quite a lot.
@@kimbutton4419 Jenny especially talked about their money a lot, but their perception gets warped by the fact they’re always surrounded by kids much richer than them so it makes them feel so much less than.
@@corneliastreets And then Rufus married Lilly thereby Jenny inherited wealth and social status which is the only reason Blair crowned her queen
i've never watched gossip girl but this is the video i didn't know i was waiting for....i feel like i need to send this to half the people i know. i get the feeling this growing up rich without knowing you're rich can only happen if you/your family/your friend group is all within the same class bubble...and that a lot of the denial of wealth one sees in upper middle class/wealthy circles is an attempt at escaping the responsibility linked to privilege
"confectionary progressivism" is such a pefect phrase!!
Your ELOQUENCE is outstanding, and I am so grateful to have sub’d!
i feel like this whole effort of “wokeness” in the reboot was never gonna workout because of the appeal of the original show (messy and exaggerated plot lines) so honestly i don’t think there’s space for “wokeness” and as we can see in the reboot it just doesn’t reflect the same appeal the original did
Totally!
all these shows seem to do the same thing nowadays. Diverse cast, black character that doesnt look too black, token gay, token trans, something feminist said every episode... it can be cringey sometimes and focus clearly isn't always on telling a good story and making the characters 3 dimensional. Degrassi still beats most of this new stuff and it doesn't have to go out of it's way to keep reminding you how diverse everyone is.
Man i wish u were in that writers room because your ideas of how the show could have been told alone is brilliant to say the least! Would have made for a very interesting show!! Right now its not giving much on the topic other than the dynamics of the friends themselves
100% agree with you. The original gossip girl was partly based off of Cecily von Ziegesar’s experience swimming in the world of opulence and how she translated that into books with characters that actually had substance. This new gossip girl feels rushed and partly unreal because even if we dont want to accept it, the upper east side is STILL the house of white millionaires, old money, you could say. The new gg doesnt feel like escapism. It feels like an attempt at how the show’s writers would like the upper east side to be. Maybe season 2 will pick a side as you said. They might either go full opulence or one of its characters could lose it all and might become relatable. Loved your video. xoxo
@Motown Gayes generational wealth
This reminds of Billie Eilish. When she said she grew up poor 💀. Why do ppl who were middle class think they were growing up poor like damn.
Elite tackled class better. Americans are in denial of classism.
I wouldn't say that. Elite is much more open about it, which I appreciated. But in OG Gossip Girl, the rich kids (except Nate) have parents that are "new money" but while working in formal companies. Whereas Dan had a former rockstar dad and came from a more left-wing background. There is a huge difference between the rich kids but it's not as clearly written as in Elite.
So I would say Americans are aware of classism but don't know how to tackle it.
This was such an amazing and thoughtful video. I learned so much-thank you!
If you're looking for something similar to GG with a lot more nuance, I'd recommend the new young adult book Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé. I just finished it over the course of two days-it was seriously impossible to put down. The book is based on the premises of both Gossip Girl and Jordan Peele's Get Out. We go through the story of two Black students at an elite private school, as they deal with racism, classism, and their sexual identities.
thank you and that sounds so interesting!
This is a very thought provoking video. I appreciate the time you spent on it. I have also claimed to be a broke college student and now a broke law student, but I have not and do not consider myself to be poor. I definitely see the difference between those two terms
i grew up middle-middle class and while we never were in deep shit, my parents could have NEVER afford tuition to NYU. So while i know i have generational wealth, watching og and them being like "im poor i cant afford to go to yale or live on the ues in a billion dollar apartment", im like. you're in a higher bracket than me and i dont consider myself poor. honestly, with luna's comment about zara, it would've been REALLY interesting to see the disparity in perspective, in terms of clothings for example. like for low income and middle class ppl, zara is an expensive shop. but for the rich, it's terrible. and while the humphreys are definitely NOT poor, jenny trying to fit in by selling her stuff and making dresses that look high fashion is a concept that i liked from the og and that should've been adapted in ggrb. also, possibly, a character like cayetana in élite. not to say that élite is the best show ever, but it's more class concious than either og or ggrb.
I mean i think it would’ve been interesting if there was a poc character and they’re only attending the school because of a scholarship and all the students were competitive and tried to make her feel less than and that she doesn’t belong there, that she just there because she’s a poc. I think it’d actually show how less fortunate people never feel good enough against richer people. Or maybe the character was the child of a janitor who works at the school or something. Idk. But it’s literally just focusing on teens so I don’t really understand why they’d try to make it more “woke”
have you watched Elite yet? it has storylines sort of like this
@@elisewester5794 it's an amazing show!!
In our school, the daughter of one peon was in my class, n our principal paid 50percent of the fees, n 50 her dad, n she was least intelligent/smart student in class (based on grades n extracurricular activities) I don't say it's her fault but Maybe she can't afford the extra classes/private tutor but she was not studying, like just didn't , ecen though her dad put so much effort on her, idk if she had internalized her poverty or not. She did work for everyone like if some forgets that bottle on different floor n they would ask her to go get it and she wouldn't refuse though she didn't liked to do it , she did it n people asked her!
@Motown Gayes yeah, I thought maybe it could even help show though how class can effect those from the same race. Like how there will be rich black people but some tend to separate themselves from the lower class and stuff. If that makes sense. I agree though, and she is really pretty.
@@elisewester5794 i've heard about it. I should watch it
ugh your conclusion was BEAUTIFUL!!! so true.. It’s even worse bc iirc all the writers are white & likely nepotism babies 🤢🤢 on twitter they’re all just parading their writing around when it’s not even good! (endless references to niche things than actual substance, & definitely sounds millennial) .. they’re so out of touch with what it means to be poor, never mind nonwhite........ as for the show, it is sick how they portray Obie as a good guy when he’s comfortable with and benefits from his statue (literally pay the strikers with your assets instead of buying them bullshit???) and his social wokeness is performative, vapid, & only to get cool points to show he’s one of the “good rich” ,,,,, which.. 🤮
also more importantly, the way they write the teachers is giving huge “evil poor” vibes/trope when they actually could act justifiably for the genuine grievances about the corrupt systems of higher/private education ... it would definitely be timely too, considering varsity blues ! also them throwing the only teacher of color under the bus 🤮🤮🤮 that wasn’t even any kind of social commentary that was just racist.....
just.. so many missed opportunities ...... it’s just interesting how a show marketed on being woke perpetuates the same, if not worse, stereotypes about class ....
If I’m being honest I feel like it’s an issue with the writers and creators not knowing how poor people live or the experience I feel like characters like dan and jenny were genuinely meant to be poor but they had no idea how to present that in the show to fit the “glamorous” aesthetic
I love this! I was wondering when you were going to come out with another video 📹
you're so beautiful, this simple makeup and hairstyle suits you SO well
Fantastic video!
I grew up genuinely poor, like homeless and going to food banks, but I tested high and went to public schools in the wealthy part of town. It was a harrowing experience to say the least, and I would love to see a show that depicts what that experience is really like.
I fucking loveee the original gossip girl (can’t wait to watch the new version) but I definitely agree with this video. I’m not surprised by the casting. Hollywood is still trying to hold on to the brown paper bag concept.
I mean I think they wanted to show that black people can be rich too because we can. Maybe it’s an issue that she’s seen to be portrayed as “broke” but to me she isn’t. Her story is more of her being someone who’s an outsider because she’s younger and from a different area. They never called her poor or broke, she’s just seen as average or “less rich” idk why u mentioned the African American statistics because obviously you know it’s not unlikely for black Americans to be upper middle class. I think they did it better this time around lol
Literally! I rlly dislike how some black people make it seem like black people can’t be rich. It’s very annoying to me
@Motown Gayes I’m confused too. What purpose does it serve?😂
@Motown Gayes well there’s only 13.3 black ppl in America
Thought-provoking concept, "cosplaying poor". I'm definitely guilty of calling myself broke for having no money in my bank whilst also knowing that if things got truly bad, I could always call my mom, and the brokenness would disappear. There's much more freedom to take risks and fail here and there for some "broke" students than for other broke students, and I wish every nation everywhere would provide a social safety net big enough so that every student would be "broke", instead of broke.
Hey i love your content and i hope you have a successful life you deserve everything that happens to you
In the end, we all find out that Dan was an opportunistic, dissatisfied villain. In contrast, the writers fully fleshed out Chucks storyline. Chuck fully owned who he was . Eventually his personality and humanity finally seemed to shine true. The way that the writers wrote Dan, portrayed him as low key sociopath. A young man that would do whatever it takes, to rub shoulders with the elite while simultaneously harboring envy and hate towards his more "privileged" peers. Seems like Dan's character, is viewed through the perspective of the elite and wealthy.
agree, they made the same with Jenny´s character
Omg perfect timing i was just rewatching gossip girl and getting weirdly nostalgic for my high school days...
I haven’t even seen gossip girl I just think you make good video essays
ur so freaking good at this damn !! i've been watching the new gg too and you said it all so perfectly
I wrote an article about this where I basically reiterated the points I've been making since the reboot was announced. The OG Gossip Girl was very much a product of its time. Petty socialite drama in fiction is something we've seen before, and it doesn't really have a place in the current climate of entertainment anymore. The showrunner's attempts to pander to Gen Z audiences who weren't raised upper-middle class was just despicable
Where can I find your article? I'd like to read it🙂
18:55 Did anyone else think of Cayetana from Elite when she said this? Homegirl literally made up a fundraiser event to scam all her rich peers and their families and friends, just so she could get some money to keep attending that rich-ass private school. I think Gossip Girl needs to take some notes from Elite's Cayetana, she's a true outsider. I mean you even have Nadia, Samuel, and Omar for example as well. Now that I'm thinking about it I feel like Gossip Girl low key wants to be Elite, like just a little bit. You get what I'm saying?
Korean drama have mastered the class problem in movies or shows. They truly show how it is to be a poor student and an outsider among a rich wealthy student and private school
Congrats on 200k subs!! Love your videos
This reminds me of Francis ha when she says she can’t go to the movies because she should be saving to pay full rent when her roommate took a loan from family and is spending it on vintage raybans- she says she’s poor and he says it’s offensive to actual poor people but we do see her eventually become essentially homeless so it feels more rooted in reality
i wanted to say that you are so powerful that you took the courage to talk about these important topics
where gossip girl got it wrong, ELITE got it right, imo.
If you haven't seen it, it's a spanish teen drama on netflix. In it, there are three poor kids who are now the new kids at an extremely rich, ELITE (hence the name) private school, filled with the children on very rich and powerful parents.
(long explaination below lol)
where this differs to both iterations of Gossip Girl, is that the main kid, Samuel, and his friends, live in a poor area and Samuel lives with his struggling single mother and his brother (how was in prison but recenty got out) in a somewhat run-down looking apartment. Samuel also works as a waiter at a nearby restaurant to help his mother with money.
The poor kids, especially Samuel's friend Christian, are characterised as somewhat criminal. or at least "in with the wrong crowd". idk i cant really expain it well. basically, they are seen as "thugs", obviously a trope of poorer areas having more gangs/crime etc. Christian is the thug while Carla, for example, is a fair, elegant, heiress rich girl.
There is also a poor girl, who is the daughter of a muslim family who own a small grocer business. Her father is very strict to her and her brother (who is more laid back and smokes weed etc) and she works very hard in school because she knows she has to, and there are other things to do with her personal conflicts etc
THE BIG THING IS, Samuel and his friends only get to go to this elite school because their old school, a poor and underprivelidged, underfunded school **burns down**. (I believe due to incompetence of one of the rich fathers construction company)
As a result, the surrounding schools now need to house the kids from the burned down one, and the rich school offers three places, filled by Samuel and his two friends. This makes a lot more sense why these actually poor, working class kids get to go to this top-in-the-country, Elite school. even with scholorships it would be way to expensive
Sorry if that was all over the place, but the main thing is that it all makes so much more sense both realistically and thematically.
Overall i think it's such a good show. A lot of the conflict, as well, is based around the struggles and prejudices they face while at the school and from the rich kids. And also goes into some of the strugggles of the girl, Nadia, with her being muslim etc.
I think the Gossip Girl reboot was refreshingly diverse mostly, and it didnt feel forced or "too woke" to me. in a way, it felt like a genuine, more modern version of the GG school. However, I would say that ELITE showing the actual struggles or conflicts they faced as poor students and of a muslim family in spain etc, adds a lot more, idk.
(side note, there are a lot of muslim people in spain especially the south i believe? and lots of 'muslim'/arabic influence on the architeccture and language of some regions from the somewhat large arabic population in the past. however nowadays, spain is quite christian, and muslim people face a lot of discrimination, as in many areas in the west. disclaimer, I am not spanish or have ever been to'/lived in spain, so.. pinch of salt? this is what I remember from what I've read about / was taught by my (Spanish) A level Spanish teacher)
edit:
Although, a critisism of the new GG is that all the non white characters are mixed, white and something else. even Zoya, who is supposed to have two black parents is played by a bi-racial actress. I watched an infomative youtube video a bit ago about colourism, and I try to be more concious about it when watching shows like this. It's something that a lot of shows do without me even noticing until i think about it. i didn't even realise it was an issue until i saw the video about it. It's kind of crazy how common it is. It seems ike a show is diverse, but its kind of not that diverse, really :/
I was so innocent once... In my early 20's I thought my new acquaintances at the work place were mostly all like me, come to know, they were cosplaying poor! I remember the day I realized it. We went to someone's apartment for the first time and I couldn't understand why this young girl had a high $$$$$ rise apartment on the best block. I didn't dare ask anything but it dawned on me. I was surrounded... It was in the 90s btw, so it's has been going on for ever and ever and ever for some reason. 🧿🧿 This was an awesome 👍 video 👌
I’m confused because Dan never cosplayed as poor it was the people at Constance Who kept on bullying him because he was not as rich as them so they would call him poor. Did yall watch the show. Because if you go to a school like that and you’re not as rich as them they will bully you for being poor because to them that’s what he was. It would be different if he was proclaiming that he was poor but he didn’t really do that. I didn’t even care for the show, I know this.
I grew up on the original GG and I am now currently watching the reboot. Something I really noticed is that zoya- although not the child of a famous & wealthy art dealer or musician- is not poor, unattractive, or less than in any way. I feel like GG shows how elitism truly works, because here in the south it is the same way. I near Dallas and there are many private schools in the city ranging from 20-100k per year. Majority of these kids grow up only knowing one another and eventually feed into elitist universities like SMU which is one of the most elitist universities in Texas ( still in Dallas ). So these kids never even leave the environment they were raised in to understand what it means to be poor or socially disadvantaged- similar to the women you mentioned in the video. Elitism to me is just another social construct created to separate one group of people from another, primarily through class and race. I also think this is the reason why zoya was casted as black (even though she is biracial) to show the distinction between wealth for black people and wealth for white/AAPI people. It goes without saying that JC father is the most prominent Bc he is white & a celebrity- hints why she is the QUEEN BEE. I enjoyed the first GG way more because it focused on the inner world of the elite and their children vs trying to pretend to be socially aware and “woke.” The OG kids of Constance knew they were socially unaware, wealthy beyond means, and the creme de le creme; and that’s what made it so iconic. I think producers need to revisit this in season 2, to create better character development.
I feel less inclined to accept that Dan ever cosplayed poor. I feel like it was clear that the Humphreys were firmly middle class and as they spent more time mixing with the UES crew, they were finding themselves fully indoctrinated in the lifestyle. I feel like it kind of gave desperate for class solidarity with the wealthy. I quite enjoyed watching Rufus go back and forth during his marriage to Lily as he wrestled with his own version of 'wokeness' lmao ok but that's all about that but THEN RE: The reboot omg bestie it is indeed not good but I have this theory that the showrunner(s) and writer(s) who carried over from the OG hadn't yet handled some childhood trauma that was clearly affecting them because why are we still trying to push student-teacher relationships?????? Even when Dan and Ms. English teacher happened, everyone was quick to shut that shit down, so what changed???? Also, I find it baffling that these writers seem to think that the hate for the rich has now ended now that *they've* started getting money. Like, NO, let's talk about how y'all have strange solidarity for the wealthy theater community in NYC..........And get rid of those damn teachers jfc cuz if you're trying to argue that these rich students are awful and that these teachers deserve to be paid more i would JUST WATCH THE ORIGINAL!! I need to HATE these students so that I can LOVE them ya know? Also, justice for Monet!!!!!! Ok thanks for entertaining me xx see u next time!
i havent watched the series but from what I’ve seen, I totally agree with the part “I need to hate these students to love them”. The whole premis of the OG show was getting an inside look on how awful rich people are lmao. We’re not supposed to relate to them. Also, I dont know if they did but I think it wouldve been interesting if the characters thought they were woke, and then the writers honed in on their ignorance and hypocrisy
#JUSTICEFORMONET
@@mschell350 i feel like they're trying to do that with Obie but its been kinda half assed so far, im hoping they're just trying to build it up, i mean we are only five episodes in so i'll give the writers some time to play things out ig
poor-core
at least on the o.c the outsider character was literally homeless and about to go to juvie
I would be really interested to know your thoughts on the new Netflix show called Young Royals! While it centers on Swedish society, I find that the way they handle the rich v. poor dynamic is very honest and realistic for a teen drama these days. Great video by the way!
You do suuuuch a good job at these videos! I love your commentaries! Can you talk about teen shows that do a good job at depicting some of the topics you have covered like class wealth colorism sexism etc. I feel like their are some shows doing a pretty good job that I absolutely love but not that many people watch or at least talk about like - good trouble and grand army. I feel like these shows end up not getting renewed or cancelled because theirs not enough hype
I agree SO much! Ive always hated how GG was like dan is so poor ... he lives in a friggin loft in Brooklyn!
I love your commentary on it! You hit the points that I felt while watching the reboot. Great analysis!!
Random realization: in the OG Juliet was the closest to an "outsider" as it gets (in their universe) in every sense of the word...and that's what kinda made her so relatable/a fan favorite, despite the great schemes obviously playing a part in it too.
Do you forget that people/press in UK and even in the world called Kate Middleton (Prince William wife) working class, a commoner, that she was living a fairy tail story because she was marrying a prince, when in fact her parents were millionaires (owners of a company) and she attended in a private school and even studies in the same University of Prince William? I think this happened with Dan and it is happening with Zoya.
If I were a Kate Middleton parent I would have been so annoyed to be called poor and looking down for being a self made millionaire. That elite/ privileged/ old money word is nasty because they are always looking down people and make then feel that they do not ‘fit in’ in their world.
I feel that if you have a choice of whether you can skip a meal or your parents can actually help you pay for college means you're at the very least living a comfortable life. Not perfect or extravagant but comfortable. Not preoccupied with your very survival moment to moment.
i’m genuinely so tired of nepotism babies and “by the boot strap” minded yt men writing storied for teenagers i never realized how damaging it was but it really did a whole number on me like i thought i was the only kid i knew of who’s mom worked 2 jobs and went to night school(my mamas a trooper i know) like i’d be so embarrassed going back to school shopping bc it want rlly back to school shopping it was like a funded thing people would pay for my groups clothes and i thought everyone in school would somehow know that? like being 10 years old and being SO aware of your social stance and not even knowing the real meaning of money but knowing that you don’t have enough so young is not good for your mental when the whole world shows u why not having enough money is not only bad but also your fault(which isn’t fucking true to begin w!!!) thank you for this video my middle school self is happy dancing😂❤️
You literally hit so many points I could only think but not articulate... they do need to pick a side and commit to it
I don't watch gossip girl but I had heard that Dan was the poor one and never really thought about this cosplaying poor narrative. This is a great video thank you for making it
I literally love u for making this video I’ve been so frustrated
Ok so the Humphreys clearly aren't poor, but Dan and Jenny weren't raised to treat money as if it was disposable. Dan is not poor, but compared to the other people at Constance (Blair, Serena, Chuck, Nate), he might as well have been. Notice how when he went to NYU, the whole dynamic changed as his surroundings did. He was no longer the outsider, or "Brooklyn" in a society full of Upper East Siders.
Thank you for saying this because I've had all these thought about gossip girl with nowhere to put them 😅😅 but I agree. They should've just stuck with the vapidness of being rich because that's what made the origional work. They weren't trying to be socially conscious because their world doesn't require them to. Simple. And likw the new cast is beautiful and could really make a point if the writers were afraid of going outside their bubble.
congrats on 200k subscribers! :P
Living for the gossip girl content 🙏🏻💓
That is why YOUNG ROYALS directors and writers goes for reality and authenticity.
such good content as usual amanda!! you always manage to find the most interesting niche topics and break them down so so well. loved this vid!
Also, In the first episode they make kind of a big deal about Zoya only having those nice shoes because JC bought them for her, adding to this "they are poor because they are just getting by" sort of idea. and JC gives her a dress to wear when they go out. BUT THEN in every episode after that, shes wearing expensive things! When Zoya and JC are fighting, so JC probably isn't buying her nice things, you can see Zoya wearing a Louis Vuitton bag to school. WHere did she get that from? she doesn't have a job, and her dad seems like the kind of guy who would be very against buying her a LV bag just so she can be popular. like Mr. Humphrey is with Jenny in the original series. idk, seems like they didnt actually think about the costume design, or how that thematically makes sense.
Amazing video. So many upper class people whose parents make 100k-500k a year think they’re poor just bc they aren’t billionaires LMAO it’s so weird
THANK YOU i've been so disappointed in the new gossip girl and couldn't nail why -- it's because at least the first one was accurate in a sense that that is what life is actually like for those people. In the reboot, however, there is this added level of "wokeness" used to appeal to the 2021 audience.... but it's giving colorblind and insincere.
A lot of teen shows seem to be doing that now. The whole point of Gossip Girl was that Blair, Chuck, Nate, and Serena were often so clouded by their riches, they had no idea what life was like for true poor people and used the Humphrey's (who weren't even poor, just less rich) as a frame of reference. Blair calls Dan poor despite his dad being able to pay for his and Jenny's partial scholarships (each costing 10s of thousands of dollars alone) and 2mil dollar house, and Serena doesn't even consider that giving Dan flashy gifts makes him feel bad because he could never afford to give her something better, because she's so used to having money she can spend whenever she wants.