I started watching Gossip Girl purely for entertainment. I was drawn in by the drama, fashion, and glamour. At the time, as a highschooler myself, it was fun to watch other teenagers living lives completely different than mine. Characters on the show lived in penthouse apartments, attended expensive private schools, and wore designer clothing. The show presented this way of living as normal and mundane. Captivated by the drama in the show, I never gave much thought to the extreme class bubble that exists in the lives of Blair Waldorf, Serena van der Woodsen, and Chuck Bass. As I look back, I realize how media normalizes privilege and shapes ideas about wealth and power.
This week's module focused on Marxism. Marxist theory is grounded in materialism and the idea that money shapes social relations. From this perspective, wealth is not just personal success, but instead a product of the system of class structures. In Gossip Girl, material items are shown as identity markers rather than just things. Well-off characters in the show are portrayed as having power over characters without wealth. Attending exclusive parties and having important friends gives them an advantage in life. For example, much of the plot of the show revolves around Dan, a teenager from a struggling family. As Dan receives a scholarship to attend the same school as wealthier kids, it's very obvious to see he is not given the same opportunities. He is often viewed as an "outsider" looking in. When he begins dating a girl from a wealthy family, the whole Upper East Side of Manhattan is turned upside down. Rather than questioning inequality, Gossip Girl glamorizes it. This show reinforces the ideas that wealth equals power and advantages over other individuals.
As I revisit Gossip Girl years later and through a Marxist lens, I can clearly see how certain ideologies are tied into pop culture. A show that once felt entertaining and glamorous now feels like it's just romanticizing inequality. This series portrays extreme wealth in a way that makes it aspirational instead of questioning the system. Thinking about the show in this way leaves me questioning how often we consume media as "just entertainment" without wondering about the values and ideologies it reinforces?
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ReplyDeleteI really appreciate how this post offers a very strong Marxist reading of Gossip Girl, especially in how materialism works as a signature of identity and power. The example of Dan as an outsider shows how class privilege shapes access and opportunity. I also found the line about glamorization versus critique compelling, as the show presents inequality as aspirational rather than problematic. It is a great reminder of how pop culture often reinforces ideology under guise of entertainment. This raises an important question about how pop culture subtly reinforces dominant ideologies, even when viewers are not consciously aware of it.
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