Gossip Girl

I’m an avid Gossip Girl watcher, but never, would I have characterized it as noir prior to this week. Admittedly, however, I can’t say that I have put too much time into thinking what the show could be marked as. I accepted it pretty much at face value, as a teen, girl soap opera/ drama that many girls (including myself) enjoyed.

After reading Stein’s article this week on Millennial Noir, I have reconsidered the genre of Gossip Girl. At first I was skeptical of how Gossip Girl could be characterized as noir. Stein’s article, in conjunction with the episode from the screening, however, were fairly convincing of the “noirness” of the show.

Certainly the type of noir that Stein is referring to is not the typical kind of noir that most people would think of; instead it is a reworking of traditional noir. Stein suggests that through a combination of millennial and noir aspects, this series (along with Veronica Mars and Supernatural) has reworked the idea of typical noir into a more millennial noir. Braithwaite even uses the term “double architecture” to describe the joining of teen and noir.

Gossip Girl serves as a good example of this double architecture and reworking of traditional noir into a sort of millennial noir. Rather than having a femme fatale, as is typically the case in traditional noir, Gossip girl reworks this idea of noir “inverting and exposing noir gender/ power expectations” by using home fatales (Stein 9). Along those gender power inversion lines, the female characters are the ones who have the power. And not just the female characters, Stein is careful to note that it is the teenage female characters that hold the power, exposing generational differences.

In this particular episode, Blair (most prominently) and Serena hold the power. They are the ones whose actions and evidence eventually led to firing of the new teacher. It is interesting to me the role that technology has taken in this show. While the female characters are the ones who hold the power in this show, it is the technology of cellphones and the Internet that allow this to be possible. Without Blair’s original post on Gossip Girl that circulated a rumor about inappropriate relations between Dan and the teacher, she would have been limited in her power. Without cellphone picture taking capabilities, Serena would have never been able to provide evidence for Blair’s claim. Thus, I think it is safe to say that in these reworkings of traditional noir films and television shows like Gossip Girl and Veronica Mars, females certainly have been given more power, but it is also imperative to note the presence and power of technology that gives them such power.