Sejal Says, "The Great Gossip Girl"

When I was reading The Great Gatsby, it occurred to me that it has a very close resemblance to the popular Netflix show, Gossip Girl. I came to this conclusion not only because of the classic divide of two societies based on wealth and social status but also due to the uncanny resemblance between the narrators of both stories: Dan Humphrey and Nick Carraway. If you haven't watched Gossip Girl, I will try my best to describe the correlation but I totally recommend watching it!

In The Great Gatsby, Nick writes about how many of the parties thrown by Gatsby involve "enthusiastic meetings between women who never knew each other's names" (Fitzgerald 40). This behavior is mimicked in Gossip Girl through the plethora of parties involving heavy amounts of underage drinking and illegal drugs. Similarly, Gatsby's parties involved bootlegging and drinking alcohol during times of prohibition. Coincidence, I think not. Also, in Gossip Girl it was said that society's elite was given to the kids as a “birthright" so only those born into wealth are able to have it. This social divide can be seen in both stories: In Gossip Girl it is the Upper East Side and the Upper West Side, and in The Great Gatsby it is East Egg and West Egg.

Picture of Gossip Girl's main characters, Blair and Serena, dressed in '20s clothing

Also, as seen in the picture above, the clothing in Gossip Girl also tends to be on the elegant side similar to the jazzy, flapper clothing that was present during the '20s. Another key character who connects the two stories is Daisy Buchanan. Daisy Buchanan, who was characterized as pure through the symbolism of all of the white she wore, cheats on her husband. Similarly, Blair Waldorf marries Prince Louis and cheats on him with Chuck Bass. Nate cheats on Blair with Serena. Chuck cheated on Blair with numerous women whenever he wanted a way out. See a pattern of infidelity here? 

Also, I want to delve more into the similarity between narrators. Nick Carraway is introduced to the world of wealth and purposeless partying and is desperately trying to fit into this life that his cousin had built, but with no success. Sound familiar? This is almost exactly what Dan Humphrey goes through as he writes about himself as "Lonely Boy" just so that he will be included an people will start talking about him. Additionally, Nick Carraway's muse for writing about his observations about the lavish lifestyle in East Egg is Gatsby and Dan Humphrey also began his writing when he found his muse- Serena Van der Woodsen.

Another similarity that can be drawn is that between Jordan Baker from The Great Gatsby and Serena Van Der Woodsen from Gossip Girl. Jordan Baker is a bit of a gossip- no pun intended- even if it’s unintentional. She tells Nick all about his new neighbor — Gatsby — and how he is still in love with Daisy. Maybe she just wants everyone to be happy and chooses to see the best in others much like Serena Van Der Woodsen does. Serena is a carefree soul who just wants everyone to be happy. This will then have her spilling her friend’s secrets if it means them being happy or gaining something from it in the end. This detail, among others, adds to the idea that Gossip Girl and The Great Gatsby are truly very similar.

So is "Gossip Girl" really the new age "Great Gatsby?"

Or is all of this just a giant coincidence?