“Gossip Girl” and the ship that sank on its maiden voyage
“Gossip Girl” has had a lot of couples. Some that were very popular, some that people were neutral about. They’ve never had a couple so disliked that hundreds of thousands of viewers stopped watching because of them. Until now.
I have a story to tell you. It’s a true story from my native Sweden and it’s about a ship. Not one called Chair or Dair but one called Vasa. The Swedish king ordered a new warship to be built, one that would be grander than all the others and would show the world that Sweden was a force to be reckoned with. So Vasa was built and decorated and marketed as something that would take your breath away, the grandest ship there ever was. It set out on its maiden voyage on August 10, 1628 but it barely made it out of the harbor before it capsized and sank, taking Sweden’s dreams of dominating the sea with it. Today it’s been brought back to the surface and can be viewed at the Vasa Museum in Stockholm as a testiment to a lot of things, one being to putting all hopes of success in one ship and failing to build it properly.
It does not surprise me that the writers of the show decided to give Dan and Blair a try. What surprises me is how they have reacted now that the ship set sail and promptly started to sink, taking the ratings and the fans with it. The decline is very evident and there is no point in denying it yet the people behind the show are refusing to acknowledge that putting all their eggs in the Dan/Blair basket has proven to be a failure. The people who work on “Gossip Girl” are human and make mistakes like the rest of us and I don’t understand why they cannot just admit that this did not work out the way they had hoped. Instead they put the blame on others. The fans. Or in some cases, as one of the directors has done, accuses those who do not like the new development of not being a fan of the show to begin with.
The people who watch and are okay with anything that happens are not the fans. They are the casual viewers, who would just as soon tune in to watch something else that catches their interest more. The people who watch and care deeply about characters and storylines and relationships, they are the fans. The people who get upset when their favorite character is thrown under a bus or starts to act in ways the character never would have before or the couple they adore are being destroyed, those are the fans. The people who know the show inside and out, who aren’t okay with rewriting the entire show’s history to prop a new storyline, those are the fans.
I would like to quote Damon Lindelof, creator of “Lost”: “I sincerely and genuinely apologize to all those whom I have stripped of their Lost fandom just for complaining about the stuff you didn’t like. It doesn’t make you any less a fan. In fact… It just makes you honest.”
Antagonizing your fans because they don’t enjoy what you’re serving them is not going to help you. I’m definitely not saying that fans should get to dictate everything. I’m just saying that when people stop watching the show and tell you they can’t recognize the characters anymore it might be time to stop and think. It might be time to reflect upon whether or not the storyline that caused all of this is working. And it might be time to own some of it. The fans are responsible for the ratings drop in that they choose not to watch what’s on-screen. You are responsible for the ratings drop in that you wrote what people are turning away from. Viewers are not obligated to like what they see and the reality is that you need them but they do not need you.
People working on the show have said outright that they do not care about ratings but if ratings don’t matter then what does? Can GG afford to have less than one million viewers, like the previous episode did in its second half? Not only that but online commenting has declined. 30% of the people who used to love to talk about “Gossip Girl” stopped doing so last week. 30%! If no one is left watching and no one is left talking how can “Gossip Girl” survive?
Dear writers, I understand that you are disappointed that people didn’t love the ship you launched but lashing out on the people who have told you all along that they are completely devoted to the rivalling ship is not the answer. Right now the fans are complaining and that must be difficult to hear but one day you might find yourself missing their voices. Nothing is worse for a show than when a fanbase goes quiet.
Make no mistake. The fans want to love the show. They want to tune in and be excited and moved by what they see. What causes them to object is when they cannot do this anymore. When Chuck and Blair fans are asking you on twitter for some reason to still watch the show they are not being petulant. They are imploring you to please, please give them something that allows them to enjoy the show they’ve loved for so long. They are asking you to save their show, not kill it.
Something else that baffles me is how Dan and Blair are being written. They could have gone down this road without stepping on Chair fans toes every step of the way. Instead they have Blair treat Chuck like he’s dirt under her shoe while Dan is an amazing guy, even though Chuck has been the much better person all season long. Instead they take big Chair moments, rework them and give them to Dan and Blair. This is not good writing or storytelling. The best pairings are the ones that don’t need to steal from other ships to function. The ones that don’t require the two characters involved to be given whole new personalities in order to work.
But, you may ask, what about storyline progression and character development? A show where the characters and storylines stay the same is neither well-written nor engaging. But changing a character’s entire personality and motivations in just two episodes is not character development, it’s out of character. Turning Blair from a strong, confident person who could stand on her own two feet into a mess of a woman who gets weaker by the scene and treats the people who care about her horribly is not progression, it’s regression. Building a romance for four and a half seasons and then two episodes later telling everyone that you’re supposed to dislike them now and root for something else is not organic, it’s forced and contrived and people are bound to object.
Perhaps the writers of “Gossip Girl” are more clever than we give them credit for. Perhaps they are well aware that what’s currently happening is not in line with the first 101 episodes of the show and intended for the fans to have an adverse reaction. Perhaps a twist is coming that will show us that something more was going on this whole time. Unfortunately the way the show has been written and the way the fans have been treated these past twelve months has left them with far too little goodwill to pull something like that off. If the finale comes with a big twist that negates all that has happened since episode 515, or at least shows it in a whole new light, it may be too late. The fans may have finally given up and will have left the show feeling resentment rather than love. It may be time to adress the fans, acknowledge that the show is not perfect and give them something to hope for.
At the end of the day this show needs people to watch it. That’s what all shows need. When Dan and Blair are the story people choose not to watch. “Gossip Girl’s” Vasa set sail and sank. Remember “Gossip Girl” writers, you also wrote something that people are passionate about and really appreciate. You wrote a couple that has become iconic, that is in some ways bigger than the show and will live on long after GG is off the air. You should take pride in that and pat yourselves on the back and recognize that in Chuck and Blair you’ve created something beautiful that people truly love.
Take some accountability. Trust me, fans will respect you far more if you admit what everybody knows is fact anyway - that the current storyline makes people tune out. You will never have their respect if you act like petulant children and put all the blame on the people who have invested years of their lives and so much emotion into the show you’ve created.
Fans are a blessing, not a curse. They should be treated accordingly.
(via krism23)
