since gossip girl is getting a reboot, i think it's high time we addressed the way we as a society treated jenny humphrey.
gossip girl was an escapist fantasy into a world of extreme wealth and commodities in a context of real-life economic recession. the show was more interested in rehabilitating classism than providing commentary on the dangers of excessive spending and the realities of social inequality. while the humphreys were introduced as the main characters, and the ones we as an audience should root for (the "poor" brooklyn-bound family of artists raised by a single dad), that quickly evolved into blair and chuck taking center stage. and by pushing them as likeable characters, despite the both of them being classist, disrespectful to everyone, manipulative, and in chuck's case an attempted r*pist, the showrunners had to make other characters into villains. thus was born jenny humphrey's arc.
but let's look at things from a fresh, 2020s point of view. jenny humphrey was a talented teenager who wanted to succeed. her unforgivable flaw was wanting what she didn't have. yes, she made bad decisions and hurt people. but she was also easily one of the most relatable, and realistic characters (for non-upper east side audiences, anyway). she was the only character with actual talent (fashion design), and with actual ambition rooted in something other than retaining inherited wealth and status (which is pretty much every upper east side character's, like, entire personality). she was a teenage girl who wasn't born with opportunities knocking on her door, and decided to create her own opportunities. she just happened to take inspiration from the wrong people (like blair. you know, the same character everyone rooted for).
jenny humphrey was chastised for not knowing her place. she was written off as a cautionary tale for what happens to girls who try to shoot too high.
but i think it's high time we grew out of this blind adoration of wealthy celebrities and our need to turn on girls and women who try to find a place within a system that isn't meant to benefit them. we can do better than that.
it's time to realise who the true villains are. it's time to start taking down the chuck basses of the world.
