Gossip Girl surely pushes boundaries when it comes to television and explores many social issues of the times, such as teenage alcohol abuse and promiscuous sex among minors. Though this show would be considered successful by many because of the faithful following it has generated, I consider the show to do more harm than good to it's young-girl audience-romanticizing a world of immoral behavior and glamorizing even its negative consequences. .
Mass media formats such as television present social realities and encourage audiences to engage. Award-winning academic, novelist, and biographer Christopher Bigsby explores a changing America through modern television in his book "Viewing America: Twenty-First Century Television Drama." A major discussion point of Bigsby's book is the manner in which America could have a dialogue with itself through television drama. He asserts, "television is presumed to have the imprinter of 'culture.' Yet it can indeed seek to represent life" (Bigsby). Teen-dramas such as Gossip Girl are exceptional examples of how even though television is fictional, it can make a pretty clear statement about the world.
Despite being exceptional avenues of illustrating social issues, television dramas can be deceiving, especially with the way male and female relationships are portrayed. Though it may not be intentional, viewers of television or readers of books can be influenced and manipulated by mass media's depiction of relationships. Acclaimed Arizona State University professor Dr. Mary-Lou Galician has researched much on mass media and the romantic relationships that are illustrated. In her book "Sex, Love, & Romance in the Mass Media" she discusses how media creates myths and stereotypes of sex, love, and romance and shows her readers how to recognize unhealthy media fantasies that can be hurtful to real world relationships (Galician).
