Gossip Girl is an American teen drama television series based on the novel series of the same name written by Cecily von Ziegesar. The series premiered on September 19, 2007.
The show centers around the lives of a group of rich teenagers as they go to school together in Manhattan’s Upper East Side and attend Constance Billard School for Girls.
The story follows their trials and tribulations with love triangles; family troubles, such as divorce; friendships which range from close to combative; betrayals both friendly and unfriendly that are common among long-time friends or classmates who become enemies or vice versa over time; social cliques forming among different groups of people whose relationships change constantly throughout the course of one academic year (the fall semester) at Constance Billard School for Girls: The Clique (a.k.a. “The Pretty Committee”), an exclusive group of girls who have been friends since birth. The story, narrated by Gossip Girl (a classmate at Constance Billard School for Girls), chronicles the lives and teen drama that these teenagers encounter as they live their affluent lifestyles in Manhattan.
Dan Humphrey
The younger son of Rufus Humphrey, Dan is an outsider at Constance Billard School for Girls. In the first episode, he appears to be a “loser” with no friends, and his only social interactions are mocking others or being mocked himself.
His appearance is unusual in that he does not seem to care about how he looks (he wears baggy jeans and Yankees hats) – in fact, it seems like most people look down on him because of this. At times throughout the show’s five seasons, he reveals caring moments such as when Jenny Humphrey went missing after her father was seriously injured by Dr. John Thredson; however, these instances are few and far between. He also has had difficulties fitting into society, such as when he was kicked out of a bar for not being old enough, or when Dan Humphrey becomes a famous movie star and is no longer seen by his friends.
Dan has an on-and-off relationship with the character Vanessa Abrams which begins in the second season, but they break up because she feels that it isn’t right that he is still living at home while attending college. It seems to be hinted throughout the show’s five seasons that Dan may have feelings for Serena van der Woodsen; however, this does not seem likely based on what happens later in Season Five – even though their parents date each other briefly.
Throughout all five seasons, there are many indications of how much anger and rage lies within him: He punches a man at the airport because he was being racist; has an outburst when his dad is trying to fix up Serena with another guy, telling her that she deserves better than a “man she barely knows”; had panic attacks during high school due to what happened in Bahrain.
This show also shows life as it really is – not all glamorous. Dan makes many mistakes that any human would make in real life (such as breaking curfew) but he pays for them by getting grounded or taken away from privileges such as driving. Unlike other teens who seem invincible, we see just how vulnerable they can be sometimes.”
He also has a blog on the show where he talks about his thoughts and feelings that have been going through his head since what happened with Blair in Bahrain. The blogs are interesting because you get to hear these innermost thoughts of someone else besides Serena or Nate, giving us an insight into their mindsets too. He is good at expressing himself always making sure that it comes out right.
The blog is written in the first person and has a conversational tone. Some of his posts are more philosophical than others as he talks about life, love, friends, school, family or just random things that happen to him on any given day. Sometimes it feels like you’re sitting right next to Dan drinking tea with him while he tells you what’s going through his head at the moment (that might be because I’ve read so much). It also makes me laugh when he exaggerates certain details for dramatic effect such as “I can’t believe Blair flew from America all by herself!”. He’ll always talk about how beautiful she was too but there isn’t anything inappropriate which is good.
