Title: Gossip Girl

Season: three

Episode: two

Text type: Television series

Gossip girl is a six-season drama series based on the lives of Manhattan’s Upper East Side’s richest teenagers and their family’s. In this particular episode, we focus on Blair Waldorf, “Queen Bee” of the Upper East Side. She is determined to keep her status and obtain hierarchy as she moves from Constance Saint Jude prep school to NYU. This proves harder than she thinks as now in territory where money and high school doesn’t matter.

This story is based on hierarchy, which is clearly seen as Blair tries to keep her status as superintendent. Blair is used to being top dog at Constance, the students revolved around her. Changing to NYU college, money and previous high school life is irrelevant to anyone, excluding Blair. Blair knows she will hate living in the dorms but is determined to stay there for the start of her college experience as this is how she will set her leadership into motion. She believes that the “first week of college means scared, vulnerable freshmen needing someone to guide them”, so this will be the perfect time to take her normal spot on top. As soon as Blair has arrived she gathers the girl freshman from her dorm and holds an assembly giving out gift bags. The other young woman don’t seem to impress by Blair, her designer clothes or luxurious gifts and its made clear they won’t be stuck under her leadership for very long if at all but the expressions broadcasted on their faces. Blair decides to play like she did back in high school, throwing a party to get everyone’s attention on her. Everything seems like its going to plan until one person from the dorm shows up, as everyone else is down the hall watching a movie put on by Blair’s longtime rival. Her plan is failing. The hierarchy she had wished for is not working out with people not fearing Blair, but thinking of her more as a try hard they don’t want to be involved with. Blair is now known as “the weird girl that through the fish party”. We then finish with Blair and her lifelong best friend sitting on the steps of the MET. These steps are a place that reminds Blair of good times. Ones were she was on top of the system. This is where, in high school, Blair and her followers would eat breakfast every morning. No one sitting above her, as the higher you sit on the steps, the higher you are up the social ladder. It is now where Blair admits defeat in the bottom place of the college system.

Like Blair Waldorf from Gossip Girl, Jack from Lord of the Flies carries supremacy in his blood. He too thinks there’s only his road to follow. He too is hubris. Jack shows this as when he is not selected for leader, as he and Blair are both used to, “humiliating tears where running from the corner of each eye”. Jack, like Blair, can’t stand not being on the top for any period of time, he quickly makes himself the leader of the hunters pack and carries his possy with him. This, however, is still not enough for Jack. He has to rule all. Jack, with his hunters, break off from the group, establishing their own tribe, where obviously, Jack is the most dominant member. We see this in Gossip Girl when Blair first turns up in her limo at NYU. She bumps into two acquaintances and states: “let’s be clear from the start – we don’t know each other here”. Separating her self from the lower class citizens to form her own group she can be Queen of, just as Jack separated himself from the other boys to form his own group to be chief of. Blair and Jack share the same ambitions as one another and want to obtain hierarchy where ever they may go; but only if they remain on top.

Both characters have strong personalities and can be seen in real life situations all the time. From the leader of a group project to a dictator of a country. We all have a bit of Blair and Jack in us, it’s just a matter of how far we are willing to go with it. Having this point of interest in a character makes them captivating and intriguing, it also lets you know a lot about them. For me, Blair’s strong personality keeps me hooked on the program and it creates a great watch that you can’t get bored of. Without her hubris ways, this series would be a lot less drama full and we would not get shown the real side to some rich, Manhattan teenagers.