GOSSIP GIRLS? !??!?

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-28-2005
GOSSIP GIRLS? !??!?
21
Thu, 09-20-2007 - 1:58pm

Has anyone seen the new WB Show - Gossip Girls?

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iVillage Member
Registered: 02-14-2007
Thu, 09-20-2007 - 3:27pm
I didn't pay close attention to it, but I did notice that there were an awful lot of steamy sex scenes for a teen show. I was appalled by that, but my DD15 kept saying "Mom, I read the books!", as if that makes it OK! I guess I feel that I can't keep her sheltered forever and at least this might provide an opening for some good conversations about sex, drinking, etc.
iVillage Member
Registered: 09-29-2004
Thu, 09-20-2007 - 6:19pm


Yea, right.. those girls are in high schools! There is not a pimple or "shy teen" in sight.

Avatar for bookwormmom
iVillage Member
Registered: 07-22-2003
Thu, 09-20-2007 - 7:32pm

All these show infuriate me no end.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 08-17-2005
Thu, 09-20-2007 - 9:04pm

You know, maybe we should start a letter campaign to the network - it IS appalling with the teenage drinking problem we have that they are promoting these types of shows.

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-18-2006
Thu, 09-20-2007 - 9:32pm

Oh no. No. No no no. Nobody is starting a letter-writing campaign before I get a chance to see the show in Australia! If it's cancelled in the US, it'll never get aired here, and I absolutely must see this show! I love the Gossip Girl books. I loved The Great Gatsby, and The Bell Jar, and various other classics. I would consider myself a balanced reader. However, the Gossip Girl series was always going to be controversial. It's no 'Californication', but it isn't sanitised. The TV series, as expected, is sanitised, which I understand.

This is in no way meant as a personal attack on anyone in this thread, but TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR CHILDREN. It's your house, and you decide what they can and can't watch. But you, nor anyone else, do not have the right to decide for society. People are doing this everywhere and I've had jack of it.

I'm 19, I have been looking forward to this show, and it's parents like you - no offence, but it's true - who ruin the viewing experience for other people who actually enjoy this sort of stuff. If you don't like it, or you don't like your children viewing it, it's your problem, not mine. Don't make it my problem.

And why should a bunch of activists in some far-off country dictate what I get to see? That's not fair.

Would we be so permissive if Islamist extremists wanted to implement Sharia law in our respective countries? Why should a minority get to dictate what happens?

I might not like what you watch, but what difference does it make to me if you watch it? Two words: 'switch off'. Or, alternatively, 'change channels'.

Rant over.

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-14-2007
Thu, 09-20-2007 - 9:58pm
Just a thought, but if we all switch off the program, it will get cancelled and then you still won't get to see it! I don't think it will be much of a loss.
iVillage Member
Registered: 12-18-2006
Thu, 09-20-2007 - 11:11pm

The following is not a personal attack. Some of it is in response to what the previous poster said, but the majority is not directed at anyone in particular.

The show is coming to pay-TV here as well as free-to-air. We all know Americans would rather see someone's head blown off with a gun as opposed to someone being blown! Pathetic really. Although there was a furore about the first episode of 'Californication'...

While it's true that switching off will get it cancelled (maybe), you and I both know that starting a riot about it will get it cancelled faster. Look at 'The Book of Daniel' - whine, whinge, bitch, moan... and it was cancelled before Australia even got within cooee of it! I'm not saying you can't start a riot, I'd just prefer that you, and others, didn't.

We also need to consider ratings and age groups. Here, it will be rated M15+. That means for mature audiences, but it's not legally enforced like MA15+ or R18+, where you must provide proof of age to enter, rent or buy.

IMO, if you think your kids are picking up stuff from TV, where are you in all of this? If kids are running wild because they saw something on a TV show, the show is not the problem. Your parenting methods are.

And I don't know, but hmm... maybe this is how teens are these days, but nobody wants to believe it? What's everyone going to do about that? Censor everything? What a knee-jerk response.

Your children form their ideas of life by observing you. Be there as their parent more, and they might pick up your ideas, as opposed to learning them from a TV show that, frankly, is fluff.

But fluff is fun. Can't some things just be fun? Do they need to be so regimented?




Edited 9/20/2007 11:13 pm ET by abbag1rl
iVillage Member
Registered: 12-18-2006
Thu, 09-20-2007 - 11:31pm

Yes. I do have rights. And my right to view what I wish to view supersedes anyone's right to dictate what everyone else can watch. Plus, ever noticed that the more something is forbidden and demonised, the more interested the kids get? Determination is a powerful force. Whether it defeats your parental will is of no consequence to me. I simply don't care what you want for your kids. Nothing to do with me. That's your business - you do something about it. I don't even want kids.

But you will not interfere with what *I* want to do or see.

A person who doesn't realise that people make choices will only ever blame the world for all their problems, and those sorts of people are damned hard to co-exist peacefully with.

Every minute, of every day - no, scratch that, every second, some teenager is thinking about sex. Some may want it, some may be thinking about wanting it, and some may be having it. It's like white noise, or the threat of terrorism globally... just something we all have to get used to.

But someone dictating what another person in the world has a right to see or hear is not right. As you can tell, I abhor censorship. If I realise I don't like it, I don't watch it or listen to it. I have known how to do this since I was three. It starts with seeing or hearing something unpleasant, and a kid saying, "Mummy/Daddy, I don't like that" or "Mummy/Daddy, I'm scared".

I really, truly fail to understand why other kids can't do the same!

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-28-2005
Fri, 09-21-2007 - 8:12am

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-19-2003
Fri, 09-21-2007 - 8:54am

There weren't alot of dramas featuring teens when I was a teen.

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