NEW YORK SOCIETY’S CAOS ENVOY “GOSSIP GIRL”

SOCIETY’S SCANDAL QUEEN IS BACK

Warner Bros. Television, Alloy Entertainment, CBS Television Studios, Fake Empire production Gossip Girl is based on the book series of the same name by American author Cecily Von Ziegesar, which reached the top of The New York Times bestseller list in 2002. The sequel to the 2007 original series, this is an American teen drama series that will explore how social media has changed from the past to the present, and how New York‘s landscape and economy are evolving. The production, which premiered on HBO Max as a spin-off of the hit show of the 2000s, offers a gripping sequel even though it doesn’t feature the same characters. Kristen Bell, who voiced the gossip girl in the original series, also voices Gossip Girl in the new series. The audience journeys into the flamboyant and sophisticated heart of Manhattan high society with the story focusing on the elite students of a distinguished school in New York. Also in the series is the legendary British actor Malcolm McDowell, the legendary lead actor of Stanley Kubrick‘s 1971 film A Clockwork Orange, as the father of the character of Aki Menzies. McDowell plays Roger Menzies, an Australian media mogul (like Rupert Murdoch, the world’s most important and wealthy media mogul).

PSYCHOPATHOLOGICAL STRUCTURE OF GENERATION ME

In Gossip Girl, which focuses on the new generation of American youth, psycho-sociological behaviors are reflected through the characters. In particular, the elements of narcissistic behavior defined as egocentric and the explosion of self-confidence seem to have an important place. Jean Marie Twenge, professor of psychology at San Diego State University, in her book Generation Me (using data from 11 million participants) has conducted the largest intergenerational study ever done, covering six decades of data on the lives of the generation in their 20s. It shows how American culture has heightened the wishes and desires of today’s youth, and also examines a generation that has been plunged into anxiety and depression by being overwhelmed by the harsh realities of life because of their high expectations. Twenge states that the generation between 1950 and 1960 were members of the Explosion Generation and by adopting the New Age style of speech, they directed their wealth to consumer products that they found more meaningful, such as kitchen utensils, instead of fur jewelry. She says their most important feature is that they do everything in groups. They go to discos, walks or seminars in groups. If it’s Generation Me, it’s the opposite. Twenge, “The self-focus that sprouted in the 1970s had become very commonplace and habitual over the next two decades. If the Explosion Generation felt like they were in a jungle searching for their own essence, Generation Me found their way around Yahoo! they obtained it from his map.” she says that they do not need the new generation of young people to join any group because they see themselves in the event, that is, in the center.

TOPIC OF THE SERIES

Focusing on Manhattan‘s luxurious lives full of scandal and intrigue, the ultra-rich students of Constance Billard school are bombarded with gossip by the anonymous but all-knowing social media account “Gossip Girl“. The leader and queen of the popular group, Julien Calloway and her brother Zoya will try to maintain their position in school and society, while trying to repair the damage in their family life. Epic parties, sophisticated fashion shows, and relentless rivalry at the height of luxury and pomp will shake New York society deeply.

Stars; Jordan Alexander, Savannah Lee Smith, Whitney Peak, Tavi Gevinson, Eli Brown, Thomas Doherty, Emily Alyn Lind,Zión Moreno,  Evan Mock, Johnathan Fernandez, Adam Chanler-Berat, Megan Ferguson, Todd Almond, Luke Kirby, Laura Benanti, Grace Duah, John Benjamin Hickey and Malcolm McDowell.

“Z” GENERATION AND META CULTURE IN THE GLOBAL WORLD During the Vietnam War Era, economists in the USA launched the “Generation X” project in 1964 to create a new generation they could control. Although it was a worldwide plan in the beginning, it failed because it could not be connected to the world in the global age. After the war, in line with the analysis of scientific experts, the “Generation Y” project, whose main themes were developed within the framework of communication, civilization, technology and globalism, was implemented. This was followed by the global generation “Generation Z”, who grew up with access to the internet and portable digital technology from an early age, and this generation, which continues to be influential in society and social life today, is also known as Zoomers among the people. Generation Z members are generally known as the generation that spends less time reading books and contributes to the economy by spending more time on electronic devices.

AGE OF INFOCRACY

In this generation process, which actively uses technology and social media, today all human values ​​are economically reduced and commercialized altogether. Thus, society and culture evolve digitally and take the form of commodities, and commodities replace reality. Through the characters in the new generation Gossip Girl, we see that in the age of mass media, everyone creates their own information channel and produces the fake news factory. Today’s leading philosopher and cultural theorist Byung-Chul Han, in his philosophy book called Infocracy; “Mediacracy reduces election campaigns to a staging war created by the mass media. Discourse is replaced by a spectacle that attracts public attention.” He states that the infocracy has turned into an information war. In the series, we see that an information pollution and smear campaign is actually being carried out by the social media account Gossip Girl, whose identity is hidden. The leading thinker of The Enlightenment Age, the Genevan philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau had developed an arithmetic rationality that worked without communication. Rousseau thought of the general will as a purely numerical and mathematical measure. In other words, by saying that an algorithm detects and calculates willpower due to an arithmetic operation, he states that this will must be determined without communication and exclude it. Rousseau states that everyone should stick to their own opinions and personal opinions rather than participating in a discourse. Rousseau, in his The Social Contract book, which is described as a touchstone in modern political and social thought; “In order to obtain the general will clearly (to express himself well), there should be no separate combinations of state power, and each citizen should only speak his own opinions.” He says that the more different data there are, the more pure the general will is. Today, in order to reach the right information, it is necessary to reach more than one data, as Rousseau said. Because we see in the series that the information spread from a single account like Gossip Girl sometimes gives rise to fake and false news.

GOSSIP GIRL

Gossip Girl is an American teen drama series that premiered on HBO Max. Filming of the series; Steiner Studios – 15 Washington Avenue, Brooklyn Navy Yard, Brooklyn and New York City. The new series will take you on a sophisticated journey through the glittering streets and gaudy parties of enchanting New York City.

EFE TEKSOY

References

Jean M. Twenge, Ben Nesli (Generation Me), translate. Esta Öztürk, İstanbul: Kaknüs Yayınları press, 2009

Byung-Chul Han, Enfokrasi: Dijitalleşme ve Demokrasinin Krizi (Infocracy: Digitization and the Crisis of Democracy), translate. Mustafa Özdemir, İstanbul: Ketebe Yayınları press, 2018

Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Toplum Sözleşmesi (The Social Contract), translate. Vedat Günyol, İstanbul: İş Bankası Kültür Yayınları press, 2013

Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Toplum Sözleşmesi (The Social Contract), translate. Vedat Günyol, İstanbul: İş Bankası Kültür Yayınları press, 2013