School of Lies; Scene 3

Who is Serena van Der Woodsen?


Serena van Der Woodsen is the focal interest point and one of the main protagonists in the hit TV series 'Gossip Girl.' In the first season, leading up to the episode 'School of Lies' She is established as the former 'It Girl' and Queen Bee of the wealthy Upper East Side of Manhattan and Constance Billard high school, however a stint of unseen time in a boarding school outside of New York has led to her determination to become a better person upon her return to the socialites that make up her peers. Having been usurped of her power by her best friend Blair, her time in the season has it's ups and downs including her relationship with newcomer Dan Humphrey and her mixed feelings towards her mothers and the characters she is returning to.

Her attitude is one of repentance mixed in with her former party girl self. She's wealthy and holds a lot of power within her group, which gives her the security to make mistakes (which she does often!)
   She dresses in expensive, fashionable wear in a curious mix of 'slutty yet modest,' and changes costume often.
   Personality wise, she's one of the nicer characters on the show, with her motives being described as mostly pure and aimed towards good.

'I really want to be a better person."

In scene 3 of the episode School of Lies, Serena and her peers have broken into the school pool and are having a drunken party. We see Serena dressed in a black one-piece swimsuit with a plunging neckline and gold accessories, possibly to convey the director's intention that she's fallen off her self-driven bandwagon of being good (black) yet ultimately is still trying to be good (gold.) The costume is also typical of her slutty/modest wear and personality, with less skin revealed than the other characters yet the huge neckline also showing more than what is modest. Her character is drunk, which is indicated by her dialogue largely being giggling and exclamations to her newly arrived boyfriend Dan.

"You came!"

"Well, Blair and I were out getting a few drinks and we met up with a few people and they knew a few people... and we ended up here"

Girls are encouraged to buy what they see on the show

This is absolutely typical of the represented teenage girl in the media- always looking for fun, always accompanied by a boyfriend, and with the stereotype of 'good girl gone wild.' The media encourages teenaged girls to think the best way of having fun is to go out on the weekends and get drunk, and play on the edge of the law such as breaking in to a pool to have a party. They make it seem to be the best place to be is in the 'it' crowd such as Serena, Blair and their friends. In this situation, and in the majority of 'it' crowd situations, those teenagers are the wealthy ones. The media wants to make it appear that if you don't have a lot of money, and buy a lot of clothes, alcohol and accessories, you won't fit in. They use Serena's 'cool' character in contrast with another, Vanessa, who is not rich, and not popular, and therefore does not fit in.

However, this is unrealistic of what girls are really like- the reality is, not everyone is rich and not everyone can buy themselves out of bad situations. Although it may be marketed as 'cool' to change your clothes for every event, it's not always possible on a middle-class budget. Girls in reality instead need to look for other ways of entertainment rather than getting drunk for the fun of it and breaking into their school pool. Gossip Girl also leaves out the legal implications of the situation- in reality, the trespassing would not have been taken care of by the school and the students could face charges for their fun.