Like many Gossip Girl fans, I wasn’t surprised at Eric’s outing on last week’s episode. I was taken aback, though, at how well it was done. True, it was sensationalized and glammed up at Asher’s party - but at home, over the table? That was brilliant.
I love that Georgina outed Eric to his family at the table. No, I don’t believe that most gays and lesbians are outed by their sibling’s evil enemy at the dinner table - but I think that being outed often comes from situations beyond their control and that felt honest.
I also really enjoyed Kelly Rutherford’s portrayal of Eric’s mom. As a mom myself, I understand - no matter how unpolitically correct it might be to say it out loud - that you don’t want your children to be gay. Not because of the stigma that you would face (which maybe matters a bit more in the elite circles of the Upper East Side) but because, as a parent, you constantly worry about how society treats your child. And let’s face it, although our society has certainly progressed in terms of its acceptance of gays and lesbians, it’s still tough to be homosexual in today’s world.
I grew up in rural North Carolina where I wasn’t exposed to homosexuality except what was on TV. And clearly, pre-Ellen and pre-Will and Grace, TV did not portray gays and lesbians in a flattering light. And perhaps it was one too many episodes of Jack pretending to be gay on Three’s Company but I grew to believe that being homosexual was a choice. That is, until high school.
I had a “Jenny” moment in high school. Remember when she accused Eric of being jealous of Asher because she thought that Eric was in love with her? I’ve been there.
In high school, I had a friend whom I call J. J used to hang out with me and my then boyfriend quite a bit. I felt that he was just a bit too clingy - especially as prom approached and he grew increasingly moody. I thought that we needed to have a talk. So, I sat J down one day and explained that while I was really flattered that he had a crush on me, that it was not in the cards and he needed to understand that and give me some space. We could, I reminded him, always be friends.
He looked at me with such disbelief. He did not, he explained, have a crush on me. He did, however, have a crush on my boyfriend. He was gay.
Wow.
I had no words. But you know what, that was actually the best thing. Not saying anything. Because I let J talk. And he talked about his friends and his family and how hard coming to terms with his sexuality had been for him. It had clearly been a struggle for him. And in that moment, I realized that nobody would ever choose to feel that way, to be treated that way, to constantly worry about being found out. It was a defining moment for me.
I started looking at the world a lot differently after that. I saw the injustice of my church chasing a good friend out of town when it was revealed that he way gay - in their minds, gay = pedophile and they would not allow him to continue to teach at church (he was a highly respected elementary school teacher outside of church). I witnessed girls being ostracized and teased on campus if they chose to open about their sexuality. And most chilling, I watched in horror as the story of Matthew Shepard unfolded - you may remember that he was the young man who was beaten to death by two men simply because he was gay.
I now have a completely different view of homosexuality. I believe that everyone has the right to be happy. And I understand that life is not one big fun episode of Will and Grace.
I hope that the producers don’t drop the ball on this story line. I think it would be great to see Eric deal with being dumped by Asher and move on to find someone else - ooh, a prom episode would be awesome. It would also be interesting to see how Lily continues to come to terms with Eric being gay and whether that would interfere with her relationship with Bart, who, I am just guessing would not be terribly supportive.
Where do you think the story line would go? Are you happy with the portrayal of gay characters on Gossip Girl? Do you think it’s realistic? I’d love to hear your thoughts.
We already knew that Gossip Girl had been picked up for a second season… we just didn’t know when it would debut. The official word from the CW is the new season will premiere on September 1, 2008.
A September 1 premiere is a few weeks earlier than the show’s debut last fall. Let’s hope that means that a few more episodes are on order…
Gossip Girl’s Blake Lively had a photo shoot on the beach over the weekend with Emma Roberts (actress and friend of Jamie Lynne Spears) and Amanda Seyfried (formerly of Veronica Mars). You can watch the video of the shoot here.
So are they or aren’t they? Gossip Girl’s Blake Lively and Penn Badgley will not publicly confirm rumors that they are dating but… c’mon. The two of them look amazing together in matching Ralph Lauren ensembles at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute Gala, held at MOMA in New York City. The event was to honor Thursday’s opening of the exhibit “Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy.” The event was organized by Vogue magazine.
Considered one of the “must attend” dates in Hollywood, the party is held annually and celebrates new exhibits at the museum. This year, Blake was excited to be in attendance, saying, “I’ve always seen pictures and thought, ‘I would love to go to that!’” I thought she held her own fairly well - she looked amazing alongside such A-list stars as Julia Roberts and Naomi Watts, don’t you think?
Also on hand for the event? Supermodel Amber Valetta, power couple David Beckham and Posh, superstar George Clooney and girlfriend Sarah Larson and fashion designer Giorgio Armani, among other luminaries.
Gossip Girl buddy Chace Crawford also attended the event but was strangely solo.
The battle between Queen B and Little J heats up. They’re using Gossip Girl to wage their war. Blair says that Jenny is sewing Stella McCartney labels inside Gap tees… The lies go on and on.
Jenny is hosting a party - it’s really hosted by Asher. Asher has invited his friends, the elite Unity boys, to a party. Blair laments Jenny’s new social status… She figures that she is the equivalent of Brooke Astor - she will “marry up.”
Georgina moves in on Dan and Vanessa…
Eric tells Jenny that Asher isn’t the boy for her. Jenny assumes that Eric has a crush on her and tells her that it’s “cute” and “not unexpected.” He is flustered.
Later, Dan sees Asher kissing someone… Who is she - or he?
Lily is busy planning her wedding and Rufus stops by to talk about Jenny. So Lily drags him along to chat as she tries on jewelry and dresses. He is clearly still in love with her.
Dan confronts Asher to tell him that he saw Asher kissing a boy. Asher gets angry and tells Dan that he will have sex with Jenny because he is not queer. Dan tries to tell Jenny but things get complicated - Asher makes up a story to cover. Jenny accuses Dan of trying to keep her from happiness and claims “jealousy clashes with LLBean pants.”
Serena finds out that there is a package waiting for her at her apartment.
Blair and Dan are on the same team for once… They both want Asher and Jenny to break up.
Jenny drops hints that she is almost sleeping with Asher, even though she isn’t. Later, she stops by to see Asher before the party. Jenny learns from Asher that he’s gay - he tells her that he would never actually date anyone like her but he is her access to the elite world. She agrees to continue to be his “Katie Holmes” in order to keep up appearances.
The package for Serena is a DVD with her and Mr. and Mrs. Shepard. Who is Mr. and Mrs. Shepard?
Georgina stops by to see Lily and stays for dinner with Serena.
Blair tries to get Serena’s attention but Serena blows her off in order to have dinner. Georgina outs Eric at dinner. Lily has a hard time dealing with the revelation and Eric runs out.
Rufus calls Jenny on her lies. He tells her not to go and she does anyway.
Serena goes to talk to Eric. He’s on the phone… with Chuck. He says that he has been talking to Chuck a lot lately. Serena tells Eric that everything will be okay. He says that he will go to the party.
Blair crashes Jenny’s (Asher’s) party.
Georgina crashes Dan and Serena’s coffee date pretending to be Sarah. She threatens to share the infamous DVD - the sex tape where, apparently, Serena and Georgina have sex.
Blair approaches Asher but says that she won’t out him because his relationship is someone that she cares about (Eric). Eric shows up and outs Asher. Asher denies it and Jenny gives him an alibi - that he was with her.
Lily apologized to Eric for her reaction to his coming out. She tells him that she is scared for him.
Jenny tells Blair that she regrets everything that happened…
Serena and Dan chat on the street. Dan tells Serena that he told “Sarah” about their relationship problems.
Serena asks Georgina what she wants… Georgina tells Serena that she wants things to be back the way that they were before. Serena tells Georgina that they can’t be.
Rufus and Dan play a mean game of Scrabble. Jenny comes home and Rufus cannot speak to her. She tells him that she wants to join them and he says yes.
Serena comes to talk to Blair and tells her that she killed someone.
We all know that boys lie about how sexually active they are in high school. But girls? Apparently, Jenny feels the need to brag to the group to feel more important. How far does she say that she went? Check out the trailer:
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