Gossip Girl: Books VS TV Series Part I

Hello world, meet my most prized limited collector's edition of Gossip Girl books. And yes I also have the sequel book, 'I Will Always Love You'.

Gossip Girl Limited Collector's Edition and the sequel, 'I Will Always Love You'

First of all I would like to thank few people who have helped me to snag this collection. It has been my goal to complete them before my 21st birthday but I got them all few months after. But who cares! Shoutout to Migs, Claudette, Ian and Arian!

As of press time, I have already read the first six books of the series namely: Gossip Girl, You Know You Love Me, All I Want Is Everything, Because I'm Worth It, I Like It Like That and You're the One That I Want. And since Gossip Girl books and Gossip Girl TV series have so much difference, I decided to make a comparison post.

Note: Everything I wrote about below is based on what I have read from book one to book six ONLY.

L-R: Blair Waldorf, Dan Humphrey, Serena van der Woodsen, Nate Archibald, Chuck Bass, Jenny Humphrey

Serena Celia van der Woodsen - TIE

Books: It is really annoying how perfect Serena is in the books. It is so... unreal. The way Von Ziegesar describes her is always full of adjectives to the point when you'd get tired eyerolling every single time. She only experienced heartbreak once from book 1 to book 6---when Aaron, Blair's stepbrother, dumped her. She got in on all of the colleges she applied to (Harvard, Brown, Yale, etc) without having good grades and extra-curricular activities.

TV Series: Show!Serena is sort of like this too, but not as annoying. She has weaknesses (aside from sleeping random boys, duh) and can be vulnerable as well. I also love how Serena is was totally in-love with Dan. And least she wasn't as slutty as she was in the books, like falling in love and making out with a random dude, 30 seconds after meeting him.

Why tie? Because I see Serena, book or series, as someone who is shallow and has not enough complexities to be considered as a 'main character'. I don't know, I still find her boring and not entertaining to watch and/or read.

Blair Cornelia Waldorf – TIE (kind of)

Books: Book!Blair is very complicated and has lots of layers that are well justified. The justification of these complexities makes book!Blair more interesting than show!Blair. What are those complexities I am talking about? Well, her father whom she adored so much left them to be with a man and is now living far away from her; she has an irritating younger brother named Tyler; she has this obnoxious stepfather Cyrus whom her mother is totally in-love with (add the fact that she is slowly turning to be as obnoxious as he is); she is wait-listed on her dream school Yale and was accepted only at Georgetown; she has bulimia and so many issues; and of course, she has a stoner, on-off boyfriend who had sex with her bestfriend. Can it get any worse than that?

TV Series: Show!Blair is adorable (huge thanks to Leighton Meester's superb acting) with all her bitchcraziness. I think show!Blair is fine and well compared to the other characters in the show, but I would still prefer if they stuck closer with the books when it came to her core characterization. It would be so awesome, given the fact that Leighton gives life to Blair very well.

Why tie? Even though book!Blair seems to be more interesting than show!Blair, I cannot not acknowledge how adorable the latter is.

Nathaniel 'Nate' Van der Bilt Archibald – BOOKS

Books: Ah, Nathaniel. He is probably one of my most favorite characters in the books so far. He is this gorgeous young man, lacrosse team captain, asshole and jerk. Book!Nate is such a stoner, he needs to smoke weed as often as Gossip Girl uses exclamation points. But I love how he does this crazy choices, like hooking up with his Brown interviewer so he wouldn't get a spot on their lacrosse team because he wanted to make Blair happy.

TV Series: I hate show!Nate. He is a gorgeous, stupid dumbass with no valid reason why and is currently obsessed with Dan Humphrey. In season one, he was still tolerable. But as seasons pass, his character is getting crappier and crappier. I blame the writers for this!

It is also disappointing that the show did not give much time to establish Nate and Blair's relationship just like in the books. They weren't even given a season of it!

Why books? Because obviously, book!Nate is more adorable than show!Nate.

Charles Bartholomew 'Chuck' Bass – TV SERIES

Books: In the books, Chuck Bass is gay. He has a pet monkey, loves to flirt and get into a hot tub full of naked Dutch snowboarders. He is also very annoying. I don't have much to say about Chuck because he is not a 'regular' character on the books.

But uhm, yea. He is Gossip Girl in the books. (See: I Like It Like That, Book 5)

TV Series: Show!Chuck is... Chuck Bass. He is cocky, perverted, and doesn't have a pet monkey by his side. He has twins instead.

Chuck became a main character in the TV series and became Blair's boyfriend ex-boyfriend. I like him and Blair together, but for chrissakes, I am really tired of all the drama. It could be really interesting if they rest, explore other options and then get back together SOON. Why the rush?

Why TV series? Because show!Chuck is more interesting than book!Chuck. Von Ziegesar did not even give book!Chuck much of attention.

Daniel Randolph 'Dan' Humphrey – TIE (kind of)

Books: Book!Dan is the quintessential budding artist. He smokes a lot (his hands shake when he doesn't), never forgets to bring his beat-up notebook where he scribbles all his poems, etc. He is also kind of a stud, hooking up with different girls (Serena, Vanessa and Mystery Craze).

TV Series: Show!Dan is kind of dorky and it took me three seasons to appreciate him. He is a good and an intelligent guy, which make him totally distinct from all of the other characters. Show!Dan had been whoring it out lately, but I love how he has always been in love with Serena. The failboat might be a failboat but it was fun until it lasted.

Why tie? Because book!Dan and show!Dan have lots of things to offer. He can be mysterious, intellectual, whoring it out at times... uh-oh, I really do appreciate Humphrey now.

Jennifer Tallulah 'Jenny' Humphrey – TV SERIES SEASON ONE IS TIED WITH THE BOOK, THE REST: BOOKS

Books: Book!Jenny has an incredible cup size, everybody cannot not notice it. Unlike in the TV series, book!Jenny is not a minion of Blair (circa season one), she is her own person. Getting free makeovers in the malls, practicing her strut, stalking boys---those are just some of the stuff that keeps her busy. She also hooked up with Nate and was involved in an internet video scandal.

TV Series: Little J (meaning, Jenny Humphrey in season one) used to be adorable. With that cute schoolgirl uniform, fresh face and tolerable attitude, she was as endearing as book!Jenny.

But when she started to become a raccoon with goth clothes on and crappy attitude, I started to hate Jenny.

Why tied at first and then books now? Because book!Jenny is more tolerable than show!Jenny. 'Nuff said.

Vanessa Marigold Abrams – BOOKS

Books: Shaved head, combat boots, black outfit---that is how book!Vanessa looks like. She is very artsy, always filming things and people around her. She does not give a crap to the world and does whatever it is that she feels like doing.

TV Series: Horrible prints, horrible colors, horrible makeup, horrible hair---that is how show!Vanessa looks like. She is also very annoying, hates the Upper East Siders but attends their party anyway. I hate show!Vanessa with great passion.

Why books? It was a given. Show!Vanessa is horrible as her outfits and hair, and book!Vanessa would pwn her anytime.

Here are other characters in the books I wished that were properly portrayed in the TV series:

Aaron Rose

Books: Book!Aaron is a dreadlocked, herbal cigarette smoking, vegan stepbrother of Blair. I think he is really a cutie based on how I imagined him to be. He is sensitive, smart and made Blair loosen up (that is why she screwed her Yale interview). He also has this thing for Blair but chose to be Serena's boyfriend and then dumped her.

TV Series: Show!Aaron is a photographer who fell in love with Serena. He was a crappy character and was probably thought about while the writers were bored with their life. He was totally uninteresting.

I really think that Aaron would have been a good character in the show. Aaron + Blair > Serena + Dan, if we are talking about stepbrother and stepsister romance.

Eric van der Woodsen

Books: Book!Eric is a stud. I also imagined him to be a very gorgeous man (he is Serena's OLDER brother anyway... I bet he also has that perfect genes). Book!Blair almost lost her virginity with book!Eric, but she wasn't ready yet. He took this in a very cute, awkward and OMG-you-are-such-a-nice-guy way.

TV Series: Show!Eric is younger than Serena and is gay. Eric isn't given much airtime in this show. He used to be adorable (circa season one, two) but now I hate him because all he does is to bitch over Chuck, as if Jenny wasn't the first one who initiated the whole sex thing.

I am actually sort of confused over this one. I would love to see a straight, older book!Eric for Blair, but I also love the gay, young show!Eric given a good material to work on.

CONCLUSION

The TV series can be such a mess, but I hate how over-the-top and totally unrealistic the books were. Both of them had good and bad points. I loved Gossip Girl from season one to two, and I kind of drifted away since season three. I have read the novels until its sixth book and so far, I am still having a blast.

Photos above courtesy of youknowyouloveme.org. I have chosen this photoshoot because in my opinion, this embodied book!cast and show!cast perfectly.

: An Olive Grove Facing The Sea - Snow Patrol