My earliest memory of the downfall of the internet was back in 2020, when one of the darkest tweets ever made went viral and revealed that no one on earth was a serious person.
If you recall, in my ‘The Miseducation of Maddy and Cassie’ newsletter, I revealed that I wasn’t always a fan of Jules, and I especially wasn’t in 2020. But to compare her to Nate Jacobs.. I don’t feel like I even need to explain why that’s insane.
Ever since this tweet, people have felt the need to pick on someone they find annoying or dislike and make them the true villain of the show or movie or book when there’s already a clear villain or antagonist present. And it gets more and more ridiculous every single day.
There’s one character that has been a victim of this trend, and this version of the debate has existed since the beginning of time, and gets more and more ridiculous everyday.
THE PEOPLE V. GABRIELLA MONTEZ
I have a confession:
Before I was a beautiful brilliant media literate woman, I was the number one prosecutor on this case. I am a Sharpay Evans girl, and I have spent the better part of my life trying to turn everyone around me against the rest of the students of East High to defend her.
If you’ve been on any corner on the internet you’ve seen a TikTok or tweet reading the following:
“Maturing is realizing Sharpay actually wasn’t the villain, it was Gabriella and Troy” with some flimsy argument about how Sharpay wasn’t acting out of malice; she was just upset because something she worked for was getting snatched from her by people who were pretty and had good chemistry.
I’m here to say, as someone who once believed in this flimsy argument like it was her religion, maturing is actually realizing that Sharpay is Troy and Gabriella’s villain. But the reason we want to rally behind her is because she appeals to this victim inside of us. The victim that feels like they deserve what pretty and popular people have because we work harder for it.
Now, I’m not saying that Sharpay’s not pretty, obviously. But there’s something to be said about the people around us who just come in and light up a room, they’re naturally loved and adored, and they have this charisma that can’t be replicated. It’s the kind of thing that some people are just born with. That’s the kind of girl that Gabriella is.
I’ll speak personally when I say, I like that Sharpay doesn’t have that. That deep down she struggles to replicate it, even though she pretends that she doesn’t have to. She has to pull strings, and manipulate to even look like she has that same allure. And when you put it like that, it comes off as pathetic and it kind of makes her look like a loser but I like that too.
Just walk with me for a second.
In 2023, there was a trend on TikTok, a fascination with the depiction of ‘female rage’ in movies and television.
If you look up female rage online, the definition varies. Some think it’s about a response to oppression that women have had to face. Some believe that it’s a response to being wronged, a deep and complicated feeling of needing to get revenge that only women feel because it’s coupled with this desire of still being seen as feminine and soft while being angry.
On TikTok it’s very simple, the feeling of being angered by things that happen to women. From misogyny to seeing your boyfriend with the girl they told you not to worry about. It’s not that complicated.
Before the term was overused, I also liked to see the different depictions of it because I like seeing vulnerability in people. I grew up seeing all emotions and feelings as a weakness, and something that you should keep private. You cry in private, you don’t let people know that you’re angry, you can never say that you feel jealous, or that you feel left out. You can’t say that someone hurt your feelings because you might put a burden on them or worse, they might react negatively and possibly call you sensitive which is another thing that you never want to be seen as.
Never show a boy that you like him, don’t text back fast, never call first, don’t show interest until he does.
Most people view these feelings as weaknesses, which is another reason why we gravitate to characters like Sharpay Evans. She doesn’t let things destroy her, she destroys back. When she sees that Ms. Darbus has an interest in Gabriella and Troy and wants to do a callback, even though she’s sure that she’s probably not going to come out on top, she doesn’t give up–she does everything in her power to eliminate the problem.
And when she eventually does lose, people don’t see the weakness in her, they see a victim. Someone who ‘deserved better’ and that feels better than seeing someone who lost or a “loser”. It makes people feel more comfortable to think that someone was failed, rather than seeing someone who failed. Because anything in their own life can be turned into a situation where they’re not appreciated in their own time, instead of seeing what the truth probably is.
Gabriella became the villain in people’s eyes because she’s ‘boring’, she’s nice and sweet and everybody loves her. But she never “earned” anything she had, she didn’t work as hard or put as much effort in things like Sharpay did. Sharpay rearranged a whole song, and brought props, and came to auditions in full costume. Gabriella just sang and ran off in the middle of the performance because of stage fright. How come she gets everything? She gets the guy that Sharpay wanted and the role that Sharpay wanted and gave nothing in return. How is that fair?
These are feelings that you’re not supposed to say out loud, because as you read them they sound ridiculous, they sound pathetic, they aren’t reasonable or logical. But the thing that I find most attractive about characters like Sharpay isn’t that she’s mean or rude to the people around her. It’s the access to all the things that make her human and relatable, and understanding that feeling inside that the only way to get things that you want is to take them for yourself… regardless of who’s most deserving. And regardless of what methods she feels she has to take.
A good character is supposed to make you feel for them. And the reason that all villains have a devastating backstory is because they want to appeal to audiences' deeper feelings inside. Everyone can relate to having something that happened to them that hurt them and wanting to get even with that person or persons, even if they never do (because you’re really not supposed to do revenge). It’s sad to see people who never let go of the past that has affected how they live their lives now, because it very easily could be you. Which is why sometimes you find yourself wanting the villain to win, because it’s kind of like seeing the wounded person in you get to win the way they wanted to.
That doesn’t necessarily make the people who never suffered the way that you suffered bad, which is where a lot of people start to lose the plot. It just makes the voices inside that always say ‘that’s not fair!’ feel heard for 30 minutes to an hour.
THE PEOPLE V. SERENA VAN DER WOODSEN
Serena, I’m fearing you barely get out of jail on parole…
“I’m aware that I lack some people’s easy grace with strangers, and I don’t exactly make you feel like you’ve known me forever even though we just met. When I laugh, you might not smile just at the coquette-ish sound of it and I may not be spontaneous, or delightful, or full of surprises and my hair might not sparkle when it catches the light.” – Blair Waldorf Yale Admissions Interview (Gossip Girl S2E6)
Personally, I think that Blair Waldorf is easier to feel bad for than Sharpay Evans, like I feel like her life just sucks! Like sure, she’s a demon but wouldn’t you be?
Imagine everyone in the world prefers your best friend over you, the whole school. your boyfriend, your mom, and the college that you’ve dreamed of every single day ever since your dad (who left and moved to another country and barely visits) took you to visit when you were little. I would be burning buildings to the ground are you kidding me? Not to mention her story ends with a man who literally tore her down every second of every day and still made her come crawling back to him. It’s just sick.
Funnily enough, Serena and Blair are actually one of my favorite friendships of television history, because they hate each other but oh when they don’t..
Serena Van Der Woodsen has a lot of reasons to dislike her, she doesn’t get out of jail for free like Gabriella does. I think making Blair out to be a victim is easier in this case, because the way Gossip Girl (2007) is written is to make sure that Serena never ever has to take accountability for more than 5 seconds and Blair always has to lose something that has a drastic effect on her life. It’s more frustrating because a lot of it is unfair, and a lot of the things that happen to Blair or get taken from Blair are harder on the ego to watch because it feels like a personal injustice.
The problem here is that Blair has multiple reasons that she should dislike Serena (slept with her boyfriend, for one). But none of them are the reason that Blair actually does. Blair is unbelievably jealous of Serena, and it feels like an obvious statement, but if you tweeted this right now you’d get flooded with a lot of angry teens (and some thirty year olds) insisting that she isn’t. Serena has taken everything from her, she’s not as innocent as you think she is! Blair has every right to be mad… Well, yes! But that doesn’t mean that Blair isn’t jealous of her, actually that just fuels the argument.
The only thing Blair knows how to do is take because no one is going to give her anything right away, and a lot of the time no matter how hard she works she still loses out on things that are important to her… and most of the time she loses to Serena. Most of the arguments that Blair and Serena have are because something good that Blair has been working for, just gets given to Serena without a second thought. She has a natural charisma, she knows how to socialize and make people feel loved and wanted. Blair doesn’t know how to do that, she only knows how to be selfish and bulldoze because no one seems to like the other parts of her, but they do respect the villain inside of her (or they seem to).
And the thing that sucks the most is that Serena is the only person that seems to make Blair feel safe (except Dan, but that’s a newsletter for another day).. How do you get rid of the only person in the world that gets you and that loves you.. But at the same time, how do you keep the person that takes everything away from you around?
Jealousy is not a trait that people like to talk about with empathy, it’s a trait people like to shy away from because it’s embarrassing. If you’re jealous of someone, you’re automatically pathetic, a national security threat. And while I’m not going to pretend that Blair is not someone who has more pathetic moments than anyone in Gossip Girl history (not counting the reboot), I do think the reason it’s so easy to flock to her over Serena is because watching and loving her scheme to get her way is like writing a strongly worded email to a boss but never sending it. Or getting out all of your frustration and anger in a journal but never saying those words or feelings out loud. It’s cathartic to see her and other mean girls do whatever they feel the need to do to get their way and to look good doing it.
I’ve spent the better part of my life trying to change myself for the enjoyment of others, because I’ve always felt like who I really am doesn’t fit in with the way that other people do. I do everything I can to fit in but it doesn’t work, because I’m just different and I’m not really sure why. When I watch other people interact together, it doesn’t feel real, it feels like a goal that I can’t reach. That’s when I start to hear the voice of the perpetual victim inside tell me that there’s something wrong with me, and that it’s not fair that I can’t get to where I want to be.
I worry endlessly about how people see me, how I stand, if my voice is annoying, if I’m in people’s way, if people think I’m trying way too hard or talking and laughing way too loud. I don’t know when or when not to make eye contact. And I don’t understand how to communicate with people in a way that instantly charms them the way that I notice a lot of people around me do.
And what’s ridiculous is that I’m perfectly aware that people like me. I don’t seem to struggle to bond with people. I just wonder if it’s real. Am I being who I actually am or am I trying to appeal to the personality I think people are going to like? Am I trying my hardest to be the girl I’ve always wanted to be and admired but only the parts of her that I can attain?
I’ve started and restarted at least 5 newsletters about the recent depictions of ‘girlhood’ on social media and the different ways that women feel the need to make themselves ‘marketable’ for a larger audience.
There are so many ways to “girl” on social media, and none of them are significant for more than a month. Sometimes they’ll be recycled every couple months, and sometimes they’ll completely vanish as if they never existed at all.
But at the end of the day, through some song, some movie or tv show, there’s a new subsection of the female gender, and you have to conform to it and move on from it in just enough time in order to stay relevant. You’re either a Charlotte York girl or a Samantha Jones girl… A girl’s girl or a pick me.. Soft girl or warm girl.
Now if you follow me on Twitter, you should be pretty well-versed on my disdain for the Barbie movie. Specifically, the infamous America Farrera monologue that had the entire internet in a frenzy. But I’m not here to debate on the Barbie movie with you, so please, before you prepare your comment— don’t.
The foundation of the monologue to me does speak to a point that is on my mind often, though. So many expectations are placed on the idea of “woman” or “girl”. The reason that all these people on social media (specifically on TikTok) have an incessant need to place a name and brand on personality traits that can exist inside of anyone, is because of all of the pressure that exists on women who aren’t entertaining the people around them in some way.
There’s a certain look, a trending personality trait, a way you’re supposed to dress. And there are girls that can follow those rules to their hearts content but at the end of the day there’s an unspoken rule that everyone who’s watching is expecting. You have to have it. And no amount of makeup, soft girl hashtags, and vintage thrifted fashion can give it to you unless you already got it.
And knowing that is frustrating, if you care. And I’m sorry to say that I do, I’ve been trying to shake it for years, but I still want to gain it. Even though I know I can’t.
Those are the feelings in Blair Waldorf and in Sharpay Evans that I get. The feeling that there’s nothing you can do but be you, and for a lot of people you won’t be good enough. But something I’m intending to bring into the New Year is to just be around people who decide that who I am is good enough, I don’t want to spend any more time around people that I constantly wonder if they like me and work hard to prove myself to them, I’ll just be around people who make it obvious that they do. Because when I’m by myself I like me, so why does it change when I’m around other people?
To idgaf or to gaf… that is the question.
This is so so good! Thank you so much for your analysis on the mean girl and why we love her. I never finished Gossip Girl so I'm less familiar with the scope of Serena's public enemy behavior, but I totally understand what you mean about Sharpay. I'd never considered before how so much of her character is someone who is desperately trying to control and construct an image. She's never cool or popular in a way that's effortless. Gabriella never had to try to be liked. Sharpay never stopped trying.
i've been thinking so much about gossip girl lately; its place within culture and media, its poorly done reboot, and why people are such ride-or-die for these characters because the majority of them are simply not good people. it's relatability of course, and i don't find blair deeply sympathetic all the time, but there are moments in the show where her character is just...pure tragedy. only in season 2 is she able to reflect on her self-cannibalizing ways and how at times she subverts the Mean Girl trope. the writers plant seeds of growth and maturity only to retroactively keep her in this psychotic loop of villainy (and crawling back to CH*CK) for the rest of the show. i'm not always gravitating towards the Mean Girl but i really enjoyed this perspective. i'll be mulling over it for a while as i continue to think about GG. thanks for sharing your writing!