After the Gossip
Girl series finale on Monday, blogs everywhere rejoiced at the long-awaited
wedding of Chair. I know I was in the minority opinion when I refused to be
happy for the newlyweds, but I can’t support Chuck after his behavior in the
first season.
In Gossip Girl’s
pilot episode, Chuck attempted not one, but two rapes. The first was when he
took Serena into the kitchen of the Palace Hotel to make her a grilled cheese
sandwich, only to press her against a wall and attempt to force himself on her
despite her repeated cries for him to stop. Fortunately, Serena van der Woodsen
is a total badass underneath all that gorgeousness, and she kicked him in the
balls before running away.
Jenny Humphrey, who was still a very, very “Little
J” at that point, would have been less fortunate had Dan and Serena not
intervened. After taking her to the roof above the Kiss on the Lips party and
attempting to get her drunk, Chuck once again tried to force himself on a
crying woman. Jenny had been smart enough to text Dan, though, and he gave
Chuck a much-deserved black eye.
Fast forward five seasons, and Chuck and Blair’s
romance is often referred to as a fairytale. Even though Chuck convinced Blair
to sleep with his uncle Jack in order to maintain his control of the Empire
Hotel, most Gossip Girl fans referred
to their relationship as the show’s ultimate perfection. Chuck had many other
sexual relationships along the way (remember Clemence Poesy’s guest role as
Eva?) and frequently referred to women as his “conquests.”
When I mention Chuck’s past to friends who watch the
show, they usually respond with some variant of the statement “He’s changed.”
That’s all well and good, but would you really say that to your own friend? If
you knew a man who had attempted to rape your best friend just a few years ago,
would you be able to move past it and marry him?
Chuck and Blair’s child was cute, and the final
episode made their relationship appear very happy (and consensual). But the
glossing over of Chuck’s past implies that rape, or attempted rape, is less
serious than it truly is. And that’s not a fairytale ending.
Gossip Girl memes // all credit to ggmemes.tumblr.com. I did not create these memes.
