Solidarity

Writer's strike propaganda marches on as Nancy Franklin abruptly decides to turn her essay on Gossip Girl away from the subject at hand, and conclude instead with a complaint about the injustice of the studios' demands:

“Gossip Girl” has indeed become a hit, though not a megahit. It’s now possible—and necessary—for Nielsen to count viewings of shows that people have recorded on their DVRs and watched within seven days, and “Gossip Girl” ’s ratings jump from not so hot to respectable when those figures are taken into account. It’s also the top TV show on iTunes at the moment. It was on the basis of these two elements of our brave new multiplatform world that the CW decided recently to order a full season of “Gossip Girl.” Advertisers’ being drawn to a show that sells well on iTunes wasn’t even a concept until a couple of years ago. All the new ways of delivering shows to viewers are starting to pan out for the studios and the networks that own them. That they continue to balk at sharing a larger fraction of their stupendous wealth with writers—the people who make that wealth possible—is as mystifying as it is sensationally wrong.

At any rate, I agree with pretty much everything Franklin says about the show, but to me it seems remarkable to comment on Gossip Girl's decision to portray rich New York City as a place that doesn't contain any Jewish people.

Comments

Why is it remarkable to comment on the show's decision to portray rich NYC as a place that doesn't contain any Jewish people? Or did you mean to say that it's remarkable that the article doesn't make that comment?

Or is this odd statement an effort to make me go read an article that I otherwise would feel compelled to ignore entirely?

Posted by teemack | November 23, 2007 4:03 PM

Why is it remarkable to comment on the show's decision to portray rich NYC as a place that doesn't contain any Jewish people? Or did you mean to say that it's remarkable that the article doesn't make that comment?

He means the latter, obviously. Won't people ever get tired of commenting on MY's typos?

Posted by lemuel pitkin | November 23, 2007 4:22 PM

Isn't Gossip Girl based on a book? Not sure that eases MY's pain, since I don't know why the book would depict NYC that way. Other than to comment it's fiction, and as such, they make stuff up.

Posted by AJ | November 23, 2007 5:00 PM

Jews never exist in daytime fantasy soaps. Turn on any of the networks between 12pm-3pm and I'll give you a hearty handshake if you find a Jewish character on any of those soaps.

At least not since Howie Mandell in the 1980s.

Posted by WinSmith | November 23, 2007 5:17 PM

He means the latter, obviously. Won't people ever get tired of commenting on MY's typos?

Nope!

Posted by Korha | November 23, 2007 5:46 PM

Gossip Girl is basically a series of broad caricatures of loathesome people, right? I can see a TV producer being a little nervous of being able to hit the pitch right with a Jewish character and deciding that it's safer not to go there.

Posted by Jackmormon | November 23, 2007 6:05 PM

No Jewish kids in upper east side New York? Yes, remarkable. I sent two (gentile) daughters to schools like that, and of course 70 percent of friends, boyfriends, etc. were Jewish or the growing and interesting demographic of half-Jewish. It's not, obviously, that people won't get into Jewish characters. But maybe the mix becomse complicated, since you couldn't have an all Jewish show like Seinfeld. And you have some loathsome characters apparently. But basically, if you stereotype rich wasps, it's acceptable; rich Jews, not so much.

Posted by Scott McC | November 23, 2007 8:27 PM

Does he not get paid to write these things? Shouldn't that include some attention to the basic logic of the sentences? Does the Atlantic's blogging system not allow editing of posted items? If not, isn't that kind of strange?

This kind of "oh i OBVIOUSLY meant the opposite of what i actually wrote" sentiment is all over and it seems very peculiar to me. I can understand making the initial mistakes, but criminy, people, go fix them when they are found.

Posted by tatere | November 24, 2007 4:29 AM

So what's the current status regarding Jews marrying non-Jews in the US? Anyone got any data or analysis?

I've always found these concepts of goyim and gentile a bit archaic, quirky, offensive - not sure. If my family gave me the impression that it would be undesirable and looked down upon if I married a jewish, black, catholic or whatever girl, I'd tell them to go f@ck themselves. On the other hand, I can somewhat understand how Jewish people in the US are trying to preserve their culture in this way.

Posted by novakant | November 24, 2007 9:14 AM

Do we even know that the characters are not supposed to be Jewish? Blair's trip to church is clearly that of someone who's not a Christian.

Not that I watch the show or anything.

Posted by Phoebe | November 24, 2007 4:20 PM

To me it seems remarkable to comment on Matt's blog with commenting on the typos on the blog.

Posted by Tae Bo | November 24, 2007 5:54 PM