prunesquallormd | Oh Chuck ...

In which I try, and probably fail, not to come across like a frustrated teenage girl.

*squee*
*flail*
There are many reasons I should dislike Gossip Girl, not least being that its main framing idea is a voiceover in the style of one of those horrible, sneering, gossip/society pages, a la Heat, Hello, or (from way back when my parents, embarrassingly, read the Daily Mail) Nigel Dempster, that assume that the most interesting thing in the world is who someone you don't know at all is sleeping with today. It's peopled with ridiculously pretty 20 somethings pretending to be 16 and you don't really have to squint your eyes that hard to start seeing it as a New York based Beverly Hills 90210.

There are, however, several ways in which it totally and utterly rocks. And the first and foremost of those can be summed up in two syllables: Chuck. Bass.

Coincidentally given

lareinemisere 's last but one post , I've been having Vicomte de Valmont flashes every time I see him on screen. Now, John Malkovich isn't the most attractive man ever, but his Valmont - in many ways despicable, but utterly charming and finally and tragically redeemed by love - remains the most appealing and magnetic 'bad' guy in cinema.
It may be just because I love Valmont so much that I'm convinced that Chuck Bass is modeled in his image, but then again: in many ways thoroughly despicable, apparently entirely amoral, he cares only for money and and the things that money can buy him; beneath the surface though, there are glimpses of a certain decency, or at least loyalty to his friends, and I remain convinced (or at least hopeful) that love will redeem him, this time without the rather unfortunate duel to the death. Similarities, I think?

All of which is somewhat beside the point. And the point is this: His every screen moment is a squee-fest of utter fabulousnous. He has very little to say and everything he does say is delivered in the same bored, lazy, arrogant tone. In a voice to die for. Obviously he's gorgeous - he's a TV actor, they always are. And his every word, his every scene, is utter gold. Seriously, every time he hits the screen I literally flail. He is, quite simply, the Best Character In Any TV Show Ever. If they actually dressed him in decent clothes he'd be utterly irresistible. And god, I'd hit it. I'd hit it with the power of a thousand suns ...

His greatest scene, his defining moment thus far, comes at the end of season 1. I've included a rather badly edited youtube clip below but the scene goes something like so:-

Blair (attempting to persuade Serena to tell her deep dark secret): You don't have to hide anything from us.
Nate: She's right Serena, none of us are saints.
Blair: Yeah, I had sex (indicating Chuck) with him in the back of a limo.
Chuck (nodding matter of factly, with, wait, was that just the faintest sign of a smug smile?): Several times.
Nate: I had sex with you at a wedding while I was her date(indicating Blair). (Pause, looks at Chuck) Once.
(Blair looks expectantly at Chuck.)
Chuck (pauses for a beat, curls his lip slightly, and shakes his head. Because there's only one thing he needs to say): I'm Chuck Bass.
(Serena looks at Chuck with an expression that, in most of the major cultures of the world, signifies What. The. Fuck?)

Oh Chuck. I love you so much it's not even funny.

*/flail*
*/squee*

I should probably be ashamed to post this.
It turns out, however, that I'm not.