Gossip Girl: I Must Be Missing Something

I'll start this out with a confession -- I've read all of the original series of Gossip Girl books, and I loved them. I read one on every break during college as a vacation from constant thinking and school work. They had great clothes and some really interesting characters, which made them worth reading in spite of the soap opera plots.

The small screen version has failed to impress me. It's not that I don't enjoy the occasion juicy teen drama, because I do. But there is something wrong. A few somethings.

I knew they'd have to change stuff for TV, but did they have to change the most interesting stuff. The good characters have been ruined. Dan should be a brooding, scrawny, chain-smoking, three-day-old-coffee-drinking poet with an absent-minded, writer father and an overly well-endowed, popularity-driven sister. I kinda get removing the chain smoking thing for TV, but the rest worked.

As for that sister, Jenny. She's supposed try too hard to make up for her dark, curly/frizzy hair, big boobs, less-than-perfect figure and complete lack of money and connections. This blonde, model-perfect, Taylor Momsen version of Jenny does not work for me.

Fashion was hugely important in the books, but without these more colorful characters, most of the more unique looks are lost. Sure, everyone looks great, but everyone looks great. Mostly, the clothing seems too fussy and over-done. The trends are overworked and too obvious. Blair is way too buttoned up. She is supposed to have an Audrey Hepburn obsession that shows up in her look, which doesn't happen in the show. Jenny is way too prim. All of the boys, except for Chuck, are over-styled.

On top of that, all of the actors are now watched as style stars because they act on a show that is based on fashionable books. This isn't to say some these stars haven't made a few good fashion choices on their own, but it isn't enough to designate them style stars yet. Fashionista's everywhere are talking about what Gossip Girl characters and actors are wearing so I must be missing something. Even as a fan of a books, I don't get why Gossip Girl TV is such a fashion event.