I am a huge fan of the teenage drama genre, so I loved this short story. However, I had no idea what was going on for a good chunk of the story. I had to read many parts over a few times before I started to grasp the crazy futuristic world that Hero and the narrator lived in.
The first show this story reminded me of was Black Mirror. "Valley of the Girls" has that eerie futuristic vibe to it that is a signature of Black Mirror episodes. The story is a critique and analysis of social media, teenage youth, and wealth as the characters live in one huge social media simulation. The kids come from extremely privileged backgrounds and their parents are over-protective of what people will think about their kids. It's like the show Gossip Girl.
Gossip Girl is a teenage drama that revolves around the extravagant lives of privileged upper-east side teens. Just like the characters in "Valley of the Girls," the teens in Gossip Girl party, do drugs, and drink alcohol. They often get in trouble, but it doesn't matter to them, because their parents are always there to cover up for them by donating a couple million. No one has to worry about not getting into an Ivy League, let alone college at all, because they have legacies and wealth. Bad grades and low test scores can easily be waived. There are no real consequences for them. In "Valley of the Girls," the narrator explains that they get into good colleges and then "inherit the earth." Their lives are set up for them in a continous loop: they lead a reckless youth, go to a top school, inherit their parent's wealth, get married to other rich people, and have kids themselves.
The adults in "Valley of the Girls" hire Faces to represent their kids at social events and on the camera, because the "children are an extension of [the parent's] brand." The parents are obsessed with something called a Q rating and they don't want their kids to degrade it so they implant a device to make their kids invisible to the cameras. In a way, this practice mirrors how the parents in Gossip Girl put on a facade of the perfect family at social events and parties even though their kids are almost always partying. In both, it's not always clear if the parents are protecting the kids or if they're really just protecting themselves and their image. In the episode "Hi, Society," Serena grandmother CeCe tries to pay off her lower class boyfriend Dan to not attend the debutante ball with Serena. The debutante ball is a girl's formal introduction to society, and it's important to CeCe that Serena makes a strong impact at the cotillion. To CeCe, it's unacceptable for a upper-class girl like Serena to be with someone like Dan who lives in Brooklyn, so she uses her wealth to try to pay off Dan. CeCe thinks she's protecting Serena, but she's really just trying to protect her "brand." It's scandalous for the narrator to be in a relationship with his sister's Face. He tries to anger and embarrass the Olds by releasing that sex tape of his Face and his sister's Face. Many of the Gossip Girl characters do things to spite their parents, too, because their sick of how image-obsessed their parents are. There are a lot of parallels between "Valley of the Girls" and Gossip Girl.
The first show this story reminded me of was Black Mirror. "Valley of the Girls" has that eerie futuristic vibe to it that is a signature of Black Mirror episodes. The story is a critique and analysis of social media, teenage youth, and wealth as the characters live in one huge social media simulation. The kids come from extremely privileged backgrounds and their parents are over-protective of what people will think about their kids. It's like the show Gossip Girl.
Gossip Girl is a teenage drama that revolves around the extravagant lives of privileged upper-east side teens. Just like the characters in "Valley of the Girls," the teens in Gossip Girl party, do drugs, and drink alcohol. They often get in trouble, but it doesn't matter to them, because their parents are always there to cover up for them by donating a couple million. No one has to worry about not getting into an Ivy League, let alone college at all, because they have legacies and wealth. Bad grades and low test scores can easily be waived. There are no real consequences for them. In "Valley of the Girls," the narrator explains that they get into good colleges and then "inherit the earth." Their lives are set up for them in a continous loop: they lead a reckless youth, go to a top school, inherit their parent's wealth, get married to other rich people, and have kids themselves.
The adults in "Valley of the Girls" hire Faces to represent their kids at social events and on the camera, because the "children are an extension of [the parent's] brand." The parents are obsessed with something called a Q rating and they don't want their kids to degrade it so they implant a device to make their kids invisible to the cameras. In a way, this practice mirrors how the parents in Gossip Girl put on a facade of the perfect family at social events and parties even though their kids are almost always partying. In both, it's not always clear if the parents are protecting the kids or if they're really just protecting themselves and their image. In the episode "Hi, Society," Serena grandmother CeCe tries to pay off her lower class boyfriend Dan to not attend the debutante ball with Serena. The debutante ball is a girl's formal introduction to society, and it's important to CeCe that Serena makes a strong impact at the cotillion. To CeCe, it's unacceptable for a upper-class girl like Serena to be with someone like Dan who lives in Brooklyn, so she uses her wealth to try to pay off Dan. CeCe thinks she's protecting Serena, but she's really just trying to protect her "brand." It's scandalous for the narrator to be in a relationship with his sister's Face. He tries to anger and embarrass the Olds by releasing that sex tape of his Face and his sister's Face. Many of the Gossip Girl characters do things to spite their parents, too, because their sick of how image-obsessed their parents are. There are a lot of parallels between "Valley of the Girls" and Gossip Girl.
Now that you point it out, I totally see the parallels. I'm pretty sure in Gossip Girl they'd have the faces if it was a thing. But I most see the Black Mirror episode coming because of how, like you said, it's a clear critique of social media and wanting to appear cool so everyone thinks you are. Make the "valley of the girls" tv show lol :)
ReplyDeleteI totally saw this parallel and thought it was really interesting to read. The really high class teenagers and obsession with status felt very similar to Gossip Girl. I would be really interested to see a TV or movie adaptation of this story!
ReplyDeleteThis story definitely reminds me of Black Mirror, but I never really noticed just how similar this story is to Gossip Girl until now! I would also be interested to see how this story turned out if it were adapted into a movie or TV show because of how different Black Mirror and Gossip Girl are from each other. Great post!
ReplyDelete