Gossip Girl reboot vowed to be inclusive, but it still centers uncritically on whiteness

The Mary Sue

"While Gossip Girl is trying very much to use the language of a post-racial society, it often forgets that it is still operating in a hyper-white space," says Princess Weekes. "When it decided that the two core Black female leads were going to be lighter skinned, mixed-race actresses, it was leaning into the privilege of colorism. With Monet sidelined, the only other recurring darker-skinned female character we’ve gotten has appeared recently as Zoya’s friend who 'who pushes her to break the rules.' And it’s not just the Black women. Akeno 'Aki' Menzies is also an Asian biracial character, and while his storyline has revolved mostly around his sexuality, beyond that, he is always giving support to others. Luna being Mexican and a trans woman (like the actress playing her) is only something we know from Wikipedia. While I think it’s great to have it normalized, it also seems like they just didn’t know how to talk about it and so didn’t..."