The Character of Chuck Bass
Hey, guys!
So, as some of you may know, I recently got really into ‘Gossip Girl’. I had never seen the show before and my sister is a big fan of it, so I decided to give it a go. Guess what, I loved it. Yeah, I’m a guy, but every man loves his dose of cheesiness once in a while. The are a lot of great things about the ‘Gossip Girl’, but one aspect of it struck me the most: Chuck Bass.
Warning: There are SPOILERS about ‘Gossip Girl’ in what written below!
Chuck Bass is one of the main characters of the show. He’s a really, really rich young man with a very unique personality. His ego is above the charts, he’s a huge ladies man, and he never takes no for an answer and gets literally everything he wants. In the beginning of the show, you absolutely hate Chuck Bass. After watching the first episode, I asked a couple of my friends that have been fans of the show for a long time who their favorite character was and they all said it was Chuck Bass. I was shocked. As far as I knew, he was a total d**k. In the first episode alone he tries to rape not one, but two young girls. However, he grows on you. I really can’t explain how, but you kinda forget all those awful things the character did in the past as you see him develop as a person. You know, I’ve seen a lot of shows and a lot of movies and I can say, without a doubt, that Chuck Bass is one of the best developed characters I’ve seen in my entire life. At the end of the show (after only two or three seasons, really), you will absolutely adore the character. He grows so much, you get see the reasons as to why he the way he is, and he just becomes the best damn person on ‘Gossip Girl’. He completely changes at the end and you love him. And it’s not some random change either. No, the story does an amazing job of slowly and realistically developing the character through his various interesting story arcs. It’s genius because it’s real. I can get into specific story arcs and moments in the show through which Chuck Bass has grown, but that will take forever and it really isn’t necessary. The fact remains that Chuck is developed so well and he truly is the perfect character of ‘Gossip Girl’.
One of the main ideas of ‘Gossip Girl’ is that whoever comes into the Upper East Side and interacts with these ridiculously wealthy people will get ruined and will start acting foolishly like them. Through the character of Chuck Bass, the producers want to claim that if one fights through the negatives of living in the Upper East Side, one will grow and become so much better than his past self and than those around him. The show uses brilliant methods to show how Chuck grows. Mainly, he’s developed through his relationships with various people. There is the relationship with his father. At the beginning, Chuck acts the same way as his father does in many ways. Later on, Chuck sees what a despicable human being Bart Bass truly is and he does everything is his power to not be like him. I also, personally, think Chuck’s relationship with Lily had a lot to do with why he changed so much. By having a loving ‘parent’ and role model in his life, Chuck realized what’s the truly right way to behave around those he loves and cherishes. The most influential relationship he has is, obviously, that with Blair Waldorf. That girl is the single most powerful indicator as to why Chuck changes so much. Their relationship helps him in numerous ways, I won’t get into details, and he’s a far better person because of his love towards Blair.
Another reason as to why Chuck’s development is so perfect is because it’s subtle. He doesn’t just change overnight, you actually see him gradually grow over the course of ‘Gossip Girl’. I hate how most characters in TV shows have scenes where they get all honest about themselves to their friends or lovers. Chuck Bass is not like that. There is not scene with this character in which he talks long about his feelings and who he is, no, you analyze the person yourself by watching his actions throughout the show. There are these very rare times when the character gets honest (like in the gif above) and that’s when you actually understand something new about him.
Which brings me to another point of discussion. Chuck Bass is so amazing as a character only because there is such an amazing actor to play him. Ed Westwick is the artist behind Chuck Bass and he’s truly unbelievable. Honestly, one of the best performances I’ve ever seen on TV. Those rare moments of honestly with the character I’m talking about? They wouldn’t have been half as emotional if Ed Westwick wasn’t so good portraying Chuck Bass’ deepest feelings. We wouldn’t understand the character at all if Ed wasn’t so good in dropping hints about who he really is throughout the show and actually pushing the public to analyze the character, rather than giving a monologue about who he truly is and be done with it.
Chuck Bass truly is one of the best fictional characters ever. His development is amazing and his persona is flawless. The producers never f**k up when it comes to Chuck Bass. They develop him slowly and thus give the viewers the chance to understand who he is and why he is that way themselves. If you don’t like ‘Gossip Girl’, that’s fine. But I am wiling to recommend the show solely because of Chuck Bass. Even though there are other things I love about the show, Chuck Bass is certainly the best in it. His emotional development throughout ‘Gossip Girl’ was a roller-coaster and I’m so grateful to the producers for creating and developing such a perfect character.
What did you think of this? Do you like Chuck Bass? Do you like ‘Gossip Girl’? Share your thoughts in the comments section below. Don’t forget to like and share this article if you enjoyed it!
Thanks for reading,
Pouty Boy
I’m a guy and I thought the show was pretty good too.
Yup, it’s pretty awesome.
I was in love with Chucks character. He was bad but acted out because he had a void in his heart that his own father couldn’t fill and he had no female figure in his life that can guide him through life. When he falls in love with Blair he figures out what true love is. His character just blossoms after.
Yesss, I love his relationship with Blair mainly because of how much they both gain from it and develop as individuals while together.
Ed Westwick made Chuck a memorable character. In a lesser actor’s hand, Chuck would have been nothing but a caricature.
Absolutely, I think Ed Westwick is one of the most underrated actors right now, he should be in more stuff.
I am in COMPLETE agreement with this. Chuck Bass is the type of round character that every good TV show needs. His development as a person is unbelievable. You wouldn’t recognize the Chuck from episode one if you compared him to the Chuck from the last episode of Gossip Girl. My favorite characters are the dynamic ones, the ones who are misunderstood in the beginning and end up showing you who they truly are and why they’re that way. Their story lies are usually much more beautiful than the main characters who are likeable from the beginning (and who honestly get boring by the end). I love Chuck Bass and everything he does. Following his character was the best part of watching Gossip Girl.
I agree completely. The character development of Chuck was by far the vest thing about ‘Gossip Girl’ and the producers nailed it. They created a truly interesting and realistic character.
I couldn’t agree more with everything you write. I hadn’t seen Gossip Girl until recently (used to be one of those people with preconceived opinions on ‘shallow crap’ which I’ve as an adult now grown out of for the most part) and when I started watching it was addictive, finished all seasons in my free time in two weeks or so. Almost immediately after I finished I started to re-watch.
Chuck Bass is one of my favourite fictional character of all time and all categories, it was simply stunning to see the well-crafted and slow development of his character with masterful acting by Westwick. It only annoyed me a bit that Blair didn’t develop as much, or at least that’s how it looked to me, as she jumped into a marriage with Louis when she loved Chuck more (I guess it was the princess thing that did it), and then got involved with Dan after that…
I would love to see an anniversary reunion special when we could see the GG gang as 30-somethings. It would be so interesting to see how Chuck handles things like being a father when he himself had a dad who didn’t taught him more than how to trade stocks (as he said).
I agree! You make some excellent points. The thing I didn’t like about ‘Gossip Girl’ was that I found some of the relationships a bit rushed. Like Nate and Serena and Dan and Blair. I liked both of those relationships, but they were so random and out of nowhere. And yeah, Blair didn’t develop a lot, but I still liked her, especially at the end. I don’t know about the reunion though, I feel like they ended on such a high note that they would f**k things up if they did a reunion.
I absolutely love this show! One of the best I have seen to date. Chuck is one of my favorite tv characters. Honestly, he and Blair are the only reasons I finished the series and have watched 2 more times. Other than them and Lily, I thoroughly disliked every other character, even the 2 Charlies.
Especially Dan, Serena, and Jenny.
Wow, I have a totally dofferent opinion. I loved Chuck, but I liked Dan even more! Blair gets on my nerves sometimes. I love Serena. And Jenny is a fu**ing bitch.
Interesting post! I’ve come across a few characters like Chuck Bass on other TV Shows.
Nice? Any examples?
Christian Troy from Nip/Tuck
Ohh, yeah, great example!
Yup!
Thanks! He’s my favorite character on the show.