Blair's socioeconomic status is off the charts. The Waldorf name has been in the city for generations with her mom owning one of the highest fashion lines in New York. Many scenes come from the Met Steps outside the school, where studying, gossiping, and of course, scheming, occur. Constance Billard School for Girls and St. Jude's School for Boys are meant to prep the students for a prosperous future in academia, but Blair and her friends are always fighting another battle. Whether it's bad boys, drugs, cheating on tests or hiding emotional disorders, they keep their social standing at the top of their priority list.
While at school, Blair is the leader of cult that determines who is "in" and who is on the "outskirts" of the social radar. She and her minions use academic success, fashion, and social status to intimidate other students. Appropriately, she is referred to as "Queen B". She has the final say in everything from hat styles to the finishing touches on the final class project. Throughout the series, she fights with bulimia as yet another form of control. Although she always has another agenda for social climbing, she excels when it comes to school work. She is a straight A student with a resume loaded with academic extracurricular, making her a perfect candidate for an Ivy League institution. But, she is distracting to other students and creates drama between them for her own benefit.This is all a part of her controlling and over-the-top personality, demanding attention from everyone she crosses.
"You can't make people love you, but you can make them fear you." -Blair Waldorf
If Blair was one of my students, I would have to report her for bullying. First of all, her cult-like demeanor has a negative effect on a lot of other students and teachers. Although her grades are impressive and her involvement in the school is exceptional, her immaturity in bullying is keeping her from having a positive learning experience. I would also be communicating with the school's counselor for an intervention with her eating disorder. She needs someone who cares about her enough to it down with her to talk about what was going on in her life at home. Social media and technology takes precedence in her life as a teenager, so encouraging her to join an online network for recovering bulimics might be a viable option for her.
A typical day at school with Blair Waldorf: A video of her and her minions bullying another social climbing student about her choice in wardrobe.
She calls there moments "disciplinary hearings".
Great idea to use an online support group for the character who is always on technology. Perhaps, also incorporating it into her learning? Good job!
ReplyDeleteI really like the approach to the assignment that you took. Your description and back story of the character are excellent. Great writing! Also, taking a character people may recognize from a show is a brilliant idea to learn about bullying.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading your post and viewing the video, it makes me realize how great it could be to use characters like this as instructional tools. Imagine watching a tv series or movie and going into great detail to identify character strengths, flaws, or any other characteristics that would be beneficial to identify to help student learning. Unfortunately it might mean students are using less creativity, but I do think that it would be a good first stepping stone for students to see something deeper in a tv show.