And according to Twitter, I'm not the only one who thinks this.
The Way Serena Says Chuck’s Name on ‘Gossip Girl’ Is Infuriating
My friend Connor is doing a Gossip Girl rewatch, and like any good Blair Waldorf stan, I asked him to send me copious updates. So far we've discussed the usual: Eric's boyfriend (Jonathan) is a monster, Leighton Meester's music deserves the world, the Lady Gaga episode is iconic.
But one night last week he sent me a text that read, “I can't stop thinking about the way Serena says…” followed by a voice note he recorded.
That's when a memory I've long had locked away came barreling out, fully on fire.
“Chuck,” Connor said in his voice note, mimicking the mouth-full-of-marshmallows way Serena (or rather, actor Blake Lively) pronounces the G.G. antagonist's name.
My body tensed up. My jaw dropped. Every hair on me from head to toe stood at attention. Connor had just uttered one of the most nerve-racking sounds in aural history. A sound so potent it fills me with rage—pure, unadulterated rage.
That's what Serena saying Chuck's name on Gossip Girl does to me. It makes me so angry, and I don't know why.
Hear it in action at the 54-second mark:
And in this scene, in which she says his name twice in a row:
Watch a few Gossip Girl episodes and try tuning into Serena's “Chuck” cadence. It's annoying! Her pronunciation is deep and throaty, like, I don't know, Darth Vader talking with a mouth full of spaghetti. The “ck” at the end lingers a little bit too long. The “uc” in the middle reminds me of a baritone singer reading a phonebook. Combined, these syllables in Serena's voice—for whatever reason—make for a deeply unpleasant listening experience, in my opinion. I'm not saying the sound of her voice is irksome, just the way she says this specific word.
AdvertisementI clocked this immediately when I first watched Gossip Girl eons ago and surely thought I was the only one who did. I was certain it was just me who wanted to throw a plate every time Serena said “Chuck.” Eventually, I learned to cope with it (I had to finish the show!) and stored my weird opinion far, far away.
But it's not weird. In fact, I'm not alone on this train. There's Connor, of course, and also, apparently, tons of people on Twitter. They say mutual hate bonds people like nothing else, and now I see why. I've never felt more seen than by this group of Gossip Girl fans who also want to fling their computers out the window every time Serena says “Chuck.”
https://twitter.com/krystalmib/status/465641674895814656https://twitter.com/skinnyveganlyfe/status/400485593999622144https://twitter.com/ToniGriggss/status/1095059733210415104https://twitter.com/kanyestoilet/status/1295451205578170368https://twitter.com/KelseaVickhouse/status/987321827360780289https://twitter.com/fIorouss/status/1282907169239691266https://twitter.com/mtcgentry/status/1328577374259208192https://twitter.com/SLOANESEMMA/status/1344292340949774345None of these people could articulate why this makes them so livid, and I can't either. It just does. I can describe the sound, sure, but not the root of my frustration. The only thing I can do is compare it to other phenomena that enrage us for no discernible reason, like the word moist or Nickelback songs or a waiter asking if Pepsi is okay. “Serena saying ‘Chuck’" is up there with things that are just no good, plain and simple. Like Blair's word, you don't question it.
Christopher Rosa is the entertainment editor at Glamour. Follow him on Twitter @chrisrosa92.
This story originally appeared on: Glamour - Author:Christopher Rosa
