A middle class writer from Brooklyn who goes (or went? does anyone even still go to class?) to NYU. That seems to sum it up. We can all agree that is a pretty basic description of who he is, right?
Okay, well, most of the talk surrounding his character lately has had to do with his relationship with certain Upper Eastside Princess. Let’s take a few minutes to examine that relationship. Sure there are many things Blair Waldorf likes about him, like his taste in movies and books, his intellect, and his reliability. He has been a good friend to her over the past year or so, and they have discovered that they really do have a lot in common.
But let’s not forget the things Blair does NOT like about him, which she has articulated as recently as the very last episode. Things like his clothes, his residence, and even his writing.
So, to put it simply, the basic things that define him are the things she doesn’t like.
This doesn’t mean that they can’t be together. Of course they can. If there is anything Blair has proved over the last 4.5 seasons, it is that she has quite the ability for bringing about changes in men. She made lazy, apathetic Nate act like the perfect boyfriend (twice!), she caused Chuck to give up his bad-boy ways, and she even convinced Louis to stand up to his family and move to New York. So if she fell in love with Dan, I’m sure it wouldn’t take her very long to have him undergo a make over (preferably one that included chopping off that mop on his head), move to the Upper Eastside, and do something productive with his life (like start a business, or work with a charity).
Some might say: ‘But true love accepts you for who you are!’ and I agree, that is usually true. But what is important and fundamental to both of these characters is so vastly different that they would inevitably have to compromise if they were going to be in any sort of long term relationship. And let’s be real, Blair is never going to move to Brooklyn and start wearing Lands End. The transformation might be slow, and it might take a while for it to happen, but eventually Dan would simply become Househusband Rufus 2.0.
I know you might think about when he was with Serena, and how he didn’t completely change then, but Blair Waldorf is a whole different animal than Serena Van Der Woodsen. Serena was open to the whole Brooklyn, middle-class culture. She was perfectly fine with wearing jeans and flats and going to a little cafe for lunch or to some indie punk concert (or a Lincoln Hawk concert). But Blair Waldorf? She would never. Or, she would once, but she would hate it the whole time and never do it again. Dan may resist the changes Blair would push for, but Blair is too stubborn. She would never back down. And in the end, Dan would give in; or their relationship just wouldn’t work out.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t want that for Dan. What makes his character so great is that, even after all these years of interacting with the Upper Eastsiders, he still has an outside prospective. Putting him with Blair long term would ruin that, and then who would we have to serve as the voice of the masses? Vanessa? I shudder merely at the thought.
Note: This article assumes that the writers of Gossip Girl act with logical character development in mind and are able to recall the historical characteristics that they have defined for their characters, which are things I have doubted they have the ability to do on multiple occasions
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Yes, yes, yes! Thank you for writing this - I agree completely.
I really couldn't agree more. Blair and Dan have great banter due to their reluctance at becoming friends after a long period of disliking each other. But Blair is who she is, and I'm pretty sure she would chew Dan up and swallow him whole. I would hate to see their awesome friendship destroyed by a failed relationship attempt (and it would fail. Badly.)
That's one of the reasons i could never like him and Blair together and he's better with Serena, she don't want to change him. He is perfect for her, the way he is.
I completely and totally disagree with this. In S1 Blair wouldn’t
have gotten close to Dan without a tetanus shot. Now she goes to
Brooklyn whenever she needs help. Blair CAN and HAS become more
accepting of Brooklyn and of Dan and of new experiences. This is WHY
they are such a good couple. They change each other for the better.
Blair has become so much more open-minded through her friendship with
Dan and Dan less judgmental through his friendship with Blair.
Chuckistan post
Wait, I talked about Chuck in this post, besides one tiny reference in relation to Blair?
If I don't want Blair with Dan, why do you automatically assume that means I want her with Chuck?
LOL that's the only thing i could say, oh also ridiculous, so Team Dan, huh?
I completely disagree with this. If Dan and Blair were to enter into a relationship, I don't think only Dan would change - I think they both would, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. Blair has already started to become accepting of aspects of Dan's personality she never thought she would (she has complimented his writing before and she goes to Brooklyn quite regularly) and Dan in return has grown to love Blair despite the fact that she once represented to him everything he hated about the Upper East Side. Dan is less judgemental with Blair and Blair is less of a snob with Dan. I think it would be really great to see their characters grow together by being with each other.
Well, in my opinion its the other way around. I think it is Dan who was slowly changing Blair. I mean she would never go to Joseph Beuys exhibition, she doesn't really eat pizzas, she crosses Brooklyn bridge more and more now. Plus, Blair doesn't hate his writing, she actually said it was good in an episode. Household Rufus 2.0? Well Blair made Nate the perfect prince, made Chuck the devil and brought the prince to Chuck's devil but she never really does change Dan himself. Dan doesn't really take the crap she always said about him seriously. If he did why is he still in his plaids? Why he pursued Inside for more when Blair had shown her dislike to it? How can he comfortably lay on her bed and how can she comfortably snug in his couch while both being their own self? You think Blair has her ways with Dan, but in fact, she has no control of him. She told him she stood him up for MoMA but found out he stood her up too. She expresses that there was nothing between them but he managed to just go with telling her his feelings, even if he dropped it eventually, but that was all his choice, Blair didn't make him do it. He's not doing what she wants, but he's doing what he needs to do so she could be happy. If anything, only Dan never go her ways, he always has his with her. I mean she resulted Chuck as not wanting to take risks but he had his way and gave her back to Chuck.
Great analysis!! I'm no Dan fan but I don't understand why his fans want him with Blair so badly? So she can change him? make him less judgmental? make him bearable? So she needs to fall in love with him to accomplish this. No thanks. A friendship would suffice. I don't get why any of this has to fall on Blair's shoulders. Only if Blair changes and only if Dan changes and Serena and Chuck are out of the picture this can actually work. there's fanfiction for that. She appreciates his friendship and has repeatedly expressed wants nothing more. Why can't people understand that???
i agree with some of your points, but the main reason i am so against DAIR is that it goes against the whole foundation of the show. it just doesn't make sense in a story POV, like samantha mentioned in this post. i mean, i don't care if people in real life want them together (that's why there's fanfic, lol) - to each their own.
anyway, why can't dan and blair just be friends? why must everyone hook up with each other to make a great storyline? this show is as unrealistic as it gets, so it would be nice if the writers would keep dan and blair's relationship sane and STRICTLY PLATONIC. i love their interaction as friends and it would just ruin everything if they became more than that :(