Wednesday, November 14, 2018
About the Gilmore Girls....
So, on Monday I took some flack from a few friends for revealing on the blog that I fell asleep while watching the Gilmore Girls. Which on the one hand might be deserved-- I did fall asleep while watching the Gilmore Girls, which sounds pretty pathetic. BUT.... I should mount some kind of defense of GG, if you haven't seen it (and maybe if you have).
The series revolves around a mother and daughter, Lorelei and Rory Gilmore. It's pretty much the story of white/wealthy/Yale privilege, as the two get bailed out time and again by wealthy relatives or people in town who just like them because they are cute and witty, it seems. Lorelei was a teen mom-- Rory was born when she was 16-- but the hard times associated with that all occur before the show begins, and the series itself is a cavalcade of martini-swigging Connecticut hijinks. There is a lot of dating, by both of the Gilmore Girls, and they appear to share the same terrible taste in guys (they both seem to tolerate very rich men no matter how horrible they are-- and they are).
Rory progresses from a fancy boarding school to Yale (the major hardship seems to be that it is her grandparents who are paying for it). In that time, she has three major relationships, and followers of the show love to debate the relative merits of these guys. In fact, there is an entire episode of This American Life devoted to a Marine sniper regiment in Iraq that became obsessed with this question (and in the episode, Ira Glass turns out to have some strong opinions himself).
Guy One, who Rory dates in high school, is named Dean. He seems like a pretty nice guy, actually. He is kind to Rory and seems to be a hard worker, splitting his time between high school and working at the grocery store in town. Rory dumps him, of course. This happens about the time she gets into Yale, and it is hard not think that maybe she doesn't want to be dating a guy who works in a grocery store. Which was a big mistake. Well, that, and she started messing around with Jess.
The series revolves around a mother and daughter, Lorelei and Rory Gilmore. It's pretty much the story of white/wealthy/Yale privilege, as the two get bailed out time and again by wealthy relatives or people in town who just like them because they are cute and witty, it seems. Lorelei was a teen mom-- Rory was born when she was 16-- but the hard times associated with that all occur before the show begins, and the series itself is a cavalcade of martini-swigging Connecticut hijinks. There is a lot of dating, by both of the Gilmore Girls, and they appear to share the same terrible taste in guys (they both seem to tolerate very rich men no matter how horrible they are-- and they are).
Rory progresses from a fancy boarding school to Yale (the major hardship seems to be that it is her grandparents who are paying for it). In that time, she has three major relationships, and followers of the show love to debate the relative merits of these guys. In fact, there is an entire episode of This American Life devoted to a Marine sniper regiment in Iraq that became obsessed with this question (and in the episode, Ira Glass turns out to have some strong opinions himself).
Guy One, who Rory dates in high school, is named Dean. He seems like a pretty nice guy, actually. He is kind to Rory and seems to be a hard worker, splitting his time between high school and working at the grocery store in town. Rory dumps him, of course. This happens about the time she gets into Yale, and it is hard not think that maybe she doesn't want to be dating a guy who works in a grocery store. Which was a big mistake. Well, that, and she started messing around with Jess.
Guy Two is Jess, who is an angry jerk whose only redeeming trait seems to be that he is literate, which for some reason just makes Rory all swoony. He never really talks about books, but is often holding one. He flunks out of high school, rages at everyone in town, and abuses the people who try to care for him. This is all ascribed to the fact that his mom is weird. Look, I know a LOT of people whose mom was or is weird, but they don't rage at everyone all the time! Jess dumps Dean for Jess, and then (after some dating) Jess leaves town in a huff only to return periodically to stalk Rory and glower at people. You would think he would be the worst boyfriend Rory could find, but... nope. That would be Logan, the guy who lasts the longest with Rory.
Guy Three is Logan. You know all of those possibly apocryphal stories about Brett Kavanaugh at Yale that came out earlier this fall? Well, Logan did all of that stuff and more. He is the reigning king of fictional Yalie jackassery, taking over from Mr. Burns of The Simpsons. His primary characteristic seems to be that he is very very rich. Like, really rich! He is a complete lout, the Ted Cruz of Lifetime-movie-style entertainment. He doesn't care about school, ignores Rory, is dangerous, and takes everything for granted-- the definition of "entitled." And, of course, in Gilmore World this is the ideal mate! Seriously, once Logan showed up, I started to miss Jess. And I hated Jess.
Everyone has an opinion on the boyfriend issue. "I actually like Jess," IPLawGuy told me as he tossed the last kitten into a burlap bag and tied it shut with a length of jute. "He is a reader, and seems to have good taste in both fiction and non-fiction." He paused to toss the sack of mewling kittens into the trunk of his rented Kia Optima. "Yes, he is a bit of a miscreant, but aren't we all?"
The music on the show is awful (a lot of "la-la-la-la" without a real tune). There are some characters (i.e. Kirk) who are just there to be annoying. Major plot points go missing. But the show does offer some great villians, and that is too rare these days.
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