Some people, in life, just dont learn. They live their life in cycles because nobody taught them differently. Id like to think , what writers did was precisely that, showin how being brought up like Rory, took a toll on her life afterwards. She was always this entitled little brat that everybody cherished and when she did something bad, it was not her fault (its the circumstance or other people influencing her). Otherwise , if its just bad writing cos they didnt know how to originally continue writing process, then, it falls into a creative bin of many shows being prolongued for too long,for money grab.
I'm dead lol but at least Lorelai made it clear that moving back home was not an option when she decided to drop out of Yale. Her grandparents were the ones who reneged on the initial plan and supported her immature behavior.
@@kissame104 I hated Richard and Emily when that happened, Ik this is probably not the truth but it seemed like they where trying to replace Lorelei with her.
I always hate this criticism. She was purposefully brought in and told she wasn’t worthy of their family…then a person who she had been told was the ontological newspaper man by her own grandparents gives her a false internship to make sure she leaves their family…and everyone of y’all perfect people bemoan the fact that she was faced with betrayal and downright skullduggery by a family that has the moral compass of Charles Manson…you go and have all your options and opinions twisted so that you honestly think you aren’t worthy of a whole family or your profession and come back to me. Yes…she folded easily…I just think y’all need to find a smidge of compassion here… Also, Lorelei has treated her parents like shit for honestly less and less reason so…replace away…you can’t have it both ways…
A big fault I saw in Rory in her later years was she liked the aesthetic and title of being a self made woman like her mom, but the moment a single toil came her way she ran back to the rich and cozy life of her wealthy grandparents while still failing to recognize that privilege
I had no issues with Rory's flaws. My issue was that nobody in the show seemed to notice them. In real life Rory would have been as friendless as Paris because she treats people like trash and isn't sociable.
this. from what I've heard, some people say the writers didn't like her being perfect, so they tried to give her flaws and she ended up not becoming the best person, but then they didn't write in anyone acknowledging them except for when Lorelai didn't want to talk to her after she quit Yale, then Sookie tried to press them making up for her own personal benefit, like she didn't understand this couldn't just be patched up with a simple conversation. people said the feud was stupid just because they wanted them to make up, and while I understand they wanted the best for both of them I think that time was good for Lorelai
Agreed, I did not like the way she treated Logan. When Rory dropped out, Logan was there to party and support her regardless of her life path but once Logan made a mistake and started going on a different path, Rory was unsupportive towards his break and put it on him during that time to apologize. Logan was always apologizing, it seemed like Rory and him would get in fights so fast. I’m glad they ended up not getting married.
I put the 🙅 on the character when SHE cheated on Dean but somehow the whole town begins to treat Dean badly and they assume that he was the guilty one of everything and she never stand up and clears things up. The poor boy was literally forbidden to enter the stores, although he stopped being the poor boy the moment he cheated on his wife with Rory .....
yes!! I honestly think that most people chose to ignore her flaws because they felt bad for her and lorelai?? even though they were doing just fine??? idk it’s very weird but I do feel bad for dean. He was never my favorite, but i think his character had a sucky ending too lol
@@trinitytay430 I think it's partly that they felt bad for her as a young child, but I feel like a lot of it has to do with her appearance. If she didn't have that angelic face, big blue eyes, and good-girl hairstyle and clothes, I'm pretty sure people would have reacted to Rory's behavior a lot differently. But they couldn't break out of this perception of her being a good girl, no matter what she did.
Technically, the town treated him badly after she wouldn't say, "I love you" back and he broke up with her in S1, not after she cheated on him in S3. The town was chill with him after their second breakup, and she even felt awkward hanging out with Jess publicly afterward.
I think she went downhill after she chose yale over Harvard as she just chooses to follow her families privilege and ideals rather than going to Harvard as it was all she ever wanted and worked for
the only reason yale was good in the show for her was cause of paris but she should've gone to harvard cause she had always dreamed of going there and she got in, i agree
Imo, I think she was genuinely interested in Yale, but to me, I think she chose it over Harvard because it was close to home. Remember, on her first night at school she had to call her mommy and have her come back. I saw it as Rory not being able to handle life on her own even if it's just college and her not wanting her life to really change. It just reeked of immaturity.
After season 3 we don't even see her reading :( I felt so inspired to read when I saw her reading and it might be a little detail but it was such a big part of her character.
Can't remember what she was reading but there's a scene (season 5 i believe) at yale where she's reading and this guy came up to her, made small convo about the book and then asked her to this party (the Tarantino one I think). I watched this episode not too long ago haha
She had one identity: to be a successful journalist. When the road to that identity started to get windy and difficult (unlike most of her early life) she started to loose her sense of identity and purpose. It’s sad really.
I feel like it's so common for high achieving children to live for so long with a single goal and so much external praise that suddenly when that goal doesn't pan out or it does but they're very average in the real world, they flounder and are unable to pivot. And they spent their whole life chasing the high of praise, they never stopped to consider their actual likes and dislikes unlike their more average peers. I feel like it's even more amplified in Rory's situation because her high achieving didn't just net her praise, she also carried the weight of Lorelai's hopes and dreams that came from her being a teenage mom and seeing Rory's life as a chance for a do over. Rory grew knowing she *had* to sicceed because of how much it meant to her mom, and she was heavily parentified by Lorelai into never really knowing or focusing on her own needs. Her eventual fate of floundering in her career and cheating in relationships makes sense considering her lack of self knowledge and the relationships with men her mother modeled for much of her young life (fleeting, without serious commitment, frequent and chaotic). And that's not even getting into the number Christopher must have done on her by just choosing not to be around. I think she's a realistic character and I'm glad the writers didn't leave her as the mary sue she often felt like in high school.
I think a lot in high school thought they would be something but if you ask them 10-15 years later I would say most are not that. But they manage to pivot when life dealt them a hand of cards that just didn't align with their goal and they still manage to live a happy life. Other dont have that still and just wallow in the vision they had for their life that didn't pan out.
I actually really liked how she was written. It was different because it was realistic. Things don't always pan out as you planned. And sometimes you do things and find yourselves in situations you never thought you would be.
Agreed. Rory is that character that is too perfect. It’s very fantasy land to be the over achiever at everything but nothing filled the void for her to thrive on her own. She’s too smart for her own good but goes against her self respect and lowers down to the comfortable rich life she was afforded.
@@adapienkowska2605 Dean was a shitty person for cheating. He's the primary one that should be blamed. However, Rory knew that he was married, and still did what she did. Meaning that she's not blameless there either. If you cheat on your significant other, you suck. If you partake in a relationship in which you know that person is already committed to someone else, you also suck.
Unless she drugged him (and she didn't) he is to blame. He was the one cheating on his wife. I don't understand why the moment is so heavily pushed on Rory's back. She did horrible things before and after that.
They’re both to blame, but I agree. It took her way too long to realize the mistake she’d made and be willing to acknowledge it. And this is because of how easily Lorelai usually let her bad behaviour slide after an initial scolding.
What was also disappointing was Lane Kim’s story, my god i related so much to her as I was a huge nerd for music and lied to my parents about being in bands and it’s extremely depressing that the writers just ignored her character arc because everyone knows lane never wanted to settle down so early!!! 😭 i wanted to see lane become a successful independent woman on her own terms! Not at the expense of just settling down with the first guy near her! 😭 zack was such a bonehead, he broke up the band and essentially ended lane’s dream and she ends up with him!?? How? Does this make any sense?
@@trinitytay430 That would be Cool, and a good way to make Year in the Life a lot better would be to have a few eps about Lane cuz she is just as interesting if not more interesting than Rory, I also like that Lane and her mom started getting along better when she started taking care of Lane’s baby. Even though her mom wanted her to marry some Korean Christian doctor dude, she started to accept that wasn’t what Lane wanted. I hope I’m remembering that right lol. So anyway, yeah, Lane is underrated.
I feel like it’s partly Lorelai’s fault. From the start she always excused Rory’s bad behavior and she was told so much both by Lorelai and her grandparents that she was special and gifted to the extend where she became entitled and egocentric. Gilmore girls is a perfect example of how babying your child and feeding up its ego a little bit to much can result in deeper consequences once it grows an example of this could be Rory dropping our of college fighting with her mom and changing the entire course of her life because someone critisised her ! Of course she’s told she’s this wonderful human being who can never do anything wrong and once she steps into the real world she cracks. If rorys character development was an intent from the writers to show how privilege and entitlement can ruin a person then I think it was genious and well done,if it was just lousy writing then it’s kind of disappointing. Guess we’ll never know
@@trinitytay430 party sheltered partly used as an emotional crutch. Their dynamic was actually so unhealthy. You kid is not and should not be your bestie and should have to deal with adult problems especially not yours. It was weird how she simultaneously sheltered her and burdened her with things she should have had to deal with at her age. I've had a similar dynamic with my mom and I tell you bestie mom will royal mess you up. Rorys "downfall" is perfect reflection of how she grew up. Her mom was projecting herself onto rory a lot like a "mini me but better" "a do over".
I am not sure. Logan was spoiled, Christopher was too and as well as a lot of other people of the Chilton School (Sry if I spelled it wrong). But they got places, despite their entitlement and privilege. I would even say because of it. But Rory didn't. In my opinion Rory is really 1. confused (she has no clue what she needs in a relationship/partner and who she is - "besides a good student and journalist", so people can tell her whatever they want to and she believes it. Most people experienced someone telling them, that you aren't capable of this or that, but knowing who they are, helps to don't bother about their saying), 2. has issues (in my opinion commitment issues) and 3. a bad character - which she was not aware of (!)- and don't get me wrong I am not just talking about her cheating - I especially mean them making fun about the people at the pool - Lorelei didn't tell her it was wrong. In my opinion Emily had her flaws but she knew that this is just bad manners, you don't make fun of other peoples appearance. I think Lorelei should have told Rory what's right and wrong - like not cheating, don't be full of self pity, ....(I could go on and on about the displays of ther bad character. 4. Rory didn't consider if a critical comment might have some truth in it without giving up - and not showing them she can do it despite of. But in my opinion people do make mistakes and I am not sure if it has always to do with their upbringing. After 25 you are able to work on yourself and can't always blame your upbringing.
Ikr I kinda feel she did it to give her daughter the space and trust she never had (or never thought she had) but it was still wrong to make it like nothing happened
ok guys calm down a little. its a fic show, right? as a real psychologist (who is not fluent in english but i will try my best) what i can say right here is: fictional series tend to look like they are organic and fluid and based on real stories but not. the most part of the motivation to make changes and what will or will not be part of character and plot development is to getting the show to continue with its audience. it involves not only the screenwriter but also the target audience at the time and the reviews the show received at that time as well (and, of course, everything they did to fix it). anyway, seriously. don't make generalist comparisons and believe that because a mother is her daughter's best friend that it will 100% of the time go wrong. real life is multiple, complex and involves MUCH more than a fictional series can tell you. just, relax.
I think most of Rory’s downfalls really came down to Lorelai’s parenting. She treated Rory like her best friend and made Rory think that she was just this perfect, amazing person who could never do anything wrong. So when she made even the slightest mistake or faced any sort of criticism, constructive or not, she freaked out and had a meltdown which never ended well. She was also never disciplined for anything which led her to do so many horrible things and convince herself and others that she didn’t do anything wrong. That just proves that parenting your children right is so important because it will determine their entire life.
This comment 💯 💯 💯 she was so spoiled by Lorelai and her grandparents. They NEVER let her take responsibility or real consequences for her action’s. And she has 0 morals.
Honestly, when I started to watch the show, I was sorta jealous over the friendly relationship that Lorelai and Rory shared because of the way they would bicker and make jokes that I wouldn't understand lol. My relationship with my mom is great, like we joke around too but not as much as the girls do in the show. After reading this comment, I'm grateful that my mom isn't like my "bestfriend" or sm, like she is someone who I admire and love so much for, we are very close but what I'm glad about is the fact that she actually acts like a parent and a friend which creates a balance in our relationship 🥰
Now I am a mum while mine was always kind of absent my entire life. I always wanted a friend mum. But as I am one myself now I kind of get the feeling that my children need a safe and orderly place with me to grow up to be good people. Once the y are I will be able to step back as a parent a little and can build a more friend like relationship. As grown ups from eye to eye. But I see now that children need safe parents who show them direction, personal borders and love, too. Rolemodels are soooo important.
exactly! whenever rory would start crying in her apologies about how "she's such a horrible person" lorelai would switch up immediately and comfort her. also several times lorelai is heard saying "rory would never do that, rory is such a nice girl, rory is a good girl" etc. lorelai didn't even blame her for being the "other woman" AGAIN. first time she slept with dean lorelai just stayed out of it and never put her foot down as a real mother should do
For anyone feeling discouraged by the downfall (in a way) of Rory, here’s how you can shift your perspective of it: she’s not a staple story, she’s a cautionary tale. She’s showing you that, even if you start out well, the minute you forget your “why” (or, rather, minutes- one bad moment won’t be the end of the world) you will start going downhill and may disappoint your past self. You must keep going and take care of yourself, overcome problems, take no’s as guides to try again in different ways. Be kind to yourself and honor your passions and plans. Things will go wrong but you need to be flexible and adapt to the new reality, not give up because it’s too hard. Keep your values close to you and have patience and perseverance. Identify with Rory and try not to turn out like how she turned out. Change the ending of the story, be the version of Rory you wish she turned out to be. That’s what kinda helped me 🌻 ua-cam.com/users/shortsJdROyeTMFuQ?feature=share
Rory is a real life person. Although AYITL had some weird writing, I love the Rory arch. I love the downfall, the angst, the mistakes, the selfishness. A real person. And Rory was never a "good person". She was never a good friend, she was a medium okay daughter, she was a pretty okay girlfriend. This was even in HS. Saying Rory became a bad person is disingenuous because she's always been mediocre besides her academics. She cheated on Dean, lied to her mom A LOT, was spoiled and a fair weather friend to Lane. And I still enjoyed her story. I enjoyed the story of the Gilmore Girls
Hi!! I don’t think Rory was always a GREAT person, but, when younger, I do think that Rory was a much more kind, genuine girl. Her mistakes (in high school) were honestly the result of being naive and childish and I don’t think she had ill intentions. When she went to college, I felt that a lot of her care for others just disappeared!
I agree with this comment. I think her ending in the revival can even be relatable to many people. No one lives a linear life, shit happens when we least expect it. Although I did not like how she continued with being a home wrecker. Seems like she didn’t learn diddly squat from when she first slept with a married Dean earlier in the show.
Yes!!! She was realistic but also incredibly exaggerated for an entertaining story. I will never think this is lousy writing, people think it's lousy because their idol didn't turn out to be the fantasy they wanted her to be
yes, rory is genuinely sweet and caring, but her character flaws have ALWAYS been present from season one: From cheating on her boyfriends, to throwing a fit at her school in front of the whole class, to neglecting lane as a friend. That's what makes her human and I'm glad the writers went with that. But I do think those traits just took over her in later seasons, and unfortunately she heavily lacked self-reflection skills, which led fans to be ultimately disappointed in her. It is a very interesting arc though, and it worked - it still has people talking to this day
I Guess everything Rory did was what made Rory Gilmore, ‘RORY GILMORE’ and she didn’t become bad, she just grew up, you can’t always be a child, you grow up and do things which is normal
How not to be Rory... don't get handed everything in life and then refuse to see that you are privileged and then refuse to ever listen to any criticism without freaking out. Ohh also don't be selfish and explain why it was ok to sleep with a married man. Think you'll be fine.
So true. I would add being humble and have good manners (e.g. Logan brought a guest present to Rorys grandparents, Rory didn't) AND to realise what makes you happy and what kind of job and partner will fit to your character and life.
Also don't have a weird codependent bestie relationship with your mom. It took me years to realise how unhealthy her relationship with her mom was and.Also my own relationship.with my mom we had an almost similar relationship and I tell you real life lorelei mom is actually a nightmare in disguise. Once the whimsical music and laughing tracks are gone and you start setting boundaries and living your own separate and individual life you starts looking more like mother gothel.
@@rene3759 interesting aspect. I am really sorry for your bad relationship and experience. What do you think was particularly unhealthy? In my opinion Lorelei just passed down some bad traits, like 1. being very rude towards people, which might be fun in a TV show but isn't working out in real life or judging people, 2. Not taking other peoples feelings in consideration- like not showing up to her marriage with Max M., changing her mind one day before the marriage (without reason) and just taking a vacation while Max had to sort out all the mess (there are so many examples...) and 3. Talking about the relationships of Rory (too much information). How does the unhealthy relationship between Rory and Lorelei show in your opinion?
She only got handed everything in her late teen years when her rich grandparents were back in the picture. Which in my opinion isn't a good age to be all of a sudden find out and become your super rich grandparents new favorite. Plus, there's the daddy issues.
The very first thing I was mad about with Rory was that she gave up Harvard for Yale! Like, why? You don't just abandon your lifelong dream just because your family wants you to! The second was all the Jess and Dean drama, she handled all that soo bad! And don't even get me started on the sleeping with Dean thing! After season 4, Rory had just been ruined!
Yess and also the fact that she chose Yale because her mom pushed it on her saying it was closer to her like how did she just give up her dream school like that 😅
Idk i found this realistic. Yale is a good school and also i think they chose this for the plot line to continue the show easier. It’s normal to go in a different direction.
@@juliannaritson6385 I get your point but all I saw in that was how easy it was to convince her of things she never even thought of. You know, she wasn't that determined or strong minded as I had thought she was. Dreaming of going to one school her whole life and changing it without any major reason? I get that had she she gone to Hravard it would've been difficult to continue her story but still...idk
Personally I think rory's development wasn't bad or makes her a bad person, I used to be very frustrated with how the writers wrote her character arc until I grew up. I ended up dropping out of college after studying so hard to get a BSc to be an artist, I ended up being a tattoo artist instead of a biologist despite dedicating so much time and energy into my studies. Life doesnt turn out the way you expect it too, she ended up going to yale not Harvard, and ended up being an author instead of a journalist. She grew up thinking she was going to be one of the greats because everyone that was apart of her life as a child told her she was special and unique, she had to face that reality of living in a world where everyone is unique and special. Imagine if rory did end up going to Harvard, never dropped out and became a journalist who worked at the NY Times. Im sorry but that would have been so boring, so predictable. Yes Rory definitely does not appreciate her privilege and can act questionably like cheating on Dean with jess, sleeping with a married man and sleeping with an engaged man and being generally overall self centered. But at the same time she does need flaws because that's realistic.
I kinda experienced the same as Rory - I was a gifted child and teachers praised me a lot, so I started to build my entire life on this misplaced "confidence" which was, actually, a misplaced ego. I became selfish in high school and as I entered my studies, cruel to the first teacher who told me I wasn't a genius and never was. My results were average or sometimes mediocre. I was crushed, I couldn't bear it, so I started blaming everyone... To the point I simply HAD to open my eyes and see who I really was : just a student among soooo many gifted & awesome students. It saved me and I am grateful I failed everything on my first years of studies. Thanks God I failed ! It allowed this awful moutain of ego to crush down & allowed me to build a real and much more humble confidence. Honestly, only failure truly allows you to change. Shame that poor Rory didn't took this opportunity : her choice to blindly go on refused her any chance of freedom and redemption. She deserves empathy as she build herself a prison that she cannot escape now
Bro so truee but the thing is we learn from our mistakes and rory did the exact opposite. Although everyone keep saying rory's realistic and all that but let's not forget if in real life someone would cheat with a married man then the real world would not like to connect with that person everrr! And that's the reality! Rory's character was problematic. In your teenage years you learn but rory did not reflect or learn and kept doing what she was doing as if though it was the right thing to do ;)
Rory was an average girl and honestly wasn’t good enough for any Ivy League school (at least with current standards). Lori gave her too much praise so no wonder Rory failed when stuff actually got hard. She has no grit
i think about that a lot with current expectations. i think the show couldve said a lot more if she still got into a good school that wasnt ivy league while paris (someone who i believe was more likely to bc of both because of her status and academic drive) went to yale/harvard.
There were red flags about Rory's character from the beginning. She was rude to Dean the first time she met him just because he was standing; she was willing to give up Chilton for Dean; she shouted on the whole class because she was late to an exam.
I never liked Rory much, but I can understand her freak out at her classmates. She was treated terribly and was standing up for herself. She was a terrible person to Dean though.
She was the girl that dismissed her loyal, and truly ONLY friend Layne for everything from obsessive studying to Dean to all but ignoring her existence once she went to Yale. Frankly, I thoroughly enjoyed watching Ms. Bledsoe in The Handmaid's Tale be tortured. She's pigeonholed as Rory in my brain so by defacto it was Rory having her tongue & lady fun parts mutilated. Okay, I'll call my therapist now. 🤣😂🤷🏼♀️
@@johnxm2692 i very much acknowledge the 'subconsciously affecting part n' the not really knowing it's doing that'. I've found the things(tv/books/anything for that matter) that i consume affect me a lot both consciously n' subconsciously. I gave up watching this program in middle of S4 i guess, when i started recognizing how bad and negative it made me feel afterwards. The character of Rory being told(by others) as "good person" when u can see from the start how obviously flawed it was from her actions. Also, Paris i mean ugh! i found that really toxic, how jealousy was practically overlooked, how they called them "friends" ....that's not healthy friendship, thanku very much. (Dunno if their characters develop/flushed out in later seasons, as I've not watched them n' never intend to)...don't get me started on Emily n Richard, just pretentious, fame seeking, horrible people. Ugh! I love to see things like pure genuine love, healthy relations, found family, redemption arcs, et cetera. Since then I've watched many things i loved(n had a great time watching, unlike GG which made me wanna crawl outta my skin/disgusted afterwards n ultimately give up on). Edit: (an year later) since then I’ve watched GG completely, with the revival and still stand on how I described things. This time around i watched it in short increments whenever i was home from college - in doses i could handle n’ skipped the parts I couldn’t stand. At last, i found myself satisfied with how it wrapped up and have a happy memory with the show. Nonetheless i still acknowledge the flawed & morally grey characters, however they maybe perceived in the show (as perfect).
@@surenderbeniwal8578 I would love to find shows like you described them, with genuine love and healthy relationships. Could you please name a few of them? Thank you very much :)
See the thing is, Rory didn't burn out because she studied too hard in highschool, the downfall occured because the older she got, the less Lorelai sheltered her and thats when you start to realize that the more freedom she gains the more she doesn't underestand how to navigate it. She didn't burn to a crisp because of trying hard, she failed because when she finally was given the ability to do whatever she wanted with her life, she overestimated her own abilities and her own eq. Gilmore Girls has always been a show really close to my heart because I learn a lot from Rory, she is kind of like my reality check. Lorelai really did the best she could while raising Rory but the more she loosened the leash, the more you dig into the personality that Rory has been sheltering her whole life, studying hard and preparing for your future are only going to get you so far but at the end of the day Rory's downfall developed from an area of entitlement. The more prep schools and fancy galas she went to, the more she felt like she deserved every opportunity, every ounce of respect, and when she didn't receive that or received something on the opposing end of the spectrum (Mitchum's review over her during the internship), the more it hurt her and the more she felt a need to rebel and act out because she felt entitled to his praise and felt like if she couldn't have what she wanted, the world should have to suffer.
I think a big problem is that she had an absentee father. Yes, her father loved her and did try to make time for her, but he wasn't living in the same house, Rory didn't see him that often, and he formed a new family with another woman. Luke doted on her too much and also could be a positive role model but was in no position to apply discipline. This show does a really good job of displaying how detrimental single motherhood is to a child's development. Lorelei did the best she could but without a strong father figure, Rory falters.
Yes exactly! Rory is such a reality check for high achieving young people that achievement and praise alone will not get you what you want in life. Things like internal motivation, relationship building, and discovering genuine interests are necessary too. In my own personal opinion, I think Lorelai contributed a lot to Rory's downfall by focusing too much on showering Rory with praise and giving her all the love and comfort she didn't receive as a child. She treated Rory like a "do over" for her own childhood, up to and including achieving things she never did like going to college. Rory may have grown up loved and comfortable, but she lacked in hard disciplinary moments and life lessons that could have taught more about who she really is and prevented a lot of the floundering she does later in life with more freedom. Even when Rory did something Lorelai disagreed with deeply like sleeping with Dean while he was married, Lorelai couldn't do anything because she was only in a "best friend" role, not that of a disciplinary parent. Of course by the time Rory makes that choice she's already an adult so there might have been nothing Lorelai could do anyway, I just always struggled with how little Lorelai could influence Rory after she grew up and moved out.
@@trinitytay430 gotta love Paris, she FIGHTS tooth and nail for everything she gets and wins. I was sad about her and Doyle not making it after having kids. I really thought she would MAKE sure her marriage lasted and her kids were not from a broken home.
I vote Gil. Sebastian Bach stole every scene he was in. My dad was such a fan of his music when I was a kid, so seeing the contrast of him in that role was so fun.
I was the same age as Rory while the show aired and I started out feeling like I was Rory, and grew up to realize I was actually Lorelei, and that's not a bad thing. I think now, as a woman in her early 30s, looking back I totally understand the criticism she got from Mitchum Huntzberger when she interned - I _get it now_ and it was so valid. Rory spent all that time interning trying to fit into the system, rather than bringing something new to it. She was aiming to blend in, not stand out. He was entirely right. Rory could only imagine the bar where others had already set it. That was her downfall.
Older than OP but younger than you. As a child and a teenager rewatching I loved Rory. Then as an adult I lived Lorelai. I get it. I get why they messed up. Its messy. That's growing up.
not a downfall, she wasn't much of a leader, and her mom's character was WAY too overpowering for her to lead. She was better at assisting, and as an introvert they seek out fitting in, rather than bucking a system like Lorelai.
I always thought it was kind of strange that Rory wanted to be a journalist because she never really had the personality of one. I went to school for political science and many of my friends were going into journalism and you HAVE to stand out and really push the envelope just to have a shot in that field. I don’t understand how she even got the presidential campaign position but the last season of the show mixed with AYITL didn’t make sense any way 😀
fun fact : I wrote my college admissions essay about this! I wanted to be Rory so badly when I was young, but growing meant realizing that heroes are flawed and it’s better to come into my own strengths (even if I’m not perfect either)
Would be very interesting to read! Do you agree though that people are not perfect and characters in media should not be perfect either? In my opinion, a lot of the criticism about Rory seems to be people being mad that she was not perfect. I don't know where they got this expectation from. I think the fact that she makes mistakes and sometimes take a bad path makes her more relatable.
Love the idea! I lived for the series and always thought that Rory was my ideal too. She has flaws and you grow and you perspectives switch sometimes. That’s Life.
@@RebeccaEd I think one of the reasons why ppl want Rory to be so perfect is because she is very motivating, like fx. the fact that she cares about school and reads all these books and does her homework is motivating. I remember when I first started watching it I also started doing my homework and started to care more about my future, just cuz I wanted to be ''smart'' like Rory. I feel like some characters can be portrayed as perfect while others don't have to. In the beginning there was this nice balance between Rory and Lorelai, Lorelai was the not perfect character while Rory was the perfect character and they were complete opposites, it made it more fun to watch. I'm not saying that Rory shouldn't make any mistakes at all, some minor ones are fine like the whole Dean vs Jess situation, but it would be nice to acc see her go to Harvard, get a nice job and still be a good person yk.
honestly, I felt Rory's college years were needed. She was almost too perfect in high school. We all go through a moment in life where reality hits us and we make some poor decisions. Her choosing to have an affair with Dean was her trying to go back in time to when things were easier for her. Let's face it, while Chilton may have been a hard school, she had it pretty damn easy growing up. High school is such a structured thing with mostly everyone working towards a common goal, getting into college. But what happens once you achieve that goal? What happens once your days aren't as scheduled and you're "taken" away from everything you've known? your comfort zone? i was very similar to Rory, I did well in school, I was a major book lover, I had a great mom and great life at home, and then when I went to college I was lost. I remember getting my first B and crying and feeling like a failure. We all have to go through the hard times to get to the good. Her choosing not to marry Logan and instead go off and do her own thing was to me the sign of good things coming for Rory and her truly finding herself again. I refuse to acknowledge the revival as even part of the storyline of Gilmore Girls because of how badly it destroyed Rory. Everything up until then made sense to me.
Apparently, the way it ended was not how it was supposed to. Some old writers came up and said, im dissapointed and hurt they gave this ending for rory. It truly is sad to see how they gave her a downfall, and never let her get back, which is understandable and realistic, but it ruined the show. I refuse to watch the last episodes each time i rewatch because of that
This is so true! I did so well in school before college cause everything was so structured and teachers will remind you about due dates or tests coming up but in university, you basically have to plan your own schedule and check the syllabus to see when you have a test cause the Prof. Don’t care to remind you. 😅
@@Fairy_Queen02 actually her downfall was there since the beggining. Rory have always been a super privilege girl who according to her mom and everyone else in town could not do anything wrong . For that reason she is not used to failure or being held accountable for her wrong decisions. She likes the idea of being an independent woman but everytime something went wrong she run to their grandparents to ask for money and a place to stay. She is spoiled and when someone said she is not that great her whole world falls apart. And this is realistic, because life is not like High school. Life doesn't depend of grades it depends of resilience, learning about our mistakes and that's something Rpry didn't learn in any point of the series.
@@treatpeoplewithkindness2955 And, of course, people who attend Yale or Harvard are usually not used to failure either, even the less privileged students, especially given just how extreme the admission standards are these days, or even in pre-pandemic days. Which makes at least some of them risk-averse enough to feel like they can avoid failure altogether, provided they know who to schmooze, what other resources are required, what prerequisites are there, and so on.
Rory was raised by a mom that wanted a best friend, a playmate. She never wanted to play the mom card and it shows. Rory is a spoiled, sheltered, self-centered girl that grows up to be a spoiled, self-centered woman. She is the center of the universe for all of the adults in her life-people that should be teaching her right from wrong, how to succeed, how to fail and get back up. Instead, they tell her how amazing she is, how gifted. They bend over backward to smooth her path, creating a girl that has no idea how to deal with disappointment and defeat and push thru to the otherside. That is a tragedy. She doesn't know how to be a friend. She doesn't know how to be a girlfriend. And she has a serious lack of self control. She treats people poorly and is rarely called out for it. It's all just so sad.
@@m.e.7794 the only person who really disliked her then was paris, madeline and louise were just paris's sidekicks. paris's dislike for rory was based off of petty jealousy and fear of losing her status because of rory's intelligence, which in a way was still a compliment to rory. so until rory went to yale and got the internship with mitchum huntzberger, she had never met someone who really thought she was just average or had any criticism for her.
When Rory ended college her life made sense. She got perfect grades ar Yale, she was editor of the paper, she had a guy who loved her and proposed marriage ( which she turned down for her career), and she turned down one job offer, got rejected from her dream internship and then turned a million applications finally landing a great job. Her being a cheater with Dean wasn't cool, but it was kinda obvious that feelings rushed over and she lost control. She tried to make things right by sending him a letter saying please go back to married life, but ih oh Lindsey found it. In terms of guys she made stupid choices, but Logan was something solid in her life. It was a real grown up relationship, and she probably made the right choice at the time. The screwed up thing was the revival. It turned from the happy show we all loved to something depressing and stupid. Why would riry not have moved on with her life. Why would her work ethic just fly out the door, and it never explained how her first job went and how that panned out. She is dating a guy she clearly doesn't even like, and then allowing Logan to treat her like dirt. This is someone she turned down marriage and should have just completely phase out. It doesn't explain how they got back in touch. When she moves back to star hollow her life becomes pathetic. Finally she realizes she shouldn't be a journalist, but a writer. Without a full-time job that's a risky proposition. Let's live in grandpas study before I make it big. I also hate that lane barely got a chance to reveal anything interesting about her life, she didn't say what her kids were like or if she was happy with Zach who looked like he aged 60 years. Bad bad revival!!!
highly disappointing. Great to see the characters. MAD that Paris and Doyle were tanking. I HATED Luke and Lorelai as a couple. Luke was her servant and that STUNK. Luke really didn't help to grow Lorelai one bit. Missed Sukie (not sure spelling) her bestest friend wasn't around? Wanted Logan to become greater than Mitchum at whatever just prove he could. The musical didn't even make any sense, really thought it was a waste of viewing.
HATED the revival! While Lorelei and Rory were flawed in the series, they were never cruel. In the revival, they have become mean girls (witness the very unkind mocking of unpopular body shapes, for instance.)
@@SallyWallach ik and rory made logan cheat on her fiance (his choice was there too) but it seemed selfish that she knew logan would be still there after so many years, kinda like she was using him
@@savannahsmiles1797 I liked the revival tbh. I want a part 2 so bad. There were some boring parts like the musical and I love to see a development between Rory and Jess in the second part of the revival .
I guess so, but Rory still had a lot of potential. a lot of successful people are still spoiled and bratty but still managed to get a lot more done in their lives. I wish Rory had been one of those people :)
Yes I guess though, I feel like Lorelei improved a lot more like in the end she even (I guess) made up with her mom, I kinda feel like Lorelei was doing little zigzags while Rory was literally just going downfall
Since a watched it at a very young age I got disappointed because I thought she could be more. But watching it as an adult it was pretty obvious she would turn out like that.
I think the basic message is a very realistic one: even if you do everything "right" , you can still fail in life. Professionally and as a personality. She finished the good schools, she finished Yale, she did not get pregnant at 16, she did go for the "successful and independent"thing ....but still failed. Mostly as a personality she turned out to be a big disappointment. The reason why people are mad is because we dont want to see reality on tv. We experience reality everyday. We need film and drama to escape to, to find insiration and motivation. In the end to find courage. Rory failed the viewers in that regard
She never acknowledged her privilege. I really enjoyed when Logan told her, she’s just like him. They’re both trust fund kids. Rory wanted to be a self made woman like her mom but in reality she was always on the rich side of the Gilmores
Rory was never a horrible person. She was just a person. The reason everyone says that her character had a fall is because in the beginning she was potrayed as someone literally perfect. A kid with no flaws. Someone that anyone wiuld want to be. But when she started being more human-like everyone started saying that sha had become a horrible person. She did many things that also lorelai had done but no one talks abt lorelai as she is a bad person simply bcs lorelai never was potrayed as someone “perfect” so no one had set such high expectations for her. Rory just became a person and did many things that many of us are doing every single day. Tbh i liked her more in the ending bcs she showed that she was more relatable. She made mistakes, she made bad decisions like literally every single person does especially when they are young or when they are broken. The girl that she was in the beginning was anything but relatable or realistic
I think people are upset because they projected themself onto her and anyone who lives in a similar family dynamic as rory will have the instinctual fear of ending up like her which actually is realistic if they don't self reflect and work on internal growth and healing and setting boundaries with their family members. I'm in a similar dynamic with my family I didn't end up like Rory exactly but I did have two big mental break downs and have had to pick myself up and emotionally distance myself from my parents and family, which actually was healthier for me and we have a better dynamic now. Now I'm working on being my own person doing what I want because I want to what will help me grow as a person and make me happy/content. Not what they want and expect. I've had to have some gut wrenching heart to hearts with them that didn't always end up well and had to be repeated at times but things are better now. Not perfect but better. Also letting go of the idea of perfect and what other people think is ideal and normal life has been rough but liberating.
@@rene3759 even if what you are saying is true there is no excuse to talk abt her like she is a horrible person when in reality I can’t see something that she did that was thatawful
Yes, I always feel that she gets too much flack. We are all flawed to some degree, but the important thing with Rory is that she'll follow up with a redemptive action. Like when she told her dad to stay away from Lorelei- to be fair to her, Christopher would always come into her life like an unreliable whirlwind but was never there when they needed him. He was never a good influence and strung Lorelei along for many years. Then when he came back at the behest of Emily he got blind drunk and tried to ruin her relationship with Luke from his own selfishness. So Rory may have gone about it in a harsh way, but she definitely had a point, and went to comfort her dad when she realised that he needed her after his dad died. I think it's fair that she decided on going to Yale, since she made a pro/con list and decided that Yale was actually better for her. I just wish they had tackled the problems that come with that- the generational wealth of certain families and how that makes them more likely to get in. I wanted Rory to refuse the interview that Richard had set up and the internship that Mitchum set up because of the blatant nepotism. When Logan got that maid in trouble by stealing from the Gilmores I so badly wanted her to tell him off, since he was blatantly using this privilege and getting people to lose their livelihoods because of his stupid life and death brigade antics. The Gilmores were fawning all over him and then immediately treated the staff like dirt because they didn't have "good breeding" or rich families. To be honest, Rory's privilege annoyed me less than Richard and Emily, because she mainly for swept up due to circumstances (couldn't get finance or scholarships like she'd tried to do), yet her grandparents actively treated the proles as dispensable
She did nothing but use people.. look how she treated Dean.. she's a user of people. She also turns on Logan the moment he makes any kind of mistake even tho he stayed by her side as she made all of her worst mistakes all at once.
After looking back on her character she becomes worse and worse. She's bot even loyal to Loreali. She misses Loreali's college graduation to spend time with a guy she claims to not like while dating another boy, publically embarrasses and ignores her boyfriends feelings to spend time with a guy she claims to not like, sleeps with a married man, ignores her mom and freaks out at her for saying sleeping with a married man was wrong, steals a boat, runs away again when tokd her actions are wrong by Loreali, attacks Logan for sleeping with other girls while he legitimately thought their relationship was over, treats Logan like trash while claiming she's forgiven him, turns on Logan the moment he has any issues at work and claims he is running from his problems simply because he is trying to figure things out (this after he stuck with her while she ran from school), refused a great job at the biggest long shot ever simply because she was sure she would be better than thousands of other applicants... she gets worse and worse when you think about it. Mitchum was right about her and was polite about it and never mistreated her but for some reason she hated him without legitimate cause.. I was actually kinda happy when they showed her life in shambles with the reboot because with all her privileges and her ignoring all constructive criticism, it would have been very fake to have her succeeding in life. She took wayyyy too much for granted.
totally. I love Rory just because I felt like I could relate to her so much (on a basic level I swear I don’t relate to the bad side of Rory lol) so I had a hard time accepting how ugly her character was, but it’s true. she isn’t a very good person and REALLY doesn’t know how to treat people. I would’ve loved to see her succeed in the reunion. I would’ve preferred something bad happen to her over the years that kind of knocked her back into her right mind but the reunion prob does make more sense considering she was just a mean girl
@@trinitytay430 I also would have loved seeing Rory succeed in the revival or at least to have a happy love life. By choosing being a single parent Rory took a huge responsibility. Rory will have to support herself and a baby without a steady income. She chose a difficult way by trying to raise her kid alone. To be honest I don't know if she is able to do it and maybe her downfall continues.
I'm obsessed with the new analyses of Rory on youtube! I still watch the show all the time, and definitely am bummed out how she turned out in A Year in the Life. It felt to me like the show used the plot of the 30-something gang for laughs and tried to wedge Rory into that (offensive) trope to make her relatable, but it felt so tone deaf and insensitive, especially since so many viewers of the original series were now in their late 20s or early 30s. I love her Chilton years and re-watch seasons 1-3 all the time haha.
I think it kind of depends on how you relate yourself to Gilmore Girls. I was always someone who studied hard, but I put so much constant and high pressure on myself that I ended up having to be treated for depression for years. I'm happy with my life now (almost 30) but it turned out a lot different than the sky high expectations I had set for myself as a teen. Having related to Rory back then and seeing that she struggled as well was comforting for me and I really didn't mind it. Of course I don't disagree with all the flaws in her character and I wasn't all positive about a year in the life, but I do think liking certain character development has a lot to do with how you yourself relate to the character.
@@CharmedNijntje I agree up to a point; growing up is having a balanced view of your abilities and success, but I don't think the Revival committed to that enough. The show made some nasty remarks about Millennials though, living with their parents etc., it wasn't as accepting of failure, reduced expectations etc.
I will never understand why everyone put Dean above all else, and made him seem like he was above all else. He was extremely toxic, and was a horrible boyfriend because all he wanted to do was control Rory and make her feel bad for having priorities other than Dean.
He High key manipulated and lie her to sleep with him that night Rory was easily manipulated. He told her repeatedly told her it was over which was untrue but Rory was probably convinced that dean and Lindsey Both decided to work towards devorce and then dropped the L bomb on her
I don't see everyone putting Dean above all else I see a lot of people viewing Dean just like you're viewing him all of the characters are a bit flawed
Dean needed to control Rory because Rory needed to be controlled. Rory was a horribly spoiled and shallow person, and she needed guidance from someone other than her ditzy mom that spoiled the crap out of her. Imagine for a moment being Dean and having to put up with self centered Rory. It would be horrible. Dean needed to put her in her place.
@@brians9508 I think you're being a bit too harsh. Dean was no better than Rory, even in the early seasons. They were just young, no one needed to be put in their place💀
I don’t know why nobody talks about how toxic Lorelei was too. That’s where Rory got it from. Lorelei would never compromise in her relationships and all the men would worship the ground she walked on but as soon as something needed to change to incorporate them into her life (like Christopher wanting to add a TV and some decorations around the house) she wouldn’t and the same goes for Rory. And I also hated how they never had to face consequences for anything. Like the whole town should’ve been mad at Rory after sleeping with married Dean (Lindsay’s mother) literally shouted at her in the town square. They just made selfishness seem like a good trait and they were both very toxic women.
People do talk about it though. The difference is Lorelai starts from a place of stunted maturity. She became a mom at 16 and in a lot of ways stayed 16 until Rory was older and she started working on them. I dont think she really had the chance to before then or was ready to work on them but by the end of the series she has eated more than one peice of humble pie, takes accountability for her actions, and wants to be better. Rory just kind of sits there and wonders why me all the time while making terrible mistakes without ever reflecting.
Honestly, I adored her when I watched the show growing up and wished I had a relationship like that with my mom. But when I re-watched the show as an adult, it was like. Even from the first episode, she knew Dean for like, a DAY, and got angry and bratty with her mom for making her go to Chilton when SHE was the one who wanted to go there, and the reason Lorelai asked her parents (who she was ESTRANGED WITH) for money. She put aside her pride and potentially her own mental health to do that for Rory, who wanted to throw it away for a boy she’d known for a day. I understand teenage hormones, and wanting love, but for a girl who was supposed to be so academically focused that she wanted to go to Harvard, and Chilton as a stop to help her get there, she was willing to throw it away for nothing preeeetty quickly. And when I look back on that, her progression into who she became doesn’t seem all that shocking at all. So weak-minded and obsessed with men that she’ll throw away everything and devalue herself for it. I think at the time when the show came out, it was something new and refreshing and we liked seeing a character with her traits on TV because there weren’t many. She initially came off sweet and quirky and innocent and bookish. But honestly, the person with the best growth arc on GG was Jess. He had the arc Rory should have.
I have to disagree, Lorelia did everything she was suppose for Rory. She raised her with good values, but when Rory became an adult is when she started making bad choices, like sleeping with Dean while he was married to Lindsay.
@@dalewall3726 She did semi good but trying to be friends with your daughter comes with disadvantages. It means she doesn’t take her serious. Like she thought that she could talk back to her mom and have a decision in all of her mom’s love life, that honestly is not what daughters do. Her mom rarely told her right from wrong, if ever, but whenever she did, Rory would have a counter argument and it would end with the mom apologizing so they can be best friends again.
@@dalewall3726 If you're going to try to be friends with your child it should be Dad/Mom then Friend, not Friend then Dad/Mom which is what Lorelai did with Rory
@@jahnishaedwards I think Lorelei did tell her daughter when she was in the wrong. I mean she didn’t immediately put the blame on her daughter she always had conversations with her daughter to try and paint the big picture but Rory didn’t necessarily tell the truth at first but when she did, Lorelei knew that Rory had learned her lesson. I think Lorelei and Rory’s relationship is complex because I feel it’s a balance of Parent and Friend not one over the other. Lorelei didn’t spoil her daughter, she tried to make her have humble ideologies but like the video said Rory knew (after she was 16) that she would always have the cushion of support to lay back on if things didn’t pan out the way she wanted it to. I don’t blame Lorelei at all for Rory’s behavior, I don’t even blame her grandparents. I blame her and her only.
i think rory had one of the worst character developments i've ever seen. the revival rory doesn't seem to be the same as the rory in the beginning of gilmore girls, the chilton rory.
That makes no sense, why Rory would remain the same is ridiculous, no human stays the same from the beginning to the end. Your Life Choices make you who you are good or bad. Of course, Rory made some terrible choices and at times she was never held accountable even using her privilege to get out of problems or just gave up. I found the character development to be on point, and if anything it was realistic. She was doomed to fail because she didn't learn from her mother's mistakes. The only difference was they caught up to her in her thirties.
@@astriddececco3005 but it looked like her whole personality changed. She was unprepared for a job interview, 0 motivation for work, she was very rude to people and she didn't learn from her mistakes etc
@@_lilly347 I don't think it changed. Rory was an entitled and psychotic girl from the beginning and only seemed more normal early on because people were fueling her ego for her.
I think I would like to add that a big part of her downfall was everyone's expectations of her, you know, everyone loved her so much and she was like the angel of Stars Hollow. She was really spoiled at numerous points in her lifetime. She didn't hear 'no' often from people, which is why she dropped out after hearing criticism. She wasn't used to people criticising her. I think a lot of people in her life forgot that she was human and not a goddamn saint.
I have to say that when Rory did something that was like normal Lorelai was so quick to say “this isn’t you” as if Rory wasn’t human, everyone around her basically “molded” her into this perfect human. As someone who was the result of that it honestly puts a lot of pressure, and I have to say Rory did some stupid things, but I don’t blame her for leaving college for a little. I remember when I was told I shouldn’t pursue this one career, and I started to realize a lot of my life was centered around this career, and my feelings were all over the place. Do I like Rory toward the end? No, but I don’t hate her entirely.(now I don’t like her whole love life it’s honestly her fault tbh, she was stupid about everything in this area)
I'm rewatching the show now, currently on the last episode of season 2. So here's something I'm noticing: yes, Rory definitely doesn't make the right choices a lot of the time, but also Lorelai isn't the best guidance for her either. I noticed that Rory always avoids talking about her feelings, especially when it's something she knows it's wrong or is affecting her heavily like when Dean broke up with her in season 1, she completely buried those feelings and refused to tell her mother the real reason (which of course eventually she found out from Dean) and also, when she was starting to have feelings for Jess, Lorelai noticed and told her, but what did Rory do? She denied it. Denied it completely, refused to talk about it, and acted like her mother was judging her, which obviously wasn't good for her because then she's just left with dealing with the situation on her own. Lorelai did try to put some sense into her but since she was so focused on being best friends with Rory, she failed to actually sit her down and really talk to her as a mother, with no judging and telling her that it's okay to fall out of love with people but it wasn't okay for her to keep stringing Dean along for that long and that she had to make a choice (I also feel like this didn't happen cause Lorelai didn't like Jess but that's another thing). Anyways, didn't mean to rant but oh well, I feel like nobody talks about that
I agree but we should acknowledge that many times in life, we cannot expect parents to be a reliable source of guidance and will many times have to figure things out on our own through self-reflection, introspection, and work. However, I think that even if Lorelai sat down and talked to Rory about it, Rory probably would've just felt mad at her mother for bringing it up and refuse to talk about it again. It doesn't seem to me that Rory really cared about Lorelai's opinion on her relationships or other matters where she is acting super selfish or kinda out-of-character. For example, when she wanted to drop out of Yale and take a break, Lorelai was very surprised and said that she should reconsider it, but Rory didn't even want to hear her out at all and got upset when she disagreed. Whenever Lorelai does something she disagrees with, she always blows up at Lorelai first. IDK if it's because of the way her mother treated her, like a best friend and practically an equal, but the way Rory was brought up was a bit problematic, since as a result Rory rarely ever treated her mother's opinion with the respect that she deserved. And I think it's also because Lorelai always kinda "babied" her, since she was so afraid of ruining their mother-daughter relationship the way her own mother (Emily) had by being overbearing and exerting too much control over her life. Lorelai didn't want to be perceived as an over-controlling mother, but in the end, it kinda backfired, because I feel like the way she raised Rory allowed her to disregard giving any respect to her as a mother or to recognize that her mother may know better than she did.
I remember when I first watched Gilmore girls and I felt the same way, devastated what happened to rory. But after many years of going back into the show, I feel like because she had everything and everyone around her always praised her, the second she got criticism, she gave up, no one prepared her for that. I am still bummed how it ended and with the decisions she made, but she even denied her privilege's when logan confronted her about it which said a lot. - absolutely love this video btw !
This was the most disappointing part of the show for me. I just couldn’t stand Rory by the end. Although I think it is interesting to analyze why Rory grew up that way. Maybe it’s because of how her mom and town treated her like a princess, or growing up with only her mom who acted more like a best friend, or maybe her mom’s immature behavior rubbed off on her. Lorelei is flawed, but I always liked her because she worked hard and had a great personality. I think she made up with her flaws, but Rory just absorbed all her mom’s bad behavior on top of not having the same toughness as her mom.
Remember when Rory liked Economics cause her granddad was her lecturer: she was actually doing well and enjoying the content. Also when she had financial issues and told her mom she would study business and make money? Lorelai was like “no sweety you love writing”. Lorelai should have supported her studying business and let her consider the opportunity and she would have been a lot more successful. I feel as if they wanted her to succeed so badly at journalism that they failed to let her know she can actually try a whole new major for one semester and see what happens. 🤦🏽♀️
But rory said that because she didn't have money to pay for her fees at yale and Lorelai said no because she knows rory always wanted to be a journalist
Ok, I have now reached my dreaded 30s and on rewatching Gilmore girls and the revival, I don't feel the same shock at Rory's decline that I did when I literally grew up alongside her. In my teens, it was so unbelievable that Rory went to Yale, that she subsequently dropped out because of the negative feedback from a single professor, that she would be swept up in the luxury and pomp that came with being a Gilmore and being the girlfriend of Logan. However, the revival has resonated with me. While I'm not a member of the thirty something club, I think it is a real reflection of the problems that young people face today. There's so much pressure put on teenagers to find their path straight out of high school. The lucky ones are happy with their choices, but as you said in your video, what do we know at 16, even 20! These decisions are meant to set the tone for the rest of your life. It's no shock that Rory amounted to nothing in her life. She is lucky that her grandparents and her father are richer than she could ever dream of, because she will always have that safety. That kind of wealth is rarely earned, and most of us aren't so lucky. Instead, we become the stars hallow thirty somethings. Where the only option left is to move back home, clinging to the happy times of childhood, with fake smiles. It's a very real situation - when you spend years at University, get your degree, and fail to get a job. Or you do find a job and find that you hate it. Or even, you just become complacent and bored and realise that this is what your life is going to be forever (in my case). Its also not surprising that Jess became so successful. I have seen and scoffed at numerous drop outs go directly into work out of desperation to sustain themselves, learn a trade, and end of more successful (and wealthier) than those of us who slogged it out in university and ended up like Rory. Rory's story is an all too real reflection of my generation. We were told we could do anything, be anything, and when things get too hard, we crumble because we can't believe that it wasn't true.
@@lorenafolino5366 I think it's more complex than that. Millennials were saddled with far higher tuition costs than previous generations while also being the first generation that was blatantly told they HAD to go to college, not to mention 2 major economic crashes that came at the worst times (entering the work force during the 2008 crash, and then just barely starting to recover when Covid hit). But yeah, if millennials had been given the tools to handle all of this adversity, maybe that would have helped. But they were raised on the special-snowflake-you-can-do-anything ideology.
I feel that it was a natural progression for a character like Rory because of her privledge and not having to work for everything she gained in life like her mother did causing her to be very sheltered and unprepared for reality. I feel like her 'downfall' was the ideals and pressure the entire family put on her and in the revival I feel like it represented the immaturity Rory had due to her upbringing and the expectation from the family to be the success story. It was almost like a rebellian causing her to not let go of past behaviours and continuing to act out due to never being told no.
There is no downfall of Rory. It's just life happening. She is a real character and I always liked that. The thing here is that perhaps we idealized her at such a young age when she barely had chances of being wrong.
2:38 =An unpopular opinion but I prefer the story to end this way... She grew up with everything handed on a silver platter, what do you expect when all this would be gone yet she still expected for the world to bow to her "greatness"? Until those closest to her stop coddling her, she wouldn't grow...
I am actually so glad the writers decided to do go with a more real approach to her character. As a person who hates being criticized, is very picky when it comes to job opportunities and wants something very particular and special, is reluctant to acknowledge her privilege, and isn't making brave steps when it comes to love and relationships, this is EXACTLY what I would expect the real life to do to her.
@@trinitytay430 I didn't like him as a character early but that was because he reminded me too much of myself. He tried really really hard and then internalized a lot of his feelings and I feel like he was really bad at expressing exactly how he felt about her until it was too late. I really feel like the relationship later on would have been so much better especially as he developed into an adult because she needed someone to push her towards what she actually liked and cared about and had passions about unlike Logan.
So, before a year in the life I would totally agree, but I really think Rory has some growing to do before she and Jess would ever work, which is ironic considering it used to be the other way around.
Tbh I don't really want Rory and Jess because I don't want another Lorelia and Luke. It took Lorelia so much time before she decided she wanted to be with Luke and Luke was kinda the guy pining and waiting for her. Then she and Luke broke up a couple time and she ended up even sleeping with Christopher that same day she broke up with Luke. So for me the writters have said Rory and Jess are similar to Lorelia and Luke whose relationship is not commendable. I don't want Jess to pine after Rory why she's still stuck with Logan and could possibly have his child. That's not a helpful situation because if the child turns out to be Logan then Logan would be in Rorys life and essentially just like Lorelia Rory would take forever before maybe q5 years later she realize Jess is the one for her. I think Jess deserved someone to love him wholly and Rory just can't seem to move on from Logan to be able to love Jess like he deserves. I dint want Jess to miss ot on having a happy home and family simply because he loves Rory and wants to help her take care of her child.
I'm only a minute in but just wanted to quickly comment that 1. I feel incredibly old that you weren't even born yet when this first came out...but also 2. I'm so psyched to have new generations that will love and appreciate this special show that shaped my adolescence
What I don’t understand is how lorelai shunned her for sleeping with a married Dean, yet condoned her sleeping with an engaged Logan in ‘a year in the life’. You’d have thought Rory had learned morally, or treat the situation with the same guilt but she just remains a horrible person!!
Well Rory was a damn grown women sis was in her 30s she doesn’t need her mommy to tell her what’s right and what’s wrong and i think Loralai didn’t wanna screw up the relationship she had with Rory remember when Rory stopped talking to her mom for simply telling her what she’s doing is wrong and Rory didn’t tell loralai until later on
I think what's really missing from Rory's story is the ending ... where she hits her 30s, reflects on her life and the ways she's contributed to her own problems, and turns them around. I kind of love the fact that Rory is not some saintly character but a human woman who makes really incredible mistakes through her 20s because of the conflicting messages of her upbringing, and I kind of love that both her grandparents and mother steered her wrong but it wasn't because they didn't love her. But there's a point where we never get to see (and now never will) where Rory actually grows up at last and that's the reason the end leaves a bad taste in everyone's mouth, even people like me who appreciate what the writers were going for.
Personally as a woman who watched the series at 24 years old, I found Rory’s plot to be refreshing. It tells the story of the many kids who grow up being told they are “gifted”, get chewed up and thrown into society after college and don’t end up where everyone else expected them to. The praise they receive as kids makes them believe they are set for success, but the reality is that it’s not how things tend to work out in the real world. I also don’t think that there is anything bad with the fact that she didn’t have to work- when I was in HS and uni I worked all the time, but my parents let me know that they wish they could have helped me with tuition and that I could have just focused on my schooling. A had a couple of friends who were lucky enough to not have to work, and though I wish I had the same opportunity, I never particularly felt like they should have not accepted the help. They were lucky to have that available to them and I think it’s a good thing.
At first I was on the whole Rory “has become such a disappointment” train but I realized the revival leaves her off in her 30s. Is her development a lot behind other people her age? Yes……but also everyone walks on their own path and I think there’s a lot of potential and time for her to turn her life around.
Totally! I do think, though, that this path for Rory was unfortunate. I love her pregnancy and how it ties into Lorelai’s story but Rory’s is much more sloppily done and pays no respect to the potential her character had. Thank you so much for watching!
Sure she does, I just hated the lazy writing. It's basically a copy and paste of her mother story. She didn't marry Logan, the rich guy, cheated with him and got pregnant with his baby and will raise the baby alone while trying to be a writer. And then years will go by and she'll end up marrying Jess. I wish it was different because she got the potential to be better.
Rory is simply a typical white millennial. That's her story. Spoiled sensitive kids, that go in the world and fail, don't find a good position and don't know what they want. Her 30s story is so many people's story. I've read many Ivy League students didn't make it big some are even unemployed. That's very realistic. The only thing is that they have student's loan while Rory doesn't.
@@nickn2794 it is honestly so much better to go to a lower tiered school and actually excel than be unimpressive at an Ivy compared to everyone around you. She was always kind of average but everyone treated her like she was an angel for no real reason. All of her setbacks she either never learned from and repeated over and over again or got Emily and Richard to bail her out of for her to just talk shit about them to Lorelei.
Rory is the most American character ever. It always shocked me after I immigrated that the people around me gave everything up when 1 little inconvenience happened, and they had to privilege to be able to do that. People thought it was okay to just give up and go into a depression/butterfly chain the second they were thrown off by something. She was so privileged, and she couldn’t care less
Who says the people think it's ok? Also they don't choose to get depressed bc of setbacks, it's actually sad when people can't handle negative emotions and difficult situations but most likely not their own fault.
yes thank you !!!! she is so incredibly oblivious to her privilege, not to make this about race but as someone who is a person of colour i find it impossible to sympathise with so many of her (and lorelai's issues) because they're usually so trivial, they never actually properly suffer and they lack so much self awareness of the privilege they have
Thank You, Thank you, THANK YOU! For making this! Like you, I heavily related Rory in the beginning seasons of Gilmore Girls. But the further I got into the show, the more I was ashamed of liking and relating to her character. Even now while I rewatch it, I notice these little hints (intentional or not, they are there) that Rory was destined to fail. Like you said, when she was in highschool, she was just a kid. She was still figuring things out. But college? That's a huge no no. Also her relationships never really sat with me the right way. Dean was alright at first, but the further into their relationship it got worse, way worse. The minute dean got married he should have been outta there. After she slept with Dean, I was frustrated and heartbroken beyond belief. The entire time I was thinking "What that's not rory, that can't be rory!!" But little did I know... she'd get even worse. I also got frustrated when she kissed Jess when she was still with Dean. Like GOD JUST BREAK UP PLEASE. Jess wasn't good at the beginning, but later, he figured his crap out. Heck, HE was the one who told Rory to figure it out when she dropped out of Yale. When everyone else, even Lorelai, couldn't get her back into school, Jess did. And that's why I love Jess's character, he actually had some legitimate character development and grew from his mistakes. Logan too, I didn't like. At first I thought he was alright, but later on it just showed how he in a way influenced Rory's actions. Of course it wasn't all his fault, he was just living life how he thought he should. But in turn that messed up Rory's perception of life as well. The criticism really annoyed me as well, I might've been just projecting onto Rory but, I just got so mad when she dropped everything just because of that one comment. Overall I think Rory teaches me to be aware of your surroundings, background, and privilege, accepting criticism, and just realizing that yeah sometimes I don't have it all figured out, and that's okay, but that doesn't mean I should just drop everything the second I mess up. Motivation is hard to find sometimes, but finding a way to pick yourself up and move on is really really important in life, and sometimes it can make or break your career. As cliche as it sounds, just at least keep trying and never give up. This turned out too long... but thanks for the video and you got a sub from me!
My another question about Rory is why she even wanted to be a journalist when she is very introverted and enjoys alone life. If she said she wanted to be a writer because she loves to read and then she chose English as her major, then I would get it. But being a journalist is like being in the hectic all the time which is definitely not the perfect job choice for an introvert like Rory. This was just not the right job choice.. Mitchum was quite right when he said she didn't have journalism in her. She was a great writer. So she could be an editor of a news company. But a journalist which requires immense time with people and society isn't just a right choice for an introvert ig. It's just my opinion.🙂
Totally agree - she is definitely not the type for being a hard nosed investigative journalist, she's too soft and creative which makes her final decision to be a writer so logical - I also think Rory reflect some traits of the writer Amy Sherman-Palladino who started out as a dancer but quit to be a writer much to her mother's chagrin which is reflected in the show when Lorelai is so ill at ease with Rory's decision to be a writer.
I think the main message of Gilmore girls is that we need to persevere when things don’t go our way. It’s not that those who study a lot naturally burn out. Rory’s true downfall such as stealing a boat happened after she took the first piece of criticism she received terribly. Rather than fight to improve herself, she chose to spiral.
I liked your video but I don’t agree with some of what you took away from Gilmore Girls. Amy Sherman-Palladino always knew how she wanted Rory to end and it wasn’t necessarily to tell a burnout story. She always knew the last four words which was that Rory would get pregnant and be where her mum was when she was 16, pregnant and alone but she would have the same trajectory of using that to grow. People think Rory was great because of all the great things we hear about her as a child but from the beginning, Rory was always shown to be selfish and increasingly throughout the series and it would have happened even without her grandparents. She’s learned from her mum and the entire town of Stars Hollow which treats them like royalty, she’d always gotten everything she’d wanted even before she got to know her grandparents who only amplified her privilege. I don’t think Amy Sherman-Palladino was trying to say if you work hard at a young age you’ll burn out in adulthood because Paris worked harder than Rory but even though she wrongfully didn’t get into Harvard, she didn’t let that stop her and ended up having the choice of going to law school or medical school and intimately opening up her clinic. Ps. I’m not trying to be rude and I know this is long.
Hi! Thank you so much for watching my video and sharing your thoughts!! I knew that Amy Sherman-Palladino had always planned for that ending, and I think the idea of Rory having a child is great, but I don’t think that Rory’s experience with pregnancy as a single woman will exactly align with how Lorelai used it to grow. Like you said, Rory is and always has been selfish and I think that would’ve come to hurt her relationships during her pregnancy. Anyways, I always think that while show creators have their own message in mind when writing these stories, the message that viewers take from a scene or character arc can completely differ based on a person’s own experience. In this case, my take on it and what I left the show feeling like was all of this that I explained in the video! Once again, thank you so much for watching and discussing this with me! I really appreciate it and I’d love to hear your thoughts on other aspects of the show!
@@trinitytay430 Christopher inherited $$$, so Rory will get that, and being the sole heir of the Gilmore clan, she will get that...so a very RICH single mom...raising a child, probably a girl, so the legacy can continue.
but there's a huge huge difference bet lorelai getting pregnant at 16 and rory getting pregnant at 32. i think the writers initially intended rory to get pregnant by the end of her college years but even that wouldn't have been different. lorelai literally had to work as a maid and work her way up in an inn to keep her and rory alive and functioning and also had to have the hunger of becoming a better human not only for herself but also for her child while rory is a self entitled, unethical worker who has trust funds and rich af parents to fall back on if something goes wrong in her life which she clearly does as shown in the series. and she clearly isn't a "good" person as she didn't even learn from her mistakes(having affairs with married men) . if it only occured one time with dean, it wouldn't have bothered me but she clearly didn't learn from her mistakes.
Honestly, hot take: the change in writers had NOTHING to do with the downfall of her character. That was all ASP. Name the worst things she ever did: written by ASP. Honestly, S7 was the ending her character deserved after the ugliness of S5 and S6. She was finally doing better and having to accept not just her privilege, but the fact that she wasn't "the best." And then the revival happened....and RIP to the Rory who, although flawed, I still liked and could forgive due to her age and naivete.
yeah… Rory was always super flawed but like u I used her age as an excuse. I do think that the change in writers made everything a bit more sloppy, though. Rory could have had some sort of redemption and I respect the choice not to give her one, but I think anytime there are big changes in production like that so late in the series things can get messy and I believe that happened here and it’s a contributing aspect to rory’s downfall. thank u so much for watching and leaving ur thoughts!! also yes revival Rory is NOT IT
Great video! I do think of Emily as the kind of ultimate villain in the series. She's the embodiment of white privilege, elitism, and classism. But Emily is also trapped in a patriarchal structure, which I think is the root cause of some of her worst traits. Lorelai, for the most part, was able to break free from those structures and built her life on rejecting and resenting them. Rory was caught in the middle of this relationship, and I think she absorbed the worst traits of her mother and her grandmother. She got impulsiveness and selfishness from her mother, and entitlement from her grandmother. It led to a stunted adult life that lacked true responsibility and drive. Rory is basically the victim of the 'Gilmore Girls' decades long feud. Caught in the middle between a rock and a hard place, she got squished.
Absolutely right!!! Also what I feel worst abt the show is Emily, as bad as she is, always wins in her manipulative techniques. She never acknowledges/accepts her flaws....she is never ready to see her daughter's perspective and then she blames Lorelai for being the result of her own manipulative and super controlling attitude! And who else do we see these character traits in? Of crs...everyone's beloved Rory!!!
I’m a bit of a latecomer to the world of Gilmore girls, only started watching it like October of 2021 but I’m glad because I understand as I graduated high school this year and I’m going to uni soon. Her downward spiral in a way was one of life’s greatest lessons, never expect too much beyond your capabilities, just live in the moment and learn as you go along. Her biggest downfall was to achieve perfection in every snippet of her life, and the way the writers and producers of the show built that story line was very smart because it made the fans and the characters within the show realize that she wasn’t the “perfect Rory” everyone thought she ought to be.
I think stealing the yacht, getting arrested, and dropping out of Yale was more than just Logan's dad telling her she didn't have it as a journalist. She had just been told that she wasn't good enough for Logan's family. She didn't have the proper upbringing. The way she was brought up was beneath them and they said that to her face. Then you have someone like Logan's dad who is a big deal in the place you want to work telling her she isn't a good enough journalist. I think I would break too. Don't know if I would drop out of college because of it but I can understand her feeling lost.
Being someone that didn't saw the series before and just started watching on Netflix (currently on season 5) I see both rory and lorelai as two very manipulative women, they want something and they won't stop until they get it. They have no respect for other townsville people, luke or the boyfriends and take no introspection on what they did wrong. It is horrible to see how Rory treats Dean after he tells her "I love you", or how rory just threw away money to get "HER" tree, or how they just do whatever they want on Luke's diner. You can totally tell from the beggining their relationship is not very healthy and will make Rory a very weird person. It's very clingy, the moment Rory do stuff without telling her mom, Lorelai completely becomes desperate and acts like Emily. Also both Lorelai, the town and the grandparents kinda idealize Rory and keep telling her she is special, almost an angel and won't do anything wrong, and that goes way overhead onto Rory making her very selfcentered and probably thinks she deserves everything.
it was so strange watching gilmore girls because as an Indian CBSE 12th grader having chosen science, rory was so relatable. the entire first season, i identified with her very much, and by the time we reach seasons 4 to the end, it was so hard to watch because not only did she seem like a totally unrelatable stranger, but she slept with a married man and did nothing to make it better, stole a boat with no remorse, couldn't take criticism for toffee, and even though she was handed everything on a silver platter she never recognized how lucky she was, taking it for granted instead. There's a little hope for her at the end of the revival, but in the revival she's so entitled she goes to an interview with no ideas or pitches or anything and just expects them to take her and then actually got angry with them for taking her hopes up, and then proceeds to complain she's bankrupt, not to mention she falls asleep in an interview. she sleeps with yet another engaged, soon to be married man while cheating on her boyfriend. the series got difficult to watch because in the beginning i wanted to be her and in the end i wanted to be anything but.
More disappointed in the Rory character than mad. Absolutely mad at the writers. In my head, the continuing story of Rory is that she gets herself together and remembers why she loved learning, reading, and writing.
got her masters-did guest teaching at Chilton, Traveled the world and used Lorelai's WW bed and breakfasts, while writing humanitarian pieces, and caught up to Logan after he built his own empire and showed Mitchum it could be done. The light brigade became a .dot com for the wealthy, with Finn & the other guy purchasing a Fantasy Island type place to host adventures and making a killing. Emily went into real estate and found places for Loralei, Suki, and Michel to manage, while Jason wrote the insurance for them. Ms Kim started a Korean singing touring group. Lane finally got the band going again and they were on America's got talent and won for best Rock song written by Zach. Christopher was the BEST granddad ever. Nicole won a noble peace prize for DNA research. Kurt married Lulu, and had quints, all boys that become Olympic gold contenders. Luke tried to rescue TJ & Liz from the cult and decided it was the peace he always needed and stayed. Jess wrote a docu-drama on it and was recognized by the Academy.
@@savannahsmiles1797 Yes! I love your ideas for a better ending. The only thing I liked about ayitl was Emily wearing jeans. The rest of it left me feeling empty and disappointed.
Speaking as an adult, Rory's academic and career life were very relatable. I definitely worked too hard in high school and was burned out for 7 years afterward.
i actually love her character development, because its real. Nobodys perfect and we all make mistakes with relationships and stuff like that. I like how they didnt make her a perfect little smart town girl who grew up to be this dream woman
yeah in a way it is nice while yeah we kinda wanted to see her succeed and stuff due to her young self at the same time its nice that it wasn't completely "disneyfied" i relate so much to her spiralling character and it helps me to not dive as deep as she did
Rewatching this series after years I now have a new perspective. Lorelai and Rory are kids trapped in adult bodies. The show contrasts fun loving Girls with boring Parents but every single time Girls encounter any financial difficulty their first and last solution is to go to somebody rich, generaly Parents, to extract the money from that boring posh lifestyle they hate so much while being annoyed to even have to interact with Parents from time to time in return.
Lorelai and Rory are worlds apart though. Lorelai only went to her parents because she couldn’t get the money Chilton needed immediately. She thought she’d have more time. She also paid back EVERYTHING to her parents, even though doing so jeopardised her ability to buy the Dragonfly Inn, something she’d been working toward for so long, but would have put off just to not leech from her parents. When she needed a loan to fix her house, she wouldn’t accept money from her parents, she tried every which way to secure a loan by herself. In the end she settled for Emily co-signing the loan since she wouldn’t be approved for one any other way, but paid it all herself. Rory is happy to endlessly take and receive, and it never even occurs to her pay anyone back or be self-sufficient. Lorelai and Jess are far more alike in that regard, while Rory is just like her grandmother.
@@withinwithout6263 Even so, Lorelai is still being super dramatic about it and never considers not spending the money. Does Rory have to go to Chilton? No, but it would help her greatly. Can we afford it? No, but we really want her to go to a good school so let's borrow money. Do they want an interest? No, just to spend the time with us once a week. So let's bitch and moan about it every time we go there and not even hide our distain very well. There are people who don't have giant amounts of money available to them every time hard times come. They have to sell their houses, work an extra job or do other very unpleasant things to make do. Or, and that's something Lorelai never does, just give up the stuff she would like to have but can't afford like Chilton for example. As a poor fecker myself I find it hard to sympatize with her when she still can have most of what she wants and still complains about the bare minimum she has to do for it.
@@poslednisoud It kind of sounds like you’re committed to hating the characters no matter what so I don’t see any point in countering anything you’ve said. Suffice it to say, I disagree. And yeah, people can get by without a lot, but it’s understandable to want to give your kids every advantage you never had. I’d say that’s universal.
@@withinwithout6263 I never said I hate them, this show is very important part of my childhood, I just grew older and more experinced and concluded I don't like this one aspect of their characters. I never said Lorelai shouldn't go to her parents only that I dislike how she is openly antagonistic towards her parents, their lifestyle and friends despite benefiting from their wealth. I can respect her sticking to her original idea and cut off all ties, hate her parents and accepting she can't afford a good school and Rory has to work hard as she did. I can respect her swallowing her pride, as I would, asking for the money and spending one evening a week showing respect to people she dislikes. She chose the third option, taking the money and acting like a unhappy five year old when she has to give something back. And don't take me wrong, I find people like RIchard and Emily highly unpleasant to be in a presence of, I just don't throw it in their face, especially when I want something from them.
To be honest I liked rory’s downfall because I felt like it was supposed to be a cautionary tale. Like, college and school aren’t everything. Enjoy life while u can. As someone with a tiger mom, it’s really refreshing to see how that can end up leaving you burnt out. It makes me feel less guilty about taking some time, and enjoying my youth while I can
I relate to Rory in a lot of ways. I think what saved me from going full-blown Rory Gilmore route (aside from not being born into wealth) is that I was always insecure in spite of being the gifted child, so it was much easier to accept that I am just a regular, perhaps sligthly above-average student and a dumbass human being. I just wish it truly sank in before I wasted four years of my life in college I haven't finished. I can relate to the feeling of frustration when what you have been told your whole life is challenged and eventually turns out not to be true. I think this is one of the things many people don't touch on when discussing Rory; she was spoonfed the idea that she is special and unique by people she loved and trusted - of course she believed it. Why wouldn't she? And I bet she felt betrayed when she realised she had been essentially lied to, because being special never came with the caveat that she will have to work for it one day. It's realistic that she blew up, started acting out, became mean to people who were (at that moment) trying to help; it doesn't excuse her actions but it does make it make sense, and we may not like it but a part of the blame should be also diverted to the people that neglected to tell and teach her that 'being special' isn't enough, that things don't always go the way we planned, and that hard work and being able to apply oneself past what is expected of them is instrumental. One thing I never see people talk about is how her growing up without a father possibly affected her and if it could be in any way tied to her... pretty gross treatment of her partners.
I couldn't believe that Rory went to Las Vegas and became a strip club dancer in season 8. And then that night when she was in a drug-induced daze, stole a Porsche, and drove it through a Golden Corral. Glad she went to drug rehab and got clean.
Rory became burnout because of her grandparents and mother. She was always praise and she never learned how to fail. Whenever she did, her relatives would only gloat her with compliments.
4:20 I think a big reason was because her mother and other people always told her that EVERYONE loves her. It led to her not being able to take any criticism and it even might have meant she felt like she wouldn’t get into trouble for bad behaviour. Being told that everyone in your life loves you would make you full of yourself and gave her the impression that she was better than other people, which is he she cheated and thought she was worth making people unhappy. Just a thought, let me know what you think.
I absolutely love Gilmore Girls and I'm watching for the seventh time but I totally agree with you. Rory was spoiled by Lorelai, Chris, her grandparents, her friends and everyone from Stars Hollow. To them she was perfect and whatever she did was incredible. They treated her like a spoiled baby. She didn't have social skills. While dating Dean she didn't show any sights of love, she never missed him. Then, she and Jess cheated on Dean and then when he started dating Lindsey she got jealous and missed being important to him. Dean and Rory cheated on Lindsey, they broke up a marriage! She accepted the money to go to a private high school and to college, she became a member of the DAR, she literally became one of those rich teens and young adults. Loralai never said no to her. When she broke up Lindsey's marriage and when she got caught stealing a boat, Loralei didn't act like a parent, she said something but she made it slide and made jokes about it. So everything that she went through made her the adult in "a year in the life" but I hated this Netflix revival. Lorelai turned out fine but Rory didn't. She left behind her essence. And, of course, the best character development goes to Jess. Luke shaped him to be an incredible and successful adult. With that said, you cannot treat your kids like friends, they need to have rules.
as someone who also used to idolize young rory, i can't help but see myself in her story arc. the gifted child, who was always miles ahead of everyone in her class. then she gets to a prestigious college, and well, it's kind of like a slap in the face. because everyone there is "the gifted child." you go from being a big fish in a small pond, to a mediocre small fry in an ocean. suddenly, nothing you do seems good enough, even if it is your best. and rory's entire identity was her academic career. she had nothing left to go to and her identity kind of fell apart. now she's wandering aimlessly, a womanchild with no real life skills. i myself have learned to cultivate a sense of self worth that does not depend on my achievements. i am a good cook who recovered from an eating disorder, i am a cat mom, i am passionate about fashion, esthetics, and music. i love working out, reading, and spending quality time with my partner who lifts me up on my darkest days. rory lived an incredibly sheltered life, yes, but i think a lot of people forget that her entire identity was college prep. all of her other interests, passions, and hobbies just fell away as time went on. and she was so burned out with trying to please everyone and was never able to make the little mistakes that kids make, so she grew up to make the big adult mistakes. i think it's extremely good writing personally and i feel so much for rory. i would really like for the show to come back again and see that maybe rory's baby is her wakeup call. but it hurts in a sort of cosmic sense that she could become strong again only for someone else and not for herself. thank you for coming to my tedtalk lmao
It was kind of gratifying to see Rory fail so spectacularly at the end of season 7 (when she turned down an amazing newspaper job because she just assumed she'd get this exclusive fellowship), and in the revival (when she was one trainwreck after another). Rory had everything handed to her, and she treated it as if she deserved it more because she'd worked harder than other people to get it. She probably got into Harvard on the strength of her sob story about being the daughter of a single mom who grew up in a one-room shack, because beyond her grades she did not have much else; it never made any sense why Paris - who did do All The Things - didn't get in.
I don’t know if it’s intentional, but I feel like it was this whole idea that she’s from two worlds so she refuses to admit she comes from privileged on top of the fact that she is constantly told by almost everyone that she’s perfect and can’t do anything wrong and no one tells her no Edit: I almost forgot about her ditching her moms graduation to go hang out with Jess and I know the whole thing with the bus, but like there’s no way most people would go to New York on the same day their mom is going through something so important.
I think Roy was always and entitled selfish person who never learned. She was always told she is perfect and never given any kind of criticism to help her grow. When she was given criticism she couldn't handle it. But her character Arc in the year of a life did not surprise me one bit because of how she was raised.
I really enjoyed this video, good job. It’s so amazing that people are still finding this show. I was 15 when it first aired. I think it’s so cool that you have watched it at your age. Don’t worry too much about turning into Rory, you are your own person and you will follow a path in life that you choose.
Never was Rory awkward. And stop pretending it's improper for teenagers to have sex, within normal boundaries they should be having sex. What's weird is her having sex with a married ex.
It's been a while, but I recall noticing a change in Rory's personality. I thought it might be a temporary phase, expecting her to go off the rails and then pull herself back together. However, she never did, and it turned out she's not a great person.
Rory was constantly being told by everyone around her how special, brilliant, talented, etc she was, and because of this she acquired a pretty bad case of main character syndrome. At first those beliefs were reinforced by things like her getting into “the big three”, and being made Valedictorian. But then in college she started to expect things, like fellowships and job offers, she even says at one point she had zero doubt that she wouldn’t be given a prestigious spot that hundreds of people were competing for. She thought her path after college would be easy, because she had gone to the prestigious school, but was faced with the harsh reality of going from a big fish in a little pond, to a tadpole in the ocean. I was fine with that arch in the main show, because I stupidly thought the end had proved she had grown, she was taking a job that she would work hard at, but would be rewarding. She turned down the easy path and said no to Logan, and seemed to have learned that she wasn’t special, and she needed to prove herself and put in the work. Then the revival happened, and she they reverted her back to just expecting stories to be handed to her, and has no original ideas (until she decides to steal her mom’s story). And she is half back with Logan and is once again someone’s mistress. That was the opposite of character growth. I know Amy Sherman Palladino was pulled off the last season, and ended the revival the way she wanted to end the show originally, so it almost feels she took the script she wrote for season 7, threw in an 8 year age gap (that made everything make no sense), and wrote a new story for Emily only. It was such a disappointment.
I also wonder what prompted the writers to take Rory's arc in this direction. It's obviously a commentary on privilege, and I think you're right that it's also a commentary on obsession with academic achievement as a road to burnout and rebellion. I'm guessing the writers drew from having at least seen this in some of their lives. While in school, it's possible to be so focused on succeeding as a student, and to pay insufficient attention to the transition to the work world and the making of inroads to one's desired career. Succeeding in this transition involves a certain amount of entrepreneurial hustle and a thick skin, neither of which we see in Rory toward the end. A cellist vlogger on another channel with an NEC degree once said, "When school's over, all you'll have is the opportunities you've made for yourself," so some of the time in school should be spent on gigging and career building outside of school, because it's tough to start networking from scratch after graduation without any idea where to start. ...just some thoughts.
After seeing the other video, I come here to say that I don't think it's all Lorelai's fault. She kept her away from her grandparents for her to earn the things she wanted, to keep her away from all that privelege. She told her she could do anything to encorauge her to chase her dreams, but finally it backfired because when she was introduced to her grandparents world, all that luxury and self esteem came out to be a horrible combination. Conclusion: I think that if Rory wasn't as exposed to that privileged life as she actually was everything would have been different.
As an Asian with a tiger parent I did the same, but when I came into college and saw the economic inequalities between us(me being from a poorer background), I looked back to my tiger parent and realised how she put me in a +1 situation compared to her. To this date, I know I cannot afford to lose my focus because of how hard my parents have worked to put me here. Giving up is not an option, it never was, it never will be. In my opinion, she was just too rich to have a fallback option which is why she had no motivation.
If you have privilege, embrace it, and don’t let others make you feel guilty for having it. On the flip side, have compassion and respect for those who don’t.
I think Rory having her breakdown made her character a lot more realistic. I'm very much similar to her in the sense I had big expectations about myself at such a young age and was naturally gifted at a lot of things. we both had breakdowns at the same time in our lives and became burned out. Striving for perfection or excellence all your life often leads to things like this, especially when you never take time for yourself. Hitting one inconvenience can break everything for you. I hope her character is able to overcome the rut that she's in if they ever decide to make anymore episodes.
This makes me glad I was a late bloomer. I fucked up so much of my teenage years and early 20's but now doing extremely well at 25. It's good to go through all the bullshit development and growth when your're younger and then be successful when your're older when it actually counts.
Watching her unravel was unbearable, I couldn’t even finish the revival because I was concerned I would break my TV by trying to throw a remote at her head. The writing got objectively worse, but like you said she just became more like Emily and less like Lorelei. It’s just odd to rebel against your mother in young adulthood instead of as a teenager, and to rebel against a parent by becoming more like a grandparent. And to see an ambitious and likeable nerd turn into an aimless and immature adult is just too on the nose.
Yes. The revival was hard to get through. I hadn't really watched it since it came out but I reviewed some of the content when making this video and I was sent back into the stage of denial all over again.
She DIDN'T lose out on a social life. She had multiple boyfriends, spent time with her friends, was involved in every social occasion and event in the town, spent tons of time with her mom and even saw her grandparents often. Frankly, as a former student workaholic myself, I never got how she managed to do all that and still "study all the time". She clearly didn't. The reason she failed later wasn't that she didn't have a social life as a teen. She was constantly told how perfect she was, never really struggled with anything and later became lazy, entitled and selfish. I agree with the second half of your video.
I think the reason she ended up being easily burnt out is because she genuinely never really had to work hard. She always had her mom & grandparents to fall back on. They never really fully forced her to be a adult or actually pushed her. Because in everyone’s eyes she could do no wrong.
I absolutely agree. I was late to the show as well, and I blew through the first seasons but completely lost interest in season 5. The final straw for me was when Rory literally slept with a married man and refused to see how that was wrong.
Sometimes I think her bangs seeped into her brain and made her go insane
No, it happened soon after she started college
Great humor though😀
Rofling
@@AanchalGhai ?
@@TheMarkmcr it means I’m laughing
@@AanchalGhai 😀
It's not that she makes mistakes its that she doesn't learn from them or try to make up for them. Just painful to watch.
Yes!
When you are young and dumb you are gonna make mistakes. But she just kept getting more and more spoiled and never learned
yea like humans make mistakes but she made them over and over and didnt fix anything or try at all
Exactly
Some people, in life, just dont learn. They live their life in cycles because nobody taught them differently. Id like to think , what writers did was precisely that, showin how being brought up like Rory, took a toll on her life afterwards. She was always this entitled little brat that everybody cherished and when she did something bad, it was not her fault (its the circumstance or other people influencing her). Otherwise , if its just bad writing cos they didnt know how to originally continue writing process, then, it falls into a creative bin of many shows being prolongued for too long,for money grab.
That season where Mitchum gave her a tiny bit of criticism and everyone treated her like she had been shot 😭😭
LOL yeah I know I don’t like him but it just shows how all of those people she hung out w weren’t used to hearing anything having to do with no
Lmfao true
I'm dead lol but at least Lorelai made it clear that moving back home was not an option when she decided to drop out of Yale. Her grandparents were the ones who reneged on the initial plan and supported her immature behavior.
@@kissame104 I hated Richard and Emily when that happened, Ik this is probably not the truth but it seemed like they where trying to replace Lorelei with her.
I always hate this criticism. She was purposefully brought in and told she wasn’t worthy of their family…then a person who she had been told was the ontological newspaper man by her own grandparents gives her a false internship to make sure she leaves their family…and everyone of y’all perfect people bemoan the fact that she was faced with betrayal and downright skullduggery by a family that has the moral compass of Charles Manson…you go and have all your options and opinions twisted so that you honestly think you aren’t worthy of a whole family or your profession and come back to me. Yes…she folded easily…I just think y’all need to find a smidge of compassion here…
Also, Lorelei has treated her parents like shit for honestly less and less reason so…replace away…you can’t have it both ways…
A big fault I saw in Rory in her later years was she liked the aesthetic and title of being a self made woman like her mom, but the moment a single toil came her way she ran back to the rich and cozy life of her wealthy grandparents while still failing to recognize that privilege
YEP
you summed it well
yesyesyes and she called logan out for being privileged when she was exactly the same
she thought that Lorelai’s struggles were hers
🎯
I had no issues with Rory's flaws. My issue was that nobody in the show seemed to notice them. In real life Rory would have been as friendless as Paris because she treats people like trash and isn't sociable.
this. from what I've heard, some people say the writers didn't like her being perfect, so they tried to give her flaws and she ended up not becoming the best person, but then they didn't write in anyone acknowledging them except for when Lorelai didn't want to talk to her after she quit Yale, then Sookie tried to press them making up for her own personal benefit, like she didn't understand this couldn't just be patched up with a simple conversation. people said the feud was stupid just because they wanted them to make up, and while I understand they wanted the best for both of them I think that time was good for Lorelai
Pretty privilege hun
IKRRRR
Yes, this video seems to have a issue with rory not being a perfect human. This person even called toxic emily queen.
Agreed, I did not like the way she treated Logan. When Rory dropped out, Logan was there to party and support her regardless of her life path but once Logan made a mistake and started going on a different path, Rory was unsupportive towards his break and put it on him during that time to apologize. Logan was always apologizing, it seemed like Rory and him would get in fights so fast. I’m glad they ended up not getting married.
I put the 🙅 on the character when SHE cheated on Dean but somehow the whole town begins to treat Dean badly and they assume that he was the guilty one of everything and she never stand up and clears things up. The poor boy was literally forbidden to enter the stores, although he stopped being the poor boy the moment he cheated on his wife with Rory .....
yes!! I honestly think that most people chose to ignore her flaws because they felt bad for her and lorelai?? even though they were doing just fine??? idk it’s very weird but I do feel bad for dean. He was never my favorite, but i think his character had a sucky ending too lol
@@trinitytay430 I think it's partly that they felt bad for her as a young child, but I feel like a lot of it has to do with her appearance. If she didn't have that angelic face, big blue eyes, and good-girl hairstyle and clothes, I'm pretty sure people would have reacted to Rory's behavior a lot differently. But they couldn't break out of this perception of her being a good girl, no matter what she did.
Technically, the town treated him badly after she wouldn't say, "I love you" back and he broke up with her in S1, not after she cheated on him in S3. The town was chill with him after their second breakup, and she even felt awkward hanging out with Jess publicly afterward.
I feel really bad for Dean, they ruined his character bit by bit after Jess showed up to justify Rory dating Jess
Ikr and when I realized that when she was older and with Logan, she knew he was married and still was fine with him cheating like 😵💫😵😖
I think she went downhill after she chose yale over Harvard as she just chooses to follow her families privilege and ideals rather than going to Harvard as it was all she ever wanted and worked for
That's why Lorelai was so mad about it. She knew all along.
the only reason yale was good in the show for her was cause of paris but she should've gone to harvard cause she had always dreamed of going there and she got in, i agree
Also it makes look like Richard actually pulled the strings for her. Also that level of attachment with Lorelai can't be healthy.
Q
Imo, I think she was genuinely interested in Yale, but to me, I think she chose it over Harvard because it was close to home. Remember, on her first night at school she had to call her mommy and have her come back. I saw it as Rory not being able to handle life on her own even if it's just college and her not wanting her life to really change. It just reeked of immaturity.
After season 3 we don't even see her reading :( I felt so inspired to read when I saw her reading and it might be a little detail but it was such a big part of her character.
true!
Not seeing Rory read for pleasure anymore or discuss books and authors with passion and fervor like she once had was tragic to me. 🥺
Can't remember what she was reading but there's a scene (season 5 i believe) at yale where she's reading and this guy came up to her, made small convo about the book and then asked her to this party (the Tarantino one I think). I watched this episode not too long ago haha
@@riyyahinglis3148 even that book was for a class not for pleasure
after jess we didn’t see her read again
She had one identity: to be a successful journalist. When the road to that identity started to get windy and difficult (unlike most of her early life) she started to loose her sense of identity and purpose. It’s sad really.
I feel like it's so common for high achieving children to live for so long with a single goal and so much external praise that suddenly when that goal doesn't pan out or it does but they're very average in the real world, they flounder and are unable to pivot. And they spent their whole life chasing the high of praise, they never stopped to consider their actual likes and dislikes unlike their more average peers. I feel like it's even more amplified in Rory's situation because her high achieving didn't just net her praise, she also carried the weight of Lorelai's hopes and dreams that came from her being a teenage mom and seeing Rory's life as a chance for a do over. Rory grew knowing she *had* to sicceed because of how much it meant to her mom, and she was heavily parentified by Lorelai into never really knowing or focusing on her own needs. Her eventual fate of floundering in her career and cheating in relationships makes sense considering her lack of self knowledge and the relationships with men her mother modeled for much of her young life (fleeting, without serious commitment, frequent and chaotic). And that's not even getting into the number Christopher must have done on her by just choosing not to be around. I think she's a realistic character and I'm glad the writers didn't leave her as the mary sue she often felt like in high school.
I think a lot in high school thought they would be something but if you ask them 10-15 years later I would say most are not that. But they manage to pivot when life dealt them a hand of cards that just didn't align with their goal and they still manage to live a happy life. Other dont have that still and just wallow in the vision they had for their life that didn't pan out.
I actually really liked how she was written. It was different because it was realistic. Things don't always pan out as you planned. And sometimes you do things and find yourselves in situations you never thought you would be.
Totally agree with you 🤝
Agreed. Rory is that character that is too perfect. It’s very fantasy land to be the over achiever at everything but nothing filled the void for her to thrive on her own. She’s too smart for her own good but goes against her self respect and lowers down to the comfortable rich life she was afforded.
Well i thought this show was anything but realistic. like half the characters were acting like they have personality disorder.
@@damarispierce2883 i think she was just one of those school smart people. Other than that she was so dumb it was annoying
totally agree!
Rory sleeping with Dean while he was married was when she really did herself in, in my opinion. She went downhill real fast after that one choice.
But why this? She wasn't married to his wife, after all. Why is it always a woman fault with cheating?
@@adapienkowska2605 she knew he was married and she broke up with him, it’s not exclusively her fault but she played a big part in it
@@adapienkowska2605 Dean was a shitty person for cheating. He's the primary one that should be blamed. However, Rory knew that he was married, and still did what she did. Meaning that she's not blameless there either. If you cheat on your significant other, you suck. If you partake in a relationship in which you know that person is already committed to someone else, you also suck.
Unless she drugged him (and she didn't) he is to blame. He was the one cheating on his wife. I don't understand why the moment is so heavily pushed on Rory's back. She did horrible things before and after that.
They’re both to blame, but I agree. It took her way too long to realize the mistake she’d made and be willing to acknowledge it. And this is because of how easily Lorelai usually let her bad behaviour slide after an initial scolding.
What was also disappointing was Lane Kim’s story, my god i related so much to her as I was a huge nerd for music and lied to my parents about being in bands and it’s extremely depressing that the writers just ignored her character arc because everyone knows lane never wanted to settle down so early!!! 😭 i wanted to see lane become a successful independent woman on her own terms! Not at the expense of just settling down with the first guy near her! 😭 zack was such a bonehead, he broke up the band and essentially ended lane’s dream and she ends up with him!?? How? Does this make any sense?
true!!! I might make a video about her!!
@@trinitytay430 That would be Cool, and a good way to make Year in the Life a lot better would be to have a few eps about Lane cuz she is just as interesting if not more interesting than Rory, I also like that Lane and her mom started getting along better when she started taking care of Lane’s baby. Even though her mom wanted her to marry some Korean Christian doctor dude, she started to accept that wasn’t what Lane wanted. I hope I’m remembering that right lol. So anyway, yeah, Lane is underrated.
She should’ve ended up with Dave. 😭
I love this take on Lane. She deserves her own character study video for sure!
@@SanchoGracie Are you talking about my character study?
I feel like it’s partly Lorelai’s fault. From the start she always excused Rory’s bad behavior and she was told so much both by Lorelai and her grandparents that she was special and gifted to the extend where she became entitled and egocentric. Gilmore girls is a perfect example of how babying your child and feeding up its ego a little bit to much can result in deeper consequences once it grows an example of this could be Rory dropping our of college fighting with her mom and changing the entire course of her life because someone critisised her ! Of course she’s told she’s this wonderful human being who can never do anything wrong and once she steps into the real world she cracks. If rorys character development was an intent from the writers to show how privilege and entitlement can ruin a person then I think it was genious and well done,if it was just lousy writing then it’s kind of disappointing. Guess we’ll never know
spot on!!! lorelai definitely sheltered Rory way too much
@@trinitytay430 party sheltered partly used as an emotional crutch. Their dynamic was actually so unhealthy. You kid is not and should not be your bestie and should have to deal with adult problems especially not yours.
It was weird how she simultaneously sheltered her and burdened her with things she should have had to deal with at her age. I've had a similar dynamic with my mom and I tell you bestie mom will royal mess you up.
Rorys "downfall" is perfect reflection of how she grew up. Her mom was projecting herself onto rory a lot like a "mini me but better" "a do over".
I am not sure. Logan was spoiled, Christopher was too and as well as a lot of other people of the Chilton School (Sry if I spelled it wrong). But they got places, despite their entitlement and privilege. I would even say because of it. But Rory didn't. In my opinion Rory is really 1. confused (she has no clue what she needs in a relationship/partner and who she is - "besides a good student and journalist", so people can tell her whatever they want to and she believes it. Most people experienced someone telling them, that you aren't capable of this or that, but knowing who they are, helps to don't bother about their saying), 2. has issues (in my opinion commitment issues) and 3. a bad character - which she was not aware of (!)- and don't get me wrong I am not just talking about her cheating - I especially mean them making fun about the people at the pool - Lorelei didn't tell her it was wrong. In my opinion Emily had her flaws but she knew that this is just bad manners, you don't make fun of other peoples appearance. I think Lorelei should have told Rory what's right and wrong - like not cheating, don't be full of self pity, ....(I could go on and on about the displays of ther bad character. 4. Rory didn't consider if a critical comment might have some truth in it without giving up - and not showing them she can do it despite of. But in my opinion people do make mistakes and I am not sure if it has always to do with their upbringing. After 25 you are able to work on yourself and can't always blame your upbringing.
Ikr I kinda feel she did it to give her daughter the space and trust she never had (or never thought she had) but it was still wrong to make it like nothing happened
ok guys calm down a little. its a fic show, right? as a real psychologist (who is not fluent in english but i will try my best) what i can say right here is: fictional series tend to look like they are organic and fluid and based on real stories but not. the most part of the motivation to make changes and what will or will not be part of character and plot development is to getting the show to continue with its audience. it involves not only the screenwriter but also the target audience at the time and the reviews the show received at that time as well (and, of course, everything they did to fix it). anyway, seriously. don't make generalist comparisons and believe that because a mother is her daughter's best friend that it will 100% of the time go wrong. real life is multiple, complex and involves MUCH more than a fictional series can tell you. just, relax.
I think most of Rory’s downfalls really came down to Lorelai’s parenting. She treated Rory like her best friend and made Rory think that she was just this perfect, amazing person who could never do anything wrong. So when she made even the slightest mistake or faced any sort of criticism, constructive or not, she freaked out and had a meltdown which never ended well. She was also never disciplined for anything which led her to do so many horrible things and convince herself and others that she didn’t do anything wrong. That just proves that parenting your children right is so important because it will determine their entire life.
Omg such a great analise congrats
This comment 💯 💯 💯 she was so spoiled by Lorelai and her grandparents. They NEVER let her take responsibility or real consequences for her action’s. And she has 0 morals.
Honestly, when I started to watch the show, I was sorta jealous over the friendly relationship that Lorelai and Rory shared because of the way they would bicker and make jokes that I wouldn't understand lol. My relationship with my mom is great, like we joke around too but not as much as the girls do in the show. After reading this comment, I'm grateful that my mom isn't like my "bestfriend" or sm, like she is someone who I admire and love so much for, we are very close but what I'm glad about is the fact that she actually acts like a parent and a friend which creates a balance in our relationship 🥰
Now I am a mum while mine was always kind of absent my entire life.
I always wanted a friend mum. But as I am one myself now I kind of get the feeling that my children need a safe and orderly place with me to grow up to be good people. Once the y are I will be able to step back as a parent a little and can build a more friend like relationship. As grown ups from eye to eye.
But I see now that children need safe parents who show them direction, personal borders and love, too. Rolemodels are soooo important.
exactly! whenever rory would start crying in her apologies about how "she's such a horrible person" lorelai would switch up immediately and comfort her. also several times lorelai is heard saying "rory would never do that, rory is such a nice girl, rory is a good girl" etc. lorelai didn't even blame her for being the "other woman" AGAIN. first time she slept with dean lorelai just stayed out of it and never put her foot down as a real mother should do
For anyone feeling discouraged by the downfall (in a way) of Rory, here’s how you can shift your perspective of it: she’s not a staple story, she’s a cautionary tale. She’s showing you that, even if you start out well, the minute you forget your “why” (or, rather, minutes- one bad moment won’t be the end of the world) you will start going downhill and may disappoint your past self. You must keep going and take care of yourself, overcome problems, take no’s as guides to try again in different ways. Be kind to yourself and honor your passions and plans. Things will go wrong but you need to be flexible and adapt to the new reality, not give up because it’s too hard. Keep your values close to you and have patience and perseverance. Identify with Rory and try not to turn out like how she turned out. Change the ending of the story, be the version of Rory you wish she turned out to be.
That’s what kinda helped me 🌻
ua-cam.com/users/shortsJdROyeTMFuQ?feature=share
I didn't mind the end of the series, but her rock-bottom was In the Year of the Life. I watched that. Never again.
Thats a great way to look at it
I think this is the best comment under this video.
Rory is a real life person. Although AYITL had some weird writing, I love the Rory arch. I love the downfall, the angst, the mistakes, the selfishness. A real person. And Rory was never a "good person". She was never a good friend, she was a medium okay daughter, she was a pretty okay girlfriend. This was even in HS. Saying Rory became a bad person is disingenuous because she's always been mediocre besides her academics. She cheated on Dean, lied to her mom A LOT, was spoiled and a fair weather friend to Lane. And I still enjoyed her story. I enjoyed the story of the Gilmore Girls
Hi!! I don’t think Rory was always a GREAT person, but, when younger, I do think that Rory was a much more kind, genuine girl. Her mistakes (in high school) were honestly the result of being naive and childish and I don’t think she had ill intentions. When she went to college, I felt that a lot of her care for others just disappeared!
I agree with this comment. I think her ending in the revival can even be relatable to many people. No one lives a linear life, shit happens when we least expect it. Although I did not like how she continued with being a home wrecker. Seems like she didn’t learn diddly squat from when she first slept with a married Dean earlier in the show.
Yes!!! She was realistic but also incredibly exaggerated for an entertaining story. I will never think this is lousy writing, people think it's lousy because their idol didn't turn out to be the fantasy they wanted her to be
yes, rory is genuinely sweet and caring, but her character flaws have ALWAYS been present from season one: From cheating on her boyfriends, to throwing a fit at her school in front of the whole class, to neglecting lane as a friend. That's what makes her human and I'm glad the writers went with that. But I do think those traits just took over her in later seasons, and unfortunately she heavily lacked self-reflection skills, which led fans to be ultimately disappointed in her. It is a very interesting arc though, and it worked - it still has people talking to this day
I Guess everything Rory did was what made Rory Gilmore, ‘RORY GILMORE’ and she didn’t become bad, she just grew up, you can’t always be a child, you grow up and do things which is normal
How not to be Rory... don't get handed everything in life and then refuse to see that you are privileged and then refuse to ever listen to any criticism without freaking out. Ohh also don't be selfish and explain why it was ok to sleep with a married man. Think you'll be fine.
So true. I would add being humble and have good manners (e.g. Logan brought a guest present to Rorys grandparents, Rory didn't) AND to realise what makes you happy and what kind of job and partner will fit to your character and life.
Also don't have a weird codependent bestie relationship with your mom.
It took me years to realise how unhealthy her relationship with her mom was and.Also my own relationship.with my mom we had an almost similar relationship and I tell you real life lorelei mom is actually a nightmare in disguise. Once the whimsical music and laughing tracks are gone and you start setting boundaries and living your own separate and individual life you starts looking more like mother gothel.
@@rene3759 interesting aspect. I am really sorry for your bad relationship and experience. What do you think was particularly unhealthy? In my opinion Lorelei just passed down some bad traits, like 1. being very rude towards people, which might be fun in a TV show but isn't working out in real life or judging people, 2. Not taking other peoples feelings in consideration- like not showing up to her marriage with Max M., changing her mind one day before the marriage (without reason) and just taking a vacation while Max had to sort out all the mess (there are so many examples...) and 3. Talking about the relationships of Rory (too much information). How does the unhealthy relationship between Rory and Lorelei show in your opinion?
BHAHAHAHA YESS.
She only got handed everything in her late teen years when her rich grandparents were back in the picture. Which in my opinion isn't a good age to be all of a sudden find out and become your super rich grandparents new favorite. Plus, there's the daddy issues.
The very first thing I was mad about with Rory was that she gave up Harvard for Yale! Like, why? You don't just abandon your lifelong dream just because your family wants you to! The second was all the Jess and Dean drama, she handled all that soo bad! And don't even get me started on the sleeping with Dean thing! After season 4, Rory had just been ruined!
:/ yep
Yess and also the fact that she chose Yale because her mom pushed it on her saying it was closer to her like how did she just give up her dream school like that 😅
The Yale Arc developed relatively natural since season 2..it is just the plot, not really a character defining moment
Idk i found this realistic. Yale is a good school and also i think they chose this for the plot line to continue the show easier. It’s normal to go in a different direction.
@@juliannaritson6385 I get your point but all I saw in that was how easy it was to convince her of things she never even thought of. You know, she wasn't that determined or strong minded as I had thought she was. Dreaming of going to one school her whole life and changing it without any major reason? I get that had she she gone to Hravard it would've been difficult to continue her story but still...idk
Personally I think rory's development wasn't bad or makes her a bad person, I used to be very frustrated with how the writers wrote her character arc until I grew up. I ended up dropping out of college after studying so hard to get a BSc to be an artist, I ended up being a tattoo artist instead of a biologist despite dedicating so much time and energy into my studies. Life doesnt turn out the way you expect it too, she ended up going to yale not Harvard, and ended up being an author instead of a journalist. She grew up thinking she was going to be one of the greats because everyone that was apart of her life as a child told her she was special and unique, she had to face that reality of living in a world where everyone is unique and special. Imagine if rory did end up going to Harvard, never dropped out and became a journalist who worked at the NY Times. Im sorry but that would have been so boring, so predictable. Yes Rory definitely does not appreciate her privilege and can act questionably like cheating on Dean with jess, sleeping with a married man and sleeping with an engaged man and being generally overall self centered. But at the same time she does need flaws because that's realistic.
Yes, this is exactly what I think!!
exactly 💞
Yes thank u
Yes
she's a narcissist and the definition of white privilege, why do you guys love her character so much.
I kinda experienced the same as Rory - I was a gifted child and teachers praised me a lot, so I started to build my entire life on this misplaced "confidence" which was, actually, a misplaced ego. I became selfish in high school and as I entered my studies, cruel to the first teacher who told me I wasn't a genius and never was. My results were average or sometimes mediocre. I was crushed, I couldn't bear it, so I started blaming everyone... To the point I simply HAD to open my eyes and see who I really was : just a student among soooo many gifted & awesome students. It saved me and I am grateful I failed everything on my first years of studies. Thanks God I failed !
It allowed this awful moutain of ego to crush down & allowed me to build a real and much more humble confidence.
Honestly, only failure truly allows you to change. Shame that poor Rory didn't took this opportunity : her choice to blindly go on refused her any chance of freedom and redemption. She deserves empathy as she build herself a prison that she cannot escape now
Bro so truee but the thing is we learn from our mistakes and rory did the exact opposite. Although everyone keep saying rory's realistic and all that but let's not forget if in real life someone would cheat with a married man then the real world would not like to connect with that person everrr! And that's the reality! Rory's character was problematic. In your teenage years you learn but rory did not reflect or learn and kept doing what she was doing as if though it was the right thing to do ;)
Gilmore girls is literally everything to me so I just decide to erase the last few seasons from my mind and it works pretty well
I do the same thing LOL
I can’t do that because of luke&lorelai:((
Omg same. I wiped out everything after Rory and dean you know. I just skipped everything after. It was weird, didn’t feel like watching further
Rory was an average girl and honestly wasn’t good enough for any Ivy League school (at least with current standards). Lori gave her too much praise so no wonder Rory failed when stuff actually got hard. She has no grit
exactly!! she wouldn’t have gotten into yale if she didn’t go to a private school and have rich grandparents
YESSS EXACTLY
i think about that a lot with current expectations. i think the show couldve said a lot more if she still got into a good school that wasnt ivy league while paris (someone who i believe was more likely to bc of both because of her status and academic drive) went to yale/harvard.
And that is called privilege and the is what the Ivies are about so…
You are absolutely right
There were red flags about Rory's character from the beginning. She was rude to Dean the first time she met him just because he was standing; she was willing to give up Chilton for Dean; she shouted on the whole class because she was late to an exam.
I never liked Rory much, but I can understand her freak out at her classmates. She was treated terribly and was standing up for herself. She was a terrible person to Dean though.
People forget how awful she was to Dean, thank god he got over her eventually she was so toxic
@@stuffwithsoph8264 rory's not just toxic. She's evil
She was the girl that dismissed her loyal, and truly ONLY friend Layne for everything from obsessive studying to Dean to all but ignoring her existence once she went to Yale. Frankly, I thoroughly enjoyed watching Ms. Bledsoe in The Handmaid's Tale be tortured. She's pigeonholed as Rory in my brain so by defacto it was Rory having her tongue & lady fun parts mutilated. Okay, I'll call my therapist now. 🤣😂🤷🏼♀️
@@SanchoGracie Lane definitely got done dirty, Lane, Paris and Dave are the best characters in the show and none of them got a fulfilling arc
At the end of the day, Rory is a character whose life has been made up by writers. Don't let that affect your own life.
Exaclty this, it’s very easy for media to subconsciously change us, and we don’t even recognise it
@@johnxm2692 i very much acknowledge the 'subconsciously affecting part n' the not really knowing it's doing that'. I've found the things(tv/books/anything for that matter) that i consume affect me a lot both consciously n' subconsciously.
I gave up watching this program in middle of S4 i guess, when i started recognizing how bad and negative it made me feel afterwards. The character of Rory being told(by others) as "good person" when u can see from the start how obviously flawed it was from her actions. Also, Paris i mean ugh! i found that really toxic, how jealousy was practically overlooked, how they called them "friends" ....that's not healthy friendship, thanku very much.
(Dunno if their characters develop/flushed out in later seasons, as I've not watched them n' never intend to)...don't get me started on Emily n Richard, just pretentious, fame seeking, horrible people.
Ugh! I love to see things like pure genuine love, healthy relations, found family, redemption arcs, et cetera.
Since then I've watched many things i loved(n had a great time watching, unlike GG which made me wanna crawl outta my skin/disgusted afterwards n ultimately give up on).
Edit: (an year later) since then I’ve watched GG completely, with the revival and still stand on how I described things.
This time around i watched it in short increments whenever i was home from college - in doses i could handle n’ skipped the parts I couldn’t stand. At last, i found myself satisfied with how it wrapped up and have a happy memory with the show. Nonetheless i still acknowledge the flawed & morally grey characters, however they maybe perceived in the show (as perfect).
yes! just because there is a character that you relate to doesn’t mean her choices become yours 😅😅
Exactly!!
@@surenderbeniwal8578 I would love to find shows like you described them, with genuine love and healthy relationships. Could you please name a few of them? Thank you very much :)
See the thing is, Rory didn't burn out because she studied too hard in highschool, the downfall occured because the older she got, the less Lorelai sheltered her and thats when you start to realize that the more freedom she gains the more she doesn't underestand how to navigate it. She didn't burn to a crisp because of trying hard, she failed because when she finally was given the ability to do whatever she wanted with her life, she overestimated her own abilities and her own eq. Gilmore Girls has always been a show really close to my heart because I learn a lot from Rory, she is kind of like my reality check. Lorelai really did the best she could while raising Rory but the more she loosened the leash, the more you dig into the personality that Rory has been sheltering her whole life, studying hard and preparing for your future are only going to get you so far but at the end of the day Rory's downfall developed from an area of entitlement. The more prep schools and fancy galas she went to, the more she felt like she deserved every opportunity, every ounce of respect, and when she didn't receive that or received something on the opposing end of the spectrum (Mitchum's review over her during the internship), the more it hurt her and the more she felt a need to rebel and act out because she felt entitled to his praise and felt like if she couldn't have what she wanted, the world should have to suffer.
I think a big problem is that she had an absentee father. Yes, her father loved her and did try to make time for her, but he wasn't living in the same house, Rory didn't see him that often, and he formed a new family with another woman. Luke doted on her too much and also could be a positive role model but was in no position to apply discipline. This show does a really good job of displaying how detrimental single motherhood is to a child's development. Lorelei did the best she could but without a strong father figure, Rory falters.
Yes exactly! Rory is such a reality check for high achieving young people that achievement and praise alone will not get you what you want in life. Things like internal motivation, relationship building, and discovering genuine interests are necessary too. In my own personal opinion, I think Lorelai contributed a lot to Rory's downfall by focusing too much on showering Rory with praise and giving her all the love and comfort she didn't receive as a child. She treated Rory like a "do over" for her own childhood, up to and including achieving things she never did like going to college. Rory may have grown up loved and comfortable, but she lacked in hard disciplinary moments and life lessons that could have taught more about who she really is and prevented a lot of the floundering she does later in life with more freedom. Even when Rory did something Lorelai disagreed with deeply like sleeping with Dean while he was married, Lorelai couldn't do anything because she was only in a "best friend" role, not that of a disciplinary parent. Of course by the time Rory makes that choice she's already an adult so there might have been nothing Lorelai could do anyway, I just always struggled with how little Lorelai could influence Rory after she grew up and moved out.
Yes, we love Rory but Paris and Emily had the best character development! Thank you for making this video!
I LOVE PARIS!
@@trinitytay430 gotta love Paris, she FIGHTS tooth and nail for everything she gets and wins. I was sad about her and Doyle not making it after having kids. I really thought she would MAKE sure her marriage lasted and her kids were not from a broken home.
I vote Gil. Sebastian Bach stole every scene he was in. My dad was such a fan of his music when I was a kid, so seeing the contrast of him in that role was so fun.
No they didnt!! Mrs Kim has THE best character development. everyone else stayed the same and rory got worse!
@@IkkyYuppie Emily didn't stay the same
I was the same age as Rory while the show aired and I started out feeling like I was Rory, and grew up to realize I was actually Lorelei, and that's not a bad thing. I think now, as a woman in her early 30s, looking back I totally understand the criticism she got from Mitchum Huntzberger when she interned - I _get it now_ and it was so valid. Rory spent all that time interning trying to fit into the system, rather than bringing something new to it. She was aiming to blend in, not stand out. He was entirely right. Rory could only imagine the bar where others had already set it. That was her downfall.
great take! I love hearing from people like you that have a different perspective than myself :)
Totally!
Older than OP but younger than you. As a child and a teenager rewatching I loved Rory. Then as an adult I lived Lorelai. I get it. I get why they messed up. Its messy. That's growing up.
not a downfall, she wasn't much of a leader, and her mom's character was WAY too overpowering for her to lead. She was better at assisting, and as an introvert they seek out fitting in, rather than bucking a system like Lorelai.
I always thought it was kind of strange that Rory wanted to be a journalist because she never really had the personality of one. I went to school for political science and many of my friends were going into journalism and you HAVE to stand out and really push the envelope just to have a shot in that field. I don’t understand how she even got the presidential campaign position but the last season of the show mixed with AYITL didn’t make sense any way 😀
fun fact : I wrote my college admissions essay about this! I wanted to be Rory so badly when I was young, but growing meant realizing that heroes are flawed and it’s better to come into my own strengths (even if I’m not perfect either)
that’s so cool!!!
Would be very interesting to read! Do you agree though that people are not perfect and characters in media should not be perfect either? In my opinion, a lot of the criticism about Rory seems to be people being mad that she was not perfect. I don't know where they got this expectation from. I think the fact that she makes mistakes and sometimes take a bad path makes her more relatable.
Love the idea! I lived for the series and always thought that Rory was my ideal too. She has flaws and you grow and you perspectives switch sometimes. That’s Life.
@@RebeccaEd I think one of the reasons why ppl want Rory to be so perfect is because she is very motivating, like fx. the fact that she cares about school and reads all these books and does her homework is motivating. I remember when I first started watching it I also started doing my homework and started to care more about my future, just cuz I wanted to be ''smart'' like Rory. I feel like some characters can be portrayed as perfect while others don't have to. In the beginning there was this nice balance between Rory and Lorelai, Lorelai was the not perfect character while Rory was the perfect character and they were complete opposites, it made it more fun to watch. I'm not saying that Rory shouldn't make any mistakes at all, some minor ones are fine like the whole Dean vs Jess situation, but it would be nice to acc see her go to Harvard, get a nice job and still be a good person yk.
same girly
honestly, I felt Rory's college years were needed. She was almost too perfect in high school. We all go through a moment in life where reality hits us and we make some poor decisions. Her choosing to have an affair with Dean was her trying to go back in time to when things were easier for her. Let's face it, while Chilton may have been a hard school, she had it pretty damn easy growing up. High school is such a structured thing with mostly everyone working towards a common goal, getting into college. But what happens once you achieve that goal? What happens once your days aren't as scheduled and you're "taken" away from everything you've known? your comfort zone? i was very similar to Rory, I did well in school, I was a major book lover, I had a great mom and great life at home, and then when I went to college I was lost. I remember getting my first B and crying and feeling like a failure. We all have to go through the hard times to get to the good. Her choosing not to marry Logan and instead go off and do her own thing was to me the sign of good things coming for Rory and her truly finding herself again. I refuse to acknowledge the revival as even part of the storyline of Gilmore Girls because of how badly it destroyed Rory. Everything up until then made sense to me.
Apparently, the way it ended was not how it was supposed to. Some old writers came up and said, im dissapointed and hurt they gave this ending for rory. It truly is sad to see how they gave her a downfall, and never let her get back, which is understandable and realistic, but it ruined the show. I refuse to watch the last episodes each time i rewatch because of that
me too
This is so true! I did so well in school before college cause everything was so structured and teachers will remind you about due dates or tests coming up but in university, you basically have to plan your own schedule and check the syllabus to see when you have a test cause the Prof. Don’t care to remind you. 😅
@@Fairy_Queen02 actually her downfall was there since the beggining. Rory have always been a super privilege girl who according to her mom and everyone else in town could not do anything wrong . For that reason she is not used to failure or being held accountable for her wrong decisions. She likes the idea of being an independent woman but everytime something went wrong she run to their grandparents to ask for money and a place to stay. She is spoiled and when someone said she is not that great her whole world falls apart. And this is realistic, because life is not like High school. Life doesn't depend of grades it depends of resilience, learning about our mistakes and that's something Rpry didn't learn in any point of the series.
@@treatpeoplewithkindness2955 And, of course, people who attend Yale or Harvard are usually not used to failure either, even the less privileged students, especially given just how extreme the admission standards are these days, or even in pre-pandemic days. Which makes at least some of them risk-averse enough to feel like they can avoid failure altogether, provided they know who to schmooze, what other resources are required, what prerequisites are there, and so on.
Rory was raised by a mom that wanted a best friend, a playmate. She never wanted to play the mom card and it shows. Rory is a spoiled, sheltered, self-centered girl that grows up to be a spoiled, self-centered woman. She is the center of the universe for all of the adults in her life-people that should be teaching her right from wrong, how to succeed, how to fail and get back up. Instead, they tell her how amazing she is, how gifted. They bend over backward to smooth her path, creating a girl that has no idea how to deal with disappointment and defeat and push thru to the otherside. That is a tragedy. She doesn't know how to be a friend. She doesn't know how to be a girlfriend. And she has a serious lack of self control. She treats people poorly and is rarely called out for it. It's all just so sad.
Her life was kinda perfect and never rlly had to face anyone who didn’t like her (which I hated) so when that happened- she broke
True!
wait. what about the first weeks in chilton?
@@m.e.7794 the only person who really disliked her then was paris, madeline and louise were just paris's sidekicks. paris's dislike for rory was based off of petty jealousy and fear of losing her status because of rory's intelligence, which in a way was still a compliment to rory. so until rory went to yale and got the internship with mitchum huntzberger, she had never met someone who really thought she was just average or had any criticism for her.
When Rory ended college her life made sense. She got perfect grades ar Yale, she was editor of the paper, she had a guy who loved her and proposed marriage ( which she turned down for her career), and she turned down one job offer, got rejected from her dream internship and then turned a million applications finally landing a great job. Her being a cheater with Dean wasn't cool, but it was kinda obvious that feelings rushed over and she lost control. She tried to make things right by sending him a letter saying please go back to married life, but ih oh Lindsey found it. In terms of guys she made stupid choices, but Logan was something solid in her life. It was a real grown up relationship, and she probably made the right choice at the time. The screwed up thing was the revival. It turned from the happy show we all loved to something depressing and stupid. Why would riry not have moved on with her life. Why would her work ethic just fly out the door, and it never explained how her first job went and how that panned out. She is dating a guy she clearly doesn't even like, and then allowing Logan to treat her like dirt. This is someone she turned down marriage and should have just completely phase out. It doesn't explain how they got back in touch. When she moves back to star hollow her life becomes pathetic. Finally she realizes she shouldn't be a journalist, but a writer. Without a full-time job that's a risky proposition. Let's live in grandpas study before I make it big. I also hate that lane barely got a chance to reveal anything interesting about her life, she didn't say what her kids were like or if she was happy with Zach who looked like he aged 60 years. Bad bad revival!!!
highly disappointing. Great to see the characters. MAD that Paris and Doyle were tanking. I HATED Luke and Lorelai as a couple. Luke was her servant and that STUNK. Luke really didn't help to grow Lorelai one bit. Missed Sukie (not sure spelling) her bestest friend wasn't around? Wanted Logan to become greater than Mitchum at whatever just prove he could. The musical didn't even make any sense, really thought it was a waste of viewing.
HATED the revival! While Lorelei and Rory were flawed in the series, they were never cruel. In the revival, they have become mean girls (witness the very unkind mocking of unpopular body shapes, for instance.)
@@SallyWallach ik and rory made logan cheat on her fiance (his choice was there too) but it seemed selfish that she knew logan would be still there after so many years, kinda like she was using him
@@savannahsmiles1797 I liked the revival tbh. I want a part 2 so bad. There were some boring parts like the musical and I love to see a development between Rory and Jess in the second part of the revival .
am i the only one who wasn’t surprised AT ALL on her development? since season 1 she was showing how spoiled and bratty she was same with lorelai
I guess so, but Rory still had a lot of potential. a lot of successful people are still spoiled and bratty but still managed to get a lot more done in their lives. I wish Rory had been one of those people :)
Yes I guess though, I feel like Lorelei improved a lot more like in the end she even (I guess) made up with her mom, I kinda feel like Lorelei was doing little zigzags while Rory was literally just going downfall
Since a watched it at a very young age I got disappointed because I thought she could be more. But watching it as an adult it was pretty obvious she would turn out like that.
later definitely but how was she bratty in s1?
I call a bit of bullshit and I have watched this so many times I could write thr episode scripts out…where bratty in high school?
I think the basic message is a very realistic one: even if you do everything "right" , you can still fail in life. Professionally and as a personality. She finished the good schools, she finished Yale, she did not get pregnant at 16, she did go for the "successful and independent"thing ....but still failed. Mostly as a personality she turned out to be a big disappointment. The reason why people are mad is because we dont want to see reality on tv. We experience reality everyday. We need film and drama to escape to, to find insiration and motivation. In the end to find courage. Rory failed the viewers in that regard
She never acknowledged her privilege. I really enjoyed when Logan told her, she’s just like him. They’re both trust fund kids. Rory wanted to be a self made woman like her mom but in reality she was always on the rich side of the Gilmores
Rory was never a horrible person. She was just a person. The reason everyone says that her character had a fall is because in the beginning she was potrayed as someone literally perfect. A kid with no flaws. Someone that anyone wiuld want to be. But when she started being more human-like everyone started saying that sha had become a horrible person. She did many things that also lorelai had done but no one talks abt lorelai as she is a bad person simply bcs lorelai never was potrayed as someone “perfect” so no one had set such high expectations for her. Rory just became a person and did many things that many of us are doing every single day. Tbh i liked her more in the ending bcs she showed that she was more relatable. She made mistakes, she made bad decisions like literally every single person does especially when they are young or when they are broken. The girl that she was in the beginning was anything but relatable or realistic
I think people are upset because they projected themself onto her and anyone who lives in a similar family dynamic as rory will have the instinctual fear of ending up like her which actually is realistic if they don't self reflect and work on internal growth and healing and setting boundaries with their family members. I'm in a similar dynamic with my family I didn't end up like Rory exactly but I did have two big mental break downs and have had to pick myself up and emotionally distance myself from my parents and family, which actually was healthier for me and we have a better dynamic now. Now I'm working on being my own person doing what I want because I want to what will help me grow as a person and make me happy/content. Not what they want and expect. I've had to have some gut wrenching heart to hearts with them that didn't always end up well and had to be repeated at times but things are better now. Not perfect but better. Also letting go of the idea of perfect and what other people think is ideal and normal life has been rough but liberating.
@@rene3759 even if what you are saying is true there is no excuse to talk abt her like she is a horrible person when in reality I can’t see something that she did that was thatawful
@@chryssas.556 she has textbook psychotic tendencies
wow, this! i totally agree!
Yes, I always feel that she gets too much flack. We are all flawed to some degree, but the important thing with Rory is that she'll follow up with a redemptive action. Like when she told her dad to stay away from Lorelei- to be fair to her, Christopher would always come into her life like an unreliable whirlwind but was never there when they needed him. He was never a good influence and strung Lorelei along for many years. Then when he came back at the behest of Emily he got blind drunk and tried to ruin her relationship with Luke from his own selfishness. So Rory may have gone about it in a harsh way, but she definitely had a point, and went to comfort her dad when she realised that he needed her after his dad died.
I think it's fair that she decided on going to Yale, since she made a pro/con list and decided that Yale was actually better for her. I just wish they had tackled the problems that come with that- the generational wealth of certain families and how that makes them more likely to get in. I wanted Rory to refuse the interview that Richard had set up and the internship that Mitchum set up because of the blatant nepotism. When Logan got that maid in trouble by stealing from the Gilmores I so badly wanted her to tell him off, since he was blatantly using this privilege and getting people to lose their livelihoods because of his stupid life and death brigade antics. The Gilmores were fawning all over him and then immediately treated the staff like dirt because they didn't have "good breeding" or rich families. To be honest, Rory's privilege annoyed me less than Richard and Emily, because she mainly for swept up due to circumstances (couldn't get finance or scholarships like she'd tried to do), yet her grandparents actively treated the proles as dispensable
She did nothing but use people.. look how she treated Dean.. she's a user of people.
She also turns on Logan the moment he makes any kind of mistake even tho he stayed by her side as she made all of her worst mistakes all at once.
totally!!! she had potential as a character but her talent was clouded by all of her flaws LOL
After looking back on her character she becomes worse and worse. She's bot even loyal to Loreali. She misses Loreali's college graduation to spend time with a guy she claims to not like while dating another boy, publically embarrasses and ignores her boyfriends feelings to spend time with a guy she claims to not like, sleeps with a married man, ignores her mom and freaks out at her for saying sleeping with a married man was wrong, steals a boat, runs away again when tokd her actions are wrong by Loreali, attacks Logan for sleeping with other girls while he legitimately thought their relationship was over, treats Logan like trash while claiming she's forgiven him, turns on Logan the moment he has any issues at work and claims he is running from his problems simply because he is trying to figure things out (this after he stuck with her while she ran from school), refused a great job at the biggest long shot ever simply because she was sure she would be better than thousands of other applicants... she gets worse and worse when you think about it. Mitchum was right about her and was polite about it and never mistreated her but for some reason she hated him without legitimate cause.. I was actually kinda happy when they showed her life in shambles with the reboot because with all her privileges and her ignoring all constructive criticism, it would have been very fake to have her succeeding in life. She took wayyyy too much for granted.
totally. I love Rory just because I felt like I could relate to her so much (on a basic level I swear I don’t relate to the bad side of Rory lol) so I had a hard time accepting how ugly her character was, but it’s true. she isn’t a very good person and REALLY doesn’t know how to treat people. I would’ve loved to see her succeed in the reunion. I would’ve preferred something bad happen to her over the years that kind of knocked her back into her right mind but the reunion prob does make more sense considering she was just a mean girl
@@trinitytay430 I also would have loved seeing Rory succeed in the revival or at least to have a happy love life. By choosing being a single parent Rory took a huge responsibility. Rory will have to support herself and a baby without a steady income. She chose a difficult way by trying to raise her kid alone. To be honest I don't know if she is able to do it and maybe her downfall continues.
@@rebekahhutchins9564 agreed. Rory just doesn't care about anybody
I'm obsessed with the new analyses of Rory on youtube! I still watch the show all the time, and definitely am bummed out how she turned out in A Year in the Life. It felt to me like the show used the plot of the 30-something gang for laughs and tried to wedge Rory into that (offensive) trope to make her relatable, but it felt so tone deaf and insensitive, especially since so many viewers of the original series were now in their late 20s or early 30s. I love her Chilton years and re-watch seasons 1-3 all the time haha.
omg, that's literally me lmao
I love these analyses of Rory and re-watch seasons 1-3 👀
im rewatching seasons 1-3 rn and they're so much more enjoyable! season 4 is also pretty okay, but it can't live up to the seasons that come before it
I think it kind of depends on how you relate yourself to Gilmore Girls. I was always someone who studied hard, but I put so much constant and high pressure on myself that I ended up having to be treated for depression for years. I'm happy with my life now (almost 30) but it turned out a lot different than the sky high expectations I had set for myself as a teen. Having related to Rory back then and seeing that she struggled as well was comforting for me and I really didn't mind it.
Of course I don't disagree with all the flaws in her character and I wasn't all positive about a year in the life, but I do think liking certain character development has a lot to do with how you yourself relate to the character.
@@CharmedNijntje I agree up to a point; growing up is having a balanced view of your abilities and success, but I don't think the Revival committed to that enough. The show made some nasty remarks about Millennials though, living with their parents etc., it wasn't as accepting of failure, reduced expectations etc.
I will never understand why everyone put Dean above all else, and made him seem like he was above all else. He was extremely toxic, and was a horrible boyfriend because all he wanted to do was control Rory and make her feel bad for having priorities other than Dean.
He High key manipulated and lie her to sleep with him that night Rory was easily manipulated. He told her repeatedly told her it was over which was untrue but Rory was probably convinced that dean and Lindsey Both decided to work towards devorce and then dropped the L bomb on her
@@nogalistanineties9237 everyone fully blames Rory but Dean was the one who cheated on his wife.
I don't see everyone putting Dean above all else
I see a lot of people viewing Dean just like you're viewing him
all of the characters are a bit flawed
Dean needed to control Rory because Rory needed to be controlled. Rory was a horribly spoiled and shallow person, and she needed guidance from someone other than her ditzy mom that spoiled the crap out of her. Imagine for a moment being Dean and having to put up with self centered Rory. It would be horrible. Dean needed to put her in her place.
@@brians9508 I think you're being a bit too harsh. Dean was no better than Rory, even in the early seasons. They were just young, no one needed to be put in their place💀
I don’t know why nobody talks about how toxic Lorelei was too. That’s where Rory got it from. Lorelei would never compromise in her relationships and all the men would worship the ground she walked on but as soon as something needed to change to incorporate them into her life (like Christopher wanting to add a TV and some decorations around the house) she wouldn’t and the same goes for Rory. And I also hated how they never had to face consequences for anything. Like the whole town should’ve been mad at Rory after sleeping with married Dean (Lindsay’s mother) literally shouted at her in the town square.
They just made selfishness seem like a good trait and they were both very toxic women.
People do talk about it though. The difference is Lorelai starts from a place of stunted maturity. She became a mom at 16 and in a lot of ways stayed 16 until Rory was older and she started working on them. I dont think she really had the chance to before then or was ready to work on them but by the end of the series she has eated more than one peice of humble pie, takes accountability for her actions, and wants to be better. Rory just kind of sits there and wonders why me all the time while making terrible mistakes without ever reflecting.
And that is their pretty privilege I feel like
Honestly, I adored her when I watched the show growing up and wished I had a relationship like that with my mom. But when I re-watched the show as an adult, it was like. Even from the first episode, she knew Dean for like, a DAY, and got angry and bratty with her mom for making her go to Chilton when SHE was the one who wanted to go there, and the reason Lorelai asked her parents (who she was ESTRANGED WITH) for money. She put aside her pride and potentially her own mental health to do that for Rory, who wanted to throw it away for a boy she’d known for a day. I understand teenage hormones, and wanting love, but for a girl who was supposed to be so academically focused that she wanted to go to Harvard, and Chilton as a stop to help her get there, she was willing to throw it away for nothing preeeetty quickly. And when I look back on that, her progression into who she became doesn’t seem all that shocking at all. So weak-minded and obsessed with men that she’ll throw away everything and devalue herself for it.
I think at the time when the show came out, it was something new and refreshing and we liked seeing a character with her traits on TV because there weren’t many. She initially came off sweet and quirky and innocent and bookish. But honestly, the person with the best growth arc on GG was Jess. He had the arc Rory should have.
greatly put. I definitely had a new perspective when I watched the show a second time around, too.
I thought the same thing about Jess.
I think Lorelei was too focused on being friends with her daughter, and forgot what she was supposed to do as a parent!!! Thanks for the vid💕
Exactly I also thought lorelai did so poorly as a parent
I have to disagree, Lorelia did everything she was suppose for Rory. She raised her with good values, but when Rory became an adult is when she started making bad choices, like sleeping with Dean while he was married to Lindsay.
@@dalewall3726 She did semi good but trying to be friends with your daughter comes with disadvantages. It means she doesn’t take her serious. Like she thought that she could talk back to her mom and have a decision in all of her mom’s love life, that honestly is not what daughters do. Her mom rarely told her right from wrong, if ever, but whenever she did, Rory would have a counter argument and it would end with the mom apologizing so they can be best friends again.
@@dalewall3726 If you're going to try to be friends with your child it should be Dad/Mom then Friend, not Friend then Dad/Mom which is what Lorelai did with Rory
@@jahnishaedwards I think Lorelei did tell her daughter when she was in the wrong. I mean she didn’t immediately put the blame on her daughter she always had conversations with her daughter to try and paint the big picture but Rory didn’t necessarily tell the truth at first but when she did, Lorelei knew that Rory had learned her lesson. I think Lorelei and Rory’s relationship is complex because I feel it’s a balance of Parent and Friend not one over the other. Lorelei didn’t spoil her daughter, she tried to make her have humble ideologies but like the video said Rory knew (after she was 16) that she would always have the cushion of support to lay back on if things didn’t pan out the way she wanted it to. I don’t blame Lorelei at all for Rory’s behavior, I don’t even blame her grandparents. I blame her and her only.
i think rory had one of the worst character developments i've ever seen. the revival rory doesn't seem to be the same as the rory in the beginning of gilmore girls, the chilton rory.
That makes no sense, why Rory would remain the same is ridiculous, no human stays the same from the beginning to the end. Your Life Choices make you who you are good or bad. Of course, Rory made some terrible choices and at times she was never held accountable even using her privilege to get out of problems or just gave up. I found the character development to be on point, and if anything it was realistic. She was doomed to fail because she didn't learn from her mother's mistakes. The only difference was they caught up to her in her thirties.
@@astriddececco3005 but it looked like her whole personality changed. She was unprepared for a job interview, 0 motivation for work, she was very rude to people and she didn't learn from her mistakes etc
@@_lilly347 I don't think it changed. Rory was an entitled and psychotic girl from the beginning and only seemed more normal early on because people were fueling her ego for her.
I think I would like to add that a big part of her downfall was everyone's expectations of her, you know, everyone loved her so much and she was like the angel of Stars Hollow. She was really spoiled at numerous points in her lifetime. She didn't hear 'no' often from people, which is why she dropped out after hearing criticism. She wasn't used to people criticising her. I think a lot of people in her life forgot that she was human and not a goddamn saint.
…not a saint. An angel. ❤
Rory as a character was a warning. To have balance in life.
I have to say that when Rory did something that was like normal Lorelai was so quick to say “this isn’t you” as if Rory wasn’t human, everyone around her basically “molded” her into this perfect human. As someone who was the result of that it honestly puts a lot of pressure, and I have to say Rory did some stupid things, but I don’t blame her for leaving college for a little. I remember when I was told I shouldn’t pursue this one career, and I started to realize a lot of my life was centered around this career, and my feelings were all over the place. Do I like Rory toward the end? No, but I don’t hate her entirely.(now I don’t like her whole love life it’s honestly her fault tbh, she was stupid about everything in this area)
totally agree. I think that the mixture of pressure and privilege in this situation was the perfect recipe for the mess we see Rory get herself into!
@@trinitytay430 Yes! I didn’t have rich family so I don’t relate to that part but yeah she was setup for failure.
I'm rewatching the show now, currently on the last episode of season 2. So here's something I'm noticing: yes, Rory definitely doesn't make the right choices a lot of the time, but also Lorelai isn't the best guidance for her either. I noticed that Rory always avoids talking about her feelings, especially when it's something she knows it's wrong or is affecting her heavily like when Dean broke up with her in season 1, she completely buried those feelings and refused to tell her mother the real reason (which of course eventually she found out from Dean) and also, when she was starting to have feelings for Jess, Lorelai noticed and told her, but what did Rory do? She denied it. Denied it completely, refused to talk about it, and acted like her mother was judging her, which obviously wasn't good for her because then she's just left with dealing with the situation on her own. Lorelai did try to put some sense into her but since she was so focused on being best friends with Rory, she failed to actually sit her down and really talk to her as a mother, with no judging and telling her that it's okay to fall out of love with people but it wasn't okay for her to keep stringing Dean along for that long and that she had to make a choice (I also feel like this didn't happen cause Lorelai didn't like Jess but that's another thing). Anyways, didn't mean to rant but oh well, I feel like nobody talks about that
thanks for commenting! lorelai def needed some help being a mom at times lol
I agree but we should acknowledge that many times in life, we cannot expect parents to be a reliable source of guidance and will many times have to figure things out on our own through self-reflection, introspection, and work. However, I think that even if Lorelai sat down and talked to Rory about it, Rory probably would've just felt mad at her mother for bringing it up and refuse to talk about it again. It doesn't seem to me that Rory really cared about Lorelai's opinion on her relationships or other matters where she is acting super selfish or kinda out-of-character.
For example, when she wanted to drop out of Yale and take a break, Lorelai was very surprised and said that she should reconsider it, but Rory didn't even want to hear her out at all and got upset when she disagreed. Whenever Lorelai does something she disagrees with, she always blows up at Lorelai first. IDK if it's because of the way her mother treated her, like a best friend and practically an equal, but the way Rory was brought up was a bit problematic, since as a result Rory rarely ever treated her mother's opinion with the respect that she deserved. And I think it's also because Lorelai always kinda "babied" her, since she was so afraid of ruining their mother-daughter relationship the way her own mother (Emily) had by being overbearing and exerting too much control over her life. Lorelai didn't want to be perceived as an over-controlling mother, but in the end, it kinda backfired, because I feel like the way she raised Rory allowed her to disregard giving any respect to her as a mother or to recognize that her mother may know better than she did.
I remember when I first watched Gilmore girls and I felt the same way, devastated what happened to rory. But after many years of going back into the show, I feel like because she had everything and everyone around her always praised her, the second she got criticism, she gave up, no one prepared her for that. I am still bummed how it ended and with the decisions she made, but she even denied her privilege's when logan confronted her about it which said a lot. - absolutely love this video btw !
This was the most disappointing part of the show for me. I just couldn’t stand Rory by the end. Although I think it is interesting to analyze why Rory grew up that way. Maybe it’s because of how her mom and town treated her like a princess, or growing up with only her mom who acted more like a best friend, or maybe her mom’s immature behavior rubbed off on her. Lorelei is flawed, but I always liked her because she worked hard and had a great personality. I think she made up with her flaws, but Rory just absorbed all her mom’s bad behavior on top of not having the same toughness as her mom.
Remember when Rory liked Economics cause her granddad was her lecturer: she was actually doing well and enjoying the content. Also when she had financial issues and told her mom she would study business and make money? Lorelai was like “no sweety you love writing”. Lorelai should have supported her studying business and let her consider the opportunity and she would have been a lot more successful. I feel as if they wanted her to succeed so badly at journalism that they failed to let her know she can actually try a whole new major for one semester and see what happens. 🤦🏽♀️
But rory said that because she didn't have money to pay for her fees at yale and Lorelai said no because she knows rory always wanted to be a journalist
Ok, I have now reached my dreaded 30s and on rewatching Gilmore girls and the revival, I don't feel the same shock at Rory's decline that I did when I literally grew up alongside her. In my teens, it was so unbelievable that Rory went to Yale, that she subsequently dropped out because of the negative feedback from a single professor, that she would be swept up in the luxury and pomp that came with being a Gilmore and being the girlfriend of Logan.
However, the revival has resonated with me. While I'm not a member of the thirty something club, I think it is a real reflection of the problems that young people face today. There's so much pressure put on teenagers to find their path straight out of high school. The lucky ones are happy with their choices, but as you said in your video, what do we know at 16, even 20! These decisions are meant to set the tone for the rest of your life. It's no shock that Rory amounted to nothing in her life. She is lucky that her grandparents and her father are richer than she could ever dream of, because she will always have that safety. That kind of wealth is rarely earned, and most of us aren't so lucky.
Instead, we become the stars hallow thirty somethings. Where the only option left is to move back home, clinging to the happy times of childhood, with fake smiles. It's a very real situation - when you spend years at University, get your degree, and fail to get a job. Or you do find a job and find that you hate it. Or even, you just become complacent and bored and realise that this is what your life is going to be forever (in my case).
Its also not surprising that Jess became so successful. I have seen and scoffed at numerous drop outs go directly into work out of desperation to sustain themselves, learn a trade, and end of more successful (and wealthier) than those of us who slogged it out in university and ended up like Rory.
Rory's story is an all too real reflection of my generation. We were told we could do anything, be anything, and when things get too hard, we crumble because we can't believe that it wasn't true.
So you believe it was more a cautionary tale about the millennial generation?
@@nibabi absolutely. Just look into "the great resignation".
@@lorenafolino5366 I think it's more complex than that. Millennials were saddled with far higher tuition costs than previous generations while also being the first generation that was blatantly told they HAD to go to college, not to mention 2 major economic crashes that came at the worst times (entering the work force during the 2008 crash, and then just barely starting to recover when Covid hit). But yeah, if millennials had been given the tools to handle all of this adversity, maybe that would have helped. But they were raised on the special-snowflake-you-can-do-anything ideology.
I feel that it was a natural progression for a character like Rory because of her privledge and not having to work for everything she gained in life like her mother did causing her to be very sheltered and unprepared for reality.
I feel like her 'downfall' was the ideals and pressure the entire family put on her and in the revival I feel like it represented the immaturity Rory had due to her upbringing and the expectation from the family to be the success story. It was almost like a rebellian causing her to not let go of past behaviours and continuing to act out due to never being told no.
yes!!!
There is no downfall of Rory. It's just life happening. She is a real character and I always liked that. The thing here is that perhaps we idealized her at such a young age when she barely had chances of being wrong.
2:38 =An unpopular opinion but I prefer the story to end this way... She grew up with everything handed on a silver platter, what do you expect when all this would be gone yet she still expected for the world to bow to her "greatness"? Until those closest to her stop coddling her, she wouldn't grow...
I am actually so glad the writers decided to do go with a more real approach to her character. As a person who hates being criticized, is very picky when it comes to job opportunities and wants something very particular and special, is reluctant to acknowledge her privilege, and isn't making brave steps when it comes to love and relationships, this is EXACTLY what I would expect the real life to do to her.
I personally think Rory should've ended up with Jess.
I was never a big fan of Jess for some reason!! I definitely think he rlly cared for Rory, though.
@@trinitytay430 I didn't like him as a character early but that was because he reminded me too much of myself. He tried really really hard and then internalized a lot of his feelings and I feel like he was really bad at expressing exactly how he felt about her until it was too late. I really feel like the relationship later on would have been so much better especially as he developed into an adult because she needed someone to push her towards what she actually liked and cared about and had passions about unlike Logan.
So, before a year in the life I would totally agree, but I really think Rory has some growing to do before she and Jess would ever work, which is ironic considering it used to be the other way around.
SAME Rory and jess were literally the right people at the wrong time AHHH
Tbh I don't really want Rory and Jess because I don't want another Lorelia and Luke. It took Lorelia so much time before she decided she wanted to be with Luke and Luke was kinda the guy pining and waiting for her. Then she and Luke broke up a couple time and she ended up even sleeping with Christopher that same day she broke up with Luke. So for me the writters have said Rory and Jess are similar to Lorelia and Luke whose relationship is not commendable. I don't want Jess to pine after Rory why she's still stuck with Logan and could possibly have his child. That's not a helpful situation because if the child turns out to be Logan then Logan would be in Rorys life and essentially just like Lorelia Rory would take forever before maybe q5 years later she realize Jess is the one for her. I think Jess deserved someone to love him wholly and Rory just can't seem to move on from Logan to be able to love Jess like he deserves. I dint want Jess to miss ot on having a happy home and family simply because he loves Rory and wants to help her take care of her child.
I'm only a minute in but just wanted to quickly comment that
1. I feel incredibly old that you weren't even born yet when this first came out...but also
2. I'm so psyched to have new generations that will love and appreciate this special show that shaped my adolescence
hahaha!!! thank u so much for watching. Even though I watched it a bit later, it still helped me through my teen years SO MUCH.
What I don’t understand is how lorelai shunned her for sleeping with a married Dean, yet condoned her sleeping with an engaged Logan in ‘a year in the life’. You’d have thought Rory had learned morally, or treat the situation with the same guilt but she just remains a horrible person!!
Well Rory was a damn grown women sis was in her 30s she doesn’t need her mommy to tell her what’s right and what’s wrong and i think Loralai didn’t wanna screw up the relationship she had with Rory remember when Rory stopped talking to her mom for simply telling her what she’s doing is wrong and Rory didn’t tell loralai until later on
I think what's really missing from Rory's story is the ending ... where she hits her 30s, reflects on her life and the ways she's contributed to her own problems, and turns them around. I kind of love the fact that Rory is not some saintly character but a human woman who makes really incredible mistakes through her 20s because of the conflicting messages of her upbringing, and I kind of love that both her grandparents and mother steered her wrong but it wasn't because they didn't love her. But there's a point where we never get to see (and now never will) where Rory actually grows up at last and that's the reason the end leaves a bad taste in everyone's mouth, even people like me who appreciate what the writers were going for.
💗
Wel said.
Personally as a woman who watched the series at 24 years old, I found Rory’s plot to be refreshing. It tells the story of the many kids who grow up being told they are “gifted”, get chewed up and thrown into society after college and don’t end up where everyone else expected them to. The praise they receive as kids makes them believe they are set for success, but the reality is that it’s not how things tend to work out in the real world. I also don’t think that there is anything bad with the fact that she didn’t have to work- when I was in HS and uni I worked all the time, but my parents let me know that they wish they could have helped me with tuition and that I could have just focused on my schooling. A had a couple of friends who were lucky enough to not have to work, and though I wish I had the same opportunity, I never particularly felt like they should have not accepted the help. They were lucky to have that available to them and I think it’s a good thing.
At first I was on the whole Rory “has become such a disappointment” train but I realized the revival leaves her off in her 30s. Is her development a lot behind other people her age? Yes……but also everyone walks on their own path and I think there’s a lot of potential and time for her to turn her life around.
Totally! I do think, though, that this path for Rory was unfortunate. I love her pregnancy and how it ties into Lorelai’s story but Rory’s is much more sloppily done and pays no respect to the potential her character had. Thank you so much for watching!
Sure she does, I just hated the lazy writing. It's basically a copy and paste of her mother story. She didn't marry Logan, the rich guy, cheated with him and got pregnant with his baby and will raise the baby alone while trying to be a writer. And then years will go by and she'll end up marrying Jess. I wish it was different because she got the potential to be better.
Rory is simply a typical white millennial. That's her story. Spoiled sensitive kids, that go in the world and fail, don't find a good position and don't know what they want. Her 30s story is so many people's story. I've read many Ivy League students didn't make it big some are even unemployed. That's very realistic. The only thing is that they have student's loan while Rory doesn't.
@@nickn2794 it is honestly so much better to go to a lower tiered school and actually excel than be unimpressive at an Ivy compared to everyone around you. She was always kind of average but everyone treated her like she was an angel for no real reason. All of her setbacks she either never learned from and repeated over and over again or got Emily and Richard to bail her out of for her to just talk shit about them to Lorelei.
Rory is the most American character ever. It always shocked me after I immigrated that the people around me gave everything up when 1 little inconvenience happened, and they had to privilege to be able to do that. People thought it was okay to just give up and go into a depression/butterfly chain the second they were thrown off by something. She was so privileged, and she couldn’t care less
Love that you were able to watch the show with a different perspective !!!!
Who says the people think it's ok? Also they don't choose to get depressed bc of setbacks, it's actually sad when people can't handle negative emotions and difficult situations but most likely not their own fault.
yes thank you !!!! she is so incredibly oblivious to her privilege, not to make this about race but as someone who is a person of colour i find it impossible to sympathise with so many of her (and lorelai's issues) because they're usually so trivial, they never actually properly suffer and they lack so much self awareness of the privilege they have
Thank You, Thank you, THANK YOU! For making this!
Like you, I heavily related Rory in the beginning seasons of Gilmore Girls. But the further I got into the show, the more I was ashamed of liking and relating to her character. Even now while I rewatch it, I notice these little hints (intentional or not, they are there) that Rory was destined to fail. Like you said, when she was in highschool, she was just a kid. She was still figuring things out. But college? That's a huge no no. Also her relationships never really sat with me the right way. Dean was alright at first, but the further into their relationship it got worse, way worse. The minute dean got married he should have been outta there. After she slept with Dean, I was frustrated and heartbroken beyond belief. The entire time I was thinking "What that's not rory, that can't be rory!!" But little did I know... she'd get even worse. I also got frustrated when she kissed Jess when she was still with Dean. Like GOD JUST BREAK UP PLEASE. Jess wasn't good at the beginning, but later, he figured his crap out. Heck, HE was the one who told Rory to figure it out when she dropped out of Yale. When everyone else, even Lorelai, couldn't get her back into school, Jess did. And that's why I love Jess's character, he actually had some legitimate character development and grew from his mistakes. Logan too, I didn't like. At first I thought he was alright, but later on it just showed how he in a way influenced Rory's actions. Of course it wasn't all his fault, he was just living life how he thought he should. But in turn that messed up Rory's perception of life as well. The criticism really annoyed me as well, I might've been just projecting onto Rory but, I just got so mad when she dropped everything just because of that one comment.
Overall I think Rory teaches me to be aware of your surroundings, background, and privilege, accepting criticism, and just realizing that yeah sometimes I don't have it all figured out, and that's okay, but that doesn't mean I should just drop everything the second I mess up. Motivation is hard to find sometimes, but finding a way to pick yourself up and move on is really really important in life, and sometimes it can make or break your career. As cliche as it sounds, just at least keep trying and never give up.
This turned out too long... but thanks for the video and you got a sub from me!
Thank you for this comment! You worded everything so well and I’m glad that another person feels the same frustration I do!!!
My another question about Rory is why she even wanted to be a journalist when she is very introverted and enjoys alone life. If she said she wanted to be a writer because she loves to read and then she chose English as her major, then I would get it. But being a journalist is like being in the hectic all the time which is definitely not the perfect job choice for an introvert like Rory. This was just not the right job choice.. Mitchum was quite right when he said she didn't have journalism in her. She was a great writer. So she could be an editor of a news company. But a journalist which requires immense time with people and society isn't just a right choice for an introvert ig. It's just my opinion.🙂
Totally agree - she is definitely not the type for being a hard nosed investigative journalist, she's too soft and creative which makes her final decision to be a writer so logical - I also think Rory reflect some traits of the writer Amy Sherman-Palladino who started out as a dancer but quit to be a writer much to her mother's chagrin which is reflected in the show when Lorelai is so ill at ease with Rory's decision to be a writer.
I think the main message of Gilmore girls is that we need to persevere when things don’t go our way. It’s not that those who study a lot naturally burn out. Rory’s true downfall such as stealing a boat happened after she took the first piece of criticism she received terribly. Rather than fight to improve herself, she chose to spiral.
I liked your video but I don’t agree with some of what you took away from Gilmore Girls. Amy Sherman-Palladino always knew how she wanted Rory to end and it wasn’t necessarily to tell a burnout story. She always knew the last four words which was that Rory would get pregnant and be where her mum was when she was 16, pregnant and alone but she would have the same trajectory of using that to grow. People think Rory was great because of all the great things we hear about her as a child but from the beginning, Rory was always shown to be selfish and increasingly throughout the series and it would have happened even without her grandparents. She’s learned from her mum and the entire town of Stars Hollow which treats them like royalty, she’d always gotten everything she’d wanted even before she got to know her grandparents who only amplified her privilege. I don’t think Amy Sherman-Palladino was trying to say if you work hard at a young age you’ll burn out in adulthood because Paris worked harder than Rory but even though she wrongfully didn’t get into Harvard, she didn’t let that stop her and ended up having the choice of going to law school or medical school and intimately opening up her clinic.
Ps. I’m not trying to be rude and I know this is long.
Hi! Thank you so much for watching my video and sharing your thoughts!! I knew that Amy Sherman-Palladino had always planned for that ending, and I think the idea of Rory having a child is great, but I don’t think that Rory’s experience with pregnancy as a single woman will exactly align with how Lorelai used it to grow. Like you said, Rory is and always has been selfish and I think that would’ve come to hurt her relationships during her pregnancy. Anyways, I always think that while show creators have their own message in mind when writing these stories, the message that viewers take from a scene or character arc can completely differ based on a person’s own experience. In this case, my take on it and what I left the show feeling like was all of this that I explained in the video! Once again, thank you so much for watching and discussing this with me! I really appreciate it and I’d love to hear your thoughts on other aspects of the show!
@@trinitytay430 Christopher inherited $$$, so Rory will get that, and being the sole heir of the Gilmore clan, she will get that...so a very RICH single mom...raising a child, probably a girl, so the legacy can continue.
but there's a huge huge difference bet lorelai getting pregnant at 16 and rory getting pregnant at 32. i think the writers initially intended rory to get pregnant by the end of her college years but even that wouldn't have been different. lorelai literally had to work as a maid and work her way up in an inn to keep her and rory alive and functioning and also had to have the hunger of becoming a better human not only for herself but also for her child while rory is a self entitled, unethical worker who has trust funds and rich af parents to fall back on if something goes wrong in her life which she clearly does as shown in the series. and she clearly isn't a "good" person as she didn't even learn from her mistakes(having affairs with married men) . if it only occured one time with dean, it wouldn't have bothered me but she clearly didn't learn from her mistakes.
Honestly, hot take: the change in writers had NOTHING to do with the downfall of her character. That was all ASP. Name the worst things she ever did: written by ASP. Honestly, S7 was the ending her character deserved after the ugliness of S5 and S6. She was finally doing better and having to accept not just her privilege, but the fact that she wasn't "the best." And then the revival happened....and RIP to the Rory who, although flawed, I still liked and could forgive due to her age and naivete.
yeah… Rory was always super flawed but like u I used her age as an excuse. I do think that the change in writers made everything a bit more sloppy, though. Rory could have had some sort of redemption and I respect the choice not to give her one, but I think anytime there are big changes in production like that so late in the series things can get messy and I believe that happened here and it’s a contributing aspect to rory’s downfall. thank u so much for watching and leaving ur thoughts!! also yes revival Rory is NOT IT
Great video! I do think of Emily as the kind of ultimate villain in the series. She's the embodiment of white privilege, elitism, and classism. But Emily is also trapped in a patriarchal structure, which I think is the root cause of some of her worst traits. Lorelai, for the most part, was able to break free from those structures and built her life on rejecting and resenting them. Rory was caught in the middle of this relationship, and I think she absorbed the worst traits of her mother and her grandmother. She got impulsiveness and selfishness from her mother, and entitlement from her grandmother. It led to a stunted adult life that lacked true responsibility and drive.
Rory is basically the victim of the 'Gilmore Girls' decades long feud. Caught in the middle between a rock and a hard place, she got squished.
Great analysis of emily!
Absolutely right!!! Also what I feel worst abt the show is Emily, as bad as she is, always wins in her manipulative techniques. She never acknowledges/accepts her flaws....she is never ready to see her daughter's perspective and then she blames Lorelai for being the result of her own manipulative and super controlling attitude! And who else do we see these character traits in? Of crs...everyone's beloved Rory!!!
I’m a bit of a latecomer to the world of Gilmore girls, only started watching it like October of 2021 but I’m glad because I understand as I graduated high school this year and I’m going to uni soon. Her downward spiral in a way was one of life’s greatest lessons, never expect too much beyond your capabilities, just live in the moment and learn as you go along. Her biggest downfall was to achieve perfection in every snippet of her life, and the way the writers and producers of the show built that story line was very smart because it made the fans and the characters within the show realize that she wasn’t the “perfect Rory” everyone thought she ought to be.
I think stealing the yacht, getting arrested, and dropping out of Yale was more than just Logan's dad telling her she didn't have it as a journalist. She had just been told that she wasn't good enough for Logan's family. She didn't have the proper upbringing. The way she was brought up was beneath them and they said that to her face. Then you have someone like Logan's dad who is a big deal in the place you want to work telling her she isn't a good enough journalist. I think I would break too. Don't know if I would drop out of college because of it but I can understand her feeling lost.
Being someone that didn't saw the series before and just started watching on Netflix (currently on season 5) I see both rory and lorelai as two very manipulative women, they want something and they won't stop until they get it. They have no respect for other townsville people, luke or the boyfriends and take no introspection on what they did wrong. It is horrible to see how Rory treats Dean after he tells her "I love you", or how rory just threw away money to get "HER" tree, or how they just do whatever they want on Luke's diner. You can totally tell from the beggining their relationship is not very healthy and will make Rory a very weird person. It's very clingy, the moment Rory do stuff without telling her mom, Lorelai completely becomes desperate and acts like Emily. Also both Lorelai, the town and the grandparents kinda idealize Rory and keep telling her she is special, almost an angel and won't do anything wrong, and that goes way overhead onto Rory making her very selfcentered and probably thinks she deserves everything.
it was so strange watching gilmore girls because as an Indian CBSE 12th grader having chosen science, rory was so relatable. the entire first season, i identified with her very much, and by the time we reach seasons 4 to the end, it was so hard to watch because not only did she seem like a totally unrelatable stranger, but she slept with a married man and did nothing to make it better, stole a boat with no remorse, couldn't take criticism for toffee, and even though she was handed everything on a silver platter she never recognized how lucky she was, taking it for granted instead. There's a little hope for her at the end of the revival, but in the revival she's so entitled she goes to an interview with no ideas or pitches or anything and just expects them to take her and then actually got angry with them for taking her hopes up, and then proceeds to complain she's bankrupt, not to mention she falls asleep in an interview. she sleeps with yet another engaged, soon to be married man while cheating on her boyfriend. the series got difficult to watch because in the beginning i wanted to be her and in the end i wanted to be anything but.
exactly!!!
More disappointed in the Rory character than mad. Absolutely mad at the writers. In my head, the continuing story of Rory is that she gets herself together and remembers why she loved learning, reading, and writing.
sometimes I imagine that happened, too!
got her masters-did guest teaching at Chilton, Traveled the world and used Lorelai's WW bed and breakfasts, while writing humanitarian pieces, and caught up to Logan after he built his own empire and showed Mitchum it could be done. The light brigade became a .dot com for the wealthy, with Finn & the other guy purchasing a Fantasy Island type place to host adventures and making a killing. Emily went into real estate and found places for Loralei, Suki, and Michel to manage, while Jason wrote the insurance for them. Ms Kim started a Korean singing touring group. Lane finally got the band going again and they were on America's got talent and won for best Rock song written by Zach. Christopher was the BEST granddad ever. Nicole won a noble peace prize for DNA research. Kurt married Lulu, and had quints, all boys that become Olympic gold contenders. Luke tried to rescue TJ & Liz from the cult and decided it was the peace he always needed and stayed. Jess wrote a docu-drama on it and was recognized by the Academy.
@@savannahsmiles1797 The entirety of your comment brought me an inordinate amount of joy. ☺
@@savannahsmiles1797 Yes! I love your ideas for a better ending. The only thing I liked about ayitl was Emily wearing jeans. The rest of it left me feeling empty and disappointed.
Speaking as an adult, Rory's academic and career life were very relatable. I definitely worked too hard in high school and was burned out for 7 years afterward.
Can we just talk about they way she treated Lane...
i actually love her character development, because its real. Nobodys perfect and we all make mistakes with relationships and stuff like that. I like how they didnt make her a perfect little smart town girl who grew up to be this dream woman
I’m glad you appreciated it!
yeah in a way it is nice
while yeah we kinda wanted to see her succeed and stuff due to her young self
at the same time its nice that it wasn't completely "disneyfied"
i relate so much to her spiralling character and it helps me to not dive as deep as she did
Rewatching this series after years I now have a new perspective. Lorelai and Rory are kids trapped in adult bodies. The show contrasts fun loving Girls with boring Parents but every single time Girls encounter any financial difficulty their first and last solution is to go to somebody rich, generaly Parents, to extract the money from that boring posh lifestyle they hate so much while being annoyed to even have to interact with Parents from time to time in return.
Lorelai and Rory are worlds apart though. Lorelai only went to her parents because she couldn’t get the money Chilton needed immediately. She thought she’d have more time. She also paid back EVERYTHING to her parents, even though doing so jeopardised her ability to buy the Dragonfly Inn, something she’d been working toward for so long, but would have put off just to not leech from her parents. When she needed a loan to fix her house, she wouldn’t accept money from her parents, she tried every which way to secure a loan by herself. In the end she settled for Emily co-signing the loan since she wouldn’t be approved for one any other way, but paid it all herself. Rory is happy to endlessly take and receive, and it never even occurs to her pay anyone back or be self-sufficient. Lorelai and Jess are far more alike in that regard, while Rory is just like her grandmother.
@@withinwithout6263 Even so, Lorelai is still being super dramatic about it and never considers not spending the money.
Does Rory have to go to Chilton? No, but it would help her greatly. Can we afford it? No, but we really want her to go to a good school so let's borrow money. Do they want an interest? No, just to spend the time with us once a week. So let's bitch and moan about it every time we go there and not even hide our distain very well.
There are people who don't have giant amounts of money available to them every time hard times come. They have to sell their houses, work an extra job or do other very unpleasant things to make do. Or, and that's something Lorelai never does, just give up the stuff she would like to have but can't afford like Chilton for example.
As a poor fecker myself I find it hard to sympatize with her when she still can have most of what she wants and still complains about the bare minimum she has to do for it.
@@poslednisoud It kind of sounds like you’re committed to hating the characters no matter what so I don’t see any point in countering anything you’ve said. Suffice it to say, I disagree. And yeah, people can get by without a lot, but it’s understandable to want to give your kids every advantage you never had. I’d say that’s universal.
@@withinwithout6263 I never said I hate them, this show is very important part of my childhood, I just grew older and more experinced and concluded I don't like this one aspect of their characters.
I never said Lorelai shouldn't go to her parents only that I dislike how she is openly antagonistic towards her parents, their lifestyle and friends despite benefiting from their wealth.
I can respect her sticking to her original idea and cut off all ties, hate her parents and accepting she can't afford a good school and Rory has to work hard as she did.
I can respect her swallowing her pride, as I would, asking for the money and spending one evening a week showing respect to people she dislikes.
She chose the third option, taking the money and acting like a unhappy five year old when she has to give something back.
And don't take me wrong, I find people like RIchard and Emily highly unpleasant to be in a presence of, I just don't throw it in their face, especially when I want something from them.
To be honest I liked rory’s downfall because I felt like it was supposed to be a cautionary tale. Like, college and school aren’t everything. Enjoy life while u can. As someone with a tiger mom, it’s really refreshing to see how that can end up leaving you burnt out. It makes me feel less guilty about taking some time, and enjoying my youth while I can
I relate to Rory in a lot of ways. I think what saved me from going full-blown Rory Gilmore route (aside from not being born into wealth) is that I was always insecure in spite of being the gifted child, so it was much easier to accept that I am just a regular, perhaps sligthly above-average student and a dumbass human being. I just wish it truly sank in before I wasted four years of my life in college I haven't finished. I can relate to the feeling of frustration when what you have been told your whole life is challenged and eventually turns out not to be true. I think this is one of the things many people don't touch on when discussing Rory; she was spoonfed the idea that she is special and unique by people she loved and trusted - of course she believed it. Why wouldn't she? And I bet she felt betrayed when she realised she had been essentially lied to, because being special never came with the caveat that she will have to work for it one day. It's realistic that she blew up, started acting out, became mean to people who were (at that moment) trying to help; it doesn't excuse her actions but it does make it make sense, and we may not like it but a part of the blame should be also diverted to the people that neglected to tell and teach her that 'being special' isn't enough, that things don't always go the way we planned, and that hard work and being able to apply oneself past what is expected of them is instrumental.
One thing I never see people talk about is how her growing up without a father possibly affected her and if it could be in any way tied to her... pretty gross treatment of her partners.
I couldn't believe that Rory went to Las Vegas and became a strip club dancer in season 8. And then that night when she was in a drug-induced daze, stole a Porsche, and drove it through a Golden Corral. Glad she went to drug rehab and got clean.
I like your version of Rory more than the 'writers'.
@@lauragem796 thanks :)
Rory became burnout because of her grandparents and mother. She was always praise and she never learned how to fail. Whenever she did, her relatives would only gloat her with compliments.
4:20
I think a big reason was because her mother and other people always told her that EVERYONE loves her. It led to her not being able to take any criticism and it even might have meant she felt like she wouldn’t get into trouble for bad behaviour. Being told that everyone in your life loves you would make you full of yourself and gave her the impression that she was better than other people, which is he she cheated and thought she was worth making people unhappy. Just a thought, let me know what you think.
you’re so right!!
I absolutely love Gilmore Girls and I'm watching for the seventh time but I totally agree with you. Rory was spoiled by Lorelai, Chris, her grandparents, her friends and everyone from Stars Hollow. To them she was perfect and whatever she did was incredible. They treated her like a spoiled baby. She didn't have social skills. While dating Dean she didn't show any sights of love, she never missed him. Then, she and Jess cheated on Dean and then when he started dating Lindsey she got jealous and missed being important to him. Dean and Rory cheated on Lindsey, they broke up a marriage! She accepted the money to go to a private high school and to college, she became a member of the DAR, she literally became one of those rich teens and young adults. Loralai never said no to her. When she broke up Lindsey's marriage and when she got caught stealing a boat, Loralei didn't act like a parent, she said something but she made it slide and made jokes about it. So everything that she went through made her the adult in "a year in the life" but I hated this Netflix revival. Lorelai turned out fine but Rory didn't. She left behind her essence. And, of course, the best character development goes to Jess. Luke shaped him to be an incredible and successful adult. With that said, you cannot treat your kids like friends, they need to have rules.
as someone who also used to idolize young rory, i can't help but see myself in her story arc. the gifted child, who was always miles ahead of everyone in her class. then she gets to a prestigious college, and well, it's kind of like a slap in the face. because everyone there is "the gifted child." you go from being a big fish in a small pond, to a mediocre small fry in an ocean. suddenly, nothing you do seems good enough, even if it is your best. and rory's entire identity was her academic career. she had nothing left to go to and her identity kind of fell apart. now she's wandering aimlessly, a womanchild with no real life skills. i myself have learned to cultivate a sense of self worth that does not depend on my achievements. i am a good cook who recovered from an eating disorder, i am a cat mom, i am passionate about fashion, esthetics, and music. i love working out, reading, and spending quality time with my partner who lifts me up on my darkest days. rory lived an incredibly sheltered life, yes, but i think a lot of people forget that her entire identity was college prep. all of her other interests, passions, and hobbies just fell away as time went on. and she was so burned out with trying to please everyone and was never able to make the little mistakes that kids make, so she grew up to make the big adult mistakes. i think it's extremely good writing personally and i feel so much for rory. i would really like for the show to come back again and see that maybe rory's baby is her wakeup call. but it hurts in a sort of cosmic sense that she could become strong again only for someone else and not for herself. thank you for coming to my tedtalk lmao
It was kind of gratifying to see Rory fail so spectacularly at the end of season 7 (when she turned down an amazing newspaper job because she just assumed she'd get this exclusive fellowship), and in the revival (when she was one trainwreck after another). Rory had everything handed to her, and she treated it as if she deserved it more because she'd worked harder than other people to get it. She probably got into Harvard on the strength of her sob story about being the daughter of a single mom who grew up in a one-room shack, because beyond her grades she did not have much else; it never made any sense why Paris - who did do All The Things - didn't get in.
I don’t know if it’s intentional, but I feel like it was this whole idea that she’s from two worlds so she refuses to admit she comes from privileged on top of the fact that she is constantly told by almost everyone that she’s perfect and can’t do anything wrong and no one tells her no
Edit: I almost forgot about her ditching her moms graduation to go hang out with Jess and I know the whole thing with the bus, but like there’s no way most people would go to New York on the same day their mom is going through something so important.
I think Roy was always and entitled selfish person who never learned. She was always told she is perfect and never given any kind of criticism to help her grow. When she was given criticism she couldn't handle it. But her character Arc in the year of a life did not surprise me one bit because of how she was raised.
I really enjoyed this video, good job. It’s so amazing that people are still finding this show. I was 15 when it first aired. I think it’s so cool that you have watched it at your age. Don’t worry too much about turning into Rory, you are your own person and you will follow a path in life that you choose.
Thank you!!
Never was Rory awkward. And stop pretending it's improper for teenagers to have sex, within normal boundaries they should be having sex. What's weird is her having sex with a married ex.
It's been a while, but I recall noticing a change in Rory's personality. I thought it might be a temporary phase, expecting her to go off the rails and then pull herself back together. However, she never did, and it turned out she's not a great person.
Rory was constantly being told by everyone around her how special, brilliant, talented, etc she was, and because of this she acquired a pretty bad case of main character syndrome. At first those beliefs were reinforced by things like her getting into “the big three”, and being made Valedictorian. But then in college she started to expect things, like fellowships and job offers, she even says at one point she had zero doubt that she wouldn’t be given a prestigious spot that hundreds of people were competing for. She thought her path after college would be easy, because she had gone to the prestigious school, but was faced with the harsh reality of going from a big fish in a little pond, to a tadpole in the ocean.
I was fine with that arch in the main show, because I stupidly thought the end had proved she had grown, she was taking a job that she would work hard at, but would be rewarding. She turned down the easy path and said no to Logan, and seemed to have learned that she wasn’t special, and she needed to prove herself and put in the work.
Then the revival happened, and she they reverted her back to just expecting stories to be handed to her, and has no original ideas (until she decides to steal her mom’s story). And she is half back with Logan and is once again someone’s mistress. That was the opposite of character growth. I know Amy Sherman Palladino was pulled off the last season, and ended the revival the way she wanted to end the show originally, so it almost feels she took the script she wrote for season 7, threw in an 8 year age gap (that made everything make no sense), and wrote a new story for Emily only. It was such a disappointment.
I didn’t even WANT to mention Rory writing the book even though Lorelai didn’t want her to because it makes me so mad. Spot on analysis of Rory
I also wonder what prompted the writers to take Rory's arc in this direction. It's obviously a commentary on privilege, and I think you're right that it's also a commentary on obsession with academic achievement as a road to burnout and rebellion. I'm guessing the writers drew from having at least seen this in some of their lives. While in school, it's possible to be so focused on succeeding as a student, and to pay insufficient attention to the transition to the work world and the making of inroads to one's desired career. Succeeding in this transition involves a certain amount of entrepreneurial hustle and a thick skin, neither of which we see in Rory toward the end. A cellist vlogger on another channel with an NEC degree once said, "When school's over, all you'll have is the opportunities you've made for yourself," so some of the time in school should be spent on gigging and career building outside of school, because it's tough to start networking from scratch after graduation without any idea where to start. ...just some thoughts.
thanks for this comment!! great thoughts
After seeing the other video, I come here to say that I don't think it's all Lorelai's fault. She kept her away from her grandparents for her to earn the things she wanted, to keep her away from all that privelege. She told her she could do anything to encorauge her to chase her dreams, but finally it backfired because when she was introduced to her grandparents world, all that luxury and self esteem came out to be a horrible combination.
Conclusion: I think that if Rory wasn't as exposed to that privileged life as she actually was everything would have been different.
As an Asian with a tiger parent I did the same, but when I came into college and saw the economic inequalities between us(me being from a poorer background), I looked back to my tiger parent and realised how she put me in a +1 situation compared to her. To this date, I know I cannot afford to lose my focus because of how hard my parents have worked to put me here. Giving up is not an option, it never was, it never will be. In my opinion, she was just too rich to have a fallback option which is why she had no motivation.
If you have privilege, embrace it, and don’t let others make you feel guilty for having it. On the flip side, have compassion and respect for those who don’t.
I think Rory having her breakdown made her character a lot more realistic. I'm very much similar to her in the sense I had big expectations about myself at such a young age and was naturally gifted at a lot of things. we both had breakdowns at the same time in our lives and became burned out. Striving for perfection or excellence all your life often leads to things like this, especially when you never take time for yourself. Hitting one inconvenience can break everything for you. I hope her character is able to overcome the rut that she's in if they ever decide to make anymore episodes.
This makes me glad I was a late bloomer. I fucked up so much of my teenage years and early 20's but now doing extremely well at 25. It's good to go through all the bullshit development and growth when your're younger and then be successful when your're older when it actually counts.
Watching her unravel was unbearable, I couldn’t even finish the revival because I was concerned I would break my TV by trying to throw a remote at her head. The writing got objectively worse, but like you said she just became more like Emily and less like Lorelei. It’s just odd to rebel against your mother in young adulthood instead of as a teenager, and to rebel against a parent by becoming more like a grandparent. And to see an ambitious and likeable nerd turn into an aimless and immature adult is just too on the nose.
Yes. The revival was hard to get through. I hadn't really watched it since it came out but I reviewed some of the content when making this video and I was sent back into the stage of denial all over again.
She DIDN'T lose out on a social life. She had multiple boyfriends, spent time with her friends, was involved in every social occasion and event in the town, spent tons of time with her mom and even saw her grandparents often. Frankly, as a former student workaholic myself, I never got how she managed to do all that and still "study all the time". She clearly didn't. The reason she failed later wasn't that she didn't have a social life as a teen. She was constantly told how perfect she was, never really struggled with anything and later became lazy, entitled and selfish. I agree with the second half of your video.
I think the reason she ended up being easily burnt out is because she genuinely never really had to work hard. She always had her mom & grandparents to fall back on. They never really fully forced her to be a adult or actually pushed her. Because in everyone’s eyes she could do no wrong.
I absolutely agree. I was late to the show as well, and I blew through the first seasons but completely lost interest in season 5. The final straw for me was when Rory literally slept with a married man and refused to see how that was wrong.