I think Lorelai kind of set an example for Rory with men due to the way she acted with Christopher, even when Christopher was dating someone else Lorelai still viewed Chris as 'hers' and I feel like Rory saw Dean the same way.
I agree with that 100%. But also, it's not the same thing at all. Rory needed to understand the difference. Not that Lorelai was justified in treating Christopher that way, but Rory and Dean dated for three months when she was sixteen, they broke up, then got back together and had a very tumultuous relationship for about a year before they finally broke up again. Lorelai and Christopher were best friends since childhood who went through having a child together and stayed close even after Lorelai moved to Stars Hollow and Christopher went off to California or whatever, so it's a lot more understandable that Lorelai would feel entitled to Christopher.
@@jsbrads1 Yes. She was late for chemistry class lol. She didn't turn him down because she didn't love him, though. She just wanted them both to have a chance to achieve their dreams.
I think it was when Rory kissed Tristan and Lorelai told her to not tell Dean... that was the moment Rory learned she didn't actually have to face the consequences of her actions. She learned she could just lie and go on with her life. That whole show was full of toxic relationships and behavior. Lorelai was a huge mess. Everyone was awful.
I do hate that part too! I forgot about it while filming this, but totally agree! She should have told dean and had to deal with those consequences! Thanks for your thoughts!
I love Gilmore Girls but my biggest pet peeve is that (in my opinion) no body really grows or learns from their mistakes! Like Emily and Lorelai’s relationship, they never really fix it! So frustrating
@@chiaradisano7327 So true!! I really am honestly bummed about the Lane storyline. I think she and her mom are amazing and i wish we had gotten to see the Dave story play out! Team Lane and Mr.s Kim lol
Let's not forget Logan, who basically changed from a playboy to a devoted man so they can be together! After the two fights they don't really fight anymore, and everything is pretty much great UNTIL she just declines his marriage proposal for no good reason at all
I think you make all good points! What I think Rory also lacks is communication skills, she wanted to be a journalist but she struggles to communicate her wants until she blows up, and doesn't tell people yet expects them to read her mind. How many issues could have been solved if she theoretically told Richard what Mitchum said, communicated to Dean sooner, instead of getting frustrated about having to go to therapy before going back to Yale, talk about the emotions instead of running away every single time. It was so frustrating to watch her downfall in that aspect.
Offff so true! Like everyone in this show had that issue it felt like! That's one aspect of tv writing that really bugs me, there are parts that, yeah people communicate wrong, but also like why do they write that in for every character! My biggest communication frustration in the whole show, from my memory right now, was the Luke and Lorelai not talking about April and then Lorelai giving Luke 0 moments to process anything before running to Christopher! That could be where Rory gets that! Totally agree though!
@@AVintageJoy Yes! I'm a massive Luke and Lorelai fan and Team Luke all the way but it's the one thing that seems so out of character. And when any of the characters do communicate, they take it away instantly (granted I'm also of the believer the show focuses on generational trauma so I get why it doesn't happen) but it rips my psychology major heart out every time they have like once or twice a season a really good moment for change
@@devinwoods8798 So true! they open the door for "maybe this is the moment that they will learn how to better communicate, or better themselves" and like 70% of the time they don't learn that lesson, it breaks my heart too! Love that you're doing psychology, what a great way to learn and help people!
Very good point. But Rory can't communicate because she didn't learn communication skills from her mother. The way Lorelei communicated with Chris was not healthy, or with her parents (mind you, they were toxic but she didn't set strong boundaries with them, either).
I would also like to add that there is hardly any consequences for Rory’s mistakes. Lorelai barely reprimands her, Lane doesn’t have much experience so she doesn’t give solid input, the town’s on her side no matter what, and the boys who like her stay in love with her despite her hurting them. Everyone likes Rory no matter what, without shaming her or stopping the train wreck. “Oh you broke someone’s heart by cheating on them? You poor baby, you must be protected from experiencing shame or taking responsibility for your actions”. That’s sheltering her and isn’t realistic irl.
Yessss!!! They infantilize her SO MUCH even as she goes on into adulthood. Which is so rich coming from the girl who got mad at Lane and her mom for tying to protect her were she was going through that first break up with Dean. It’s like season one Rory was on a gradual decline throughout the whole show.
I think Rory's downfall started at Yale. Maybe it was symbolic (like her choosing to be a legacy student) and leaning into her wealthy/privileged side...I even think season 1 Rory might have actually given Marty a chance. Your eyebrows r gorgeous by the way.
Yeah that’s a good thought, could have totally been at Yale! Season 1 personality Rory and Marty would have been interesting! I wish Rory and Marty would have figured out their friendship! I think they could have been great friends! Also thanks! I appreciate that! There’s lots of things we were all made fun of as kids that now makes us each unique. One thing for me that works into that is my eyebrows lol. I like them now, in middle school, not so much lol.
Marty!!! The actor wanted off the show : ( he could have been the one. She could have gone down the Logan path but kinda moonwalk away from his bad lifestyle and then dates Marty. Thats why most people like Jess...he was like THE ONLY OPTION!!!
I think the interesting about this show is that it's actually realistic. People often repeat the same mistake, it's honestly kinda rare for a person to meaningfully grow and evolve. I think a lot of us watching the show really aligned ourselves with Rory and found her aspirational and so found it distressing and annoying that she is so flawed. This revealed the toxic traits in the things that we ourselves might have been doing or aspiring towards. I find this backlash against Rory really fascinating because I think it's rare for a show to have a protagonist that is flawed in a more nuanced way without the show demonising those flaws and explicitly saying "character bad" and/or fixing them. That's not how life works most of the time. Why do we want to "fix" Rory? Is that so that we feel better about ourselves? Why can't she stay a deeply flawed character?
Agreed, one of the shows called normal people which I didn't really like also had the same problem, but a reviewer pointed out notably, that we should forgive who don't change. I think this is also what this show is trying to say that people more or less remain the same
People don't mind the flaws just the lack of consequences. Interesting point tho. Stil it's the fact that no one says anything and it's because it's unrealistic. How does one get to this stage without anything happening to them. A show isn't real life. To most that can only ever be reminded when the characters don't change, grow or face consequences. Because in life most people don't change. That isn't how characters are supposed to be. Plus, ya as much as I admire Season 1 Rory I would really enjoy her in -universe downfall. She isn't that person anymore and that's fine but the new her sucks.
The flaws are bad habits and red flags that can't be ignored. For everyone to dismiss them collectively makes no sense. It's would seem more like self-insert fanfiction. Making a better character through keeping her flaws and having them learn from her is "fixing" her. Since she can't really be salvaged we may as well rewrite the plot. She isn't relatable or entertaining with her flaws. And watching her is no fun. It's like looking at 2 different people. But trust me, we get upset that she was the one who used to admire. We try to fix her because we want the better version of her character. The one before the character assassination. We can't leave her as a boring, whiny character who doesn't learn. Don't get me wrong GG is a fantastic cautionary tale that you can take as a warning. However, Rory wasn't that character (one who quits or whines) so why is she now?? There are characters who can be used as examples on what NOT to do. But no one can even tell if that's what Rory was supposed to be y'know??? So why not try when we can do better??
There are a lot of things I don't like about Rory, or about the revival. One of them is how she kept forgetting about her boyfriend Paul. What in the world was that? I thought she was supposed to be this nice person who cares about people. Obviously she is no angel, but remembering your bf is kinda basic. That whole Paul bit was just mean and tasteless in my opinion. I've no idea why the writers thought it would be funny.
Offfff I wish I had put that point in this video. Besides the cheating with Logan, that was one of the most annoying parts of AYITL for me. Totally agree, she was very mean to him and all he was was nice to her. You're totally right! I hated that part of the reboot. Also, why have Lorelai and Luke forget about him too, like are they all so self centered now that they just forget about people, hated that part!
@@AVintageJoy I don't know if it was meant to be this funny bit how everyone kept forgetting Paul, but it really left a bad taste in my mouth. That and the body shaming in the pool. Come on people.🤦♀ And I'm with you on the Logan situation. How is she okay with being the other woman? I had hoped she learned her lesson after Dean. I hope she's not justifying it to herself by saying "he was my Logan first". Also, I'm sure I've said it before but I'll say it again, I know some people really didn't like how Rory wasn't this successful journalist in the reboot, but I found it more realistic. Also I'm kinda tired of her being that perfect character who's good at everything and always gets what she wants. I also can't imagine her broadcasting live from war zones. But on the other hand, it is strange she wasn't more successful in a way because Obama did end up becoming president as you said. So, not sure what the writers were trying to do there...
@@ahobbit1273 I honestly also don't understand what was the point of it. Were they trying to make her like Emily who can't bother to remember the maids' names because they were "beneath" her, but with her bf? were they trying to be funny and failed? I mean, it wasn't only Rory who couldn't remember his name, so I really don't get it... it was just so mean
Rory's superiority complex started in season 1. She thought she was above all her Chilton classmates. The thing is, the show agrees with her, and the audience is supposed to agree, too. But honestly, no one else thought it was weird that by the time she graduated, Paris, of all people, was her only friend in that school? Or that Lane was her only friend in Stars Hollow, despite the weird Rory and Lorelei worship in that town? People say that Rory got worse as the show progressed, but I'd argue she just got less cute and more loud about her nonsense (and before anyone misinterprets that, I'm not saying she didn't grow into a beautiful woman, she just doesn't look like a doe-eyed cherub anymore) None of that is necessarily a bad thing. I love this show BECAUSE Rory and Lorelei are low-key monsters. ESPECIALLY when it comes to the men in their lives
Yeah I totally agree that they really aren't women to emulate when it comes to relationships! I always just thought that you have to have some cut off with casting and only have so many characters in a show. I think they tried to give Rory more friends in college, but it felt forced and not natural in my opinion. Also, could totally be the case that when she got older she just got louder, some things kids do if they did them as an adult would be super off putting so you could totally be right about that! Thanks for your thoughts!
I get the Doylist explanation that the limits of casting and storytelling would make it difficult to have Rory have a ton of friends show up regularly, but it could still have been handled differently. Within the story, it doesn't make her look great. It's not JUST that by the time she graduated, the only friends she had in that school where 3 girls who were more like frenemies. It's the way she talks about the other kids at Chilton during her time there. Aside from they guy Lane liked for a little bit, she was really judgey about her classmates, if she spoke about them at all. I guess a lot of that can be blamed on the early 2000s trend of the heroine being "not like other girls", but it came off as Rory holding herself above them. She was NEVER excited to do stuff at that school or to get to know anyone. I know she was an introvert, but even introverts like to hang out SOMETIMES (not for long stretches, but still). By the time she got Yale and started writing body shaming critiques, and snide takedowns of the rich nepo-babies (while conveniently forgetting she was one of them), and laying claim to a married man because "he was hers first", I was nodding along thinking "Yeah, that tracks". It seemed to me that she'd thought she was better than the people around her since season 1. It's just that she got more confident in herself in the later seasons and was more out loud about it. Again, this isn't necessarily a problem. Part of what makes the show so entertaining for me, personally, is that Rory and her mom were low-key menaces.
@@R_S747 I AM right!!!! And, narratively, it makes sense, too. Rory is a menace who was raised by a menace who herself was also raised by a menace. THAT is the TRUE Gilmore Girl legacy, and we should all be thankful it exists! (Well...maybe not the revival so much).
i think jess was truly the one that helped her wake up and realize how much she wasn't being herself the girl he knew when he met her and that's the reason she went back.
Rory cheating with Dean isn’t what bothered me the most it’s the fact she trash talked Lindsey to Lane in the grocery store and she overhears by accident.
I think Rory’s downfall started in season 1 episode 1 😂 When she refuses to go to Chilton after meeting Dean and has a whole tantrum about it. She didn’t even know this boy, she had just met him and wanted to drop her entire future for him. And it was a bit weird that Lorelai has to go into “mother mode” and establish the fact that it wasn’t a choice and she was going to chilton. I feel like Lorelai friended her too much, essentially being the opposite of Emily which is understandable. But this gave Rory too much leeway in which she felt like she could talk back to her mum and criticise her choices. However, when she’s held accountable for anything she has a tantrum. She’s really terrible at regulating her emotions, therefore making her a terrible communicator. She kinda just lashes out, or storms off to end arguments that aren’t going in her favour. We see this with how she treats Lane and Lorelai very early on in season 1. And it just gets worse and worse omg 😩😩😩 And I don’t think the revival was too much of a shock. The only people that really glorified Rory were the people of stars hollow and her grandparents. Her first paper at Chilton she graded a D, she was advised at Yale to drop a few classes because she wasn’t performing well, the episode in which Mitchum says she ain’t got it, the finale when she doesn’t get the fellowship. Unfortunately Rory was not the prodigy she thought she was :(
Also I have to add she treated her mother, the way her mother treated her own mother. I feel like in season 5,6&7 Lorelai was scared of Rory 🤣 and had to watch what she said or refrain from expressing her true opinion to avoid backlash. I used to think I liked Lorelai more than Rory, but seeing how Lorelai treated the men in her life has also put me off Lorelai as a character. It’s hard because the show veers from comedy to drama, so certain things are understandably done for comedic purposes but after a while it loses it’s charm, like Lorelai did for me as a character. Gilmore Girls is really one of those shoes where I love the supporting characters more than the leads 🤣🤣 Stars Hollow has a special place in my heart, and I love all the quirks and Kirk’s bits 🤣🤣😕
I also think it's season 1 episode 1, but I think the problem is that that is the point in her life where she suddenly gains access to wealth and connections on a level she never had before. If Richard and Emily had refused to pay for Chilton, she wouldn't have been able to go, and Lorelai would have felt bad about it, but Rory would have just gone right on being a big fish in a small pond, and then she probably would have gone to a nice school regardless by way of an academic scholarship, but she would have had to work for it and take out loans like most people. In short, she would have had to struggle more and really work for what she got in life. As it is, she just kind of kept getting opportunities handed to her. She didn't have to earn them, so she became kind of spoiled and self-entitled, thinking everything would keep being easy all the time. It's good to struggle a little in your youth, because you learn resilience and responsibility. If everything is handed to you, you end up like Rory, where eventually you face struggle and don't know how to handle it.
Her ending up jobless at the reboot made sense to me as someone who tried to get into journalism out of college in that same time period. The journalism industry was shot and nobody was hiring or paying good money for jour alists unless they had 15 yrs of experience...ie not of rory's gen. Yes some ppl of rory's gen got into journalism but it was very unlikely for that time period
I love this. I also didn’t truly stop rooting for her until the revival, and I think it is exactly for the reasons you said. She feels more childish and immature now than she did in season 1. But I will say, I liked it being Jess, who knew her before…everything, that hit her with the “this isn’t who you are” and prompted her back to Yale. The only problem is, that IS who she had become. If the writers would have taken that opportunity to truly bring her back to herself and give her, as you point out, a modicum of humility, that would have changed the character 1000% for the better. That was the opportunity for a major turning point that didn’t actually end up being a turning point at all in the grand scheme of things. And you’re so right about her not preparing for an interview! S1 Rory would have rolled up with colour-coded notes and at least 5 letters of recommendation, even if she thought it was just a meeting.
First, I love your name! Hobbits really are the best. 2nd, totally agree! That should have been such a "return to s1" moment and it really almost did nothing, besides get her back to Yale. At the end of the show we could imagine it did something, but as you said, AYITL really just did it in for her. Also yes 100% S1 Rory would have had coded notes! Totally agree. Thanks for your thoughts!
I feel like the lack of job opportunities in the reboot was meant to reflect the consensus at the time that journalism was dying, so Rory, despite supposedly being a good writer, is struggling to get work. It's kind of the writers recognizing that journalism changed, but not HOW it changed, and letting their own opinions about that change color Rory's character (so writing for a trashy site being seen as a step down for Rory). The other issue is, a lot of people suspect the writers were using the ideas they would have used for Season 7 if they hadn't left the show for the reboot. So these are plot lines that may have made sense for early-20s Rory, but not early-30s Rory. Transitioning from school to work is hard, even for (maybe ESPECIALLY for) those who were always really good at school. So I could see Rory making the research mistake on a first-interview out of college, but not as a 30-something. They don't ignore the Obama campaign, but since they didn't write that plot line, it sort of gets brushed aside. They don't ignore that Rory and Logan broke up, but they force it back so the writers could get those last four words Amy Sherman-Palladino always wanted to end the show on. It's a bit frustrating when you can see the strings the writers were likely pulling
Rory was never really allowed to be a child, she was always “the adult” so it makes sense that she goes through these childlike behaviors in college. She spent her while life working for something (getting to an ivy league) and now that’s she’s there she had the opportunity to grow in ways she wasn’t able to. The problem with rory is that she didn’t learn. I agree wholeheartedly with your opinion on rory not learning and not being humble.
Yes!! This is exactly what I've always said! She doesn't learn from her mistakes, try to be a better person, or ever really feel bad about her worst choices.
Furthermore - I think you are right that this does come from a place of entitlement. Lorelai doesn't have this problem because she has always taken pride in working for what she has and does not respect the elitist lifestyle of her parents and her parents' circles, even when she gives in and accepts financial help for the sake of giving her daughter her best chance. She is a great neighbor among her fellow townies and never acts better than everyone else. Unfortunately somehow Rory turns out the opposite. I think her tendency to not learn from her mistakes starts with everyone in town treating her like an angel who can do no wrong. She doesn't correct anyone when they hate on Dean after their first breakup. She becomes okay with this feeling and it becomes solidified when she gets a taste of the Gilmore lifestyle, where your mistakes never really impact you too much, and decides that's what she wants too. (Hot take: Logan doesn't help either. But that's beside the point)
I wish Rory and Lane's friendship was a bigger focus on the show. I think a stronger friendship with Lane could have kept her way more grounded and kind. Like Lorelai and Sooki! The show did Lane dirty in general, though. I hated that the show decided to have her married with a kid instead of being the rock goddess she deserved to be! Marriage and kids are great and everything, but Lane's story would have been so much better without them. Justice for Lane!
Ok I have some opinions on this :). Many are of the opinion Rory’s downfall started at Yale (and I get that, it does make sense!). However, I can see her trajectory from a much younger age, from Chiltern. I think she had both a doting mother and grandparents who over validated her throughout her teens. From this I think she developed an attitude that she was ‘special’ eg. So bright things would just happen for her and so lovely that she could claim ownership of men (hence the cheating). I think she never came out of that bubble. So when she’s in the ‘real world’ it’s the same Rory but in more high relief. I think her grandfathers opinion of her was ridiculous and it puffed her up to have this entitlement to opportunities whilst at the same time causing her to cope with failure badly. I could go on… basically I think it’s entirely natural that Rory is who she is now as the building blocks were there from childhood. Josephine
Hey! Thanks for your thoughts. I can see where you’re coming from in certain aspects, but to play devils advocate…how would you suggest her mother and grandfather support her differently?
Ok… I think parents / grandparents have a role to validate their kids/ grandkids-obviously-but it is a balancing act. I think her grandparents tipped the scales to actually spoiling their granddaughter and saw Rory as a foil to lorelai -she was the daughter they could ‘ start again’ with. (Rory could do no wrong). They over idealised and adored her, is what I’m saying. They could have been a bit more down to earth with her and a bit more realistic in their messaging- eg sometimes you ff up and have to be held accountable (that’s life- would have helped her out with her many men problems) and also given her a tougher skin when things did not go her way in life. She handles negative feedback so defensively and poorly i think due to receiving nothing but glowing praise and grandad often stepping in whenever anything went wrong. Come to think of it, Richard often stepped in if there was a whiff of criticism or failure so she can’t handle it as an adult 🤔 . I think children should be exposed to handling these things themselves as part of developmental into a functioning and emotionally literate human being. So in short- I think her caregivers should have exposed her to handle and own her failures or trip ups as a teenager more. Stop rushing to her defense so much, ya know.
I agree! The balancing act of both sides of that is super important. I agree she should have learned how to better handle criticism! I wish we had seen at least a few times of her learning on screen how to handle criticism. That would have been a better balance.
@@jjenner9575Agree agree agree! Like in season 3: her grandfather wants her to go to Yale, he thinks she DESERVES to go because she is special, ecc. But so many people want to go to Yale, many of them with recommendation! Oh my god, we should protect rory's right to be in Yale! So he talks with people he knows and practically buys her in, but in the end they are all so proud of their girl (I know she gets accepted in other ivy league colleges, but frankly all the story of her applying to just 3 colleges and the meeting the Harvard alumnus for a good word is ridiculous and I will ignore it)
re: Entitlement - I think it absolutely starts at Yale. By then, Rory has learned from experience that she gets anything she wants (Chilton, acceptance to all the schools, tuition to Yale, any boy she fancies), by virtue of just Being Rory. I think one of the best examples of her growing entitlement is the Study Tree. I don't think first- or even second-season Rory would do that. And you're really right about her lack of ability to learn. For a character who's main remembered and admired traits are bookishness and academic-mindedness, it's an interesting juxtaposition. It makes me think (ooooo hot take) that maybe Mitchum had a point (the same point Doyle made not too long before!). This feels like evidence that she is an incredibly hard worker, and can memorize details, but can't think deeply about things. We often see a lack of creativity from her (resorting to meanness, like with the ballerina story, or pure luck, stumbling across the Life and Death Brigade), which points to more issues around deep thinking and problem-solving. It reminds me of all the students I've been in classes with who post the most basic and repetitive analyses to the discussion board, but will get an A because it was done on time. I have a feeling Rory was similar, but didn't know it because, in Lorelai's words, she was "the great white hope of the Gilmore clan," and was always seen without these flaws, to the point she began to believe she didn't have any. ooo okay. The entitlement and lack of learning go hand in hand, in that case. Fascinating.
All great points. What always bothered me was that the writers made her think she was going to the top without having to work her way up. She turned down a great job on the hope that she would get that fellowship. when she didn’t get it they had everything else for her fail. It was never logical to me that a Yale graduate with editorial experience couldn’t land a steady job. It’s like the writers intent was to show college degrees were valueless. And her love life - what a mess.
Similar to this, but I think her biggest issue is she never takes accountability for her own actions. She's always got to pass on the blame. E.g. after the sleeps with Dean she tries to justify it to her mum instead of owning her mistakes.
Yeah that's a big red flag too! Someone else commented that she really doesn't have much remorse, and I think that's super valid too in connection with what you're saying!
I think you hit the nail on the head and I would have LOVED to see your idea of Richard giving Rory the confidence to go back and respectfully agree to disagree with Mitchum.
This is a really interesting point that I haven't heard before in relation to Rory's character. It actually makes me think that Richard and Emily likewise never learned from their mistakes either - they wouldn't even admit to them as mistakes (Emily and Lorelai, Richard and Jason etc). Also, if we take the stories of Rory's childhood, I'd say Lorelai not learning from mistakes with Christopher time and time again so you could argue that her not learning from mistakes was solidified in formative years before the show began. During the show we see Lorelai learn from certain mistakes (sometimes) but by then it might have been too late for Rory. That's of course if you look at them like real people and not a show created and crafted for ratings. Under that lens, Rory couldn't learn from mistakes because her cheating with Dean (for example) was a huge shock for the audience and thus increases ratings etc. So that's why they kept her making those mistakes - because she's not a really well rounded person - she's a plot tool for ratings. Another argument could be that the showrunner always had that ending in mind for Rory the words 'Mum, I'm pregnant' another reason why her character would keep having to make mistakes over and over again, so you could have her in that spot at the end. Too bad, the showrunner didn't stop to consider that stories and characters change especially with the audience interaction. It could have been so meaningful if she'd had a different ending. I hate it when they get so stuck on a planned ending they can't see anything else. I hate the revival - it felt like a lazy cash grab where ASP just didn't seem to care about it like she used to for whatever reason and so characters were shells of their former selves. I watched it one time only.
I completely agree about the revival. It really felt like all of the actors had forgotten how to act and had completely lost touch with their characters, which makes sense it was 9 years prior, but still it felt like they weren't even trying. Also what was with the awful dark grey lighting i really hated that, gilmore girls is supposed to be warm and light
I believe that giving up Harvard (even for F* Yale!) was the start of everything... She worked so hard for it and then a few episodes and she changed her mind. She goes on a path of settling for less. She should have kissed Dean, and Lorelai should've seen it before Rory push him away, but this should be the end. Also, I think her problem with Mitchum should've been between the two of them - She would start to write, anonymously (maybe for something in Emily's club, maybe as a way to help Richard, or Logan, or Paris, or literally anyone with something) and one day, she would bump into Mitchum and he would have one of her articles, talking to someone how good it was, and she would say it was hers. He would say she found her voice, she would go back to college.
This is actually a problem with all/most of Amy Sherman Palladinos’ characters. By the end of season 3 of Marvelous Mrs. Maisel I started to hate Midge. Her characters are delightful to watch but they are usually pretty privileged people (at least, her main characters are always pretty privileged). Midge continually takes the people in her life for granted and it’s incredibly frustrating to watch. It’s like at a certain point Amy’s characters just get stuck because she’s not willing to put them through the pain associated with real growth.
I wish the final season had given us a little more insight into Midge's relationships with her family following her success. We get glimpses, but not the full picture. Like obviously her relationship with her kids is wrecked, but we don't really get to see how she feels about that. We never even see her interact with adult Esther at all. We get that she finally made it but that it meant sacrificing much of her personal life. But it's hard to say if she *learned* anything from that. Does she have any regrets? I honestly can't really tell.
Rory stopped my support after she kissed Jess ever since she really began to bug me and she continued to have the attitude of I deserve all now I understand that fire started so to speak in Stars Hollow and her Mother who always told her that she was angelic and never could harm an ant. She did have my respect when she tried to say "It wasn't Jess's fault for crashing that car it was as much of my fault as his maybe more." She shouldn't have cheated on Dean or even with Logan both situations are terrible and yes Dean and Logan are cheating as well behind their partners backs but at some point somethings gotta give and you have to be the bigger person at some point to recognize your actions are hurting an individual badly please correct that and move on. The writers did that character even more dirty I would say even more so during the revival that was disturbing to me. She could have had more opportunities lined up with local newspaper companies or even just editing articles for a company something where it would get her going. But she again has that attitude of "I'm the Queen of Stars Hollow, bow down to me".She really frustrates me through the rest of the series.
Totally agree! "The Queen of Stars Hollow" act I will totally pass on! It's sweet that the town supported her, but also in a real life scenario I think in a town like that, if you cheat with a married man, the town would have been so mad at her! We never really see how they felt about it. Also, agreed, at some point you have to look at yourself and your part in it and grow from the mistakes, and move on to better things! Love the comment! Thanks for commenting
@@lauriecarson6483 It's nothing to do with her being a teenager. Teenagers are allowed to behave foolishly and impulsive, otherwise they'll never grow as a person or learn from their potential fuck-ups. And this is precisely where Rory disappoints as a character. She apparently just keeps her teenage mindset well into her twenties (and beyond, if you count AYITL).
I think that while a lot of people stopped rooting for Rory because of this, this part of Rory is one of the most realistic parts of the show. Lorelai similarly also never learns from her mistakes and goes back to make them again. This could have to do with her relationship with her parents, her mother in particular, because they have this love-hate relationship. Lorelai could've had a quote-unquote easy life, but she didn't want to live the life her parents led, plus, her parents, again especially her mother, are borderline abusive towards her, which gives her some sort of almost Stockholm syndrome. She wants to leave them in the past altogether, but she can't because sometimes she does need them, in which moments she despises herself for that, which is why, even though you get to see those moment where it appears as though Emily and Richard are being nice to Lorelai, she doesn't trust them and doesn't want anything to do with that, unless it is 1000% necessary.
While Rory had promise and privilege, she didn't really owe it to the audience (us) to react in the way that would please everyone else (us) . I would like to know if she was able to learn from her mistakes (and yes, we all repeat them after temporarily fixing them) in the long term and make that book she wrote into a success.
Agreed! I hope she learned from her mistakes in the long run! I hope she was able to make better decisions about her future! And I hope "Gilmore Girls" was a successful book for her! I know I would read it!
I’m on my first watch of GG and this is how I felt about Rory in the first 2 seasons! I found her very annoying and childish… I’m on season 5 now, she still annoys me but not as much 😅 let’s see if that changes
In psychology, there is also one thing that calls a Life scenario. We tend to repeat after our parents, especially since it is very common for a girl to have the same life as her mother. At first I was so confused about the ending but now it is so clear for me what happened to Rory. She learned from her mother to be a single mother and although Lorelai wanted another life for her and did everything possible for Rory to get education, Rory in the early age learned that raising a child alone this is the right path, Lorelai showed her example of this kind of a family and Rori didn't know another example. Our parents cannot teach us something that they are not doing themself, of course there are children who can make a different decision but some are like Rory, mama's daughter. So being a journalist subconsciously wasn't feel right for her, she felt like she is living the wrong life, that is why she got pregnant and with this she stepped in on the right and familiar path. Now she won't feel lost as she exactly knows what to do thanks to Lorelai. I also love to analyze this show, as I have a lot of similar traumas with Lorelai.
I am not a writer or journalist, but i always have things in my mind to write about, i don't know if she needed to be prepared but at least she should had ideas
It starts when Dean and Rory break up after she doesn’t tell him she loves him back. The next day or something she kissed Tristan and then tries to get back together with Dean. She sits down with Lorelai and tells her how guilty she feels about kissing Tristan and how she wants to tell Dean. Lorelai tells her that she should never tell him what happened as it would get too messy. There’s a video about the moment of Rory’s downfall by Silver Screen Freak at the 5 minute mark. It’s really good! ua-cam.com/video/WxkvbtesPq8/v-deo.html
Rory's mistake there was asking Lorelai for advice. Lorelai is literally the LAST person Rory should go to regarding relationships. Lorelai is such a disaster at all of her's.
I also think that's where her character started to change. Everyone used to say how she was this honest child yet suddenly she's lying and cheating. Lorelais advice was bad but yet again I understand Rory being scared to tell dean about what happened, since dean would get angry at anything
I totally agree with this one. I think watching how Lorelai was with guys is why Rory is the way she is with guys. She does something bad, they still fawn over her and think she's amazing. So she just repeats that cycle. Max for instance - Lorelai just ghosted him pretty much and ran away from marrying him. Imagine being a teenage girl and seeing your Mum do that. Then later on Max still has feelings for her and they kiss. I imagine Lorelai going to Rory and sharing that info so Rory would instantly be like "if I screw up, they will still forgive me and want me". She never has to learn from it because she gets her own way in the end. In regards to her downfall with her schooling - it started the second she got the D in Max's class and she hid it from Lorelai. She should of told Lorelai straight away, studied like crazy and set her alarm so she didn't sleep through the exam. That to me was her downfall. It started as something small but just spiralled over the years.
I expected a lot more for Rory with how her life turned out, and I agree with you that she became entitled. But I guess in a way, that's life sometimes, she's human and has character flaws and isn't perfect.
Yeah true, we're all flawed, I just wish we had seen her grow more. Especially between the original series and AYITL. That was the worst part for me. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
Lorelai never completely cut ties. It is as though she left her parents but still sided with them. Otherwise, she would not have sent her to Chiltan and she would have stood her ground to not go back to having dinners with her parents. Because, that was where Rory began to learn "but I'm a Gilmore." And her grandparents over and over again bailed her out and explained it away "You're a Gilmore and a brilliant young woman." And Lorelai lets that happen while not stopping her own poor choices.
I don’t think there’s a need to “fix” the character - she was written exactly the way the writers intended. Just because we don’t agree with all of a character’s actions doesn’t mean they need fixing, it just means we’re projecting our expectations of how we would’ve preferred the character to be. Rory’s trajectory is realistic and makes complete sense when you think about the way she has been treated from day 1. The show would have been so boring if she had stayed the perfect Mary Sue she was in the first season. The fact that she made mistakes and had flaws as she grew into her young adult years is what makes her relatable and gives us anything to talk about.
I would have completely rewritten the set up for the reboot. In my version, Rory got everything she ever wanted. The great job, the amazing husband, the house, everything. Then I would have it all implode. She writes an article that gets her cancelled. Her husband leaves her. She loses everything and retreats to her mom's house. The show could have been completely the same BUT we the audience would have had sympathy for her. She came off as such an entitled brat it was hard to care about her or root for her. I think there is beauty in giving a character everything they had ever hoped for and they realize it is hollow.
I know people don’t like when Rory leaves Yale but I kind of appreciate that she had a time when she questioned her future and identity. (Especially now that I’m older and have jumped around in terms of my perspective on my future). I absolutely agree with the thoughts on her not learning from her mistakes which I think really hit a wrong note when we also consider how open she was to learning (in other senses) at the beginning of the show. I love this show and can’t personally say how I would “fix it” but it definitely falls flat from that first season which will always be my favorite
The issue with the presidential campaign is that ASP wouldn’t have known about it as she didn’t really watch the last season. That’s why there is so many holes in the plot line and why they, meaning Rory, Luke, Lorelai in particular all seem like they were frozen in time. ASP only seemed to use certain storyline’s from season 7, like she kept Zac and Lane having the twins. She completely sabotaged season 6 so the writers had crappy storyline’s to work from and then in the reboot, ASP decided to not use a lot of Rory’s progression and growth from season 7. Let’s face it, ASP wasn’t writing the reboot for us fans, it was just to get her ending in, which at Rory’s age seemed to have her broke, jobless pretty much (the gazette didn’t pay her anything) cheating around with Logan and then ending up pregnant. It was not doing the character any justice at all. 8:10
exactly, the interview she fails at reads a very normal learning experience for a new journalist, it is just excessive that she is still like that 10 years later. That being said, I do feel as a millennial, bc a lot of life graduations seem beyond us, I do notice we drifted a lot and it took a lot longer to reach certain milestones, if ever. There is a joke about millennials in AYITL as well, it was very pointedly belittling them. The whole point of the ASP ending was that kind of Greek tragedy of Oedipus or something like that, that her whole life Lorelai has tried to stop Rory becoming her, and making the same mistakes, but it actually leads Rory to end up in a very similar position really.
Totally agree! And the parts that were specifically "for us" felt forced. I wish we had just seen her progress and learn and grow normally not what felt almost like a very odd ending!
Totally agree! Yeah it is very much so a Greek tragedy. I always think of the conversation between Lorelai and Mrs. Kim about how neither of them want their daughters to end up like Lorelai and I remember at the time thinking "That's a very interesting and mature conversation to have" and then it just all is for not. Sad
@AVintageJoy and in many ways Lorelai has a great life. She runs her own business, she eventually finds her partner, she is a respected member of the community, she got her daughter into Chilton and Yale. Not perfect, but she isn't stealing yachts either. Rory learns the wrong lessons from Lorelai coming back to her parents, that Lorelai was a failure somehow.
Ok, so I only take issue with one thing, and it’s something that seems to get brought up a lot. She wasn’t prepared for that interview with Sandy Says, because Sandy led her to believe she had already got the job. I don’t think I would have been prepared either if I was in her shoes because I would have gone into it with completely different expectations. She already established in past episodes (the impromptu interview at Yale) that she doesn’t handle things as well when she isn’t prepared, so this isn’t AS out of character for her. But that’s just one drop in the turbulent pool of Rory. Lol
I totally agree! I want to know whether the writers intentionally made Rory this way, or if they genuinely think she is a relatable character. Was this really the character arc they had in mind for her? I've looked for interviews to see if anyone's asked Amy-Sherman Palladino this question and haven't found anything yet. Rory essentially goes through a mid-life crisis in the reboot, so it seems like the writers were trying to humble her and make us relate to her. But having this crisis because she was just being lazy about her career? (Falling asleep on the job, showing up to a job interview unprepared and still expecting special treatment, etc.) It would have been much more compelling (and much more like S1 Rory) if she was working hard as a journalist and things just didn't pan out how she hoped. She realizes that the world won't always cater to her, and she has to overcome that setback. But in the reboot, she had become entitled and complacent and THEN wanted to switch gears. It paints her as this bored rich kid pouting & wondering why she isn't handed absolutely everything she wants. (Spoilers) That being said, I hope that having a child of her own might FINALLY help her learn from her mistakes, because it's not all about her anymore. She'll now have this little human to take care of and can stop thinking about herself for a minute. And since parenthood is difficult, it will (hopefully) be a great way to humble her and help her realize she won't automatically be amazing at everything right off the bat. (And that's okay.) And maybe it'll encourage her to be a better role model for her child. It's a shame that we don't know whether we will get to see that on screen or not, but maybe Rory's character arc just isn't complete yet.
I've thought about this a lot, and I really believe that they could have done something meaningful with the show. If, for example, the message of the show is not "like mother, like daughter" or "history will repeat itself," they could leaned on the message that change is not necessarily bad. Rory grew up with her mother as her primary influence, and I agree with many of the earlier comments that her mother was not always a GOOD influence, such as in her emotionally-stunted method of dealing with relationships. But there were other ways. Namely, her mother encouraged Harvard and Rory's journalism dreams. That's well and good, but I believe Rory was a little too committed to those dreams, and Lorelai was to an extent living vicariously by smoothing the way before her. Things turned out well when she listened to an outside influence (her grandfather) about applying and going to Yale. There were outside influences advising her away from journalism in the form of Mitchum (who may not have had her best interests in mind, but he may have been sincere in his advice and ultimately seems to have been validated) and Jess (who more gently expresses doubt, but cannot be doubted as having her best interests in mind). Rory is very dedicated to "The Plan" in life, and I think her character arc could have worked if the message of the show was, LIFE DOESN'T ALWAYS TURN OUT HOW YOU PLANNED, AND IT'S OKAY TO CHANGE YOUR MIND. Rory could have ended up in a job in which she could have EXCELLED rather than struggling. She could have been a part of her grandparents' world, which she fit into very well, in spite of her mother's prejudices against it. And she could have been very happy, in spite of her life turning out differently than she and her mother had initially envisioned it.
💯❤💫 hit the nail on the head, absolutely correct and perfect. and what a realistic and beautiful life story that is. perfect, just like our real lives are, "in spite of it being very different than she and her mother initially envisioned" love that. so accurate
So far no one has pointed out how much Lor failed Rory, - Rory wasn’t a person but a symbol of everything Lor couldn’t be because she had a baby. And when ever Rory went off track to Lor’s plan- Lor abandoned Rory.
I loved your takes so much! If I had to edit a little bit to be my perfect version, I would say that instead of her grandfather giving her that peptalk that gets her back to Yale, it’s still Jess. I think if she was mourning the criticism and felt so bad and then Jess shows up saying that he was writing a book or a published author a little bit sooner and that they had a talk together about overcoming peoples expectations of you and just doing things for yourself and your love and passion I think that would be such a better Rory. I also think that she should not have gotten into every single Ivy League. I think that that was unrealistic and I think it really went to Rudy’s head. I think if she had just gotten into Harvard and Yale, the plot point still would’ve been great, but getting into every single Ivy League just felt like overkill and like she was entitled to everything it was just so lucky you took away from the hard work aspect in my opinion.
The revival totally ruined Gilmore Girls for me too. Suddenly you realize how entitled Rory has been this whole time and you can never unsee it. Great analysis imo.
Why fix her? Her flaws make the show what it is. I dislike who the character became in the long run and love the show. Its why the series works for me. We don't like what characters do, but in _Gilmore Girls_ and _A Year in the Life_ none of them are OOC. Said sequel series or the last season of the first show are just when most people noticed their flaws instead of rooting for them because they were the leads. The amount of times fans defended the character moments in the OG series after the sequel series came out shows how long it had been since they saw the OG series. I agree that she didn't learn from her mistakes, but I would have written that she isn't learning from her mistakes thus making that a storyline in the last season and the sequel series: relationship-wise in the last season, professionally in the sequel series. And with that, I still would have written the last four words as was written.
Her example was Lorelai! Who strung along two men for years and when Luke didn’t say yes to her ultimatum ASAP what did she do? Sleep with Chris. She was the worst example for Rory. She probably acted like a mom twice and by then it was too late, damage was done because Lorelai was more of a friend than a mother and Rory had no intention of listening to her. Tbh her grandparents were more parental to her than Lorelai were. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk
So… what you’re saying is that she acts like a human being, making the same mistakes and repeat the same patterns over and over again? Sounds pretty real to me. I think the problem with Rory was that she stoped bring this aspirational and always perfect character that we could dream to become someday, and actually had human flaws. And that was a no no for the audience. Maybe we are the problem? Hahahaha
I feel the same, it seems like it has become fashionable to hate on her but I can't help feeling that a lot of the hate is projection, people are afraid of being cheated on so they hate the character who cheats, people are afraid there is nothing special about them so they hate a character who is treated as special by others and then revel in her downfall, of course admitting that you hate someone because of envy is awkward so people come up with high minded excuses for their hate - she's privileged, she's entitled, etc - it's all become a very familiar tune at this point and just tiring to see
Rory would have been relatable if the gifted kid burnout angle was done right, but there is nothing human about her. Think about how lorelai felt when rory decided to publish her life's story and knowingly risk ruining her relationship with emily all over again.
She has the flaws of being very privileged. When she makes mistakes or faces a challenge, someone comes along and smooths it over for her. They do it because they want her to have the best life possible, but the result is that she doesn't learn how deal with challenges on her own. She is left spoiled and immature, feeling stuck and confused when things fail to keep working out effortlessly for her. Most of the audience does not have the same access to wealth and connections Rory does, so it's hard for us to fully relate to that problem of getting to your 30s and not having figured out that sometimes you have to really work for your opportunities, and sometimes they STILL won't work out even if you do and you have to settle for "good enough for now."
The reboot stretched out the jobless issue. Winter - Rory should be on her game, girl power, etc. Spring - Rory gets fired. Rory spirals. Etc. Summer - Gets the job at the Stars Hollow Gazette. Fall - Continues to work at the Stars Hollow Gazette and has a comeback arc.
Agreed. Idky that plot point was basically her only point, besides cheating with Logan that we see. We see her only failing and flopping everywhere. It would have been so nice to see that comback like you were talking about. Seeing her grow and learn! Totally agree!
@@AVintageJoy I think the Paul thing would've made more sense too. Busy newspaper woman, traveling all over for work, and forgetting to communicate/see him. It's a funny gag but again, got stretched out too much.
I do agree she could have been so consumed with work that she forgets Paul once, but having them all forget poor Paul over and over bugs me. Poor Paul lol
3:40 this started in season one when Rory kisses Tristin. She freaks out and tells Lorelai that she needs to tell Dean and Lorelai tells Rory that she can't tell Dean because it'll break his heart and it's better for her if she just doesn't tell him.
I think Richard pushing Rory to go back to Yale likely wouldn't work because I think the season was supposed to make Rory finally understand some of the trauma her mother went through in the Gilmore house and become disenchanted with wealth and power. The show essentially starts with Rory, who grew up in poverty and is working hard for a better life, becoming attracted by their world (the Gilmores and Logan/the Life and Death Brigade) and it eventually destroys her, as Lorelai expected. I think they do an okay job with this in the show (but without the range to show trauma from parental manipulation or childhood povery) and season 7 Rory is honestly great and learned from her mistakes. But the reboot essentially retconned all development because ASP refused to watch s7 and instead picked up the story where it was left off and forced "full circle' moments, despite the ten year gap.
i watch 'Dawson's creek' for the first time and i now i think that GG creators were trying to make Rory into someone like Joey Potter - the one who's 'hard to forget' because she's smart, beautiful, kind-hearted and driven to success. They're even look alike - tall brunettes who's sometimes compared to Audrey Hepburn. But the difference is that Joey wasn't annoying (well, she was, but not that often lol ). She was loyal, she cared about her friends and even her exes, she had high moral principles. She came from a broken house and she really worked hard for everything good in her life. Rory was self-absorbed, she rarely cared about her friends (even about Lane, and she was very clear that she doesn't like Paris even when they became friends), she got her bright future on a silver platter because of her rich grandparents, she gave up on her dreams after the first inconvenience (Mitcham criticizing her). And she instantly alienated her mother, who did everything in her power to make her life better, the second Lorelai (literally the first time in her entire life) didn't want to cater for her tantrums. And let's not even talk about her moral ground, it was basically non-existent
Jess grew as a person, he matured picking himself up and working to fix things with the people he wronged. I thought Rory was going to be the same and instead she tried really hard to fit into a world that wasn’t for her. I love Logan, but I think he is who changed Rory.
Part of me believed she grow up to be too entitled because of being overly praised. The community , school and family. She had this thing and of believing that she should get whatever she believes she want, i.e from the day she saw Jess with a girl she started mistreating the other girl. When she broke up with Dean but still got jealous when he finds a girlfriend like her reaction at the playground and wedding and how she later talks about Deans wife and just slept with him. That further transpired more at Logan’s house when she claim she’s a Gilmore and starting comparing herself to Josh. The article about the dance. Those were the indications that she was kinder self absorbed for me even though they were not showing much. I think what really crushed her is having everyone looking upon you as this angelic person everywhere you go. Being everyone’s role model since you were a kid much have been too much pressure on her and she started crumbling. She had so much in her shoulders hence the meltdown.
I think your suggestions would really fix her. BUT I actually do understand what happened to her because I‘ve been that privileged, very nice, very hardworking kid that everyone thought would be super successful … but I wasn‘t. I didn‘t „have it“, as Mitchum would say. I was and still sometimes am a big people pleaser, just like Rory. I was used to hearing how good I am, how talented I am, how nice I am (just like Rory), my role models were Rory and Hermione Granger, I never went clubbing, I was always nice, I helped with the household, I was somewhat pretty … I worked hard, but I never learned how to manage rejection. So when I entered the real world after college, I was so lost. I was not prepared for this … I‘m now a teacher. A really good one (😇), I am good in the school setting. But I failed being a lawyer (yes, I went to law school …) because I couldn‘t handle the tone that was used there. My boss made me cry in the bathroom (just like Mitchum). I have a stable relationship, a house and I‘m getting married next year - but in some ways I am like Rory. I totally understand that character … (apart from the cheating. I‘ve never cheated on anyone. Maybe that was a character choice to make her more „realistic“ and less princess-perfect (like Paris saw her in the first few seasons)).
Thank you for your time and thoughts! I think you made some really good points! I think it's very hard to manage expectations at all points in life, that would have been a good thing to add to the video. It is hard if you're been told one thing, but you start experiencing something else or something that feels like it should be easier, or that you're somehow failing if it feels hard. I personally don't think you've failed in finding that the "real world" can feel different than you may have thought! I think, even though it sounds corny, that it's how we get back up that makes us who we are not if we fall. Because everyone will fall at some point! I truly appreciate your thoughts! Thanks for sharing them!
@@AVintageJoy Thank you for your words! Maybe I didn't fail, but if my life would have been made into a TV series, some people would assume that. Because I had the expensive education and all, but now I'm working as a teacher. My grandpa certainly was disappointed, but the career path I had imagined for myself never really suited my character. I worked hard in law school because I've always been told that I could be what I wantd to be as long as I work hard ... well ... I'm a way too sensitive person ;-) being a lawyer was nothing like Legally Blonde I'm afraid. It was rather being in an office full of Paris-like people 24/7 😀 I could write an essay about Rorys character development, just because I walked some miles in her shoes ... I can imagine that Rory had the same experience as I had just in the journalism-setting. And Rory being her, she didn't give up but kept on trying. Her snobby attitude maybe just covered up how lost she was? Rory was never good in giving anything up (even ex-boyfriends...). She always worked through it. Maybe that was the side of the character that was shown here? Her trying to be a journalist nomatter how hard she fails. And her being full of herself because she's been told 30 years how great she is by everyone around her. Not being a journalist just wasn't a choice for her, because it would mean failure to her (we saw that when headmaster Carlson told her she would be a great teacher, which I'm sure she would be). Maybe if she had decided after some years of failing, that she could have been anything else (a teacher? a book author?) she wouldn't be so lost. And her turning back to Logan (I totally get why she wouldn't want to marry or even be engaged at 21, but I'm European so that may be the reason) was because she felt lost. She turned to Dean when college was hard for her and she turned to Logan when life was hard - just maybe because she feels secure with her guys? Maybe she needs the approval from them, because she's so used to getting the approval? The whole Paul-storyline was just so stupid, I pretend it doesn't exist (lol). To me, she turned to Dean because he represented a time in her life when she was thriving (and not struggling in college), he represented Stars Hollow. And after college, she turns to Logan, because except for that escapade with the boat, Rory was successful in Yale after all. Logan represented her dreams of being a successful journalist, he represented the Yale daily news. Rory couldn't settle with a guy from her adult life because she used the affair with Logan to escape from it. That's how I see it. My mom did the very same thing with one of her ex's. She always turned to him when life was hard (she would say he was her Christopher...), although she knew that he was bad for her. But in those times, she would call him "the love of her life" - to later call him "the worst thing in her life" when things turned out well again. So stupid ... but that's why I see Rory's behaviour the way I do.
One moment where I blatantly saw the higher than thou attitude from Rory was during that time when Logan and rory are invited to his sister’s engagement announcement party at his parents place. It was established from the start that the family didn’t like the sisters fiancé because he wasn’t at their level of rich/fame/whatever. There was a point when Rory gets bashed by the grandfather/mother (don’t remember who exactly) and Rory later seems astounded that Logan’s family didn’t think she was a good match for him. She kept saying “im a Gilmore! Do they not know who the gilmores are?” It took me by surprise her attitude 😳
The first time she acted entitled was when she walked out of the newspaper while Doyle was talking to go talk to Marty. So shortly after she met Logan. Also, she cheated on Logan to, by kissing Jess at his Publishing Company's open house. The only guy she didn't cheat on was Jess.
Offf i forgot she walked out on Doyle talking, yeah honestly, no respect for his hard work he's put in to get to where he is. No respect for any level of authority he has. High school rory would have never walked out on Paris talking!
I think another example of Rory not learning from past mistakes is that at the end of the show (pre-reboot), Rory is so sure she will get a spot in some new york time exclusive graduate program that she turns down a great job opportunity. That shows entitlement, or at least some naiveté in planning for her future. We can forgive her for that because she is a fresh graduate full of hope. But then in the reboot she again shows the same entitlement as she expects opportunities to fall on her lap without doing much to earn them. And again she seems to think she is so special that of course anything should be handed to her. Not only this is frustrating to watch but feels extremely unrealistic.
I think she is just spoiled. Want to go to Chilton? There you have it. Want to go to ivy league college? There you have it? You like a boy and want him as your boyfriend? There you have it. Your ex boyfriend is now married and you want it back? There you have it. The only time she didn't get what she wanted was the end of season 3, when Jess disappears without telling her (and that is Gilmore Girls peak for me, not because I hate Rory, but because it's a twist but believable). I think in the revival she is still spoiled but the world around her is changed and she doesn't get what she wants. It's like she is the same character but the rules of the game are different.
I actually found Rory's arc from "gifted kid" to "floundering adult" refreshing and relatable. But I agree that her character development is really unsatisfying overall. So often she learns the wrong lesson (by following her mother's example) or seems to improve, only to repeat the mistake later. She could have followed a similar character arc but learned from previous mistakes (or other examples like Paris & Jess) and ended up in a place that rewarded her hard work with some level of success. I think that would have been more satisfying. Also, it seems like Jess is meant to be to Rory what Luke is to Lorelai, and that's one time when learning from her mom's mistake (overlooking the reliable guy in front of you) would actually make sense.
Her entitlement behavior quietly took a shift in season 1 in the episode where the 1st Lorelai is introduced. In this episode Lorelai finds out her Grandmother set up a trust fund for Rory and is willing to let them access $250k of it to pay for Chilton. By the end Lorelai messes it up, Trix rescinds the offer, but the problem of Lorelai acting like Rory's sister rears it's ugly head and by the end of the episode she of course tells Rory all about it. When Lorelai tells Rory about the trust fund it is a flip funny comment on how she lost Rory access to Rory's $250k, but from that moment Rory knows she has a trust fund, whereas before she saw her and her mother as the poor relatives of a rich family that had to work hard for a living. From then on we see Rory slowly embracing her family's money into her life and her life become a bit easier and she has more resources accessible to her. Honestly, if it wasn't for her love of writing and literature, I feel she would have truly become that entitled millennial Palladino portrayed her as. But if it wasn't for Palladinos character assassination of Gilmore Girls, Rory would have had a character that leaned more towards the Gilmore clan, as it was only Lorelai who turned away from it voluntarily, but as we see Rory turn more towards it as the seasons progress and her blatant denial of the truth because it was what Lorelai hated and taught her to hate. Therefore, Rory suffers from wanting to have her cake and eating it too, which leads to her unlikable character that lacks self awareness. The revival was a mess, Sherman-Palladino dropped the ball because they were obsessed with not recognizing the last 2 seasons, ending on those dumb 3 words, and that strange time jump where Luke and Lorelai were the only characters that never moved/progressed/changed/evolve?. In the end it didn't work because Rory has a trust fund, a multi-million dollar one if the Gilmore clans snooty attitude is to be believed and Richard would never have let her end up with that millennial entitlement Palladino gave her. It was atrocious, don't even get me started on what Palladino did to the other characters. PS: Christopher's life of a failing working man to becoming rich after his father died probably didn't help either, because then she had to have realized she would inherit a ton of money from both the Hayden and the Gilmore clan.
I agree with all of that for the original series. And I think what you’re getting at with the reboot is that it was bad writing. Cuz it was. I honestly don’t think her not preparing for an interview for a magazine that was very not her and nothing like anything she should ever be working for, and that the person begged her to come to and told her she had it, is indicative of literally anything. I don’t think that her falling asleep doing a dumb article that’s nothing like anything that she should be writing, or sleeping with a guy that she met while doing that gig for a job she didn’t have is indicative of anything either except that she wasn’t pursuing things that were very HER. I genuinely do think those things were beneath her and she shouldn’t have been pursuing them at all. I don’t actually think it was humility she needed in those cases, I think she needed to remember herself and figure out what she really wanted instead of doing the whole prescribed thing if “well, you’re a journalist, take what you can get.” Journalism was different in 2016 than in 2003, it’s too streamlined for ratings now. She needed to pivot to something she could be passionate about again, like writing nonfiction books, which is what intellectuals have increasingly turned to. She could’ve found a job just with a solid income and done that on the side. Same with men, she had outgrown people like Logan and needed to accept that, and not do the whole prescribed thing of settling for a guy who’s “safe” or whatever with Paul. I think smart women get to a point where they outgrow a lot of things, and what they sometimes try to do is go with what others prescribe. But that doesn’t work for them because they’re not close to the average, what works for a normal person doesn’t work for them. They don’t need to settle, they should go where their skills and their attributes are best suited and appreciated. The whole culture of settling I think does people a disservice and wastes their time. It ultimately doesn’t even work. People should make sure to get a livable income but then still pursue their goals until they achieve them or don’t want them anymore.
Totally agree! I dislike when we see a character entirely change personality and settle, like you said! It’s such a different world in media since the internet, and I also wish we had seen Rory keep up with that and pivot. If she didn’t want to work for an online magazine, then I also think writing a book or working somewhere in her field and doing her passion project on the side, we would have been totally happy with. Thank you for your thoughts!!
It would have been cool if Lorelei and Rory had a weekend where they figured out her true path. She decided to be a journalist early in life, so it's logical that she should re-evaluate. I don't see many journalistic instincts in her anyway. Paris is more pushy and it seems she should be the journalist whereas Rory is more intuned with people and could be a doctor.
Love the idea of them doing that between Highschool and college like a weekend pro con list and then seeing if that really fits! And then also in college because 17/18 is as early ago to ask someone to know what their career path is going to be, at least at the beginning of their career! Good idea!
while the series starts getting frustrating by the end i do feel like some growth was made by most characters but then its the REBOOT that undoes EVERYTHING
I agree with the points you make here. I thoroughly enjoy the wit and pacing used in Gilmore Girls, but character development in the Gilmore family characters is flat at best, and definitely backwards in the case of Rory. The side characters have most of the growth throughout the series, and the Gilmore family members largely just land where they wanted because of their financial and social means. It’s not because of development and merit, but because the writing has things conforming to them. Even Logan and Paris have more personal development from having lost portions of their financial privilege and struggling to make something themselves.
another problem with rory isn’t necessarily her character, but her writing. i remember the writers admitted a while ago that they thought season 1 and 2 rory was too perfect, so they wanted to start giving her flaws. unfortunately i think that went too far and most fans can agree she’s just not a likable character in the later seasons.
I watched a video and they said they think wit was when she got away with the kiss with Tristan. Even though it was actually cheating, she felt like she did.
I think the entitlement really got set in when she chose to stop going to school and her family put $50,000 into making her own crash pad. She realized she didn’t have to put in work at all, that she would be adored and spoiled regardless but that’s just my take.
She did not learn because Lorelai introduces her back to her Grandparents. They expect Rory to do what they want her to do what they say and go against her Mother and they use their influences and money against Lorelai. Exactly why Lorelai left their home
Good points. I wish the Richard thing happend other than Jess screaming what’s going on. What bothered me was not that she kissed Jess while with Dean she acted like a jealous psycho when she came back and I don’t blame Dean for breaking up with her that night she was horrible. Yes even though I don’t like Rj she could have broken with Dean and dated Jess and let the relationship run its course
I think one of Rory’s biggest mistakes is when she lived in the pool house & joined the DAR on her time of from Yale. She enjoyed it and was good at planning but had no want or drive to go back to Yale. Plus Lorelai & her stubbornness & communication issues with her mother we’re not a good example for Rory
Yeah I think that wasn't a good example either! Idk the best way Lorelai could have handled it, but fully cutting her off, didn't really get her what she wanted either so i don't think that worked! Thanks for your thoughts!
Rory’s entitlement was clear from Season 3, episode 1, when she acts like she’s entitled to have Jess pine over her. He at least had the cahones to call her out on it. My theory as to why she doesn’t have a steady job in the reboot is partially the state of the country financially after Obama’s election (I was just starting our majoring in journalism. I am not a journalist today.) But partially, I think it’s possible she didn’t do a good job networking and such, and she didn’t have the multimedia skills that went from hobby to necessary for journalism in that time period. It’s likely the small online magazine faced financial troubles and couldn’t afford a reporter who couldn’t take photos, or maybe they even went out of business. It would have been interesting if she changed her major after going back to Yale. She didn’t have the personality for the career she dreamed of. We don’t have to pick a career when we are four.
Very true! I wish they had said something about that, because in my brain right now i cant remember if AYITL is supposed to be set in 2008, or set when it aired in 2016 and that was confusing to me. Like is it 08/09 times then I can sympathize more with her difficulties finding a job. Although, like you said, if she had better multimedia skills that could have helped her too. Also agree, I feel like I'm still making alterations to my career and I'm a full on adult. A 4 year old has no idea, heck most 18 year olds don't know that either, and that's ok!
I hate to say this I found it satisfying that mitchum criticized her. That's real life and she wasn't going to be great at everything and I felt she was a character vin this bubble where she is the star and that bubble needed to. Be bursted by reality
I am very certain that I and many vierwers were on Rory's side when MItchum critized "everybody's darling" Rory. Because she's a star of the show and therefor she's right. I don't think there are many other shows like Gilmore Girls that I and some other people (thanks to the internet) see now with totally different eyes. When I watched it for the first time like 20 years ago I think (was late to the party), I didn't analyze it much. I was on Lorelai's and Rory's side or I was just watching the show and enjoying it without really thinking about who is right and who is wrong. It's important to think about what Lorelai is saying and doing and what a role model she is and also the same goes for Rory and for the grandparents. It's easy to worship the girls and hate on the snobbish grandparents.
I don't hate that in general he criticized, because if there's something to fix or if it was to help make her better than by all means, help someone grow. His felt more like a "don't marry my son" type of criticism though. I do think she needed to have some thicker skin and get out of her stars hollow bubble!
Wow, self reflection! Why is there the need to fix anyone? The only person I need to fix/work on is myself. It's up to Rory to change herself and my job to have acceptance that people dont always turn out the way I want them to.
I’ve felt like this before too! I say do one thing today that moves the needle 1% towards your future 80 year old self goals! Doesn’t sound like much, but by a years time you could have 365% more towards that version of yourself. Yes, the math of percents is weird in that, but you get it!! You can do it!!!!!
In the end, Mitchum was right, unfortunately. I used to think that he actually tested her, because the things he said - "you don't have it what it takes to be a journalist" could be proven wrong by Rory's persistence, her not abandoning everything on the spot. Remember, Cars 3 - a female car from the older generation, Louise Nash, was directly and bluntly told off, wasn't even given a race number - but she believed that was what she wanted, so she stole the number and did it despite everything.
The thing about Rory is....she almost CAN'T learn from her mistakes, because she is too well-cushioned from by her loved ones. She never really has to struggle. Her mom or her grandparents or whoever will come in and pick up the pieces and smooth it over. And it comes from a good place. They love her and don't want her to have to struggle. They all want her to have the opportunities that Lorelai never did. But because she is so insulated from struggling or having to deal with mistakes, she never grows. Once she enters into that life of privilege, there's just not much personal growth for her. I know we'll never get another revival season, because it ended the way Amy Sherman-Palladino wanted the story to end, so presumably she thinks the story is complete. But I do kind of wish we could see Rory having to deal with being a mother. She still wouldn't have to work and struggle anything like what Lorelai did, but having to be responsible for another human might finally be the thing that makes her grow a little as a person. (I do have to say, I don't hold her failed interview in AYITL against her the way a lot of fans do. That woman had spent months or maybe even years all but promising Rory a job if Rory would consider it. So when Rory finally agreed to come see the company, of course she thought that *they* were going to be trying to sell *her* on the company/job, not *her* selling *them* on herself. They approached her first. She didn't apply and come in for an interview. An old acquaintance specifically invited her out because, ostensibly, she wanted Rory to work there and thought Rory would agree if she could see more of what they were doing. Rory was basically invited in for a casual tour/job offer and then only told when she got there that she was expected to do a formal interview. Those are two totally different things, and I think most people would have gotten it wrong the same way she did.)
I would like to see a second revival where Rorie lost her kid to the Huntzbergers and is living in an apartment in town because Lorelai kicked her out for not fighting for her kid and handing him over-yes it’s a boy. Something real life and true to her real character but plot twist-Jess saves the day and Rorie gets shared custody and ends up with the man who has been the only person to tell her the truth since day 1
I love this show. I watch it on repeat. I start at the beginning and turn it off just after Rory and Logan become an item. It just goes downhill after that.
I actually couldn't disagree more. Rory was always expected to be the good and perfect and nice girl. Maybe she didn't want to carry all that pressure. We are used to seeing a linear learning curve in movies and tv shows but that's not how humans work. We repeat mistakes. We are insecure and behave a certain way because of it. Characters don't need to "be fixed" after a show ends. They can continue to be flawed.
I think Lorelai kind of set an example for Rory with men due to the way she acted with Christopher, even when Christopher was dating someone else Lorelai still viewed Chris as 'hers' and I feel like Rory saw Dean the same way.
Yeah not a fan of that at all! Agreed!
I agree with that 100%. But also, it's not the same thing at all. Rory needed to understand the difference. Not that Lorelai was justified in treating Christopher that way, but Rory and Dean dated for three months when she was sixteen, they broke up, then got back together and had a very tumultuous relationship for about a year before they finally broke up again. Lorelai and Christopher were best friends since childhood who went through having a child together and stayed close even after Lorelai moved to Stars Hollow and Christopher went off to California or whatever, so it's a lot more understandable that Lorelai would feel entitled to Christopher.
@@bad_animait’s been too long, but didn’t Chris ask Lorelei to marry him. L turned him down. L wanted to be a single mom, right?
@@jsbrads1 Yes. She was late for chemistry class lol. She didn't turn him down because she didn't love him, though. She just wanted them both to have a chance to achieve their dreams.
@@bad_anima I understand that. She wanted to succeed as a modern woman. She didn’t want the help of a man.
Men want to help.
She rejected him.
I think it was when Rory kissed Tristan and Lorelai told her to not tell Dean... that was the moment Rory learned she didn't actually have to face the consequences of her actions. She learned she could just lie and go on with her life. That whole show was full of toxic relationships and behavior. Lorelai was a huge mess. Everyone was awful.
I do hate that part too! I forgot about it while filming this, but totally agree! She should have told dean and had to deal with those consequences! Thanks for your thoughts!
same here i noticed this when i rewatched the show
I love Gilmore Girls but my biggest pet peeve is that (in my opinion) no body really grows or learns from their mistakes! Like Emily and Lorelai’s relationship, they never really fix it! So frustrating
Agreed! Thats super annoying! And if they apologize, by the next episode they’ve already forgotten what they were supposed to learn from that apology!
@@AVintageJoy yeah, the only one I see growing and learning is mrs. Kim!
@@chiaradisano7327 So true!! I really am honestly bummed about the Lane storyline. I think she and her mom are amazing and i wish we had gotten to see the Dave story play out! Team Lane and Mr.s Kim lol
Let's not forget Logan, who basically changed from a playboy to a devoted man so they can be together! After the two fights they don't really fight anymore, and everything is pretty much great UNTIL she just declines his marriage proposal for no good reason at all
@@AVintageJoy I have no idea why the writing team had to punish lane by giving her such a useless husband honestly
a screenwriting teacher once told me that in real life people don't change, but in a story characters MUST change
Why so?
People do change
I think you make all good points! What I think Rory also lacks is communication skills, she wanted to be a journalist but she struggles to communicate her wants until she blows up, and doesn't tell people yet expects them to read her mind. How many issues could have been solved if she theoretically told Richard what Mitchum said, communicated to Dean sooner, instead of getting frustrated about having to go to therapy before going back to Yale, talk about the emotions instead of running away every single time. It was so frustrating to watch her downfall in that aspect.
Offff so true! Like everyone in this show had that issue it felt like! That's one aspect of tv writing that really bugs me, there are parts that, yeah people communicate wrong, but also like why do they write that in for every character! My biggest communication frustration in the whole show, from my memory right now, was the Luke and Lorelai not talking about April and then Lorelai giving Luke 0 moments to process anything before running to Christopher! That could be where Rory gets that! Totally agree though!
@@AVintageJoy yes! That was so frustrating! I love April and it should've brought Luke and Lorelei closer.
@@AVintageJoy Yes! I'm a massive Luke and Lorelai fan and Team Luke all the way but it's the one thing that seems so out of character. And when any of the characters do communicate, they take it away instantly (granted I'm also of the believer the show focuses on generational trauma so I get why it doesn't happen) but it rips my psychology major heart out every time they have like once or twice a season a really good moment for change
@@devinwoods8798 So true! they open the door for "maybe this is the moment that they will learn how to better communicate, or better themselves" and like 70% of the time they don't learn that lesson, it breaks my heart too! Love that you're doing psychology, what a great way to learn and help people!
Very good point. But Rory can't communicate because she didn't learn communication skills from her mother. The way Lorelei communicated with Chris was not healthy, or with her parents (mind you, they were toxic but she didn't set strong boundaries with them, either).
I would also like to add that there is hardly any consequences for Rory’s mistakes. Lorelai barely reprimands her, Lane doesn’t have much experience so she doesn’t give solid input, the town’s on her side no matter what, and the boys who like her stay in love with her despite her hurting them. Everyone likes Rory no matter what, without shaming her or stopping the train wreck. “Oh you broke someone’s heart by cheating on them? You poor baby, you must be protected from experiencing shame or taking responsibility for your actions”. That’s sheltering her and isn’t realistic irl.
Yessss!!! They infantilize her SO MUCH even as she goes on into adulthood. Which is so rich coming from the girl who got mad at Lane and her mom for tying to protect her were she was going through that first break up with Dean. It’s like season one Rory was on a gradual decline throughout the whole show.
I think Rory's downfall started at Yale. Maybe it was symbolic (like her choosing to be a legacy student) and leaning into her wealthy/privileged side...I even think season 1 Rory might have actually given Marty a chance.
Your eyebrows r gorgeous by the way.
Yeah that’s a good thought, could have totally been at Yale! Season 1 personality Rory and Marty would have been interesting! I wish Rory and Marty would have figured out their friendship! I think they could have been great friends! Also thanks! I appreciate that! There’s lots of things we were all made fun of as kids that now makes us each unique. One thing for me that works into that is my eyebrows lol. I like them now, in middle school, not so much lol.
@@AVintageJoy I'm still not over how Marty acted like he didn't know her when he dates Lucy... that was so dumb omg
@@Esh486 100% that was so immature of him. I wish he had just said we use to be friends. It was an odd fact to hide.
@@AVintageJoy Men... by the time they grow up emotionally and mentally, they're about 60 biologically🤣
Marty!!! The actor wanted off the show : ( he could have been the one. She could have gone down the Logan path but kinda moonwalk away from his bad lifestyle and then dates Marty. Thats why most people like Jess...he was like THE ONLY OPTION!!!
I think the interesting about this show is that it's actually realistic. People often repeat the same mistake, it's honestly kinda rare for a person to meaningfully grow and evolve. I think a lot of us watching the show really aligned ourselves with Rory and found her aspirational and so found it distressing and annoying that she is so flawed. This revealed the toxic traits in the things that we ourselves might have been doing or aspiring towards. I find this backlash against Rory really fascinating because I think it's rare for a show to have a protagonist that is flawed in a more nuanced way without the show demonising those flaws and explicitly saying "character bad" and/or fixing them. That's not how life works most of the time. Why do we want to "fix" Rory? Is that so that we feel better about ourselves? Why can't she stay a deeply flawed character?
Agreed, one of the shows called normal people which I didn't really like also had the same problem, but a reviewer pointed out notably, that we should forgive who don't change. I think this is also what this show is trying to say that people more or less remain the same
such a good point!
People don't mind the flaws just the lack of consequences. Interesting point tho. Stil it's the fact that no one says anything and it's because it's unrealistic. How does one get to this stage without anything happening to them.
A show isn't real life. To most that can only ever be reminded when the characters don't change, grow or face consequences. Because in life most people don't change. That isn't how characters are supposed to be.
Plus, ya as much as I admire Season 1 Rory I would really enjoy her in -universe downfall. She isn't that person anymore and that's fine but the new her sucks.
The flaws are bad habits and red flags that can't be ignored. For everyone to dismiss them collectively makes no sense. It's would seem more like self-insert fanfiction. Making a better character through keeping her flaws and having them learn from her is "fixing" her. Since she can't really be salvaged we may as well rewrite the plot.
She isn't relatable or entertaining with her flaws. And watching her is no fun. It's like looking at 2 different people. But trust me, we get upset that she was the one who used to admire. We try to fix her because we want the better version of her character. The one before the character assassination.
We can't leave her as a boring, whiny character who doesn't learn. Don't get me wrong GG is a fantastic cautionary tale that you can take as a warning. However, Rory wasn't that character (one who quits or whines) so why is she now??
There are characters who can be used as examples on what NOT to do. But no one can even tell if that's what Rory was supposed to be y'know??? So why not try when we can do better??
Fully absolutely agreed, I’m only watching it now and feel like her downward spiral is quite realistic
There are a lot of things I don't like about Rory, or about the revival. One of them is how she kept forgetting about her boyfriend Paul.
What in the world was that? I thought she was supposed to be this nice person who cares about people. Obviously she is no angel, but remembering your bf is kinda basic.
That whole Paul bit was just mean and tasteless in my opinion. I've no idea why the writers thought it would be funny.
Offfff I wish I had put that point in this video. Besides the cheating with Logan, that was one of the most annoying parts of AYITL for me. Totally agree, she was very mean to him and all he was was nice to her. You're totally right! I hated that part of the reboot. Also, why have Lorelai and Luke forget about him too, like are they all so self centered now that they just forget about people, hated that part!
@@AVintageJoy I don't know if it was meant to be this funny bit how everyone kept forgetting Paul, but it really left a bad taste in my mouth. That and the body shaming in the pool. Come on people.🤦♀
And I'm with you on the Logan situation. How is she okay with being the other woman? I had hoped she learned her lesson after Dean. I hope she's not justifying it to herself by saying "he was my Logan first".
Also, I'm sure I've said it before but I'll say it again, I know some people really didn't like how Rory wasn't this successful journalist in the reboot, but I found it more realistic. Also I'm kinda tired of her being that perfect character who's good at everything and always gets what she wants. I also can't imagine her broadcasting live from war zones. But on the other hand, it is strange she wasn't more successful in a way because Obama did end up becoming president as you said. So, not sure what the writers were trying to do there...
And it was completely pointless! No relevance to the plot at all-it was like it was just there specifically to make us dislike Rory more.
@@ahobbit1273 I honestly also don't understand what was the point of it. Were they trying to make her like Emily who can't bother to remember the maids' names because they were "beneath" her, but with her bf? were they trying to be funny and failed? I mean, it wasn't only Rory who couldn't remember his name, so I really don't get it... it was just so mean
was Paul maybe supposed to be Marty in the original s7?
Rory's superiority complex started in season 1. She thought she was above all her Chilton classmates. The thing is, the show agrees with her, and the audience is supposed to agree, too. But honestly, no one else thought it was weird that by the time she graduated, Paris, of all people, was her only friend in that school? Or that Lane was her only friend in Stars Hollow, despite the weird Rory and Lorelei worship in that town? People say that Rory got worse as the show progressed, but I'd argue she just got less cute and more loud about her nonsense (and before anyone misinterprets that, I'm not saying she didn't grow into a beautiful woman, she just doesn't look like a doe-eyed cherub anymore)
None of that is necessarily a bad thing. I love this show BECAUSE Rory and Lorelei are low-key monsters. ESPECIALLY when it comes to the men in their lives
Yeah I totally agree that they really aren't women to emulate when it comes to relationships! I always just thought that you have to have some cut off with casting and only have so many characters in a show. I think they tried to give Rory more friends in college, but it felt forced and not natural in my opinion. Also, could totally be the case that when she got older she just got louder, some things kids do if they did them as an adult would be super off putting so you could totally be right about that! Thanks for your thoughts!
Yeah like she has other friends from Chilton, they're just not her close friends. Maybe that's just because it's more convenient for the show?
I get the Doylist explanation that the limits of casting and storytelling would make it difficult to have Rory have a ton of friends show up regularly, but it could still have been handled differently. Within the story, it doesn't make her look great.
It's not JUST that by the time she graduated, the only friends she had in that school where 3 girls who were more like frenemies. It's the way she talks about the other kids at Chilton during her time there. Aside from they guy Lane liked for a little bit, she was really judgey about her classmates, if she spoke about them at all. I guess a lot of that can be blamed on the early 2000s trend of the heroine being "not like other girls", but it came off as Rory holding herself above them. She was NEVER excited to do stuff at that school or to get to know anyone. I know she was an introvert, but even introverts like to hang out SOMETIMES (not for long stretches, but still).
By the time she got Yale and started writing body shaming critiques, and snide takedowns of the rich nepo-babies (while conveniently forgetting she was one of them), and laying claim to a married man because "he was hers first", I was nodding along thinking "Yeah, that tracks". It seemed to me that she'd thought she was better than the people around her since season 1. It's just that she got more confident in herself in the later seasons and was more out loud about it.
Again, this isn't necessarily a problem. Part of what makes the show so entertaining for me, personally, is that Rory and her mom were low-key menaces.
@@greendiamondglow Tbh. You're not wrong.
@@R_S747 I AM right!!!! And, narratively, it makes sense, too. Rory is a menace who was raised by a menace who herself was also raised by a menace. THAT is the TRUE Gilmore Girl legacy, and we should all be thankful it exists! (Well...maybe not the revival so much).
i think jess was truly the one that helped her wake up and realize how much she wasn't being herself the girl he knew when he met her and that's the reason she went back.
Rory cheating with Dean isn’t what bothered me the most it’s the fact she trash talked Lindsey to Lane in the grocery store and she overhears by accident.
Offff that was a bad part too! Agreed!
Yeah that was horrible and justified her own bad behavior! she had no remorse.
I think Rory’s downfall started in season 1 episode 1 😂
When she refuses to go to Chilton after meeting Dean and has a whole tantrum about it. She didn’t even know this boy, she had just met him and wanted to drop her entire future for him. And it was a bit weird that Lorelai has to go into “mother mode” and establish the fact that it wasn’t a choice and she was going to chilton. I feel like Lorelai friended her too much, essentially being the opposite of Emily which is understandable. But this gave Rory too much leeway in which she felt like she could talk back to her mum and criticise her choices. However, when she’s held accountable for anything she has a tantrum. She’s really terrible at regulating her emotions, therefore making her a terrible communicator. She kinda just lashes out, or storms off to end arguments that aren’t going in her favour. We see this with how she treats Lane and Lorelai very early on in season 1. And it just gets worse and worse omg 😩😩😩
And I don’t think the revival was too much of a shock. The only people that really glorified Rory were the people of stars hollow and her grandparents. Her first paper at Chilton she graded a D, she was advised at Yale to drop a few classes because she wasn’t performing well, the episode in which Mitchum says she ain’t got it, the finale when she doesn’t get the fellowship. Unfortunately Rory was not the prodigy she thought she was :(
FAXXXX
AGREEED
Also I have to add she treated her mother, the way her mother treated her own mother. I feel like in season 5,6&7 Lorelai was scared of Rory 🤣 and had to watch what she said or refrain from expressing her true opinion to avoid backlash. I used to think I liked Lorelai more than Rory, but seeing how Lorelai treated the men in her life has also put me off Lorelai as a character. It’s hard because the show veers from comedy to drama, so certain things are understandably done for comedic purposes but after a while it loses it’s charm, like Lorelai did for me as a character. Gilmore Girls is really one of those shoes where I love the supporting characters more than the leads 🤣🤣
Stars Hollow has a special place in my heart, and I love all the quirks and Kirk’s bits 🤣🤣😕
@@aminaaasnur Man, I adore Kirk! I'd definitely try to befriend him in real life if he was living in my town. So quirky 😄
I also think it's season 1 episode 1, but I think the problem is that that is the point in her life where she suddenly gains access to wealth and connections on a level she never had before. If Richard and Emily had refused to pay for Chilton, she wouldn't have been able to go, and Lorelai would have felt bad about it, but Rory would have just gone right on being a big fish in a small pond, and then she probably would have gone to a nice school regardless by way of an academic scholarship, but she would have had to work for it and take out loans like most people. In short, she would have had to struggle more and really work for what she got in life. As it is, she just kind of kept getting opportunities handed to her. She didn't have to earn them, so she became kind of spoiled and self-entitled, thinking everything would keep being easy all the time. It's good to struggle a little in your youth, because you learn resilience and responsibility. If everything is handed to you, you end up like Rory, where eventually you face struggle and don't know how to handle it.
Her ending up jobless at the reboot made sense to me as someone who tried to get into journalism out of college in that same time period. The journalism industry was shot and nobody was hiring or paying good money for jour alists unless they had 15 yrs of experience...ie not of rory's gen. Yes some ppl of rory's gen got into journalism but it was very unlikely for that time period
I love this. I also didn’t truly stop rooting for her until the revival, and I think it is exactly for the reasons you said. She feels more childish and immature now than she did in season 1. But I will say, I liked it being Jess, who knew her before…everything, that hit her with the “this isn’t who you are” and prompted her back to Yale. The only problem is, that IS who she had become. If the writers would have taken that opportunity to truly bring her back to herself and give her, as you point out, a modicum of humility, that would have changed the character 1000% for the better. That was the opportunity for a major turning point that didn’t actually end up being a turning point at all in the grand scheme of things.
And you’re so right about her not preparing for an interview! S1 Rory would have rolled up with colour-coded notes and at least 5 letters of recommendation, even if she thought it was just a meeting.
First, I love your name! Hobbits really are the best. 2nd, totally agree! That should have been such a "return to s1" moment and it really almost did nothing, besides get her back to Yale. At the end of the show we could imagine it did something, but as you said, AYITL really just did it in for her. Also yes 100% S1 Rory would have had coded notes! Totally agree. Thanks for your thoughts!
Exactly!! who changes to that degree, and why?
I feel like the lack of job opportunities in the reboot was meant to reflect the consensus at the time that journalism was dying, so Rory, despite supposedly being a good writer, is struggling to get work. It's kind of the writers recognizing that journalism changed, but not HOW it changed, and letting their own opinions about that change color Rory's character (so writing for a trashy site being seen as a step down for Rory). The other issue is, a lot of people suspect the writers were using the ideas they would have used for Season 7 if they hadn't left the show for the reboot. So these are plot lines that may have made sense for early-20s Rory, but not early-30s Rory. Transitioning from school to work is hard, even for (maybe ESPECIALLY for) those who were always really good at school. So I could see Rory making the research mistake on a first-interview out of college, but not as a 30-something. They don't ignore the Obama campaign, but since they didn't write that plot line, it sort of gets brushed aside. They don't ignore that Rory and Logan broke up, but they force it back so the writers could get those last four words Amy Sherman-Palladino always wanted to end the show on. It's a bit frustrating when you can see the strings the writers were likely pulling
Rory was never really allowed to be a child, she was always “the adult” so it makes sense that she goes through these childlike behaviors in college. She spent her while life working for something (getting to an ivy league) and now that’s she’s there she had the opportunity to grow in ways she wasn’t able to. The problem with rory is that she didn’t learn. I agree wholeheartedly with your opinion on rory not learning and not being humble.
Yes!! This is exactly what I've always said! She doesn't learn from her mistakes, try to be a better person, or ever really feel bad about her worst choices.
Furthermore - I think you are right that this does come from a place of entitlement. Lorelai doesn't have this problem because she has always taken pride in working for what she has and does not respect the elitist lifestyle of her parents and her parents' circles, even when she gives in and accepts financial help for the sake of giving her daughter her best chance. She is a great neighbor among her fellow townies and never acts better than everyone else.
Unfortunately somehow Rory turns out the opposite. I think her tendency to not learn from her mistakes starts with everyone in town treating her like an angel who can do no wrong. She doesn't correct anyone when they hate on Dean after their first breakup. She becomes okay with this feeling and it becomes solidified when she gets a taste of the Gilmore lifestyle, where your mistakes never really impact you too much, and decides that's what she wants too. (Hot take: Logan doesn't help either. But that's beside the point)
I wish Rory and Lane's friendship was a bigger focus on the show. I think a stronger friendship with Lane could have kept her way more grounded and kind. Like Lorelai and Sooki!
The show did Lane dirty in general, though. I hated that the show decided to have her married with a kid instead of being the rock goddess she deserved to be! Marriage and kids are great and everything, but Lane's story would have been so much better without them. Justice for Lane!
Ok I have some opinions on this :). Many are of the opinion Rory’s downfall started at Yale (and I get that, it does make sense!). However, I can see her trajectory from a much younger age, from Chiltern. I think she had both a doting mother and grandparents who over validated her throughout her teens. From this I think she developed an attitude that she was ‘special’ eg. So bright things would just happen for her and so lovely that she could claim ownership of men (hence the cheating). I think she never came out of that bubble. So when she’s in the ‘real world’ it’s the same Rory but in more high relief. I think her grandfathers opinion of her was ridiculous and it puffed her up to have this entitlement to opportunities whilst at the same time causing her to cope with failure badly.
I could go on… basically I think it’s entirely natural that Rory is who she is now as the building blocks were there from childhood.
Josephine
Hey! Thanks for your thoughts. I can see where you’re coming from in certain aspects, but to play devils advocate…how would you suggest her mother and grandfather support her differently?
Ok… I think parents / grandparents have a role to validate their kids/ grandkids-obviously-but it is a balancing act. I think her grandparents tipped the scales to actually spoiling their granddaughter and saw Rory as a foil to lorelai -she was the daughter they could ‘ start again’ with. (Rory could do no wrong). They over idealised and adored her, is what I’m saying. They could have been a bit more down to earth with her and a bit more realistic in their messaging- eg sometimes you ff up and have to be held accountable (that’s life- would have helped her out with her many men problems) and also given her a tougher skin when things did not go her way in life. She handles negative feedback so defensively and poorly i think due to receiving nothing but glowing praise and grandad often stepping in whenever anything went wrong. Come to think of it, Richard often stepped in if there was a whiff of criticism or failure so she can’t handle it as an adult 🤔 . I think children should be exposed to handling these things themselves as part of developmental into a functioning and emotionally literate human being.
So in short- I think her caregivers should have exposed her to handle and own her failures or trip ups as a teenager more. Stop rushing to her defense so much, ya know.
I agree! The balancing act of both sides of that is super important. I agree she should have learned how to better handle criticism! I wish we had seen at least a few times of her learning on screen how to handle criticism. That would have been a better balance.
@@jjenner9575Agree agree agree! Like in season 3: her grandfather wants her to go to Yale, he thinks she DESERVES to go because she is special, ecc. But so many people want to go to Yale, many of them with recommendation! Oh my god, we should protect rory's right to be in Yale! So he talks with people he knows and practically buys her in, but in the end they are all so proud of their girl
(I know she gets accepted in other ivy league colleges, but frankly all the story of her applying to just 3 colleges and the meeting the Harvard alumnus for a good word is ridiculous and I will ignore it)
re: Entitlement - I think it absolutely starts at Yale. By then, Rory has learned from experience that she gets anything she wants (Chilton, acceptance to all the schools, tuition to Yale, any boy she fancies), by virtue of just Being Rory. I think one of the best examples of her growing entitlement is the Study Tree. I don't think first- or even second-season Rory would do that.
And you're really right about her lack of ability to learn. For a character who's main remembered and admired traits are bookishness and academic-mindedness, it's an interesting juxtaposition. It makes me think (ooooo hot take) that maybe Mitchum had a point (the same point Doyle made not too long before!). This feels like evidence that she is an incredibly hard worker, and can memorize details, but can't think deeply about things. We often see a lack of creativity from her (resorting to meanness, like with the ballerina story, or pure luck, stumbling across the Life and Death Brigade), which points to more issues around deep thinking and problem-solving. It reminds me of all the students I've been in classes with who post the most basic and repetitive analyses to the discussion board, but will get an A because it was done on time. I have a feeling Rory was similar, but didn't know it because, in Lorelai's words, she was "the great white hope of the Gilmore clan," and was always seen without these flaws, to the point she began to believe she didn't have any.
ooo okay. The entitlement and lack of learning go hand in hand, in that case. Fascinating.
All great points. What always bothered me was that the writers made her think she was going to the top without having to work her way up. She turned down a great job on the hope that she would get that fellowship. when she didn’t get it they had everything else for her fail. It was never logical to me that a Yale graduate with editorial experience couldn’t land a steady job. It’s like the writers intent was to show college degrees were valueless. And her love life - what a mess.
Similar to this, but I think her biggest issue is she never takes accountability for her own actions. She's always got to pass on the blame. E.g. after the sleeps with Dean she tries to justify it to her mum instead of owning her mistakes.
Yeah that's a big red flag too! Someone else commented that she really doesn't have much remorse, and I think that's super valid too in connection with what you're saying!
I think you hit the nail on the head and I would have LOVED to see your idea of Richard giving Rory the confidence to go back and respectfully agree to disagree with Mitchum.
Thank you so much! I'm glad you liked it! I appreciate your thoughts!
This is a really interesting point that I haven't heard before in relation to Rory's character. It actually makes me think that Richard and Emily likewise never learned from their mistakes either - they wouldn't even admit to them as mistakes (Emily and Lorelai, Richard and Jason etc). Also, if we take the stories of Rory's childhood, I'd say Lorelai not learning from mistakes with Christopher time and time again so you could argue that her not learning from mistakes was solidified in formative years before the show began. During the show we see Lorelai learn from certain mistakes (sometimes) but by then it might have been too late for Rory.
That's of course if you look at them like real people and not a show created and crafted for ratings. Under that lens, Rory couldn't learn from mistakes because her cheating with Dean (for example) was a huge shock for the audience and thus increases ratings etc. So that's why they kept her making those mistakes - because she's not a really well rounded person - she's a plot tool for ratings.
Another argument could be that the showrunner always had that ending in mind for Rory the words 'Mum, I'm pregnant' another reason why her character would keep having to make mistakes over and over again, so you could have her in that spot at the end. Too bad, the showrunner didn't stop to consider that stories and characters change especially with the audience interaction. It could have been so meaningful if she'd had a different ending. I hate it when they get so stuck on a planned ending they can't see anything else.
I hate the revival - it felt like a lazy cash grab where ASP just didn't seem to care about it like she used to for whatever reason and so characters were shells of their former selves. I watched it one time only.
I completely agree about the revival. It really felt like all of the actors had forgotten how to act and had completely lost touch with their characters, which makes sense it was 9 years prior, but still it felt like they weren't even trying. Also what was with the awful dark grey lighting i really hated that, gilmore girls is supposed to be warm and light
I believe that giving up Harvard (even for F* Yale!) was the start of everything... She worked so hard for it and then a few episodes and she changed her mind. She goes on a path of settling for less.
She should have kissed Dean, and Lorelai should've seen it before Rory push him away, but this should be the end.
Also, I think her problem with Mitchum should've been between the two of them - She would start to write, anonymously (maybe for something in Emily's club, maybe as a way to help Richard, or Logan, or Paris, or literally anyone with something) and one day, she would bump into Mitchum and he would have one of her articles, talking to someone how good it was, and she would say it was hers. He would say she found her voice, she would go back to college.
This is actually a problem with all/most of Amy Sherman Palladinos’ characters. By the end of season 3 of Marvelous Mrs. Maisel I started to hate Midge. Her characters are delightful to watch but they are usually pretty privileged people (at least, her main characters are always pretty privileged). Midge continually takes the people in her life for granted and it’s incredibly frustrating to watch. It’s like at a certain point Amy’s characters just get stuck because she’s not willing to put them through the pain associated with real growth.
I wish the final season had given us a little more insight into Midge's relationships with her family following her success. We get glimpses, but not the full picture. Like obviously her relationship with her kids is wrecked, but we don't really get to see how she feels about that. We never even see her interact with adult Esther at all. We get that she finally made it but that it meant sacrificing much of her personal life. But it's hard to say if she *learned* anything from that. Does she have any regrets? I honestly can't really tell.
As someone who has had GG on a constant loop since it ended, I completely agree with everything you said.
Aw thank you! That means a lot!
Rory stopped my support after she kissed Jess ever since she really began to bug me and she continued to have the attitude of I deserve all now I understand that fire started so to speak in Stars Hollow and her Mother who always told her that she was angelic and never could harm an ant. She did have my respect when she tried to say "It wasn't Jess's fault for crashing that car it was as much of my fault as his maybe more." She shouldn't have cheated on Dean or even with Logan both situations are terrible and yes Dean and Logan are cheating as well behind their partners backs but at some point somethings gotta give and you have to be the bigger person at some point to recognize your actions are hurting an individual badly please correct that and move on. The writers did that character even more dirty I would say even more so during the revival that was disturbing to me. She could have had more opportunities lined up with local newspaper companies or even just editing articles for a company something where it would get her going. But she again has that attitude of "I'm the Queen of Stars Hollow, bow down to me".She really frustrates me through the rest of the series.
Totally agree! "The Queen of Stars Hollow" act I will totally pass on! It's sweet that the town supported her, but also in a real life scenario I think in a town like that, if you cheat with a married man, the town would have been so mad at her! We never really see how they felt about it. Also, agreed, at some point you have to look at yourself and your part in it and grow from the mistakes, and move on to better things! Love the comment! Thanks for commenting
Oh thr nerve of her being a teenager.
@@lauriecarson6483 It's nothing to do with her being a teenager. Teenagers are allowed to behave foolishly and impulsive, otherwise they'll never grow as a person or learn from their potential fuck-ups. And this is precisely where Rory disappoints as a character. She apparently just keeps her teenage mindset well into her twenties (and beyond, if you count AYITL).
I think that while a lot of people stopped rooting for Rory because of this, this part of Rory is one of the most realistic parts of the show. Lorelai similarly also never learns from her mistakes and goes back to make them again. This could have to do with her relationship with her parents, her mother in particular, because they have this love-hate relationship. Lorelai could've had a quote-unquote easy life, but she didn't want to live the life her parents led, plus, her parents, again especially her mother, are borderline abusive towards her, which gives her some sort of almost Stockholm syndrome. She wants to leave them in the past altogether, but she can't because sometimes she does need them, in which moments she despises herself for that, which is why, even though you get to see those moment where it appears as though Emily and Richard are being nice to Lorelai, she doesn't trust them and doesn't want anything to do with that, unless it is 1000% necessary.
While Rory had promise and privilege, she didn't really owe it to the audience (us) to react in the way that would please everyone else (us) . I would like to know if she was able to learn from her mistakes (and yes, we all repeat them after temporarily fixing them) in the long term and make that book she wrote into a success.
Agreed! I hope she learned from her mistakes in the long run! I hope she was able to make better decisions about her future! And I hope "Gilmore Girls" was a successful book for her! I know I would read it!
@@AVintageJoy thanks for replying! I felt like a troll saying that in the comments initially lol
@@MsReegee No you're good! I wish we had seen the learning, but I hope there was learning and growth after we left her too!
I used to love Gilmore girls, but once she got into college, she became my most hated character😂she makes it hard for me to return back to this show
Yeah true! That part is hard, but I still love it! You got this!! Focus on the clothes or something lol
I’m on my first watch of GG and this is how I felt about Rory in the first 2 seasons! I found her very annoying and childish… I’m on season 5 now, she still annoys me but not as much 😅 let’s see if that changes
In psychology, there is also one thing that calls a Life scenario. We tend to repeat after our parents, especially since it is very common for a girl to have the same life as her mother. At first I was so confused about the ending but now it is so clear for me what happened to Rory. She learned from her mother to be a single mother and although Lorelai wanted another life for her and did everything possible for Rory to get education, Rory in the early age learned that raising a child alone this is the right path, Lorelai showed her example of this kind of a family and Rori didn't know another example. Our parents cannot teach us something that they are not doing themself, of course there are children who can make a different decision but some are like Rory, mama's daughter. So being a journalist subconsciously wasn't feel right for her, she felt like she is living the wrong life, that is why she got pregnant and with this she stepped in on the right and familiar path. Now she won't feel lost as she exactly knows what to do thanks to Lorelai. I also love to analyze this show, as I have a lot of similar traumas with Lorelai.
I am not a writer or journalist, but i always have things in my mind to write about, i don't know if she needed to be prepared but at least she should had ideas
Agreed! At least one question
It starts when Dean and Rory break up after she doesn’t tell him she loves him back. The next day or something she kissed Tristan and then tries to get back together with Dean. She sits down with Lorelai and tells her how guilty she feels about kissing Tristan and how she wants to tell Dean. Lorelai tells her that she should never tell him what happened as it would get too messy. There’s a video about the moment of Rory’s downfall by Silver Screen Freak at the 5 minute mark. It’s really good!
ua-cam.com/video/WxkvbtesPq8/v-deo.html
That's a really good point! I forgot that part when planning this video!
Rory's mistake there was asking Lorelai for advice. Lorelai is literally the LAST person Rory should go to regarding relationships. Lorelai is such a disaster at all of her's.
I also think that's where her character started to change. Everyone used to say how she was this honest child yet suddenly she's lying and cheating. Lorelais advice was bad but yet again I understand Rory being scared to tell dean about what happened, since dean would get angry at anything
I totally agree with this one. I think watching how Lorelai was with guys is why Rory is the way she is with guys. She does something bad, they still fawn over her and think she's amazing. So she just repeats that cycle. Max for instance - Lorelai just ghosted him pretty much and ran away from marrying him. Imagine being a teenage girl and seeing your Mum do that. Then later on Max still has feelings for her and they kiss. I imagine Lorelai going to Rory and sharing that info so Rory would instantly be like "if I screw up, they will still forgive me and want me". She never has to learn from it because she gets her own way in the end. In regards to her downfall with her schooling - it started the second she got the D in Max's class and she hid it from Lorelai. She should of told Lorelai straight away, studied like crazy and set her alarm so she didn't sleep through the exam. That to me was her downfall. It started as something small but just spiralled over the years.
I saw that video! Agree completely
I expected a lot more for Rory with how her life turned out, and I agree with you that she became entitled. But I guess in a way, that's life sometimes, she's human and has character flaws and isn't perfect.
Yeah true, we're all flawed, I just wish we had seen her grow more. Especially between the original series and AYITL. That was the worst part for me. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
Lorelai never completely cut ties. It is as though she left her parents but still sided with them. Otherwise, she would not have sent her to Chiltan and she would have stood her ground to not go back to having dinners with her parents. Because, that was where Rory began to learn "but I'm a Gilmore." And her grandparents over and over again bailed her out and explained it away "You're a Gilmore and a brilliant young woman." And Lorelai lets that happen while not stopping her own poor choices.
Anybody notice how Mitchum was right.
Yeah, I wish I could say he wasn't, but including AYITL, i would say he was too :/
I don’t think there’s a need to “fix” the character - she was written exactly the way the writers intended. Just because we don’t agree with all of a character’s actions doesn’t mean they need fixing, it just means we’re projecting our expectations of how we would’ve preferred the character to be. Rory’s trajectory is realistic and makes complete sense when you think about the way she has been treated from day 1. The show would have been so boring if she had stayed the perfect Mary Sue she was in the first season. The fact that she made mistakes and had flaws as she grew into her young adult years is what makes her relatable and gives us anything to talk about.
I would have completely rewritten the set up for the reboot. In my version, Rory got everything she ever wanted. The great job, the amazing husband, the house, everything. Then I would have it all implode. She writes an article that gets her cancelled. Her husband leaves her. She loses everything and retreats to her mom's house. The show could have been completely the same BUT we the audience would have had sympathy for her. She came off as such an entitled brat it was hard to care about her or root for her. I think there is beauty in giving a character everything they had ever hoped for and they realize it is hollow.
I know people don’t like when Rory leaves Yale but I kind of appreciate that she had a time when she questioned her future and identity. (Especially now that I’m older and have jumped around in terms of my perspective on my future). I absolutely agree with the thoughts on her not learning from her mistakes which I think really hit a wrong note when we also consider how open she was to learning (in other senses) at the beginning of the show. I love this show and can’t personally say how I would “fix it” but it definitely falls flat from that first season which will always be my favorite
The issue with the presidential campaign is that ASP wouldn’t have known about it as she didn’t really watch the last season. That’s why there is so many holes in the plot line and why they, meaning Rory, Luke, Lorelai in particular all seem like they were frozen in time. ASP only seemed to use certain storyline’s from season 7, like she kept Zac and Lane having the twins. She completely sabotaged season 6 so the writers had crappy storyline’s to work from and then in the reboot, ASP decided to not use a lot of Rory’s progression and growth from season 7. Let’s face it, ASP wasn’t writing the reboot for us fans, it was just to get her ending in, which at Rory’s age seemed to have her broke, jobless pretty much (the gazette didn’t pay her anything) cheating around with Logan and then ending up pregnant. It was not doing the character any justice at all. 8:10
exactly, the interview she fails at reads a very normal learning experience for a new journalist, it is just excessive that she is still like that 10 years later. That being said, I do feel as a millennial, bc a lot of life graduations seem beyond us, I do notice we drifted a lot and it took a lot longer to reach certain milestones, if ever. There is a joke about millennials in AYITL as well, it was very pointedly belittling them. The whole point of the ASP ending was that kind of Greek tragedy of Oedipus or something like that, that her whole life Lorelai has tried to stop Rory becoming her, and making the same mistakes, but it actually leads Rory to end up in a very similar position really.
Totally agree! And the parts that were specifically "for us" felt forced. I wish we had just seen her progress and learn and grow normally not what felt almost like a very odd ending!
Totally agree! Yeah it is very much so a Greek tragedy. I always think of the conversation between Lorelai and Mrs. Kim about how neither of them want their daughters to end up like Lorelai and I remember at the time thinking "That's a very interesting and mature conversation to have" and then it just all is for not. Sad
@AVintageJoy and in many ways Lorelai has a great life. She runs her own business, she eventually finds her partner, she is a respected member of the community, she got her daughter into Chilton and Yale. Not perfect, but she isn't stealing yachts either. Rory learns the wrong lessons from Lorelai coming back to her parents, that Lorelai was a failure somehow.
@@kahkah1986 Totally agreed! 100%
Ok, so I only take issue with one thing, and it’s something that seems to get brought up a lot. She wasn’t prepared for that interview with Sandy Says, because Sandy led her to believe she had already got the job. I don’t think I would have been prepared either if I was in her shoes because I would have gone into it with completely different expectations. She already established in past episodes (the impromptu interview at Yale) that she doesn’t handle things as well when she isn’t prepared, so this isn’t AS out of character for her.
But that’s just one drop in the turbulent pool of Rory. Lol
I totally agree! I want to know whether the writers intentionally made Rory this way, or if they genuinely think she is a relatable character. Was this really the character arc they had in mind for her? I've looked for interviews to see if anyone's asked Amy-Sherman Palladino this question and haven't found anything yet.
Rory essentially goes through a mid-life crisis in the reboot, so it seems like the writers were trying to humble her and make us relate to her. But having this crisis because she was just being lazy about her career? (Falling asleep on the job, showing up to a job interview unprepared and still expecting special treatment, etc.) It would have been much more compelling (and much more like S1 Rory) if she was working hard as a journalist and things just didn't pan out how she hoped. She realizes that the world won't always cater to her, and she has to overcome that setback. But in the reboot, she had become entitled and complacent and THEN wanted to switch gears. It paints her as this bored rich kid pouting & wondering why she isn't handed absolutely everything she wants.
(Spoilers) That being said, I hope that having a child of her own might FINALLY help her learn from her mistakes, because it's not all about her anymore. She'll now have this little human to take care of and can stop thinking about herself for a minute. And since parenthood is difficult, it will (hopefully) be a great way to humble her and help her realize she won't automatically be amazing at everything right off the bat. (And that's okay.) And maybe it'll encourage her to be a better role model for her child. It's a shame that we don't know whether we will get to see that on screen or not, but maybe Rory's character arc just isn't complete yet.
I've thought about this a lot, and I really believe that they could have done something meaningful with the show. If, for example, the message of the show is not "like mother, like daughter" or "history will repeat itself," they could leaned on the message that change is not necessarily bad. Rory grew up with her mother as her primary influence, and I agree with many of the earlier comments that her mother was not always a GOOD influence, such as in her emotionally-stunted method of dealing with relationships. But there were other ways. Namely, her mother encouraged Harvard and Rory's journalism dreams. That's well and good, but I believe Rory was a little too committed to those dreams, and Lorelai was to an extent living vicariously by smoothing the way before her. Things turned out well when she listened to an outside influence (her grandfather) about applying and going to Yale. There were outside influences advising her away from journalism in the form of Mitchum (who may not have had her best interests in mind, but he may have been sincere in his advice and ultimately seems to have been validated) and Jess (who more gently expresses doubt, but cannot be doubted as having her best interests in mind). Rory is very dedicated to "The Plan" in life, and I think her character arc could have worked if the message of the show was, LIFE DOESN'T ALWAYS TURN OUT HOW YOU PLANNED, AND IT'S OKAY TO CHANGE YOUR MIND. Rory could have ended up in a job in which she could have EXCELLED rather than struggling. She could have been a part of her grandparents' world, which she fit into very well, in spite of her mother's prejudices against it. And she could have been very happy, in spite of her life turning out differently than she and her mother had initially envisioned it.
💯❤💫 hit the nail on the head, absolutely correct and perfect. and what a realistic and beautiful life story that is. perfect, just like our real lives are, "in spite of it being very different than she and her mother initially envisioned" love that. so accurate
So far no one has pointed out how much Lor failed Rory, - Rory wasn’t a person but a symbol of everything Lor couldn’t be because she had a baby. And when ever Rory went off track to Lor’s plan- Lor abandoned Rory.
I have heard that the writers tought she was too perfect so they made her have flaws but she gets too many flaws
Ohh interesting, like ASP or other writers? That would make a lot of sense why they gave her so many flaws then!
I loved your takes so much! If I had to edit a little bit to be my perfect version, I would say that instead of her grandfather giving her that peptalk that gets her back to Yale, it’s still Jess. I think if she was mourning the criticism and felt so bad and then Jess shows up saying that he was writing a book or a published author a little bit sooner and that they had a talk together about overcoming peoples expectations of you and just doing things for yourself and your love and passion I think that would be such a better Rory. I also think that she should not have gotten into every single Ivy League. I think that that was unrealistic and I think it really went to Rudy’s head. I think if she had just gotten into Harvard and Yale, the plot point still would’ve been great, but getting into every single Ivy League just felt like overkill and like she was entitled to everything it was just so lucky you took away from the hard work aspect in my opinion.
The revival totally ruined Gilmore Girls for me too. Suddenly you realize how entitled Rory has been this whole time and you can never unsee it. Great analysis imo.
Why fix her? Her flaws make the show what it is. I dislike who the character became in the long run and love the show. Its why the series works for me. We don't like what characters do, but in _Gilmore Girls_ and _A Year in the Life_ none of them are OOC. Said sequel series or the last season of the first show are just when most people noticed their flaws instead of rooting for them because they were the leads. The amount of times fans defended the character moments in the OG series after the sequel series came out shows how long it had been since they saw the OG series. I agree that she didn't learn from her mistakes, but I would have written that she isn't learning from her mistakes thus making that a storyline in the last season and the sequel series: relationship-wise in the last season, professionally in the sequel series. And with that, I still would have written the last four words as was written.
Her example was Lorelai! Who strung along two men for years and when Luke didn’t say yes to her ultimatum ASAP what did she do? Sleep with Chris. She was the worst example for Rory. She probably acted like a mom twice and by then it was too late, damage was done because Lorelai was more of a friend than a mother and Rory had no intention of listening to her. Tbh her grandparents were more parental to her than Lorelai were.
Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk
So… what you’re saying is that she acts like a human being, making the same mistakes and repeat the same patterns over and over again? Sounds pretty real to me. I think the problem with Rory was that she stoped bring this aspirational and always perfect character that we could dream to become someday, and actually had human flaws. And that was a no no for the audience. Maybe we are the problem? Hahahaha
agreed!
YES!!!!!
I feel the same, it seems like it has become fashionable to hate on her but I can't help feeling that a lot of the hate is projection, people are afraid of being cheated on so they hate the character who cheats, people are afraid there is nothing special about them so they hate a character who is treated as special by others and then revel in her downfall, of course admitting that you hate someone because of envy is awkward so people come up with high minded excuses for their hate - she's privileged, she's entitled, etc - it's all become a very familiar tune at this point and just tiring to see
Rory would have been relatable if the gifted kid burnout angle was done right, but there is nothing human about her. Think about how lorelai felt when rory decided to publish her life's story and knowingly risk ruining her relationship with emily all over again.
She has the flaws of being very privileged. When she makes mistakes or faces a challenge, someone comes along and smooths it over for her. They do it because they want her to have the best life possible, but the result is that she doesn't learn how deal with challenges on her own. She is left spoiled and immature, feeling stuck and confused when things fail to keep working out effortlessly for her. Most of the audience does not have the same access to wealth and connections Rory does, so it's hard for us to fully relate to that problem of getting to your 30s and not having figured out that sometimes you have to really work for your opportunities, and sometimes they STILL won't work out even if you do and you have to settle for "good enough for now."
The reboot stretched out the jobless issue.
Winter - Rory should be on her game, girl power, etc.
Spring - Rory gets fired. Rory spirals. Etc.
Summer - Gets the job at the Stars Hollow Gazette.
Fall - Continues to work at the Stars Hollow Gazette and has a comeback arc.
Agreed. Idky that plot point was basically her only point, besides cheating with Logan that we see. We see her only failing and flopping everywhere. It would have been so nice to see that comback like you were talking about. Seeing her grow and learn! Totally agree!
@@AVintageJoy I think the Paul thing would've made more sense too. Busy newspaper woman, traveling all over for work, and forgetting to communicate/see him. It's a funny gag but again, got stretched out too much.
I do agree she could have been so consumed with work that she forgets Paul once, but having them all forget poor Paul over and over bugs me. Poor Paul lol
I agree she should be a typical girl learning for m her mistakes
3:40 this started in season one when Rory kisses Tristin. She freaks out and tells Lorelai that she needs to tell Dean and Lorelai tells Rory that she can't tell Dean because it'll break his heart and it's better for her if she just doesn't tell him.
I think Richard pushing Rory to go back to Yale likely wouldn't work because I think the season was supposed to make Rory finally understand some of the trauma her mother went through in the Gilmore house and become disenchanted with wealth and power. The show essentially starts with Rory, who grew up in poverty and is working hard for a better life, becoming attracted by their world (the Gilmores and Logan/the Life and Death Brigade) and it eventually destroys her, as Lorelai expected.
I think they do an okay job with this in the show (but without the range to show trauma from parental manipulation or childhood povery) and season 7 Rory is honestly great and learned from her mistakes. But the reboot essentially retconned all development because ASP refused to watch s7 and instead picked up the story where it was left off and forced "full circle' moments, despite the ten year gap.
i watch 'Dawson's creek' for the first time and i now i think that GG creators were trying to make Rory into someone like Joey Potter - the one who's 'hard to forget' because she's smart, beautiful, kind-hearted and driven to success. They're even look alike - tall brunettes who's sometimes compared to Audrey Hepburn.
But the difference is that Joey wasn't annoying (well, she was, but not that often lol ). She was loyal, she cared about her friends and even her exes, she had high moral principles. She came from a broken house and she really worked hard for everything good in her life.
Rory was self-absorbed, she rarely cared about her friends (even about Lane, and she was very clear that she doesn't like Paris even when they became friends), she got her bright future on a silver platter because of her rich grandparents, she gave up on her dreams after the first inconvenience (Mitcham criticizing her). And she instantly alienated her mother, who did everything in her power to make her life better, the second Lorelai (literally the first time in her entire life) didn't want to cater for her tantrums. And let's not even talk about her moral ground, it was basically non-existent
Jess grew as a person, he matured picking himself up and working to fix things with the people he wronged. I thought Rory was going to be the same and instead she tried really hard to fit into a world that wasn’t for her. I love Logan, but I think he is who changed Rory.
Part of me believed she grow up to be too entitled because of being overly praised. The community , school and family. She had this thing and of believing that she should get whatever she believes she want, i.e from the day she saw Jess with a girl she started mistreating the other girl. When she broke up with Dean but still got jealous when he finds a girlfriend like her reaction at the playground and wedding and how she later talks about Deans wife and just slept with him. That further transpired more at Logan’s house when she claim she’s a Gilmore and starting comparing herself to Josh. The article about the dance. Those were the indications that she was kinder self absorbed for me even though they were not showing much.
I think what really crushed her is having everyone looking upon you as this angelic person everywhere you go. Being everyone’s role model since you were a kid much have been too much pressure on her and she started crumbling. She had so much in her shoulders hence the meltdown.
when Lorelai told Rory to lie to dean about kissing Tristan she didn’t learn anything therefore eventually she sprayed out of control
Yeah that's very true! Not a good mom look from Lorelai and Rory definitely knew better. She should have told him for sure!
I think your suggestions would really fix her. BUT I actually do understand what happened to her because I‘ve been that privileged, very nice, very hardworking kid that everyone thought would be super successful … but I wasn‘t. I didn‘t „have it“, as Mitchum would say. I was and still sometimes am a big people pleaser, just like Rory. I was used to hearing how good I am, how talented I am, how nice I am (just like Rory), my role models were Rory and Hermione Granger, I never went clubbing, I was always nice, I helped with the household, I was somewhat pretty … I worked hard, but I never learned how to manage rejection. So when I entered the real world after college, I was so lost. I was not prepared for this … I‘m now a teacher. A really good one (😇), I am good in the school setting. But I failed being a lawyer (yes, I went to law school …) because I couldn‘t handle the tone that was used there. My boss made me cry in the bathroom (just like Mitchum). I have a stable relationship, a house and I‘m getting married next year - but in some ways I am like Rory. I totally understand that character … (apart from the cheating. I‘ve never cheated on anyone. Maybe that was a character choice to make her more „realistic“ and less princess-perfect (like Paris saw her in the first few seasons)).
Thank you for your time and thoughts! I think you made some really good points! I think it's very hard to manage expectations at all points in life, that would have been a good thing to add to the video. It is hard if you're been told one thing, but you start experiencing something else or something that feels like it should be easier, or that you're somehow failing if it feels hard. I personally don't think you've failed in finding that the "real world" can feel different than you may have thought! I think, even though it sounds corny, that it's how we get back up that makes us who we are not if we fall. Because everyone will fall at some point! I truly appreciate your thoughts! Thanks for sharing them!
@@AVintageJoy Thank you for your words! Maybe I didn't fail, but if my life would have been made into a TV series, some people would assume that. Because I had the expensive education and all, but now I'm working as a teacher. My grandpa certainly was disappointed, but the career path I had imagined for myself never really suited my character. I worked hard in law school because I've always been told that I could be what I wantd to be as long as I work hard ... well ... I'm a way too sensitive person ;-) being a lawyer was nothing like Legally Blonde I'm afraid. It was rather being in an office full of Paris-like people 24/7 😀 I could write an essay about Rorys character development, just because I walked some miles in her shoes ... I can imagine that Rory had the same experience as I had just in the journalism-setting. And Rory being her, she didn't give up but kept on trying. Her snobby attitude maybe just covered up how lost she was? Rory was never good in giving anything up (even ex-boyfriends...). She always worked through it. Maybe that was the side of the character that was shown here? Her trying to be a journalist nomatter how hard she fails. And her being full of herself because she's been told 30 years how great she is by everyone around her. Not being a journalist just wasn't a choice for her, because it would mean failure to her (we saw that when headmaster Carlson told her she would be a great teacher, which I'm sure she would be). Maybe if she had decided after some years of failing, that she could have been anything else (a teacher? a book author?) she wouldn't be so lost. And her turning back to Logan (I totally get why she wouldn't want to marry or even be engaged at 21, but I'm European so that may be the reason) was because she felt lost. She turned to Dean when college was hard for her and she turned to Logan when life was hard - just maybe because she feels secure with her guys? Maybe she needs the approval from them, because she's so used to getting the approval? The whole Paul-storyline was just so stupid, I pretend it doesn't exist (lol). To me, she turned to Dean because he represented a time in her life when she was thriving (and not struggling in college), he represented Stars Hollow. And after college, she turns to Logan, because except for that escapade with the boat, Rory was successful in Yale after all. Logan represented her dreams of being a successful journalist, he represented the Yale daily news. Rory couldn't settle with a guy from her adult life because she used the affair with Logan to escape from it. That's how I see it. My mom did the very same thing with one of her ex's. She always turned to him when life was hard (she would say he was her Christopher...), although she knew that he was bad for her. But in those times, she would call him "the love of her life" - to later call him "the worst thing in her life" when things turned out well again. So stupid ... but that's why I see Rory's behaviour the way I do.
One moment where I blatantly saw the higher than thou attitude from Rory was during that time when Logan and rory are invited to his sister’s engagement announcement party at his parents place. It was established from the start that the family didn’t like the sisters fiancé because he wasn’t at their level of rich/fame/whatever. There was a point when Rory gets bashed by the grandfather/mother (don’t remember who exactly) and Rory later seems astounded that Logan’s family didn’t think she was a good match for him. She kept saying “im a Gilmore! Do they not know who the gilmores are?”
It took me by surprise her attitude 😳
The first time she acted entitled was when she walked out of the newspaper while Doyle was talking to go talk to Marty. So shortly after she met Logan. Also, she cheated on Logan to, by kissing Jess at his Publishing Company's open house. The only guy she didn't cheat on was Jess.
Offf i forgot she walked out on Doyle talking, yeah honestly, no respect for his hard work he's put in to get to where he is. No respect for any level of authority he has. High school rory would have never walked out on Paris talking!
I think another example of Rory not learning from past mistakes is that at the end of the show (pre-reboot), Rory is so sure she will get a spot in some new york time exclusive graduate program that she turns down a great job opportunity. That shows entitlement, or at least some naiveté in planning for her future. We can forgive her for that because she is a fresh graduate full of hope.
But then in the reboot she again shows the same entitlement as she expects opportunities to fall on her lap without doing much to earn them. And again she seems to think she is so special that of course anything should be handed to her.
Not only this is frustrating to watch but feels extremely unrealistic.
I think she is just spoiled. Want to go to Chilton? There you have it. Want to go to ivy league college? There you have it? You like a boy and want him as your boyfriend? There you have it. Your ex boyfriend is now married and you want it back? There you have it.
The only time she didn't get what she wanted was the end of season 3, when Jess disappears without telling her (and that is Gilmore Girls peak for me, not because I hate Rory, but because it's a twist but believable).
I think in the revival she is still spoiled but the world around her is changed and she doesn't get what she wants. It's like she is the same character but the rules of the game are different.
I actually found Rory's arc from "gifted kid" to "floundering adult" refreshing and relatable. But I agree that her character development is really unsatisfying overall. So often she learns the wrong lesson (by following her mother's example) or seems to improve, only to repeat the mistake later. She could have followed a similar character arc but learned from previous mistakes (or other examples like Paris & Jess) and ended up in a place that rewarded her hard work with some level of success. I think that would have been more satisfying. Also, it seems like Jess is meant to be to Rory what Luke is to Lorelai, and that's one time when learning from her mom's mistake (overlooking the reliable guy in front of you) would actually make sense.
Her entitlement behavior quietly took a shift in season 1 in the episode where the 1st Lorelai is introduced. In this episode Lorelai finds out her Grandmother set up a trust fund for Rory and is willing to let them access $250k of it to pay for Chilton. By the end Lorelai messes it up, Trix rescinds the offer, but the problem of Lorelai acting like Rory's sister rears it's ugly head and by the end of the episode she of course tells Rory all about it. When Lorelai tells Rory about the trust fund it is a flip funny comment on how she lost Rory access to Rory's $250k, but from that moment Rory knows she has a trust fund, whereas before she saw her and her mother as the poor relatives of a rich family that had to work hard for a living. From then on we see Rory slowly embracing her family's money into her life and her life become a bit easier and she has more resources accessible to her. Honestly, if it wasn't for her love of writing and literature, I feel she would have truly become that entitled millennial Palladino portrayed her as. But if it wasn't for Palladinos character assassination of Gilmore Girls, Rory would have had a character that leaned more towards the Gilmore clan, as it was only Lorelai who turned away from it voluntarily, but as we see Rory turn more towards it as the seasons progress and her blatant denial of the truth because it was what Lorelai hated and taught her to hate. Therefore, Rory suffers from wanting to have her cake and eating it too, which leads to her unlikable character that lacks self awareness. The revival was a mess, Sherman-Palladino dropped the ball because they were obsessed with not recognizing the last 2 seasons, ending on those dumb 3 words, and that strange time jump where Luke and Lorelai were the only characters that never moved/progressed/changed/evolve?. In the end it didn't work because Rory has a trust fund, a multi-million dollar one if the Gilmore clans snooty attitude is to be believed and Richard would never have let her end up with that millennial entitlement Palladino gave her. It was atrocious, don't even get me started on what Palladino did to the other characters. PS: Christopher's life of a failing working man to becoming rich after his father died probably didn't help either, because then she had to have realized she would inherit a ton of money from both the Hayden and the Gilmore clan.
I agree with all of that for the original series. And I think what you’re getting at with the reboot is that it was bad writing. Cuz it was. I honestly don’t think her not preparing for an interview for a magazine that was very not her and nothing like anything she should ever be working for, and that the person begged her to come to and told her she had it, is indicative of literally anything. I don’t think that her falling asleep doing a dumb article that’s nothing like anything that she should be writing, or sleeping with a guy that she met while doing that gig for a job she didn’t have is indicative of anything either except that she wasn’t pursuing things that were very HER. I genuinely do think those things were beneath her and she shouldn’t have been pursuing them at all. I don’t actually think it was humility she needed in those cases, I think she needed to remember herself and figure out what she really wanted instead of doing the whole prescribed thing if “well, you’re a journalist, take what you can get.” Journalism was different in 2016 than in 2003, it’s too streamlined for ratings now. She needed to pivot to something she could be passionate about again, like writing nonfiction books, which is what intellectuals have increasingly turned to. She could’ve found a job just with a solid income and done that on the side. Same with men, she had outgrown people like Logan and needed to accept that, and not do the whole prescribed thing of settling for a guy who’s “safe” or whatever with Paul. I think smart women get to a point where they outgrow a lot of things, and what they sometimes try to do is go with what others prescribe. But that doesn’t work for them because they’re not close to the average, what works for a normal person doesn’t work for them. They don’t need to settle, they should go where their skills and their attributes are best suited and appreciated. The whole culture of settling I think does people a disservice and wastes their time. It ultimately doesn’t even work. People should make sure to get a livable income but then still pursue their goals until they achieve them or don’t want them anymore.
Totally agree! I dislike when we see a character entirely change personality and settle, like you said! It’s such a different world in media since the internet, and I also wish we had seen Rory keep up with that and pivot. If she didn’t want to work for an online magazine, then I also think writing a book or working somewhere in her field and doing her passion project on the side, we would have been totally happy with. Thank you for your thoughts!!
i don't know why you don't have a million subscribers
Oh my gosh! That’s so sweet! I’m so glad that you’re here, thank you for your kind words!
It would have been cool if Lorelei and Rory had a weekend where they figured out her true path. She decided to be a journalist early in life, so it's logical that she should re-evaluate. I don't see many journalistic instincts in her anyway. Paris is more pushy and it seems she should be the journalist whereas Rory is more intuned with people and could be a doctor.
Love the idea of them doing that between Highschool and college like a weekend pro con list and then seeing if that really fits! And then also in college because 17/18 is as early ago to ask someone to know what their career path is going to be, at least at the beginning of their career! Good idea!
Nothing wrong with this character - people are flawed
while the series starts getting frustrating by the end i do feel like some growth was made by most characters but then its the REBOOT that undoes EVERYTHING
I agree with the points you make here. I thoroughly enjoy the wit and pacing used in Gilmore Girls, but character development in the Gilmore family characters is flat at best, and definitely backwards in the case of Rory. The side characters have most of the growth throughout the series, and the Gilmore family members largely just land where they wanted because of their financial and social means. It’s not because of development and merit, but because the writing has things conforming to them. Even Logan and Paris have more personal development from having lost portions of their financial privilege and struggling to make something themselves.
another problem with rory isn’t necessarily her character, but her writing. i remember the writers admitted a while ago that they thought season 1 and 2 rory was too perfect, so they wanted to start giving her flaws. unfortunately i think that went too far and most fans can agree she’s just not a likable character in the later seasons.
I watched a video and they said they think wit was when she got away with the kiss with Tristan. Even though it was actually cheating, she felt like she did.
I think the entitlement really got set in when she chose to stop going to school and her family put $50,000 into making her own crash pad. She realized she didn’t have to put in work at all, that she would be adored and spoiled regardless but that’s just my take.
Offf yeah I hated that they did that! Good point!
I like to think like "a year in the life" didn't happen, it just didn't really make sense.
Yeah agreed! For many of the characters I totally pretend it doesn’t exist!!! 100% same!!
Omg, You reminds me Kate Middleton’❤
Aw thanks! That’s so sweet! Love her!
ok but was mitchum WRONG??
Depends on if we’re including AYITL lol
Let's just say, I didn't watch Gilmore Girls 20+ times for Rory.
She did not learn because Lorelai introduces her back to her Grandparents. They expect Rory to do what they want her to do what they say and go against her Mother and they use their influences and money against Lorelai. Exactly why Lorelai left their home
It wasnt a reboot, it was a Revival.
Good points. I wish the Richard thing happend other than Jess screaming what’s going on.
What bothered me was not that she kissed Jess while with Dean she acted like a jealous psycho when she came back and I don’t blame Dean for breaking up with her that night she was horrible. Yes even though I don’t like Rj she could have broken with Dean and dated Jess and let the relationship run its course
I think one of Rory’s biggest mistakes is when she lived in the pool house & joined the DAR on her time of from Yale. She enjoyed it and was good at planning but had no want or drive to go back to Yale. Plus Lorelai & her stubbornness & communication issues with her mother we’re not a good example for Rory
Yeah I think that wasn't a good example either! Idk the best way Lorelai could have handled it, but fully cutting her off, didn't really get her what she wanted either so i don't think that worked! Thanks for your thoughts!
You don't like her because she's human
I never stopped rooting for her. I liked her more when she was more realistically human.
Rory’s entitlement was clear from Season 3, episode 1, when she acts like she’s entitled to have Jess pine over her. He at least had the cahones to call her out on it.
My theory as to why she doesn’t have a steady job in the reboot is partially the state of the country financially after Obama’s election (I was just starting our majoring in journalism. I am not a journalist today.) But partially, I think it’s possible she didn’t do a good job networking and such, and she didn’t have the multimedia skills that went from hobby to necessary for journalism in that time period. It’s likely the small online magazine faced financial troubles and couldn’t afford a reporter who couldn’t take photos, or maybe they even went out of business.
It would have been interesting if she changed her major after going back to Yale. She didn’t have the personality for the career she dreamed of. We don’t have to pick a career when we are four.
Very true! I wish they had said something about that, because in my brain right now i cant remember if AYITL is supposed to be set in 2008, or set when it aired in 2016 and that was confusing to me. Like is it 08/09 times then I can sympathize more with her difficulties finding a job. Although, like you said, if she had better multimedia skills that could have helped her too. Also agree, I feel like I'm still making alterations to my career and I'm a full on adult. A 4 year old has no idea, heck most 18 year olds don't know that either, and that's ok!
@@AVintageJoy It’s supposed to be set in 2016. However, a rough start to a career can derail you forever.
I hate to say this I found it satisfying that mitchum criticized her. That's real life and she wasn't going to be great at everything and I felt she was a character vin this bubble where she is the star and that bubble needed to. Be bursted by reality
I am very certain that I and many vierwers were on Rory's side when MItchum critized "everybody's darling" Rory. Because she's a star of the show and therefor she's right. I don't think there are many other shows like Gilmore Girls that I and some other people (thanks to the internet) see now with totally different eyes.
When I watched it for the first time like 20 years ago I think (was late to the party), I didn't analyze it much. I was on Lorelai's and Rory's side or I was just watching the show and enjoying it without really thinking about who is right and who is wrong. It's important to think about what Lorelai is saying and doing and what a role model she is and also the same goes for Rory and for the grandparents. It's easy to worship the girls and hate on the snobbish grandparents.
I don't hate that in general he criticized, because if there's something to fix or if it was to help make her better than by all means, help someone grow. His felt more like a "don't marry my son" type of criticism though. I do think she needed to have some thicker skin and get out of her stars hollow bubble!
I just pretend the reboot doesn't exist.
Lol same! I might do a “how to fix AYITL” but that would be a hefty video! Lots to fix lol
Actually it was jess that pulled her back
Wow, self reflection! Why is there the need to fix anyone? The only person I need to fix/work on is myself. It's up to Rory to change herself and my job to have acceptance that people dont always turn out the way I want them to.
Now how do I fix myself? I feel like rory and I'm really disappointed
I’ve felt like this before too! I say do one thing today that moves the needle 1% towards your future 80 year old self goals! Doesn’t sound like much, but by a years time you could have 365% more towards that version of yourself. Yes, the math of percents is weird in that, but you get it!! You can do it!!!!!
@@AVintageJoy haha I love that. Thanks 💕
In the end, Mitchum was right, unfortunately. I used to think that he actually tested her, because the things he said - "you don't have it what it takes to be a journalist" could be proven wrong by Rory's persistence, her not abandoning everything on the spot. Remember, Cars 3 - a female car from the older generation, Louise Nash, was directly and bluntly told off, wasn't even given a race number - but she believed that was what she wanted, so she stole the number and did it despite everything.
The thing about Rory is....she almost CAN'T learn from her mistakes, because she is too well-cushioned from by her loved ones. She never really has to struggle. Her mom or her grandparents or whoever will come in and pick up the pieces and smooth it over. And it comes from a good place. They love her and don't want her to have to struggle. They all want her to have the opportunities that Lorelai never did. But because she is so insulated from struggling or having to deal with mistakes, she never grows. Once she enters into that life of privilege, there's just not much personal growth for her.
I know we'll never get another revival season, because it ended the way Amy Sherman-Palladino wanted the story to end, so presumably she thinks the story is complete. But I do kind of wish we could see Rory having to deal with being a mother. She still wouldn't have to work and struggle anything like what Lorelai did, but having to be responsible for another human might finally be the thing that makes her grow a little as a person.
(I do have to say, I don't hold her failed interview in AYITL against her the way a lot of fans do. That woman had spent months or maybe even years all but promising Rory a job if Rory would consider it. So when Rory finally agreed to come see the company, of course she thought that *they* were going to be trying to sell *her* on the company/job, not *her* selling *them* on herself. They approached her first. She didn't apply and come in for an interview. An old acquaintance specifically invited her out because, ostensibly, she wanted Rory to work there and thought Rory would agree if she could see more of what they were doing. Rory was basically invited in for a casual tour/job offer and then only told when she got there that she was expected to do a formal interview. Those are two totally different things, and I think most people would have gotten it wrong the same way she did.)
I think her downfall starts when Lorelai encourages her to lie to Dean about having kissed Tristan.
I would like to see a second revival where Rorie lost her kid to the Huntzbergers and is living in an apartment in town because Lorelai kicked her out for not fighting for her kid and handing him over-yes it’s a boy. Something real life and true to her real character but plot twist-Jess saves the day and Rorie gets shared custody and ends up with the man who has been the only person to tell her the truth since day 1
Better yet: rory's book fails completely and she's left working a dead end minimum wage job for good
Rory and Lorelei are the villains
I love this show. I watch it on repeat. I start at the beginning and turn it off just after Rory and Logan become an item. It just goes downhill after that.
I get that! I like Logan's character arc, but that totally feels like that's one of the main parts for Rory when she goes downhill!
I don't think her character should be fixed. She ends up in the place that suits her perfectly.
I actually couldn't disagree more. Rory was always expected to be the good and perfect and nice girl. Maybe she didn't want to carry all that pressure.
We are used to seeing a linear learning curve in movies and tv shows but that's not how humans work. We repeat mistakes. We are insecure and behave a certain way because of it.
Characters don't need to "be fixed" after a show ends. They can continue to be flawed.
Humility would have helped many of these characters.
Very true!