Quirky Aesthetics & Fake Working-Class Problems: The Cringeworthy Finances of Gilmore Girls
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- Опубліковано 4 жов 2021
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In this episode, Chelsea breaks down the confusing ways money comes into play in the world of 'Gilmore Girls' in order to answer this question: is this show in any way an accurate portrayal of middle-class America?
Check out our video with Lindsay Ellis dissecting television portrayals of the working class: • What TV Gets Right (An...
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The Gilmore Girls shows a glimpse into people with generational wealth cosplaying as working class people lol
Ooh, nice one. 😎
100% agree, well said. They were basically slumming it.
Bingo! Honestly this is spot on. Saying this as someone that is still a hardcore fan of the OG show for the escapism, it’s kinda inspires a resentful feeling after a few years. I love it for the magical feelings at the beginning but by the end of it, I ended up hating it. I hated the follow up too for being too realistic lmao.
@@AB-sm1qf lol sounds like such a 180 degree turn...but I totally get you... I'm gonna see if those resentful feelings come up for me as I've recently started to watch the entire season again lol...
@@janiceandthomas It inspired resentful feelings because during the time I was watching it, I was a teenager recently arrived to the US in a house devoid of love, rationale, joy, safety, and support. I had a roof over my head, food and a verbally abusive potty mouth of a mother who had an awful sense of entitlement. It was naive of me at the time but I thought that if I grew up to be the good girl my mother might just like me more and life would turn up alright and be charming. It didn’t. Plus I eventually learned money was a huge reason why everyone in the show was charming, elegant, attractive and more of less, kind. My reality was too ugly but because of it I got suckered hard into the show, not understanding why until later in life as I was growing in economic freedom and diversity in social circles. I’m kinda grateful for the follow up as it brought Rory into a mediocre reality that’s certainly more normal and less romantic than her charmed teen years. But I was also disgusted by it as it challenged everything we’re taught we should aspire to grow to and believe in. It was messy, chaotic and embarrassing. And Rory still got the charming men despite not being as stunning. I still love the show as it does feed into the whole idea of the sweet side of the American dream but now part of the balmy effect of it is long gone.
Despite Lorelai trying to give Rory a more down to earth life, Rory will "eventually" inherit 3 fortunes: er Grandmother's, her mother's, and her father's. So I would say she is extremely privileged.
Whoooooa I never thought of it like that. She’s gonna be loooooaded
yes 👏🏼 👏🏼
She also inherited a multi-million dollar trust fund from her great grandmother. Invested wisely, the interest provides for a middle-class life, and someone like Luke could have helped her, or even some friend of Logan's. Did she blow that trust? Either she's into extreme Keynesianism or that was retconned out.
@@tmlforsyth she blow coming back and forth to sleep with Logan, her priority in life.
And yet somehow Rory blew it all in the revival I think? Rory complained she was broke
That home would not have been $2 mil in the 90s. Maybe $200k tops. Small town in the middle of CT around 40 minutes from Hartford. You could find that today, maybe not as nice but definitely possible. I just escaped 7 years in CT so I know the market. You could definitely find a nice place like that in the 90s under $200k. You forget just how inflated the housing market is today. You actually used to be able to buy a nice house for under $100k.
Edit: The first episode premiered in 2000 and they already had their house which confirms even more what I already believed: Lorelei would have bought her house in the early to mid 90s. Median home sale price in 1995 was $130,000. CPI calculator says $130k is $236.6k in today's dollars. Just to give anyone who actually reads youtube comments (lol) an idea of how inflated the market is today.
Thank you!
Exactly! My parents bought our house for 170k and now it’s marketed at 450-500k! So the Gilmore house would definitely be more expensive today (especially in the COVID market yikes) but back in the 90s definitely not 2 million
Yes it's crazy how expensive homes have become in a short time. I live in Washington State and my parents bought a house 10 years ago for the same amount I just bought mine...only mine is half the square footage, it's older and the lot is much smaller. In the early 2000 homes were a lot cheaper still.
Yep, the house I currently rent was bought for $250k 20yrs ago. Worth $1.2mil today and my landlord still complains about money and how hard it was back then (on 2 comfy salaries mind you! that were maybe 2/3rds what they are today... then is shocked that I can't buy a house) 🙄
Yeah absolutely. Being from CT, this was wayyyyyy off to me too!
I hope you have a follow-up on Lane, because her financial struggles seemed more rooted in reality
I love this comment! Lane comes from a working class family, her mom owning a small business and when she decides to focus on music, it’s through community support - playing in Lorelai’s free garage instead of a rented place farther away, her mothers church connections helping her get gigs and places to stay (as well as cramming into a sandwich delivery van as their tour bus). She works in food service! Lane as an adult rags on her roommates/husband for buying name brand groceries. I also think she is still renting the same apartment in the miniseries? Can’t really think of her financial position in the miniseries though.
Maybe the reason her story is more rooted in reality is because her conflict with her mom is not about money or needing money from her mom (unlike Lorelei). Her conflict throughout is passion vs expected/religion. She is constantly the rebel, but not a class rebel trying to push out of her family’s working class background - she’s a rebel for being an artist. She’s constantly choosing her own path instead of what her mother set for her and that makes her possibly similar to a young Lorelei but there’s no riches for Lane to return back to if she fails. I could probably write and essay and I’m currently rewatching the show but I love using critical thinking on media we (sometimes) mindlessly consume!
I really wish Chelsea mentioned this in the video. The only call to action here was to critique Lorelei and Rory - I feel like calling in Lane’s story would have been such a helpful addition to ground why calling out the Gilmore’s class privilege is important.
Yes to this! 👏🏾
I regularly think about how dirty the show did Lane. Yes, I am specifically talking about how they didn't let her keep Adam Brody.
This video’s entire premise is that the series isn’t representative of the “average” working class. I think that’s the whole point of the show. As we go on even Logan points out that Rory isn’t exactly working class and has profited off of the privilege that comes with being upper class, the biggest perk of which is having a support system whose name, connections and money creates a safety net and opens doors that even people who may have the money but not the class status do not have access to. And GG does a brilliant job of dissecting that element of class.
Exactly!
And they examine this through Rory's boyfriends!! All are working and/or middle class boyfriends never work out but with Logan it was the most effortless because they're from the same class even though Rory doesnt want to admit it. I definitely have issues with the show but honestly so many adults who live "middle class" have trust funds or rich parents to help them that they keep on the low. But I can't dispend my disbelief or feel much empathy for the gilmores now that I am older and fully aware of how hard it is to just pay bills.
@@indiefairy09 Yup, absolutely. Most notably, no one else from her town really even wants the whole Ivy League prestige education life path at all. In the end, Dean who did not go to college (presumably) and Jess who dropped out of high school are both more economically stable than Rory is. She chose her career like a rich girl with a trust fund who wouldn’t have to build wealth would. That’s a luxury that most working class people do not have.
I disagree. I think now you can look back and see how much of the show is outlandish and fantasy but I know many girls who grew up watching this show and thought it was the standard of a good life.
THANK YOU. I never thought this show was a portrayal of working middle class. The entire show centers around Rory and her education and her wealthy grandparents. I never once thought it was normal to have grandparents pay for charter schools and get you into prestigious universities. This video is built entirely on a strawman argument. Really, did any of yall grow up watching this think you'd magically get loans from rich relatives??
Rory doesn't have "humble middle/working-class roots". She is a Gilmore with wealthy grandparents! I love GG, BUT not many pregnant 16 year olds out there land so easily on their feet. I also never liked how the two binge feasted junk food--expensive amounts of food that would serve 6-10 people! That's luxury living dressed up as common splurge.
Or that they did IT so often and took Coffee / breakfast every day in a café
Not to mention they were both VERY thin! It's like a white girl fantasy which could never exist in the real world for a number of reasons.
Also the revival was horrible.
@Jay Bryant They're not working class, though. Lorelai manages an upscale inn. She's an executive. She's not wealthy, but they're comfortably off.
And they stayed so skinny! 😥😫
@@zillennialtries and they never exercised!!! 😂 Or did any cosmetic procedures to have that perfect skin they Always Had!!!
There is zero chance that their 2-bedroom house in a small town would have cost $2.8 million in the mid-to-late-1990s when they would have bought it. That's just a really weird criticism. Someone making over $60 grand could have easily afforded that house's mortgage. I doubt the house would have cost over $400K at that time.
Bruh, she says the $2.8 million is the value the house would have had today. It's inflation adjusted.
@@bhavya09musical So inflation since the 90s is 600%? House prices have gone up extremely fast compared to anything else.
@@bhavya09musical Chelsea also goes onto say that there's no way Lorelai would have been able to afford a $2.8million dollar home. Can't really have it both ways. Real estate has appreciated enormously in desirable locations in the past 20-30 years. What is even the point of bringing up the cost of the house today?
Also stars hallow is a fictional town! Maybe the market is just terrible there and they got it for cheap, maybe mia from the in used to own it and hooked her up. I can think of many random explanations.
I just looked up a random town about 20 minutes from Hartford (Avon, CT) and there are tons of houses with 3-4 bedrooms for less than $400K. So she definitely could've afforded it.
Funny enough, I just watched the ep where Lorelai gets stuck with her dad for the day and tells him that they order an absurd amount of food because they "eat 1/3 of it and then live off the leftovers for a week and a half." So, I'd buy that explanation since sitcom timelines aren't daily. But they still exhibited privilege by hardly ever cooking. One aspect that I realized the older that I get is how Rory really does succumb to the Gilmore lifestyle with each season, which Lorelai tried to prevent. I feel like the show should have made that narrative more clear, but instead stuck by Lorelai and Rory being 'middle class'. Those two very much embraced the rich lifestyle as time wore on.
That's a good point. I do something similar myself. If I get fast food, I always try to ensure it lasts for more than one serving (or stretch it with other food at home), so that I don't feel so guilty about eating out and I feel I get my money's worth.
Something like Chinese food can definitely be eaten for multiple meals. Eating out can also mean the dollar menu at McDonald's. It can mean racking up credit card debt. Because they do it doesn't mean mean they can afford it or it makes them "privileged."
Hmmm that’s interesting. I see being able to cook as a privilege. You have the time to go to the grocery store, plan a meal, and cook it …
@@jennaleigh1853 That's true. Because as much as I enjoy eating out, I also enjoy cooking. But my work can be super demanding and I barely get time to cook during the week. Oftentimes I have to choose between cooking or getting some well needed rest.
@@jennaleigh1853 For me, eating out all of the time is a privilege as I've lived in NYC. I cooked all the time to save money while my roommates ordered takeout every night. It seems it does depend on the situation.
I tend to give a bit of a pass to sitcoms re: working class characters with huge apartments. I think sometimes people forget that shows like Gilmore Girls and Friends and Sex and the City aren't documentaries, they're TV shows. Meaning that many of these 'apartments' are actually sound stages, not real brick and mortar buildings. The apartments look big because there needs to be space for all the production crew and their equipment. Speaking from experience, just having a single camera rig and operator, plus the lights, sound equipment, and sheer number of extra bodies it takes to make a television show, requires more space than you'd think. So for me, it's not that the producers are TRYING to be deceitful or dishonest or trick viewers, it's that there are certain physical realities in making television that require more space than would be typical in a real-life person's situation. Just my two cents.
I say this every time some says a space is too big to be realistic. A handful of shows do film in real apartments, again taking technical concerns into consideration before realism at times
yes, this is a very good point!! Plus I don't feel like the house on GG was portrayed as particularly extravagant, it was a 2 bed house in a tiny town so... I feel like the suspension of disbelief is pretty easy with that one!
That's super interesting information about staging etc., thanks for sharing.
HIMYM addressed this in an episode after Marshall and Lily gets the opportunity to move to a house out of NY the apartment/set shrinks to half the usual size, and they fall over the furniture constantly. The unrealistic ginormous apartments in tv shows, is simply because that's how the characters sees them (according to HIMYM's philosophy)
I tend to agree with this view, although I do think it's fair to critique these things on shows that are trying to say something profound about class and social stratification.
In the case of Gilmore Girls, it seems to me the makers were more interested in showing how wanting the "best" for their children can cause people to sort of... revert back to the way they were raised. Lorelai's dreams for Rory, shaped by her own upper class upbringing as well as her experiences in the working world, pressured her to re-establish and maintain relationships (both personal/emotional and financial) she might have otherwise abandoned permanently. I admit haven't watched the entire show, but I never got the impression they were trying to dig deep into class differences. The whole show isn't that deep, honestly.
I'm always annoyed by the comment "how can Lorelei afford this house?!". I blame production design for the outside because it looks massive but we are led to believe it's a 2 bed 1 bath house (until the remodel when they get a second upstairs bathroom). Unless there's a bunch of secret rooms never shown or mentioned, the outside just does not match the "reality" of the inside. Seems reasonable to me she could work to save up for a 2 bed 1 bath house while living at the inn where she worked.
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Ah, it's so funny you're saying that became I'm finishing watching Gilmore Girls and I keep thinking the same thing! 😆 the house looks way bigger than its supposed to be and I'm glad I'm not the only one being annoyed by it!
This reminds me of the Hathorne House in Nancy Drew: Midnight in Salem. The outside is HUGE, but the only area with any access is an entryway/hallway, a room with a desk, a bedroom, and some stairs. Upstairs is burnt to a crisp, but still...one small row of rooms downstairs for such a large exterior?
Yep - in reality in terms of set design the front of the house was Lorelai and Rory’s house but the back of the house was actually Sookie’s house! I think that’s why it looks soo big on the outside and so small on the inside - but yep, only two bed 1 bath
I would not have married Cal from Titanic. He was abusive and violent, like when he shoved the table of tea sandwiches over and shot at people with a gun. No amount of money is worth sacrificing safety, even if you’re already on a literal sinking ship. Plus, the diamond was in Rose’s coat pocket the whole time.
Agreed. I like this video and this channel but that comment surprised me, especially the part about cheating on him as if cheating is a totally fine and OK thing to do to the person you marry.
I agree. It would have been really risky if she cheated and Cal’s bodyguard caught her. I’d be willing to bet he would strike her hard. However, She never used the diamond because that would mean she technically got help from Cal. So she never pawned it. She hung on to it so she could dump it back in the ocean
@@emilynam6084 I commented the same thing. Physically abusive men are known to kill their partners for cheating or trying to leave. I guess she was joking, but so many women experience domestic violence every day that it isn't really a laughing matter.
Thank you so much for this. I was taken aback by that comment. And the perpetuating of the stereotype of women marrying rich men just to take their money was extra surprising from this channel.
@@avi4875 Agreed!
Obviously GG is a light, cutesy show but… Emily and Richard were emotionally abusive and neglectful of Lorelei as a child. She left because she needed to save herself from their controlling, belittling and shaming. They never saw her as a person, only a role that reflected well or poorly on them.
Did she come from wealth? Yes. Do wealthy people weaponize their money to control their kids? Double yes.
It may not be an accurate portrayal of a working class lifestyle-Lorelei didn’t go to college at 18 but still knows all the manners and mores of upper class people, which is a valuable set of skills-but she chose to avoid her family’s money because she didn’t want to accept their abuse.
Lorelei never wanted to take money from her parents but we see many situations when she feels like she has no other options. Again, they are not living in poverty because they have access to resources, but they’re arguably “broke” and those resources come with a heavy price. The only reason she resumes a relationship with her abusive parents is to help her daughter thrive, not because she wants to.
Again, Lorelei is maybe middle class on her own. Not working class. She eventually gets a college education and owns her own inn. But I think there are a lot of people who cut ties with harmful families and sacrifice familial money and resources in order to gain freedom and healing, and to me, that’s what Lorelei’s journey was all about.
Exactly. Lorelai was a beautiful character.
She treated her parents like dog shit for barely any reason though. Yeah they were a bit controlling and what not but I wouldn’t say abusive. Shit that’s how non-white parents are.
Totally agree.
Lots of parents are emotionally abusive...and they don't give 75k checks. Waagh.
@@jenjones90 I dont know why people think being rich eliminates any other personal hardships you might go through. The woe is me ploy is so tiresome... and money isn't everything.
The show did not pride itself on being an accurate depiction of working/middle class. It prided itself on showing mother/daugher relationships and how to be your own person while growing up because both rory and lorelie are growing up in the show.
👆👆Thank you ~~~~
My youngest sister who is 12 is binging Gilmore Girls currently & I’m so glad she’s realized it’s unrealistic af. I ate the show up as a kid. Life really didn’t hit me until the 08 recession.
The timing. My 12 year old sister started yesterday.
did... did you expect it to be realistic?? its a tv show for god sake, its not meant to be a representation of real life.
@@thisbarbieisbored yeah but people are more likely to love the show .if its relatable even little bit relatable .i watched the show but stopped watching because i stopped liking rory because of her rich grandparents story and how she get everything she wants like pefectly good looking guy fell for her and come to her right out of fairytale and is perfect .unrealistic asf
It's 2021. Isn't it time we put the "Friends" criticism (how can struggling 20somethings afford West Village apartment) to bed? The show explained it repeatedly - they were illegally subletting Monica's grandmother's rent-controlled apartment. It was most likely dirt cheap. Not to mention it was the early-to-mid-90s when NYC rent prices were years away from being outrageous. Not to mention it was a walk-up. Not to mention there were no amenities or doorman. Gah.
Huh. That actually makes sense.
True. The building super even threatened Monica to report her to the building management office for illegally subletting for all those years.
@@liviaclaire Yes! And in the series finale Chandler says to his newborns about the apartment, "Because of rent control, it was a friggin' steal." I mean, how much more obvious could they have made it? (And honestly they really struggled only in seasons 1-2. After that they all seemed to have pretty steady jobs. Joey was mooching off well-off Chandler. Phoebe inherited her apartment from her grandma. This criticism of the show needs to die.)
@@saltycrunch Thank you! They also had an early episode where Joey, Rachel, & Phoebe were justifiably annoyed that their friends didn't take into account that JR&P can't afford the same things they can.
This whole video is just stupid. There's so much wrong with it.
“Don’t get takeout every day, there’s your tuition.” Has the same vibe as “don’t eat avocado toast and you can afford a house.”
Is it avocado toast now? It used to be "don't get Starbucks, make your coffee at home." And one avocados is a lot cheaper then a take out coffee.
Takeout is very expensive though, if you're trying to save money it's the first thing you should get rid off. If you're not trying to save however you will never save it. If people who quit smoking would put the money they spend in a savings account the moment they quit they would be able to have massive savings. Nobody does it, because that's money you can spend elsewhere.
@@Nelle4ever yeah, a few years ago some condescending twat said Millennials aren’t poor because of the Great Recession etc., but because we all splurge for $8 avocado toast, and a meme was born.
@@Lillith. missing the point, this is a very privileged response. A) it’s just wild to suggest that without takeaways and avo toast people would then automatically be able to save for massive investments such as houses and tuition. B) examine why for some people takeout might be a necessity. Maybe they don’t physically have time to prepare food because they’re working every hour possible so they can afford rent/mortgage/travel/ bills. Maybe they spend their spare time travelling to and from their low paid job and so takeout is the only viable option for a hot meal. It’s not as simple as cutting the most expensive thing out. Just because something is more expensive doesn’t make it a dispensable luxury.
Absolutely ignores that the economy is generally fucked
In what world are we assuming that the cost of Lorelai’s house in today’s market is the same as what it would have been in around 1995 when she bought it? It’s a 2 bed 2 bath house. Im so confused where this 2.8 million is coming from.
I’m also curious how they came up with that number. If you look at the town Stars Hollow was based on (Washington depot, ct), there are million dollar houses there, but there are also homes that would have been affordable in the 90s/2000s. I think it would have been a stretch for Lorelei to afford it, but it wouldn’t have been a million dollar stretch
The show portrays it to be a 2 bed/bath, in reality it's way bigger. They had to fit the film crew in there. I don't think it's fair to compare it's real-world price to what you see on the show.
@@Ely-rk8ej right. The show had to physically be able to film in the house so practically the set had to be quite large. But when I imagine what it would cost in real life, I think of it as just a 2 bed, 2 bath.
We also never see the second bathroom til like season five or six. So for a long the house seems more like a one bedroom one bath house that they transformed into a two bedroom house. Rory’s bedroom seems more like a formal dinning room then bedroom.
@@samfitz9 Yes I was thinking the same thing. I grew up in Toronto, Canada, and back in 1998 my parents purchased a 3 bedroom house for $320,000. Today that house is estimated to be worth $2,800,000. Plus back then it was much easier to get a mortgage. My parents purchased the house with only 5% down payment.
GG was a glossy feel good comedy about a quirky mom and her daughter. The show was never intended to be a serious commentry on the working class. even the problems they face on a day to day basis were mostly silly and easily resolved. It's just a comfort show. you like them but you don't relate to them.
Lorelai owning an inn and living in a small town with very rich parents makes it a bit more believable than friends though!!
I just watched the series recently.. and I am 53.. and I enjoyed it thorougly. I didn't get too bugged by the ridiculousness of somethings.
We can still pick it apart and compare it to the real world. I find these deep dives into pop culture fascinating
No, sorry, this isn't good financial literacy. You're using the location-specific valuation of the home, but the national average for salary? That doesn't line up. If you want to make a reasonable comparison, you have to consider what salaries would have been in that wealthy part of Connecticut, which would be much higher than the national average. On top of that, the Independence Inn is portrayed as a very upscale inn. They had their own stables. They hosted extremely swanky events. So that's also going to bump up the salary.
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Yes, THANK YOU! This video is financially wrong.
I have mixed feelings on this. While for sure GG fell into some of the usual TV inaccuracies, I feel like a critique of the class system as a whole was never its aim, and the focus fo the show is more on the emotional dynamics of financial (and other) issues within a family. To me it always rang true that Lorelai would be happy to leave her own privilege behind for herself, but then go back to her parents not to compromise Rory's future. Sure, we could have important conversations about the unfairness of college tuitions and so on, and I bet Lorelai would agree some, but she only has the one child to put through college, and for her the choice is: do I limit my child's opportunity to stick to my principles, or do I suck this one lemon and let her have the extra help that is available? Right or wrong, to me this is a realistic conflict, and why I think this show still holds up fairly well, considering.
the Year in the Life is a different story. Mostly they should have just acknowledged that by that point Rory had access to her trust fund and just left any mentions of finances out. It would have been a slightly different story but at least less contradictory.
I never took Gilmore Girls as a portrayal of Middle/working class lifestyle but as the showing of Lorelay's specific situation. And, as I see, she always wanted the privileges with no strings attached (just like a flawed human being) in every situation, not only when it has to do with money or class. Anyway, the junk food consumption in the show is garbage no matter how you see it
Besides, the story tells something of the inevitability of Lorelai relaying on her family, therefore she will always have to be attached those strings. No matter how much she tries to run away from this fact, in the end she is a Gilmore Girl
I feel like Gilmore Girls was more about Mother-Daughter relationships and pop culture comedy than hard-core class dynamics. The financial element forces Lorelai's hand to build a relationship with her parents//more importantly her Mother. I also think the dinners grow on Lorelai. She struggles with the conflict between wanting to have a relationship with them but not wanted to deal with their judgment. But I did not watch Gilmore Girls for the financial lessons or to learn more about different classes. Lorelai and Rory definitely had the privilege that was not recognized by the show, but I don't think the writers were tricking us that they were straightforward/normal working class. Overall, it's good to notice exaggerated unrealistic finances/lifestyle/unrecognized privilege, but I think this is a dramatic/over-analyzed critique of the dramedy. I love film and TV breakdowns/analysis, but tbh the points made in this video felt kind of nit-picky, overdone, and dull. I do appreciate TFD content generally and don't mean my comments as a discouragement (more just my thoughts on the vid). I also love Lindsey Ellis and thought she did a better job in her series on TFD breaking down class misrepresentation in TV.
I agree with you. Also this show ended in 2007 and now there is a boom of videos talking about how Rory is entitled, a bad character, how it's not realistic and stuff. It just seems like the thing to be target at the moment honestly.
Exactly , it’s about mother daughter relationships , not all this other nonsense being spouted here. Quite frankly if anything it shows money can’t buy you happiness.
@@mmdino the bad character thing is a very toxic narrative and we have to thank the actual woke culture right now, I studied cinema and acting my director always said that cinema is the mirror of life, like in real life people aren't always good and also human being are never perfect and pure in fact I don't think there's nothing wrong in picturing a character with all his peculiarities because as I said no one in real life is perfect and would be actually unrealistic and boring too to have always the perfect and positive character, I don't get why people complain with the "bad written accusation" no the character is not bad written people are just butt hurt now days!!
@Maria Dino Disagree. I stopped watching Gilmore Girls after a few episodes, when it originally aired on tv (I’m one of the olds), specifically because the characters were so unrelated and unrealistic. People are talking about it now because we can finally talk about it on bigger platforms. My friends and I were complaining about this show in the early 2000s, but we didn’t have the access to reach large audiences like folks can now.
And so, that’s what people are doing. Not because it’s a trend. But because we finally have the space and large, accessible platforms to do so. Where we everyday people supposed to publish their think pieces back in the early 00s? A blog that no one was ever going to read? Really?
Just because you disagree (which you are absolutely entitled to do) doesn’t mean you should diminish or dismiss the fact that people have felt this way for a long time. Honestly that’s pretty disrespectful.
But, rather than "working class struggle", a more interesting take on money here would be the dependency and relationahips... At 16 Lorelai was financially dependant of her parents, and ran away to be independant, and she agrees to re-start a relationship at 32 for the tuition... That, sure, is money, but it's a luxury, she ultimately could walk away from it. She does not need her parents wealth to survive. Financially, there could be a point to talk about financial dependency and relationahips with Lorelai and her parents vs Rory with the grandparents and later her Dad, vs Logan and his family.
I had to stop the video. Chelsea, I usually love your content. But this is going too far. Some of the statements you made are so untrue, I wonder if you even watched the show. I've seen it several times and I can tell you that Lorelai is not the one who wants an ivy league education for Rory. She wants what all mother's want: she wants her daughter to be happy. Throughout the show, Rory is the one who is interested in the upper class lifestyle, not Lorelai. Rory wants to go to Chilton. Rory wants to go to Harvard. These are Rory's dreams. Lorelai's dream is to own an inn (which she does later in the show), but she also wants her daughter to be happy and she tells her daughter that she can do anything if she puts her mind to it. Obviously we know that this doesn't work out for her. Rory goes to private school and Yale, but that doesn't help her land a career in the dying field of journalism. Rory is the one who is spoiled because Lorelai spoiled her. It's a classic tale of a Gen X mom raising a millennial daughter. Lorelai's motivation is simple. She will do anything for her daughter even if it means reconciling with her estranged parents.
I've also watched the show and actually think what Chelsea says is spot on (two exceptions: they lived off take out so they didn't order out everyday and the house value was probably 200-300k when Lorelai bought it). Lorelai says in an episode that she can't remember who had Rory's dream first, was it her or Rory that Rory should go to Harvard. Rory likes the upper class lifestyle. Lorelai may not like the social aspects of the upper class but she wants the finances without the responsibility. Her dream to own an Inn was only made possible with her dad giving her that birthday gift (its how she could place a bid on the dragonfly) and then Luke bailing her out when funds were running out (it was never discussed if she actually ever paid him back). Lorelai naively believed her daughter can have it all if she worked hard well hard work is required for anything but much of Lorelai's success comes from luck and wealth, something she never made a connection to (she thought it was only through Lorelai's own hard work and nothing else and raised Rory with those beliefs, too).
Yeah I had to stop because of that too. It is Rory‘s dream.
Thank you. I'd like Chelsea to come back to this review after she has some children and see what choices she makes for them. Will she allow them to access the wealth she's accumulated through her hard work? Or will she ostensibly be thinking of the systemic inequities of society and instead raise them without? 🤔 I think I know the answer.
Agreed! I love her videos in general but I couldn't watch for more than 5 minutes!
This TV show was so not a good reflection of working class problems at all. The Gilmore Girls were 'acting' poor but they were clearly not locked out of upper social class access and privileges. They were still dating well to do partners, they could access large amounts of funds from their relatives for the 'inconvenience' of attending an extra dinner with the 'so oppressive parents'. Even the little town they lived in was so posh. In England, that's the type of town that upper middle class people live in.
In America that town would be a million per home. Towns like that aren't accessible to middle class people here. That's only for upper class people that like to pretend that they are regular people.
Bruh! Having one family dinner to pay for Rory’s education was nothing. If it was a truly toxic relationship, Emily wouldn’t have given them any money
@@indiefairy09 families that use money to control their members would have already made Lolelai marry some bore of a man who was a member of her parents' club. Or they'd have made her marry Christopher.
@@tinachristine4573 IKR- another thing that irked me about that show, the way they acted as though her parents were these awful oppressive dinosaurs when they literally told her she can stay and were even taking care of Rory at the start. Even after she cuts them off, they still wanna help out and be in her life. Yes, they were manipulative at times but for the most part Lorelai was a brat towards them🤷♀️
@@basmalasaad3039 she was such a brat, even her own daughter had better manners around the grandparents. Lolelai acted like a petulant teenager around her parents and did not show them any respect or consideration. And yet, she did not hesitate to remember their money and make use of it.
I also want to add, how did the town afford such lavish and extravagant festivals and events?? What’s their tax rate like?!
Girl, did we watch the same movie? Cal from Titanic was physically abusive towards Rose, what?
Cal is the kind of man to bury a woman alive in his backyard for cheating, you must be crazy.
@@Ilikefrogs.. fr
He was also physically abusing her too. It was obvious.
yeah i actually stopped watching the video after she said that... really distasteful
I thought the same.
I know it was said as a joke, but I just feel like clarifying: college tuition does not equal "Chinese takeout a few times a week." That line gave me "Millennials could afford homes if they stopped eating avocado toast" vibes. 😝
Avocado Toast is anywhere from $3 to $7 though. Takeout for 2 on average runs about $20 on the low end to about $50 on the high end, and that's not accounting for the excess amount of food that Lorelei and Rory tend to eat. So if we reduce 7 days a week of takeout down to 4 days, that's a savings of $60 to $150 per week, meaning we're looking at $3120 to $7800 per year, for a total of up to $31,200 after 4 years of college.
Remember, this becomes higher if we adjust for the excess food of this specific household. Plus it's not including the added interest accrued in a savings account or ROI in a stock. She probably wouldn't have reached $75K to be exact, but she surely could've paid a good chunk of it off just budgeting a week of takeout down to half. If they eliminated takeout completely AND didn't have diner-breakfast daily, she ABSOLUTELY would've reached well above $75K.
That's not also factoring in the wasteful spending on grocery junk food. I mean, I get your implication that the "avocado toast budgeting" is silly. I definitely agree. But this isn't the same scenario and I think Chelsea's criticism still works here, bc Lorelei's spending habits were THAT ridiculous & unrealistic for a "working class" family, which is the point that this whole video was trying to make.
@@YourMajesty143 K
And comments like yours give me "I don't pay my own bills" vibes. These things add up and nobody should be eating out the way they do and then taking loans from her parents and friends to pay for things they actually need.
@@peachlife5118 K
I agree. While it is cheaper to eat at home, it’s only cheaper if actually eat the food. A lot of the times I won’t eat the food I bought to make when I know there’s an easier option. Thanks adhd for making my life harder.
This is a great analysis! Though it’s worth pointing out that the writing on this show can go pretty deep and I think more than a few things touched on in this video were written that way intentionally. Lorelai’s attempts to distance herself from her generational wealth but still benefiting from it and continuing to hold many of the same values as her parents is a key part of her character, I think. You can see the contrast written into Lane’s character who in many ways actually lived the life Lorelei imagines she’s lived.
Yes, someone speaking the truth
Damn, that's an awesome point about Lane...
What surprises me is the failure to see that GG is a straight-up ✨fairy tale✨ set in the 00s. Rory obviously is a princess. King and queen rule in their palace. Stars Hollow even looks like a definition of a "small charming town", people! GG is one of my favorite series of all time, but I never saw it as an accurate life representation. Or a manual on how to spend my money, or find a partner, or raise my kids. GG characters drop advice left and right, but I always take it with a grain of salt, because my circumstances are so different from theirs and also, you know... I don't live in a fairy tale!
I have watched the show many times but never saw it this way! What an interesting take, it makes a lot of sense. But if Rory is the princess then what is Lorelai?
@@neopiafaerie6114 Lorelai's character combines a few motifs, I think. She used to be a princess, but ran away to "end a curse". The closest I get to defining her is 'a struggling fairy godmother with a runaway princess backstory'. What do you think?
I completely agree! I actually have always found it really strange how many look at the show as it it tried to be an accurate portrait of life when in reality it was always more of a sitcom than anything else.
It is a fairy tale ! Not a bad one, either really mind you but generally speaking, I think a lot of the plots in the show have unrealistic outcomes hahah
@@dominikaskrzypek102 lorelai is akin to cinderella in some ways with her history as a maid and a bit of snow white in others ways. like the apple as bad omen, that was associated with pregnancy here, and also the need to flee, somewhat evokes parts of that tale. emily would be the malevolent parent figure each young woman sought to escape from and eventually be rescued by her prince-who was luke it turns out here (after kissing several that could not be). the role of the townsfolk is sorta like the seven dwarves who became a welcoming family and home to the fleeing snow white (who also physically resemble lorelai a lot)
Ummm I think you're misrepresenting the show. The show's entire premise is not about class dynamics at all, it's about mother-daughter relationships. It does have a money/ class/ privilege component (but it's basically just a catalyst for conflict), but the show is about Lorelai and Emily's relationship and Rory and Loralai's relationship, how those two compare and contrast and how they both evolve over time, that's why it's called Gilmore Girls, the three are the Gilmore Girls.
The premise might not be about class dynamics, but it is def. a huge part of the plot, and also a big blind spot that is badly explored. It would have been a much better show if it actually tackled the concept of a single mom coming from a wealthy family living a working class life was actually like.
Your comment is right but I think she just specifically wants to focus on the show in terms of economics and class. Love the show anyways :)
@@Sammathnar: She did live that life as she started cleaning rooms at the Inn after she had Rory at 16.
yes and their relationships are affected by class dynamics, which is why it actually is a big part of the show
@@hitishasharma6014 yeah, I think so too, but she worded it poorly. The way she described the show (and how many people understood it, made clear by the comments they left) was how it was _about_ class dynamics, not that she was just focusing on it or that it was the catalyst for the central conflict. It was as if she would've said that SATC's entire premise was about high fashion and shopping instead of about 4 women's friendship and their different perspectives on life, career, sex and love in the city.
That's why I said that she misrepresented the show, not that her message in this video was wrong or that I didn't agree with some of the points she made.
We got some real logic leaps here, specifically around housing and tuition…let’s consider the cost of housing in a small town when she would have bought it in the 90’s. Also, a few Chinese meals a week would never cover prep school tuition. A lot of valid critiques here but if we’re going to rip something apart, let’s be realistic and not ignore context for a more dramatic critique.
Agree! It was starting to sound eerily like that “if only millennials didn’t order avocado toast...” bit
@@Mariadelabahia or if we "didn't buy smart phones (we) could afford health insurance."
@@Mariadelabahia exactly! And considering how often Chelsea talks about not demonizing people (especially poor people and millennials) for spending on Starbucks and avocado toast when the issues go deeper and no amount of not buying Starbucks will make you rich, I was so confused by that comment. Honestly, having watched this channel for years, I think she’s kind of just losing touch with some of her previous ideas and with what it’s like to be working class. So her comments are getting more and more off-base.
TFD, and I say this with nothing but admiration and respect for Chelsea in my heart, maybe having your CEO make these videos is making them less relatable. She’s likely worth a couple millions and at the very least making six figures, she could afford to stop working and focus on her business because her partner is wealthy, and she is not relatable to most of the people channels like these attract. Under every video lately you have a few people going “x comment was tone deaf or out of touch”. Love Chelsea’s commentary. If she’s going to be the one to keep making these videos, maybe have them reread by someone who’s actually affected today by the issues she’s talking about.
I’m not sure why people think that they need to learn life lessons from comedy shows - that is what drama and documentary is for. I watched the show growing up and it did not make me think it was realistic or that I needed to go to private school or not consider the cost of college when making my own life choices. I enjoyed the quirky characters and the references. A lot of the money related plot point were obviously put in to move along plot or to create conflict - without which there would be nothing for the characters to react to. Some shows just exist to take a break from real life, otherwise it would be like watching a tv show about a pandemic while living through that same pandemic (which is exactly what happened last year and it was not enjoyable.)
Yes! Thank you! Totally agree
Thank you. I agree. This was a weird critique.
Also from an actress point of view movies or tv shows to me are also stories with any kind of character with all their peculiarities, I just don't get the obsession with the positive message or life lesson like you said
Right? I mean. How in the hell do people expect a tv show to be realistic? There would be no tv show.
A realistic show would be Lorelai working for 8 hours a day and having zero time to do quirky things like go to a cats funeral or…. Literally anything else that goes on in this show because you have no time or money?
Agree. And growing up in the middle of nowhere, it was comforting to have a show based in a small town, unlike all the other sitcoms of that era
I loved this! As someone who is a gilmore girl fan, I couldnt agree more with ur points. All their money problems are always getting fixed one way or another. And even more if I are the way they eat I would roll thru my house.
Lol! Totally, and yet they’re crazy skinny and never exercise.
I think people are forgetting that it is said in the show that they love of the leftovers of their movie night or in general for the rest of the week
So many issues with this "analysis", mainly you are equating financial success with a specific social culture. Wanting the best for yourself and your kid financially doesn't mean you want to engage in the WASPy social culture...
There's nothing wrong with wanting your cake and eating it, especially when it comes to your children. Lorelai never professes to be some kind of revolutionary, she is entitled to want to have as much money as she wants, she just wants it to be separate from her parent's world where possible.
1. Quiet, intelligent kids like Rory do better in private schools, so why not make a personal sacrifice to get her there? Like you said, "secure the bag".
2. I don't think the show ever tried to portray them as working class, they are obviously middle class and only want to reject the upper class social culture of the grandparents.
3. Though they don't mention it Lorelai probably had a trust fund, I don't know if they could have forced her to take it or not though.
4. The value of the house would be extremely different 20 years ago! Come on Chelsea.
5. RE the take away food and backpacking: they said they get a big order and live off the leftovers for a week, also backpacking in Europe is really cheap. These are absolutely minimal expenses compared to tuition fees, and don't they get to have some fun? They don't exactly spend money on much else like a fancy car or home renovations.
WhAtsp~messaging~available~Daily,&weekly trading~
Everyone knows Monica’s apartment was rent controlled from her grandmother and Chandler picked up the slack for Joey!
I've never watched Gilmore Girls but you better believe I'm watching this entire video because I love Chelsea commentary!!!
Yep .. her comments are always awesome!
Same
Same
I feel like we full forgot that this WAS the point in time where we were told that to be successful we had to go to college. A hotel manager does not look like success next to a doctor or lawyer in the 00's.....
Ok some of this I agree with. However, counterpoint! I remember watching this series as a teenager and really it was one of the things that brought me and my mom together. My mom was/is no Lorelei, but my Grandma even looks like Emily Gilmore. Like, I was watching the show, saw and heard Emily and gasped, ran and grabbed my mom who also gasped, we looked at each other and just started laughing. (And for two people who needed weekly therapy to try to repair/maintain our relationship, that was significant.) I remember cotillion and charm school, elite private school. But my parents were upper middle class. Both dropped out of college, not quite understanding the realities of the upper middle class or below, assuming they would be able to rely on family money for whatever they needed. Well that didn’t quite work out for them. Sure my brother and I went to elite schools, we always had extra curriculars, you best believe grandma was going to train her grandchildren to be more successful than her children, and for me that meant not only sewing classes and equestrian, dance, finishing school and the whole deal, but it also meant expectations of looking a certain way and behaving a certain way, dating certain people. Certain people who knew my family name, but also knew their decline, their struggles and that I was wearing vintage Tiffany’s, not brand new, and that made a difference to them. So I really, really got Gilmore Girls. My Richard died of alcoholism when my mom was 9 though. My Emily raised three kids while mourning the love of her life and trying to find balance similar to Lorelei of not wanting to be reliant on her husband’s family for support but also wanting to give her kids everything (sometimes too much.) My Lorelei rebelled but more out of self Defence, really wishing she were back on the inside with her nanny and maid, and still struggles with “the real world.” I am no Rory, she was driven and wanted that world, while I was the adhd spaz that did enjoy the reality that my family money made some things easier, I was not interested in being someone I was not to obtain it. However, I was shocked back then, and again on rewatching it, on how real so much of that experience was when compared to my own experiences. That show helped really heal a lot of hurt by helping me feel it wasn’t just me that had those experiences, and it wasn’t because I was less worthy or something was wrong with me. I think it helped my mom a bit too. I understood my mom and her experiences better and I understood my grandmother better as well. It was definitely cringey and a little delusional but honestly? My life was pretty cringey and delusional too! It wasn’t entirely wrong or inaccurate just because it was cringey and delusional believe me! 😂 (but yea, also the mini-serious is straight up not canon because unless they resolve some stuff I am calling for a Dallas-esque “it was just a dream!” move. 😂)
Text Me 👍.........
Love this!
I 100% agree with you! There is a big difference between "making it on your own" and having wealthy parents as a safety net. Not to mention, how much money could Luke actually have that he gives her $30,000? He owns a diner in a small town, plus he owns a whole building with no renters, so he's footing the utility and upkeep bills himself.
I have to assume your comment about Rose marrying Cal and just cheating on him was tongue in cheek. Cal was a controlling, self-centered domestic abuser. Rose's disinterest in marrying him had little to do with wanting to marry for love. It was also about her being allowed to express herself, which Cal absolutely would have stifled, even before he knew she had feelings for Jack.
Thank you! I came here to say the same thing. Cal wasn’t some bumbling, harmless rich guy who Rose could have just married for money and then cheated on. He was an abusive asshole who thought that she was his property. He would have beat her and broken her down until she was nothing but a shell of herself. No amount of money or comfort in life is worth that.
Cal was terrible, but Rose was engaged to him and he was financially supporting her and her mom. Live your life in your terms, with your own money...
NO ONE IS ENTITLED TO ABUSE SOMEONE BECAUSE THEY PAY YOUR BILLS.
BUT YOU CAN'T BE ROMANTICALLY INVOLVED WITH SOMEONE, HAD THAT PERSON FINANCIALLY SUPPORT YOU AND YOUR FAMILY WHILE YOU'RE HAVING SEX WITH SOMEONE ELSE...CAL WAS AN INSUFFERABLE A-HOLE, AND HIS BEHAVIOR IS INEXCUSABLE, BUT ROSE AUDACITY OF WANTING AND EXPECTING HIM TO FUND HER LIFE WHILE SHE CHEATED IS UNWARRANTED.
@@aditacruz75 actually Rose never wanted him to fund her life. That's what her mother wants, to mooch off Cal so she could maintain her high-class status. If given the chance of surviving no doubt she would run away with Jack, not caring about the lack of money and materialistic values
I came to say (or see if someone else ahs already said) the same thing. I’m sure it was just a joke, I’ll always give Chelsea the benefit of the doubt. But it did come off… wrong.
@@RebelDavis I don't understand why so many people think that. The movie didn't give us any proof of cal being abusive towards her until after the cheating started
What popular fictional TV series does have an accurate representation of class? Would love to see the TFD on that!
Malcom in the middle ,in my opinion, has it. Not sugarcoated, quite funny and terribly realistic
If you can handle to violence, sex, and lack of morals, Shameless does a good job at showing a lower income Irish Catholic family in Chicago. The money issues in that show are pretty realistic.
@@giulialaurante4084 Thanks for the suggestion. I haven't really watched much of it - sounds like I should!
@@sexytrekkie Good suggestion! I did watch it a while back and appreciated the real struggles these people would be facing. Side note: it's heavily based on a British TV show of the same name.
Friends wasn't terribly unrealistic if you followed the show. Monica basically inherited her rent-controlled apartment from her grandmother I think, and always had a roommate. Joey was broke, but Chandler went to college and was some kind of financial data analysis in Manhatten, he covered both of them easily. Ross had a doctorate, so he was good. The only hard to explain character was Phoebe's finances. She usually had some kind of odd job and tipped-based performance income, I guess that paid her bills
I do think that Friends was an inspirational show in a way of showing that adulthood can have adversities and go slower than you'd like, but if you just do a little more good than bad you can eventually find success. Monica eventually became a head chef and Rachel eventually found a stable career in fashion. And Joey started getting more consistent acting jobs
But again, I don't know what was going on with Phoebe lol
Wow, maybe bc I was in my 20s when GG was out I never thought that much about any of these issues when I watched the show. It was an escape from my shity broke life like most entertainment I consume. I just loved the characters. I just thought is was tv show not a doc and not trying to actually say anything important about any issues even about class. And of course the actress didn’t eat like the characters. None of that shit was realistic, it’s a fantasy world and that’s okay.
1:16 no one watches (or should watch) Gilmore Girls “to get prepared for the real world”. It’s entertainment, people want to watch movies because they’re so far off from reality. They are not here to teach us about the real world and finances and they shouldn’t act as a substitute for real education. I myself spent many autumn evenings binge-watching Gilmore Girls and have pleasant memories from the time. At the end of it I remained with a nice feeling of how an “ideal” community would feel like, feeling I would never be able to experience in the real world. For that matter the movie did its job and had a positive message despite (or because) of all inaccuracies. Who said the producers wanted to teach us about money, or any other topics for that matter, anyway?
This comment, right here.
But different people are seeking different things from watching movies or tv shows. Many movies and tv shows do create compelling and realistic stories that people can actually relate to, learn from, be comforted by. Even cartoons like "Moana" or "Coco" deal with death, not something considered a child-friendly subject. Some people use the word "entertainment" as a shorthand for "unrealistic", "tone deaf", "insensitive", etc. But a show like "Chernobyl" or a movie like "12 Years a Slave" is also, technically, "entertainment", "not a documentary".
Gilmore Girls "ideal" world also had Jess trying to force himself on Rory and we all know NOW that in real life this is something that wrecks people's lives for decades, but in the show it is heavily romanticized by "chivalrous" Dean beating Jess up and then Lorelai turning the whole thing into a gag, implying that Rory should feel delighted for being a cause of a cock fight. When I first saw this I was 19 (!) years old and nothing and nobody in my environment challenged this idea that being assaulted is a badge of honor and something to be proud of (not to mention that most of the fights I have witnessed in real life are really not cool, they are actually pretty traumatizing even if you are merely a bystander). The only slightly redeeming thing about it is that maybe Rory did not tell Lorelai explicitly what caused the fight, but what I do remember is that Rory herself not only did not have any issues over any of it, she pursued Jess after that, and Jess himself was generally portrayed as a really sympathetic character. Again, this was 10 years (in my personal timeline, even more if you consider the actual air date of the episode) before MeToo, this kind of experience was considered normal, a rite of passage even for a young girl.
Thank you! Exactly! I think the real lesson is probably not to treat TV series and movies as your source of information, education and reflection on reality. At the end of the day the intended purpose of TV shows and movies are entertainment. As long as audiences know that they are entertainment and fantasy then we don't have to hyper analyse everything on TV. If TV is exactly like real life who'd watch it? I have to live real life 24-7, I watch TV to have a break from my life. If every entertainment has to be pedagogical and give people moral lesson it would be called lecture. Funnily enough the people I observe who often complain about how unrealistic this or that romantic drama is and how this or that TV series are false about this and that and teaching us wrong about this and that are often the ones who are often unrealistic in their own lives. The reason is probably because they model their real lives too much on TV and movies and unable to make the distinction between learning about relationships and finances from real people like parents, psychologists, economists and from TV series and movies.
Using TV series or film as a source of education and hoping to apply it in real life is like expecting to complete a degree in physics by watching Carl Sagan's Cosmos series on PBS.
Thank you! This right here!
Idk if you brought this up but all those bohemian people from the really expensive Montessori high school probably got their high paying jobs through family connections. It’s easy to go try to be an improv vaudeville person if you know you can still come back ANYTIME and get an internship at prestigious law firm that will open doors for you if and when you feel like it. For the rest of us who wants that life, you better work and network your ass off and are in the right college and have a string of relevant internships lined up since freshman year. Miss that window and your ship to that life will have sailed.
Since I first watched GG with my partner as 26 and 31 year-olds, we were CONVINCED this show was a commentary on privilege and being oblivious throughout life xD like yes, they work hard as individuals but in the end, it is the help of their community/family that helps them accomplish anything. Rory in particular has always been the antagonist of the show in our mind, which is evident in her downfall in the Year in a Life, being spoiled and completely breaking down when challenged in any way, expecting life problems to magically fix themselves... As people with a working-class background can never fully escape the weight of it no matter how much upward climbing they do, the Gilmores cannot (and don't want to) escape their inherited money and privilege.
Great video! I think an analysis of The Middle could be interesting. The working-class problems in that show were much more relatable and realistic (well, for a sitcom, at least). For example, when their appliances got broken, they stayed broken for many episodes.
I second this!
Yes!!
As someone who grew up watching and loving Gilmore girls and aspiring to be like Rory but has since realized how many horrible messages the show gave us (and that Rory is AWFUL) I'm not sure I'm emotionally ready for this video.
Never watched the show, but I feel bad for the parents just from listening to Chelsea talk about it. The mother sounds insufferable and annoying and her daughter sounds like she's going to inflict the same nonsense on her future tribe. Sound like two people I'd avoid at all, costs
Completely agree. My mom and sister loved it, but after 10 minutes, I found Lorelai and Rory insufferable. That was not going to be the show we bonded over.
She IS an awful child
@@PaperRaines I mean, Lorelai and Rory are insufferable, but the grandparents are emotionally abusive and manipulative. It's just aces all around.
Her whole thing about Loreleis mortgage is kind of ridiculous. The show started the year 2000 and she already owned the house so she bought it in the 90's aka when the housing market wasn't as insane as it is now. It's impossible that house was worth $2.2 million back then.
What you said about those rich Montessori school kids also applies to a lot of the regular, schmegular lower/mid-middle class kids from my public school. I mean, what _do_ you do with a BA in English? Not saying a humanities degree doesn't have value-any college/uni experience or degree does, IMO-but the job landscape has changed dramatically and a BA just doesn't cut it anymore. So many of my former classmates who got four-year degrees found themselves forced to pursue a Master's/PhD or go trade school within a few years of their college graduation. Those who were using that first degree were no exception.
As an old friend of mine said, "I'm just tired of being poor." She slogged through her BA while slowly burning out the whole time, then worked a miserable job for years at a massive non-profit while slowly burning out the whole time, and then finally decided to quit and start over. She enrolled at a local community college and though she had to put up with relentless sexism in her program, she graduated a couple years later. Now she's making BANK as an electrician.
It's too bad community college was never presented as a worthy option to middle class kids back in the '00s. Huge chunks of Gen's Y and Z were pushed into debt in pursuit of career paths that have now ceased to exist or are only available to the hyperprivileged few.
I would not say Lorelai was perfectly happy to let her parents pay for Rory's schooling. She begrudgingly asked for and accepted it, not just because of the dinner requirement that went with it but because she hated ever owing them anything. They always held it over her if they did her a favor. It could never be a simple, no-strings-attached gift. She asked them to loan the money, and as soon as she came into enough money to pay them back, she did (which they did not like, because it meant they no longer could appeal to the strings attached).
I think we can pretend that Lorelai's house didn't cost what we think it should have cost (it is a small house in a small town that she bought in the 80s or early 90s, so maybe it just wasn't as unaffordable as we think). But yes, the constant eating out is pretty weird for the financial situation they purport to be in. I do suppose we can hand wave that away as well to a certain extent though. They are frequently getting free food from Luke, and it's not a stretch that they might get free or cheap food from other vendors in town too. Lorelai was really successful at ingratiating herself to the townspeople in her young adulthood.
For real, houses back then were mad cheap even tho the wages were lower. Yea, I always thought that Luke’s diner was always free for them. 🤷🏻♀️
I'm pretty sure that they lived in at the inn almost rent free until Rory was maybe 10. The timeline is very very messy but quite often it comes up that Luke met her when she was 10 and there is a whole episode about the workman's hut where they lived when Lorelei first got to Stars Hollow.
At least you see things straight. I feel like I can't help but occasionally watch TFD, but I kind of can't stand how annoying and negative Chelsea is. Especially since some of her logic just doesn't line up.
I LOVE this show for its sense of humor, even though I fully acknowledge that it can be annoying and cringy and and and.
Would be interested in an episode of this on The OC with the class dynamics between Ryan and the world he find himself living in.
The one thing I can agree with this video is that scene when Rory says "but I'm a Gilmore!" is the cringy-est thing in GG, and A Year in the Life was not really good. The rest... c'mon. It's a show, and the heart of the show is how complicated mother-daughter relationships are... It was never about an accurate portrayal of middle-class America. Everyone in the show is a crazy character, and I love it for that.
I liked that scene. It shows that rory likes to lean on her gilmore roots when it benefits her, but it also shows that the gilmores are rich but are also looked down on by thos who are wealthier. The most subtle example is when Logan plans to steal an object in the gilmore house and he assumes that no one will notice because the other Uber rich never do. However emily does notice and cares.
I’m so glad this channel exists
This video is built on such a strange premise - where did you get the idea that this show is about working class people? If you want to say that GG is about class, you could say it's about a woman who tries and fails to leave the upper class because she wants the best for her daughter and like most people, will use any opportunity to make that happen. Luckily for her, she has rich parents and *can* make it happen.
Rory grows up with a working mother in a normal sized house (certainly for a TV show), going to a normal school. She grows up on a middle class income and around middle class culture so of course she will struggle to fit in at Chilton, balls, in upper class people's mansions etc. But it's not as if the show is not aware that once Lorelai and Rory start accepting money from the grandparents and (once again) becoming entrenched in their upper class culture, they start to become a part of this class of people, especially Rory. They even have another rich character in the show spell it out for Rory in case anyone missed it.
Of course Lorelai will always perceive herself as comparatively poor because her parents are outrageously rich, just like you apparently saw or still see yourself as poor compared to the kids in your town who went to private school despite the fact that you have huge Western privilege and belong to the richest 10% in the world.
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Point absolutely seconded about class tourists “roughing it” in the arts economy. But as someone without those prep-school roots who is a career artist, can we please critique the structure that devalues art and makes it nearly impossible to survive without a trust fund in the profession instead of the concept of being a working artist itself? That’s not helping those of us who genuinely have this career get our labor valued.
Love, a career “vaudevillian” without a trust fund who is very very tired.
I am in the exact same boat and totally agree with you. It sucks majorly to see that the people around me who succeed are those who have a financial safety net to fall back on.
When you work multiple jobs to support yourself and to study it becomes incredibly difficult to practice your art or craft with any kind of regularity.
I'm 30 and just now getting the opportunity to focus on my work- meanwhile the art-world really values youth. Good luck finding work when you're over 30. It's expected that you've already shot you shot.
Yaaaas. I feel like you could've done a series just about each GG character and their relationship to money. Lorelei being rude to every service person she encounters? Rory dropping out of school, completely relying on her grandparents and their connections to fund her lifestyle, and judging Logan for being a spoiled rich boy while also enjoying the perks herself?
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You have bigger problems if you’re looking to fictional tv shows for financial advice or actual life lessons.
Television reflects popular mediums of modern contemporary society and act as social criticism and also on occasion can teach moral lessons
The $2 million for the home seems way out of line. Not that I know anything about the price of real estate in Connecticut in 2000, which was when the show debuted, but there is no way the house was worth that much 21 years ago. It's an older house with only two bedrooms and one bath, and not on a very large lot. How Lorelai could afford the house on her salary alone was a subject of debate on the Gilmore Guys podcast, because it does seem unrealistic viewing the show today while we're in the midst of a housing crisis in many parts of the country. $200-$300k would seem to be a more reasonable price tag for a home during that time.
They’re rich rich in Connecticut are you for real💁🏽♀️💁🏽♀️🤷🏽♀️🤷🏽♀️🤦🏽♀️🤦🏽♀️, actually in upper class areas the houses usually hold their value and may even go up during a recession!!!!! I’ve been a avid watcher watcher of soap operas for many years so Gilmore Girls 👧 just lightly touched on upper class society and they were extremely average acting for the Gilmore’s stature🤔🤔😱😱🤷🏽♀️🤷🏽♀️🤷🏽♀️💁🏽♀️💁🏽♀️💁🏽♀️!!!!!! Lorelai was just a rebellious teen but she wanted better for her child but without the ties🤷🏽♀️💁🏽♀️💁🏽♀️!!!!!
Not everyone that lives in a "rich" state is rich. Babette and Morey live next door to Lorelai, and we never know how they earn a living other than Morey being a musician. No one in Stars Hollow is depicted being anywhere near as wealthy as the Gilmores. The community is depicted as mostly working-middle class.
yes, thank you. stars hollow doesn't seem like the Hamptons, it seems like the sort of small town I currently live in and our home was nowhere even on the same continent as 2 mil. I looked up 2 bedroom homes in Connecticut right now and they seem to be in exactly the range you mentioned. today. in a sellers market. back then they would have been a heck of a lot cheaper, probably about half that, and if Lorelai managed to get something like FHA mortgage, she could have gotten it with little to no downpayment. the show is set in a time period when that sort of mortgage was fairly easy to get. I'm estimating VERY loosely, but I would imagine her mortgage including PMI and insurance would have been about.. 800 a month? give or take. which was my rend in NYC back in those days for smaller place and yeah, it took up a lot more of mine and SO's salary then it should (we both had near minimum wage jobs in those days) but its what we dealt with. now her food spending? that was absolutely entirely unrealistic not even close to realm of possibility.
Yes, I came to the comments looking to see if anyone else thought this. There is NO way that house was $2 million, especially in the 90s when Lorelai bought it.
@@sheriroyalty2042
I (non-USian) have no idea, *but* Chelsea said *in today's money*
that means it was less, but adapted to account for inflation, so we, living today, can have somewhat realistic idea.
Again, not saying it's right, but it seems it's based on an article, I'd assume gives justification for it.
Haha yes to all of this, except for the house cost. I live in a very similar town in CT and that's max 400-500k in even a pricey market
Exactly!
Plus as a single mom maybe she got approved for certain programs or one of those first time buyers loan.
The Netflix season was a lie. Not canon. I hated when she stumbled into a job interview unprepared and just expecting it to be handed to her! It was so cringey!
Sorry to say but it is canon. Rory only pursued her passion or what she wanted not what she needed whether on the show or in the revival. She had a one night stand while on the job (incredibly unprofessional), turned down two decent jobs (Sandy Says and the teaching job at Chilton which would require her Masters) bc they weren't what she wanted to do. She nearly sacrificed her relationship with her mom by writing the book b/c her mom rightly so didn't want her life displayed for public consumption and in the end her mom capitulates. Before you say that's not Rory, Rory majored in journalism and by sheer luck got to be editor of the paper she didn't work or lobby for it the way Paris had to. The fact Rory is meandering in the revival and Paris is a big success was the only realistic outcome in the revival.
To be fair, she was not given the impression that it would be a job interview. She was essentially told to come see what *they* could offer *her.* So while yes, it is an embarrassing rookie mistake to show up unprepared, it's believable that someone would be under the impression that an employer already wants to hire them and has already reviewed their work if said employer has spent a year repeatedly telling them that they should come work at their business.
I remember watching GG as a 15y.o from France, and thinking that take-out food must have been so much cheaper in the US. There was no way anyone would order so much of it here, while it seemed they were struggling financially in other areas. Even nowdays, with a very comfortable salary, I wouldn't be able to do that!
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Same! I watched GG when I lived in France as an 18 year old. But I think the take out food there is far more expensive than in other countries.
I love when you break down stuff like this! The Sex and the City one was funny
Honeslty, as someone who grew up with a single mother, who had her as a teenager, who was very poor, no other family to help, my feelings about GIlmore Girls is very complicated. I love the show. I watch it. But when I think about it I feel more bitter about how the relationships were portrayed. That life isn't cute. It isn't quirky and quaint. Gilmore Girls def feels like what Rich people think being poor is like. In reality, having a child that young means my mom and I grew up together. Her traumas became mine. She was angry at the world. Life was hard. I wish we had ONE movie night like they do in the show. Our relationship is good NOW because we're both adults and older and we know ourselves. But a teen raising a child will never equal a bubbly happy daily relationship like they had. I do feel like Gilmore Girls portrays lives like ours in a way that reinforces toxic ideas of how romantic the rich think it is to live like we do. And sadly that does have real-world consequences. I love the show, I watch it, but when it gets brought up, I can't help but feel a little bitter towards it.
I usually find TFD videos at least mildly interesting, but this one stinks of “stop eating avocado toast and you, too, can buy a house.”
I watched this show as a teenager, started watching again as an adult, and I still don't view it as a glimpse into "working class/rich class". To me, it was, and is, about a family with a complicated history.
Lorelai clearly didn't want the path her parents laid out for her, but Rory clearly does. She wants the private school education, the Ivy League education. So Lorelai does what she can to help with that, even if it makes her uncomfortable, because she wants to give her daughter the best. And she just happens to have rich parents who can help with that.
This video is painful to watch because of the assumptions this person makes. Lorelai can be unhappy with something and still do it. I do that everyday.
Also, it's much cheaper to eat like shit than not. Especially Chinese, where they give you a ton of food. That's several meals.
And the whole house thing...c'mon...they had the horse before the show started, so in the 90s. Of course houses were cheaper then. (Another commenter made this point, but I'm just underlining it as more reason this video is annoying.)
Their eating habits always bothered me! They were both eating extremely processed junk food for every meal and tiny! It's so unrealistic for most people.
As someone who grew up on GG, I identified with Rory and Lane b/c of their dedication to school and love of music. As a kid growing up working class with your parents and everyone around you believing that work hard = success and I'm sure this show contributed to that on a subconscious level for many kids (who are now adults). Real talk: Rory got lucky (nothing more or less). She got lucky in terms of her looks and who her grandparents are and their money that were the reasons she got to do certain things and have certain experiences and it wasn't b/c of her "working hard". There's a theory going around that the book Rory writes is actually the show hence why its so idyllic and rose tinted (the awful ways she and Lorelai are portrayed in the revival are true to who they actually are as characters) . I'm sure Rory's grandfather left her a trust (it was mentioned in the show) so that's how she can afford her 2bdm in Queens to just write her book. One last thing, Rory nearly sacrificed her relationship with her mom who rightly so did not want her private life up for public consumption just so Rory didn't have to do jobs she did not want.
Do a video about Maid! It raises a lot of important issues about class, money, systemic poverty, and other things that are often addressed on this channel. Stephanie Land would also be a crazy good interview for The Financial Confessions.
Ever think about taking on Bob's Burgers? Struggling working class family, kids unpaid workers, totally dependent on richest man in town (Mr. Fishodor) for business and personal rents. Actually talk about being poor. Class issues openly discussed. If you're not a fan, you should be.
Do it! I love looking up the "net worth" of characters from animated series. So fun.
Yeah, the house may be worth 2.8M now, but was probably only 450k in 2009. She's probably paying a 2200 a month mortgage. She can do that on 62k a year. PLUS super-rich adjacent people get these secret 1.4% interest rate loans.
I love the gilmore girls, but I always knew it was fantasy land. It was 100% Mayberry. They eat whatever they want, they have zero consequences, they never actually sweat because it is never summer. Though I love you, pls give me suspension of disbelief. I know that the suspect in CSI with the most lines did it, but I just dont wanna think about my problems.
Can we get a video talking about the beautiful fiscal accuracy portrayed in that 70s show?
I love Gilmore Girls. My best friend and I watched it religiously. It's so interesting to hear your take on these shows. Thank you.
I love how EVERYONE is talking about the Gilmore Girls again. Looooving it.
I had never watched the show until Covid shutdown of 2020. I binged watched Gilmore Girls and that show got me through a very scary and horrible time, so I am very protective towards this lovely show.
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Also their small town wasn't "quirky". It was rich and white.
It was indeed pretty white, but I never got the impression that Stars Hollow was particularly rich. Most of the characters there seem to have pretty normal jobs.
@@thatjillgirl Still, it's well above average. Most towns in the US don't look like that.
I grew up in the area that inspired GG and can confirm this is super accurate.
Not me literally seconds ago watching Gilmore Girls and getting a notification about this video 😳
I never watched Gilmore Girls but I think the main criticism of the show is that Lorelai is basically a child. She's the epitome of the poor little rich girl.
@paperinkglue There's an episode in season 2 that really demonstrates this clearly. (I'm watching the series for the first time, my GG-obsessed sister has finally won. I also better understand some of my own sister's beliefs from watching this show. Can clearly see where she has absorbed a lot of really erroneous life lessons.)
Totally agree. Lorelai is not a likable character.
I liked the realistic look at the quirky aspects of the Gilmore Girls that wouldn’t make sense in the real world. Of course, Chelsea’s delivery is always entertaining as well.
That said, I’m not convinced that anyone who has seen the series could think the show meant for us to see Lorelai as a working-class single mother-certainly no one with a single mother who was part of the working/poor class could think that Lorelai was part of the working class. For the majority of the show, Lorelai was clearly a single mother in the middle class, who joined the upper middle class after buying the Inn and living with Luke-and yes, she was always wealthy adjacent.
The premise of the show is that Lorelai is a single mother from a wealthy family struggling to maintain her independence from an undesirable family situation until she realizes her decision to be estranged from her family has cut her daughter off from privilege. The financial “struggles,” if we can call them that, just forced Lorelai to contend with what she gave up and to deal with her family situation. Sure, Lorelai ran away from home and landed a job as a maid at an inn (aptly named the “Independence” Inn), but the show clarified that Lorelai’s employment and housing were given as a bit of charity from the inn owner in a fairy god-mother type of role. So, yes-Money problems disappear on tv and they won’t just disappear in real life-even if we happened to find goodly mentors or benefactors like Lorelai did with the owner of the Independence Inn.
None of this takes away from the entertainment of Chelsea’s commentary, but I thought people who haven’t seen the show should have a bit more context than they got in the video.
Parents pass work, however we want better for our kids. And if someone can help offer the child a better option then they take it. Now its always good to keep kids grounded.
Exactly. Why would Lorelei sacrifice her daughter's dreams for her own pride? That would be quite selfish.
Your analysis was superficial in many ways:
1) Lorelai never wanted to cut strings with her parents. She wanted to cut strings with the future her parents had for her. There is a whole psychological/unconscious behavior explanation for Lorelai's actions when it comes to running away from her parents while unconsciously keeping them close by means of money issues.
2) Your comment on Rose/Carl from Titanic was not funny, if that was your intention. Choose your jokes more wisely.
3) One thing is for a TEENAGER to not want something for HERSELF. Another thing is for a MOTHER to not want something for her DAUGHTER. Regardless, it was Rory's dream, not Lorelai's.
4) If you want to analyze a character's behavior by judging their actions in terms of financial matters, it's hard not to include a psychological analysis with it. Simply saying that "it doesn't make sense" sounds like every human being is coherent 100% in their lives, which is what really makes no sense.
If you want to make a pure financial analysis, try to use pure financial arguments.
Otherwise, you are just judging characters without taking into consideration their traumas, background, psychological behaviors and emotions.
Your video showed that you lacked financial arguments, which made you use pseudo-psychological ones in order to just beat around the bush.
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The worst part for me is that Lorelai claims she had "no help from anyone" building her life in SH. But the inn owner hired her, housed her, I assume provided free childcare, and likely cosigned or loaned money for the mortgage! They finally explain Mia later in the series, by which time Rory herself had accepted free housing and a cushy job (this time from her grandparents). The cycle continues! 🙄
to be fair, lorelai always insists on paying people back so it isnt like she got a bunch of free handouts.
Never seen the show but for the issue regarding the house. If that house is worth $2m today, it was obviously not worth that much when the show aired or the years prior when the house was bought. Let's say that the house was worth between $300-400k, she could have definitely afford that. You don't need to put 20 percent down on a house. Like she isn't buying a co-op and if she qualified for ab FHA loan, she probably only put down 3 percent and received down payment and closing cost assistance as a new homeowner. Her mortgage would have probably been around $1500 depending on the interest rate. If she was making $62k, things would have definitely been tight but not out of the question.
Can you cover "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" next? Susie and Midge have very different financial backgrounds
Rory had no bills to pay in A Year In The Life, though. She was living back home and all her previous expenses were paid for by her rich lover. Well, maybe a phone bill, but she was very much coasting by on other people's generosity (or whatever else you wanna call Logan keeping a well-paid mistress), as she had her entire life.
As someone who is in the (very painful and long) process of digging out of debt (made my last CC payment this month!) and correcting a lifetime of bad spending habits, the deus ex machina one time fixes in shows like GG are incredibly frustrating. To the degree that I can no longer enjoy shows that glamorize poor financial choices.
Congrats 🥳 on the CC payment, I hear ya I watched it growing up and thought they were both spoilt wealthy brats
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I'm not knocking this video but I think the moral of the story is that we need more robust media literacy taught in schools. There needs to be an acknowledgment that messages in television and film should not be taken as gospel and that our minds are always absorbing these messages and could start believing these lies even at a young age.
I never understood the idea of tv as "mindless"...there's definitely a lot that can be absorbed through visual media and most of it needs to be examined while we watch.
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I completely agree!
Wow not even two weeks into Gilmore Girls Fall?? 😂
I’ve watched this show and A Year in the Life at least 6 times through and I don’t think I ever would have described it as being about money at all but wow 😅 ya girl was too caught up in Dean/Jess/Logan I guess
The worst offender is Luke, though, who not only gives Lorelai 30k just like that, he also spontaneously buys real estate THREE TIMES in the first 5 seasons. As the owner of a diner whose class differences to Lorelai's parents are an entire plot line and a half in season 5.
I also wondered about that but Luke seems like someone who saves a lot and takes care of his finances
@@andreakoeries7230 saving a lot and taking good care of your finances as a small business owner is one thing. Being able to afford THREE houses purchased within 4 years is quite another.
Like many other commenters pointed out, this video is inaccurate when it comes to certain things:
- The house being estimated at 2million now and using that as a way to calculate the down payment. However, your down payment and mortgage principal are based on when a person buys the house, which would have been in the 90's. The house itself then would likely have been more around 200k - maybe even 150k. With Lorelai living in the inn, (an actual thing that should have been pointed out, but wasn't, regarding her luck), she would have been able to save quite a bit of money. Even with the house value going up, her principal wouldn't, so she could also have refinanced to get a lower interest rate when rates started going down. She also likely could have had a cosigner on her mortgage.
So no, her inability to get a loan for termite treatment without a cosigner during the 2000s does not signify that she couldn't have gotten a mortgage in the 90s.
- Using a location-based house estimate, but using a national average for her salary.
- Take-out. Yes, they bought a lot, but not necessarily every day (though going to luke's diner for breakfast seems like that was every day).
It's actually addressed they bought a bunch of takeout and then ate the leftovers for days. It's not a great habit, and they could save a good bit of money by not doing that, but I've known both middle class and lower class people who eat out way more often than is reasonable. I actually have a friend who worked retail jobs like at walmart (not exactly known for great salaries) who hadn't cooked for *years* until she moved in with a new boyfriend who wanted them to save money.
The other points in the video are ok, but the above failures are quite major.
It's also debatable whether Lorelai forced the idea of Ivy School or if that was just Rory's dream and her mother was doing her best to support in those dreams. There are episodes where both points are supported, but generally it's accepted that Lorelai did not pressure Rory to attend an Ivy League school and would have been perfectly happy with her choosing another path - but that Rory was the one putting that pedestal (plenty of other times Rory seems to undervalue other paths, like when she told Dean he could do so much more in college despite that he already had a good job in construction, which can actually lead to a well-paying career). She even planned on applying for financial aid, until she realized the money from her father put them outside of that possibility, and then Rory was the one to make a deal.
It's worth 2.2 million dollars today, in 2021. The show started in 2000s, I'm sure it was worth much less then. I can believe their lifestyle just based on the relationship they had with folks in town. That house was probably like $200k when she got it. And I bet she worked really hard to try to get that house. I think Lorili really focused for Rori to get into Harvard because it was her dream. She wanted to prove to her parents her getting pregnant was worth it. I mean she's kinda emotionally stunted with them. She's always going to misbehave because when she's near them she feels like she's 12 years old.
Love your show! Love your channel! Thanks for giving me something fun to think about. Cheers!!
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Love your doses of reality against TV fantasy lands! We've been fed completely unrealistic images of the economic situation for the vast majority of show characters.
You also forgot to mention how Lorelia and Rory were also able to drop bank on over the top theme dates and parties. Excuse me, but where did Rory get the money for the “world’s largest pizza” and a crane to lift it? She’s a prep school student with no job who doesn’t babysit.
Yes I thought the was rather extravagant.
because its a dramatic comedy....
So excited to watch this!! Currently watching Gilmore Girls for the first time, and I always find your media commentary really refreshing!
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Honestly having parents and grand parents as a safety net is a staple of society it's really important for young people if they struggle or fail at first to have something to fall back on.
Who watches Friends, SATC or GG for an accurate representation of working class struggles?? If you watched any of those shows and then expected a similar lifestyle then that's on you. At best they could be aspirational. I've taken inspiration with fashion, hairstyles and home decorating, but always understood my own financial limitations. Those shows are an entertaining escape, nothing more and nothing less.
i think it needs to be said that Lorelai never got help from her parents in the first 16 years of Rory’s life before the show started (this is obvious since it’s implied a lot that Richard and Emily weren’t really in their lives until they gave money for Chilton). so at least before the show started, Lorelai and Rory were living a fairly independent, working class lifestyle until they got more involved with Richard and Emily, when they got more money and opportunities. i think that Lorelai’s independence is also a really big factor here that needs to be discussed, because a HUGE point throughout the show is that she doesn’t want to take money from her parents or anyone. and she actually DOES build up her career and Rory’s life (outside of Chilton and Yale) by herself and without her parents help for the most part.
The “miseducation” 🤔 well.. you all do know this is a tv show and not a documentary right? It’s meant for entertainment not learning life lessons. These are not real people or real circumstances or real anything. What arm I missing here?
Um...would it help if I pointed out that it's fiction?