Exactly. I love this show and always come back to it for comfort but I would have liked to see Rory own up to it. But she leans into the "small town girl" part far more often than not.
I think what bothered me about Dean’s character is that at 16/17 he knows how to fully restore a car, which he then GIFTS TO SOMEONE, which points out that he must be incredibly knowledgeable in that aspect, he works multiple jobs, does fine in school, and truly works his ass off throughout the series AND he goes to college. By all means, he’s a very impressive person but the narrative in the show encourages us to look down at him and then applaud the characters “Just looking out for Rory.”
That made so mad, that Rory kicked him down so many times and he ended up out of the picture. Honestly after she dumped him and started to hang out with Logan just made hate Rory's character for the last couple seasons 😂
"Like the junk food she consumes, Dean is her comfort food, and she digest him and shits him out as quickly as she can" Damn that hurts just to listen to
@@marocat4749 she cheated on Dean lmao. She had 4 bfs and cheated on half of them💀💀 And then was the other women twice. And once was cheating and was the other woman at the same time.
Logan’s “I’m a trust-fund kid” speech when Rory writes the article about his party, was so satisfying. It’s really the only time the show addressed Rory’s privilege. Like you’ve mentioned, she casually acts like the small-town girl and A Gilmore, respectively, when it suits her - and he reminded her that she’s no different than the people she turned her nose up at the party.
That comes from her mom though. Her mom made that part of their life horrible and naughty I kind of understand why Rory would be so confused. To her the “rich” life was pleasant and unlike how her mom made it seem. I feel like a lot of Rory’s issues have to do with Lorelai codependency.
@@Jessica.ShawnteThink you got that wrong. Lorelai moved out and took Rory when she was about one year old to stars hollow, not when she was 11. I think Rory was about 8 or so when they moved into the current house they were living in. So Rory basically grew up in stars hollow all her life. They didn’t have regular contact with her grandparents till she was nearly 16.
It's all due to Lorelai. Lorelai claims to hate the affluent lifestyle she grew up in yet constantly asked her parents for money to provide for Rory. Lorelai was upset Rory was with Logan because he embraced his family's wealth, and she told Rory not to marry him.
The thing you need to remember about Luke attacking Dean, is that Stars Hollow is a Cult Town that sees Rory as some kind of chosen one. So for him deciding to assault a literal teenager is a religious act.
I don't think that's an _invalid_ way to analyse it, but I see it more as an overprotective (toxic) father figure than anything - still not good. But I didn't feel like Rory was necessarily The Chosen One of Stars Hollow. I don't think Ms Patty or Taylor would have physically attacked someone to protect her. I think that was just Luke.
Sure it shows itself differently but when Dean and Rory broke up because she couldn't say I love you Babette and Kirk both just assumed Dean was the bad guy without even letting her explain that she ran away. So I think the idealization is there for sure.
Rory never had a present father figure so the whole town took upon themselves to be present in her life. Babette, Ms. Pat, Luke, Sookie etc so it does make sense why they are unreasonably protective over her.
You can not mention a life that one doesn’t want without mentioning Lane’s ending. I truly think that Lane’s story is the most awful and unfair thing the writers did on the show. Lane had dreams to travel and play with her band, she wanted to be free and experience a life far away from her mothers but instead she ended up pregnant from a bad experience and never got to do her dreams, she even took over her mothers business in the revival which is absurd to me. #LaneDeservedBetter
I always felt that they kept Lane down to make Rory look better. I think Lane was as good as Rory but she didnt have all those people propping her up telling her she was the second coming..
@@lisa-lisa-lisa Exactly. I think Zach is a good guy and she could've been dealt worse as far as partners go, but she definitely got the shaft in every other area.
Agree! Also lane deserved a better best friend than Rory. Honestly Rory never really cared about lane or bothered to visit her or anything most of the time.
I never understood her wanting to be a journalist. She hated all physical activity but wanted to report from the middle of a war. I thought a person like Rory would use her family connections to become a professor at an Ivy League school surrounded by her favorite books.
I think Jess said it best in 'that sounds a little too rough for you'. And the dean at Chilton hinted her wanting to Amanpour was a fame thing. I always thought maybe she romanticized the idea of travel and globe trotting, not the dirty practical reality
@ennui blue Right. I’m starting to think Logan’s dad was correct in that Rory didn’t have it but he said it in such a dick way that we didn’t believe him.
Literally had the same thought as I was watching. The niche of youtube that analyzes female-centric media through an academic lens is one of my favorites.
It's shocking how much more likeable Logan is as a character than Rory. And Jess's dislike of Logan only seems to highlight how likeable Logan really is. He's just so much more conscientious.
I think people romanticize Jess, not because he's the best partner for Rory but because Rory was at her best in season 3/4. Headstrong, feuding with Paris again, but refusing to lose, making mistakes but paying for them ie. still recognizable to viewers. By the time she was with Logan her choices felt so out of character with some of the things she was doing. He wasn't bad, he just came along during Rory's flop era.
@@holographicwing I found Jess boring. He didn't seem like a fun person that I'd want to spend a lot of time with as a girl friend. What would they even do? What did he do for fun? He didn't have any friends. I'm sorry, I feel that he would have bored her to death. I could never get into his personality. He looked OK but he was the least handsome of her boyfriends, to me. I thought that Dean was extremely cute, Logan sexy and handsome and his voice was so warm and smooth, Jess looked OK. I think that Logan did not push Rory he guided her and let her make her own mistakes and decisions as an ADULT should but if and when she faltered he was ALWAYS there to pick her up. That's what a MATE/boyfriend does. Not push a person but guide them. This is just my opinion.
@@Tessiefaye least handsome out of all boyfriends??? lmfao im not gonna take u seriously after you just said that. dean looks like a sloppy wet blanket and logan is ur every other musty crusty blonde yt guy. just say ur taste is basic.
I think your points on Dean are so true! As the series progresses and it becomes more evident of him being working class, the more they almost dumb him down. They make him seem like he isnt able to meet Rory on her level, when he easily could in the first season.
Yeah. I think it has to do with what she explains here. The show is from the protagonists pov, we're supposed to always be on their side, which means Rory just started looking down on Dean as the show went on.
That actually makes sense because Dean goes down a different career path. He is technically blue collar while she is on a white collar path. In her eyes his work is 'less' despite the fact that it's his own field and specialty. That he earned it by himself. But this is truth in tv for how people look down on blue collar work.When they were in school together they were sorta on the same 'level' but even then she was in a big fancy rich school while he was in public. After Rory went Ivy league Dean was 'less' in her eyes. Rory looked at him like he represented a 'simpler' time. The condescension was there. This is why she had so little respect for his marriage. But Dean is also to blame because he himself also acted like she was better than him and his own wife. Sleeping with her was like his wish come true. She was like his fantasy girl or something. But then reality set in and he realized it wasn't worth it at all. This is actually very realistic.
I think an interesting point about Luke is how he (as far as I recall) secretly has a decent amount of money but appears working class. He loans a large amount of money to Lorelai, and then later tries to buy her a large old historic home in the center of town. He's put forth here and in the academic articles cited as working class, but he's not exactly struggling financially. Just another way that Gilmore Girls skirts around economic classes in the real world I guess.
I work in a restaurant in a college town, and you would be AMAZED at how much owners make, even in small towns. He works at the most popular spot in town, is open the latest, and has the best coffee. Luke is rich, he’s also just low-key. Luke just doesn’t give a fuck haha. My bumfuck nowhere-town sushi restaurant’s owners are millionaires, and our business isn’t great. We have multiple terrible reviews about the service, and we still make bank.
Yeah but it's mentioned in the show that Luke has money because he's very frugal. He lives in the same building as his restaurant, didn't have kids, was content to wear a backwards cap/flannel, and was content with his life. He inherited his father's building, but Luke also had to work hard to change it from a hardware store into a restaurant. And with both of his parents dead, he had to figure out how to start a business. Luke made decisions that allowed him to have a healthy amount of money, but I don't think it is fair to imply he is like mitchum or something.
There is a lot of middle ground between "one percenter old money rich" and "poor working class". Luke is middle class - he benefits from owning property and generational wealth (as he inherited his business and home from HIS dad). He is privileged, even if not as privileged as the Gilmores.
Working class doesn't necessarily mean poor. My dad was his own one man construction/ carpentry operation (mom worked insurance) and we had a decent amount of money. Enough to live in a nice house on 3.5 acres, have horses, multiple pieces of large equipment and outbuildings plus a vehicle for every family member, and take a vacation every year. We weren't uber wealthy but we weren't hurting either.
He also was able to buy that building next to his diner without much forethought!! Which leads to the storyline with him & Taylor’s Ice Cream/Soda parlour. He must also make something from that as well, rent or the such.
I just want to say is that Luke isn't working class - he's a landlord and a business owner who owns a boat. He is part of the non-metropolitan rich, so while he's culturally too rural in the eyes of the Gilmore's metropolitan elite circles, that doesn't negate the fact that he does posess wealth and (very regional) power.
Exactly! I always thought Luke was poor or at least lower middle class until he offered to give loralai something like 30,000 dollars for the inn. I was like oh shit who tf just has 30k to gift to a friend??
I think Jess is popular in part because his character has so much wasted potential. We never see his development, just the outcome of him getting his life together in later seasons. With Dean and Logan, we see them have character development, but with Jess there is this huge part of his development and how it relates to Rory of course, that the show just never explores.
exactly. his character had so much more potential. hell, he was gonna get his own spinoff called the "windward circle". we could've seen more of his life as a teen, and what shaped him to be the way he is. but, the spinoff was cancelled at the last moment :((
Yeah, as much as I dislike Jess, they could have done SO much with his character in Windward Circle, I actually think it could have been an incredible show
Why, he was so popular becaue he wa fun and not only got himsel plenty character developement, cu short, but she got tooand he challenged her too. In reallife he might be, not great as partner, but in fiction he is a rally good folly for her character to grow out of being the good girl. I ralize were they real, bad , but in show both actually help each other grow.
Actually, he does live up to his potential. Much more than Rory in all the ways that matter. He writes his own book and has it published. He creates and works hard on his own publishing company with a few peers. He becomes balanced and mentally healthy, mature and independent. Rory gets a fancy education mostly because of her grandparent's money and privilege. Sure, she's smart, but other characters are just as smart or smarter but don't have as much privilege. He ends up outgrowing her.
I have no problem seeing Liz as an immature neglectful parent to a small Jess. She’s not mustache twirly evil but she is consistently irresponsible and she does say that she changed in some way around the time she got with TJ.
I agree! This felt really obvious to me, I’ve met a lot of “nice” and well-intentioned people who are in the end neglectful parents, and I thought it was a really nuanced dynamic to bring into the show. You can also like Liz and still acknowledge, as she does, that she didn’t have her priorities in line while raising Jess, and that him having an absent father compounded all of that abandonment. I also appreciate that Jess sees her with more than one dimension. He avoids talking about her because he knows it’s complicated, he does hold bitterness for feeling like he was second place in her life, but seeing them together it’s clear that he sees how she’s grown and he very clearly loves her. In my opinion it’s a super realistic dynamic!
Funnily enough, I ended up liking Logan a lot more than Rory. It really came back to his "I'm a trust fund kid" declaration. Something about Rory's refusal to take into account any of her privileges chafed. There was literally a storyline where she got to choose who would pay for her college education her Dad or her grandparents. And then she chose her Dad to spite Richard and Emily, with no explanation as to why she was mad at them. Maybe, maybe you can say they exploited her vulnerability when she wanted to drop out of Yale, but she didn't give them much of a choice. Rory's very much my way or the highway type person. If they had said no, she'd have cut them off too and probably ran to Lane's. Oh, wait she did do that, I forgot.
I don't blame her for doing with her dad I would have too. Emily and Richard used paying for her tuition to call her where as her dad was doing it to make up for his lack of parenting but he didn't try to focus Rory to be in his life like the Gilmore's did with Rory and Lorelai.
With all the Problems the show had, Sookie meant so much to me as a teenager. In the early 2000s, there really wasn't any representation of a woman even just on the upper end of a "normal BMI" finding love like Sookie, an actual fat woman, did, with a handsome man that was nice to her. I really thought at that age that nobody could even remotely find me attractive, and that I needed to compensate for my supposedly terrible body with a fun personality who could take a joke.
I watched Gilmore Girls for the first time 2 years ago (so long after it aired) and I think it's the first and only show I've seen that showed a nice love story with a plus-size character.
@@360shadowmoon I found Vicar of Dibley later, although it started before GG. Then later I watched Miranda and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. They're all not perfect, either, but they are very special to me.
This made me so happy to read. I’m so glad you felt seen in her, such a kind, funny and gorgeous lady. I loved Sookie. I think Melissa is incredibly talented and I specially loved how beautiful her wardrobe, hair and make up was.
it feels to me like Lorilei didn't like Logan *because* they're too similar, like she is confronted with parts of herself in him that she doesn't want to see and she lets that get in the way of letting her see how he's different from her and how he makes Rory happy
THAT IS THE EXACT OPPOSITE OF WHATS THE TRUTH. LORELAI HATES JESS CUZ THEYRE TOO SIMILAR. LORELAI HATED LOGAN CUZ HE WAS A SNOB BUT THEN LOGAN STARTED GROWING ON HER. BUT, TO THIS DAY SHES NOT FOND OF JESS AT ALL, AND THATS CAUSE THEYRE TOO SIMILAR
@@zumann874 there are similarities between them though. Lorelai may have never left her parents house and lifestyle if she hadn't been pregnant with rory. She also was pretty wild as a teenager
I agree, I also think he was just too confrontational (identity-wise) for her, more than anything, and I felt that was a 'valid' response in the context.
@@zumann874 I wouldn't say a pregnant 16 year old working to support her child independently is very similar to an angry 16 year old crashing cars and getting drunk to deal with his abandonment issues.
I think Lorelai's development is alright. It's just weird because it feels like one of the several storylines that shouldn't have taken ten years to happen.
@@thatjillgirl yes, it's weird that is happening now. After 10 years she and Luke should be set as couple. Emily's development makes sense because it starts with Richard's death that happens right before the show.
I watched Gilmore Girls for the first time last year, and I'm honestly surprised that Rory/Logan isn't the most popular Rory ship. He was undeniably the man she loved the most, they lived together, they were almost engaged, and years later, they still can't let each other go. What I liked the most about their relationship is how Logan always understood the importance of Lorelai in Rory's life, and he was always respectful to her, even when Lorelai didn't like him. They communicated about their issues, and Logan always apologized when he messed up. They even had a great moment when Logan reassured her it was normal for Rory to find other guys attractive. I wouldn't compare Jess and Rory to Luke and Lorelai; that "parallel" doesn't make sense. Luke and Lorelai shared a lot of moments together, and always loved each other. Every single time Rory interacted with Jess post-season 3, she's turning him down and showing zero romantic interest. They don't really know each other anymore and Jess should be over her by now. I also agree with everything you said about Dean. Loved the video!!
Eh, Logan did apologise when he fucked up a lot (which is WAY more than you can say for Jess) But at the same time some of his apologies were kind of shitty. When he first apologised for "cheating" on her (I do agree with Princess's stance on that whole incident, btw), he kinda steamrolled the conversation to "facts and logic" why she's not allowed to be mad. Don't get me wrong, I'm mostly pro-Logan, but the way he handled that was very douch-ey and kind of "oh so you agree x? You agree y? Cool, therefore you're not angry at me :) let's go then"
I feel like watching this as a younger person, I understood the critique of the wealthy people at a very surface level. Ie Logan is rich so obviously he shouldn't be with Rory, so I wanted her with Jessie because he was the bad boy with a softness within and he "needed" her. Even though their relationship was super toxic, it was very exciting as a kid. As an adult Logan absolutely understood Rory the best, was willing to stand by her when she left Yale, supported her even when his own family was against them, and was willing to support her no matter where she ended up after graduating.
I was team Logan from the start too. I'm surprised the fandom is so pro-Jess. I'm assuming it's because most people watched when they were young and obsessed with the "bad boy" trope. Sure, Jess makes for a interesting storyline. But he for sure wasn't the best boyfriend to her. And she isn't his match. Logan is the clear best option.
The thing that frustrates me about Lorelai and Rory is while they rail against classism and privilige and Richard and Emily's snobbery, they have no problem profiting of off it. Ie, paying for Rory's education instead of her getting student loans, or even Rory ever having a steady job throughout her school career. Even in college, she only has a job for a short time that she clearly hates. She never really makes an effort to be financially independent, and we see that continued in AYITL. I understand Lorelai wanted Rory to concentrate on her schooling, but she never really taught Rory how hard it is to be solvent financially as an adult. Rory just always assumes someone's going to be there to pick up the bill. As for Rory's boyfriends, they all definitely had their own issues. dean was definitely gaslit in the earlier seasons, but after season four, he was the one manipulating Rory to feel sorry for him because he's in a marriage he seems to hate, even though lindsey is doing everything she can to please him. Jess matched Rory's intellectual stature, but was never going to be a long term boyfriend because he was too flighty and ran too easily when things got hard. I do believe Logan was the best match at the time for Rory, especially once she got to yale and fully emersed in the world of privilege of her grandparents. Ironically, besides Lorelai in season six, he was the only one who called her out on her bs even as he enabled her entitled behavior. I've already spoken quite a bit on their relationship in AYITL on your other video, but I hate how much they regressed him and almost turned him into a wealthy version of Dean. But again, what's not pointed out nearly enough, is Rory cheated on every single boyfriend she had. Instead, she's hailed as a kind of independent modern woman or something, and it's kind of gross, imo.
@@wordswarsandsymphonies She was going to use him to cheat on Logan. And I feel like she was trying to have her cake and eat it as well by her still being friends with Dean.
Dean had a lot of issues from the get-go that kind of get glossed over by how much Lorelei praises him. I definitely think Lorelei is one of the most annoying characters on and off throughout the show because Rory really is just the result of her parenting, and it shows
Rory is not just a snob when it comes to her legacy but she's also extremely snobby when it comes to other women 1. She judges Lane for joining the cheer squad. She perceives her and Lane as the "better girls" because they never cared for the things that the stereotypical cheerleader would. 2. She's snobby towards Paris and Asher's relationship in season 4. Now while the relationship is terrible and definitely deserves it criticism, she's also rekindling romantic feelings for her married ex boyfriend at the same time. She sees Paris and Asher as this abomination but has no problem harbouring feelings for a married man. 3. She's a snob towards Lindsay, Dean's wife. She looks down on Lindsay for asking Dean to drop out of community college even though THEIR HOUSEHOLD as a married couple was under financial strain. She judges a situation from the perspective of a man she still has feelings for. there are many other instances where we see Rory put herself above other women. She always wants to feel like she's the "chosen girl" she's different from everyone else so of course she knows better than the stereotypical "girly girl"
I mean their biggest quirk was how they ate a lot and stayed thin or how she stayed in on weekend nights to read books. She was bound to be a huge pick me.
she was really insecure and snobby towards logan's female coworker too 🙃 because she was gorgeous and competent she kept jabbing at logan about not being ok that he works with her
But Lindsey really is holding Dean back. I don´t think it´s ever mentioned if and what she works, but it seems like she just sits at home while he goes to work...just doens´t make sense
Jess was by far the most interesting male character in terms of depth out of the three but the absolute worst boyfriend. Even if the actual assault didnt happen he still abandoned town and left her without telling her or saying goodbye, came back and rold her he loved her and didnt wait for a response before running away, he tried to force her to run away with him, and still acts like he knows or understands her more than anyone else. Like bro you guys dated for a few months in high school never communicated anything to one another. Even the being attacked by a swan thing. Just tell her. Obviously she's going to think you were in a fight because you're constantly in fights.
Did he leave after the accident? Because she really had done him dirty by never telling anyone he swerved to avoid hitting an animal. Which could have happened to anyone, even Dean, even Logan.
@@ennuiblue4295 she actually stood up for him and got really mad at everyone for blaming him! I was referring to when they broke up for real, after he found out he wasnt graduating and couldnt take her to the prom he went to california to live with his dad without ever saying goodbye to anyone
@@seopark7467 yeah, he was a terrible boyfriend. But as you said, he was the most interesting character-wise and he does change. I like that he changed for himself, to be better and live up to his potential, not because of her. Honestly I think hes better off without Rory.
I feel like a lot of people who criticize Jess tend to forget his upbringing. He never had a proper representation of a healthy relationship so obviously he’s not going to be the perfect boyfriend. Jess definitely was not perfect and was not a great communicator which was probably what led to the downfall of their relationship. Anyway…. team Jess for life.
I disliked Dean from the first time he broke up with Rory just because she wasn't ready to say I love you at the same exact time as him. That was so immature and selfish. And he just never really redeemed himself to me after that. Next he gets clingy and jealous when Jess arrives, which only serves to drive her away faster. Then the next time he gets together with her it's by cheating on his wife, which is gross. And then he decides that he doesn't want Rory after all, because of the class issue, which he had known about for years and used to be fine with. I just find him consistently self-centered and disappointing.
@@thatjillgirl not only jealous/possessive towards jess, also with tristan. ppl always blame jess for dean's activities saying jess triggered him, but dean's always been that way towards any other man (potential love interests) in rory's life
@@zumann874 did we just forget that Tristan was inlove with Rory while she was with Dean and she was obviously attracted to him? Plus Dean only acted out again Tristan when he would come for him and hit on Rory when she was unconfortable. But then Rory had to lie to him about everything related to Tristan. If anything, I understud why Dean was so insecure with Jess. Rory already gave him trust issues with the whole Tristan situation,.
You could say that the series' ambivalence towards the working class reflects the US' own ambivalence. On the one hand there's this mythologising of hard work and "pulling yourself up by your bootstraps" rhetoric, but the flipside is that people who are and remain working class are looked down on. It's almost like they failed to live up to this myth because they didn't "better" their condition, as if there were no such thing as privilege.
Exactly! Both Lorelai and Luke proudly boast about having built their lives, on their own, no handouts/help from anyone, despite him inheriting the family business and her being taken in by the owner of the Inn and given a job and free accommodation because that woman liked her. That's not standard practice for real working class people 'starting with nothing'.
@@helenl3193 And the show gets more and more neoliberal fantasy land the more you think about it - one of the biggest plot holes is public assistance and child support. Christopher may have been a f-up until Rory was in hs, he wasn't living a hobo life off the grid. Even if his family hated Lorelai, it's not a secret that Rory is his child. It's just weird they didn't provide child support money, even if they didn't want him to ever see her. And okay - let's say that Lorelai didn't want the child support money because she's independent or whatever. There's no way Lorelai could have applied for public assistance of any kind without the state going after Christopher. But like okay sure - lets say she never applied for assistance and lived off the kindness of strangers instead of making sure she could feed her child or at least get her into a children's healthcare program like CHIP. We know for a fact that Rory applied for financial aid - both at Chilton and Yale. It is literally impossible for a person who is under 24 to apply for financial aid without providing both of their parent's information. It doesn't matter if they are a noncustodial parent. It doesn't matter if you are not close, or they do not support you in any way. You either have to provide the info or provide a death certificate or proof their parental rights were formally terminated by the courts. This is not secret information that only people living in poverty know. There is a consistent ignorance about the basic building blocks of life in society that runs as a through line to the show that is really unfortunate - its truly a disservice to the performances and overall writing that storylines that wanted to be about class and privilege rang so false when they could have taken the exact same amount of time and cut like a knife with just a little basic awareness of how anything works.
I think Dean is the best first boyfriend Rory could have had. Of course, he became problematic when cheating on his wife (character assassination) but in terms of his possessiveness, it makes sense. Of course, being possessive may be suffocating sometimes but Rory gave him little to no reassurance in their relationship, she not only physically but emotionally cheated. If Rory was a guy cheating and Dean was a girl being cheated on and jealous, it wouldn’t have been as much of a problem. He also was very happy to provide for Rory and his family. I also think Gilmore Girls fell into the stereotype of making relationships glorified yet having the girl boss/ strong independent woman issue. Dean liking the *idea* of a woman staying home with her family and taking care of her kids just shows that he likes domestic ideals, not necessarily being a masogynist. I think the writers wanted to show it as something he wanted because he lacked with his mother always working. As for being “aggressive”, he was quite a realistic teen boy with proportional reactions to the situations he was put in. He was always respectful to Rory and her family even when he was being blatantly disrespected. He really was made into a “bad guy” to make Jess look better and make him more appealing. As for Jess, I think he is soooo idolised because he seemed to appeal to a majority of teen girls with his bad boy persona. Whilst he did help Rory see she was losing direction later in the show, their relationship was the most toxic out of the ones shown. They couldn’t communicate well and it felt like he had a deep rooted resentment towards Rory’s social class. Jess was disrespectful to her family and didn’t put effort into impressing them. Rory did need to be adored and it became so obvious throughout the series. The more you look into it, the more you realise how Jess did help Rory’s character develop but he was ultimately the opposite of Dean. There is an element to those two boys being the two different versions of the teen boy. One (Jess) is much more toxic and demanding and a playboy that refuses to change his ways for a girl he supposedly loves. The other (Dean) is much more of a sweet, innocent and pure guy that gets his heart broken by the girl and reacts emotionally. It seems stereotypical but, at it’s core, it is quite accurate. Logan and Tristan are also two sides of the same coin or more like the same person in different stages of life. Tristan is flirty but emotionally intelligent and quite likeable (I’ll forever mourn the relationship Tristan and Rory could’ve had). Logan is unapologetic about being rich and a snob (sometimes) and claims his identity. He was very similar to Lorelai but didn’t expect applause for going away from the path of privilege unlike her. There was a humbleness within him claiming that privilege. He understood that he had been fed with a silver spoon from the womb but didn’t try to hide it or be ashamed of it. This take was soooo refreshing because being privileged is not the person’s fault (from wealth to beauty), Logan didn’t need to apologise for it. He acknowledged it but was able to be likeable despite his jerk, spoiled background. Rory, on the other hand, wanted to have the naivety of being brought up “poor” but actually get to have the experiences and opportunities of the ultra-privileged. Sorry for rambling, just some discussion points and thoughts. :)
I agree with everything you said but I don't think it's fair to criticise jess for not wanting to impress Rory's grandparents, especially because we all know it was highly unlikely that they would treat him fairly. Also most people despise the wealthy and their privilege so I don't we should criticise that either
@@lav1088 Completely agree! However, if you choose to date and, later, love someone, you need to understand and at least accept them completely. He knew what he was getting into from the very start. If he wanted to be with Rory, he needed to accept that she was and would always be of a higher social class.
I don't quite agree with you on Dean but mainly regarding the "character assassination" part. Dean was always jealous and possessive even in season 1. I could have maybe given him the benefit of doubt re: Jess in season 2 but we see him be incredibly weird around Tristan and Rory even in season 1 despite Rory repeatedly saying that she wasn't interested in Tristan. Yes, Tristan did try to get Dean angry at the dance and succeeded, but if Dean knew that Tristan was like this, why take it out on Rory when he sees them together despite Tristan repeatedly nagging Rory (and Rory showing no interest in him) and by the last episode in season 1, Dean had broken up with her, so Rory technically didn't even owe him an explanation re: why she was talking to Tristan in the school yard. This even continued in season 2 before Jess came to the show, and to be honest, Dean's possessiveness of Rory doesn't get any better even when Jess leaves and Dean marries another woman. If the show had always relied on Dean to make Jess look better, I'd understand the character assassination argument, but it doesn't. By the end of season 3, Dean ends up looking better than Jess did, and Dean's behavior only worsens in season 4 when Jess isn't even around. Also, another thing with Dean is that a lot of times, he expected there to be a "reward" for him doing these giving things to Rory, like expecting her to say "I love you" back solely because he built her a car. If this behavior of his had stopped by the time he left high-school, I would've understood that as him just being an emotional teenager, but unfortunately it again doesn't. By season 5 we see Lindsay also suffer from this because despite trying her best to be a good wife to Dean, he takes it for granted only to pursue Rory even when Rory herself tries to end the affair. Re: Rory's family, Dean wasn't always "happy to provide", but I could understand his reaction towards her grandparents because they outright disapproved of him. And even with Jess, the situation ends up messy solely because he came with a black eye and was embarrassed about it. That isn't to say that he handled that situation well but he could've easily just not gone to the dinner at all despite making plans with Rory for it, yet showed up all the same. Also, I don't think Jess was really a playboy? He just had a relationship with Shane and broke up with her before doing anything with Rory.
What i liked about Rory and Logan is that it felt like they actively challenged each other while being good for each other- it seems like we got a lot more discussions between them when they argued versus JUST screaming matches. not that they were a perfect couple but they seemed like a good fit as Rory gravitated to the more upper class side of life later in life
The "break" between Logan and Rory drives me crazy. Logan made it VERY clear that he had never had a relationship before. Then, they have a fight and Rory refuses to speak to him for literal months (she talks to Logan's sister on Thanksgiving, hearing that he said they had broken up. They get back together after NYE, so it's been almost two months, minimum). Unless we were married, I would take such an extended distance as a clear break up. She doesn't even reach out to communicate with him, but is furious when he doesn't understand her opinion of the break? She thinks he owes her communication, when she never came give him that same consideration.
And what Rory's a relationship expert? She had two lowkey toxic high school relationships. Logan's "I've never done this so you can't be mad at me" doesn't sit right. If Rory had slept with Jess in the off period, she would get no grace, and no one would expect Logan to take her back. And that doesn't even begin to address how Logan didn't call either. This isn't Friends where the word "break" was used. They fought, they BOTH ghosted, and then he slept around. He made no attempt to call her even though he was so heartbroken. Then the show doesn't address it because he gets injured in some cliff diving adventure and the whole thing's swept under the rug.
@@veronicachandler1314 In Rory's two toxic high school relationships, she still seemed to know that she couldn't avoid them for months and expect them not to move on. 😂
I agree with all of this, but also Logan is very sneaky at the end of the break and nobody ever says anything about it. He very clearly thought they were broken up(without confirmation, but that’s fine) and acts accordingly, he sleeps with other women, tells his family they broke up etc. His actions make that very clear, but the moment that Rory tries to get confirmation about it he lies, says “oh no, I’ve known we were together the whole time, it was just easier to tell my family we’d broken up.” And then only tells her the truth when she confronts him, and then they don’t get an actual conversation, just Logan flipping the blame onto Rory for the lack of communication. Not saying he’s in the wrong for thinking they were separated, but he’s very like Rory in this way. He’ll say whatever’s the most convenient for him at the moment and try to play the victim when it comes to bite him in the ass. They almost never have a real conversation about how they feel because he pulls a Rory, and she lets him, then drops the topic. Only boyfriend she lets get away with it because she’s not the one doing it 😂
It has always bothered me how Rory has emotionally cheated on Dean. I feel like characters don't ever get put in their place when they emotionally cheat let alone physically cheat. I'm glad to see someone agrees. I agree with everything you say in this video you are speaking facts!
Even as someone who wouldn't pick logan for Rory, I absolutely _hated_ what they did to his character. It was probably one of the worst aspects of the revival
@@LaviniaDeMortalium not really did you forget when he slept with all of his sisters friends after a fight with Rory. If anything they made him better people are forgetting the trouble Logan was in last season because they want to focus on Rory rejecting his proposal, but he was in serious legal trouble up to the last few episodes. In the revival he seem to had his head on straight and matured a lot yeah he was cheating on his fiancee with Rory but he was running around doing stupid stuff to piss off his dad anymore.
Thank you! That one time when Logan actually calls Rory out for who she really is and who she clearly wants to be is my favourite part of all of GG. She clearly likes her privilege and feel entitled to it, and simultaneously fights to deny it exists let alone the moral question of harnessing it for the greater good rather than for her own benefit. She does this because she likes thinking of herself as morally superior and using that to justify bad behaviour and vilify those who might challenge any of what she believes she is entitled to have. Logan at least forces her to be honest with herself about who she is.
They really tried to destroy him on the revival, but, on the actual show, he was the only one who truly saw her and stood up to her BS and they made each other better people.
Absolutely. Paladino spitefully undid all of his character development in the revival, likely because it wasn't her intended path. While I do still believe that Jess is a slightly better match, Logan is BY FAR the best, most attentive, and most mature of Rory's partners by the time he exits. He genuinely does change, and if Rory had been more open to riding on his wealth/connections, they'd be an incredibly successful and happy power couple. Of course, Paladino would've undid that success anyway (just like she did with the Obama thing) because she was weirdly intent on using Rory as a lazy millennial-stereotype.
@@V.elociraptor I actually don't think she was intent on making her a millennial stereotype. I can't quite say why but I kinda feel like she just wrote it, and then when people asked her afterwards started saying the millennial thing
@@zumann874 She made her confront all her hypocrisy and acknowledge her privilege, which made her more grateful to the people around her and brought her down to be more grounded. She made him a much more responsible man, much more willing to take things seriously and be his own men.
@@kaichen04 he yelled at rory for writing that article, yes. but, where tf did they show us that rory became more grounded??? rory stole a yacht with him, ended up in prison, dropped out of yale, stopped talking to her mom for how long, started acting like a snob. and he didnt say a word about any of this and was content as long as rory was there partying and drinking with him. and you want me to believe they made each other better?? hell, no.
A bit of a tangent, but regarding the parallel, "history repeats itself" thing they were trying to do with Lorelei and Rory - I felt there was already a perfectly good parallel for Lorelei's story: Lane. Lane had an overbearing mother, who Lane distanced herself from in order to grow as her own person. Lane got pregnant young, and (I thought) would need to figure out how to follow her dreams while struggling as a young mom. Just like Lorelei. It's not an exact repeat of Lorelei's situation, but the themes of Lane's story echo Lorelei's, and I thought her path would riff on Lorelei's. Of course, that's back when I thought Gilmore Girls was a fun escapist fantasy, and not a show that decided at the end that it hated its main characters. I thought we'd see Lane (and Zach and the kids) chasing Lane's music dreams, while adapting and sacrificing as necessary. I didn't realize they'd just drop Lane's character and story completely.
I remember while watching as the girls criticized and mocked the wealthy, they themselves spent so much on superficial useless crap and eating out. I always liked logan and hated Jess so I appreciate this.
They also have that thing they share with Parks & Rec where they focus so much on how the characters love eating lots of junk food, while also making fun of fat people a lot.
Lauren gram funnily enough had a very intense workout and diet; she’s like super tall and eats fewer calories than a 5’3 woman eats she would be one of those people she mocks if her character ate the way she ate in real life
I think Christopher's inconsistency is the point. He's constantly under the impression that he's capable of offering more as a partner and father than he's capable of giving, so he never lives up to the expectations. That paired with the issue of "timing" between him and Lorelai make for him never really being what either of them need.
I feel so validated hearing your points about Dean in the early seasons, people seem to forget that he was also a teenage boy, and it makes me so sad that they ruined his character just for another of rory’s love interest to be introduced like
I appreciate so much of what you said about Dean. People give him so much crap for not being “ambitious” enough. I always counter it by saying he is from a working class family and is way more practical and was not handed a silver spoon to take crazy risks with his career. And I’ve ALWAYS felt like his anger was justified. Even after all the BS he had to deal with he never mistreated Rory which is way more than we can say about Jess and Logan.
YESSSSS i've been saying for literally years and years that logan is the best because hes the only one who made any effort at all to recognize his own issues in the relationship and work WITH Rory to improve it. and i dont understand how anyone can be team jess after the attempted assault, like if literallly everything else about him and the relationship had been perfect (which, no) i still dont think i could have gotten over that.
I didn't like Jess when I first watched Gilmore Girls. I was already 18 and I guess thats why, if I had watched it back when I was 11 I probably would've loved him. However, I did sympathize with him. It seemed like he was pushing everyone away from him, to stop himself from getting too close with people. I was a bit like that too, when I was around 14 - 15, and I did a few stupid petty things. Jess was not welcome into the town as soon as he arrived, and he knew that. Being that the case, I understand why he basically hated everyone. He was simply defensive. Still, theres no denying had a lot of issues and he was responsible for the mistakes he made. And I think he did face consequences. He left and then came back expecting Rory to take him back, but she didn't, she rejected him. And then he basically disappeared, and was portrayed simply as Rory's mistake. The reason why people like Jess so much is because when he came back, although it was short-lived, he definitely had changed as a person. He got his shit together and matured, and that was very touching for me, specially re-watching the show in my twenties. It was kind of bittersweet not to be able to watch him grow out of his angry boy attitude, but I was happy to see that he actually made something out of his strengths. He matured and that's not something that can be said about Rory or Logan (he was ok, yeah he was aware of his privilege and that makes him better than Rory, in a way, but he was a still arrogant rich boy who got everything he wanted without trying and he looked down on people that had less than him). Adult Jess made him the best "love-interest" character for me. However, in the end, Rory is perfectly matched with Logan, they're very similar and he does try to make the relationship work. I dont think he works too much on his issues, because his main issues are not related to or affect Rory directly. But yeah, he does work on the points of conflict within the relationship. So, they were ok together.
@@kiamaria331 s3e19 keg! max! , lanes band is playing at Kyle's birthday party, and Jess and Rory go, Jess is really upset because he's just found out that he's going to have to repeat senior year and can't go to the prom, and he and Rory go up to Kyle's bedroom to talk, and he keeps kissing her, and she keeps telling him to stop, and he keeps going even when she tells him to stop multiple times, until she basically throws him off of her, and then he gets pissed off at her for doing that and yells at her until she cries
@@strawberysprite Holy shit, I’ve been watching the show sporadically for years, just checked Netflix and last time I watched I was on S5 so I had to have seen that one. What a scene to forget, lol. Big yikes 😬.
"That charm is the remnants of their class privilege" well said 👏🏽 I find when ppl, celebrities esp are labelled as "charming" yes in some rare cases it's their amiable personality but more often than not it's the charm of living a charmed, financially stable life.
Yup, what are more likely to be for having lived a charmed life? Optimistic or bitter? Enthusiastic or burned out? Fanciful or jaded? Outgoing or guarded? It makes sense tbh
I feel like all of Rory's relationships throughout the series follow a natural progression of teen to adult romances. Her relationship with Dean starts off sweet and innocent, and when she meets Jess he brings something out of her that she didn't even know existed, so she gets naturally drawn to this situation, but as a young teen she doesn't know exactly what she is feeling because she does love Dean and doesn't want to hurt him, but on the other side she is really attracted to Jess, and the big conflict is "Should I leave my secure relationship to pursue an unsure path?" which is a feeling I'm sure a lot of young teens can relate. Starting to date young is a confusing time.
Yeah - I actually don't blame her for "emotionally cheating" on Dean because I'm pretty sure young Rory didn't even recognize the feelings she was developing for Jess at first. When you're new to romance, you don't always recognize romantic attraction even when it's happening to you. Emotional cheating is a real thing among adults who have committed to long-term relationships (or marriage), but it's different when you're talking about kids in high school.
I agree I feel like people want to condemn the characters for appearing too perfect while simultaneously condemning them for making mistakes. I think all the characters in the show are deeply flawed particularly Rory and Lorelei and that’s what makes them interesting and complex characters. They make many mistakes but their experiences are human and realistic. Of course no one enjoyed how Rory treated dean but it explored a lot of relatable themes about adolescence, young love, and self discovery.
@@360shadowmoon disagree. She kisses Jess and stayed with Dean. She was mad that he had a gf so it shows she expected him to wait for her. Maybe at first she wasn't aware of her emotions but it lasted for monthes and for a long moment she knew what she was doing that even her mom would tell her to pick between Dean and Jess. Being 16 does not make you completely oblivious. She was just bot being considerate towards Dean's emotions because she's very self centered.
The whole financial aide thing is not correct on many levels. The financial aide is based on the previous year's taxes so the fact that Lorelai recently got a $75,000 check would not have had an impact on that year's financial aide offer. The cost of going to Yale is insanely higher than an average college and even though Rory was not low-income she still might have been eligible for 'some' financial aide. That being said, this was kind of repeat of the beginning dilemma with Chilton.
Yeah, if you're a freelancer paying for your kid's tuition you learn this the hard way - if you have a bad year after a good year they still calculate your contribution based on your good year. I think this is significant because fluency with these kinds of financial issues is usually a result of legacy - if you went to college yourself or your parents teach you. Lorelei removed herself from that world before she learned about her parents' financial world in that way.
I don’t hate Logan, I actually like his character flaws and all. but damn do I like dislike Rory when she is with him. And I don’t think it’s really totally his fault. But Rory has always been my least fave version of herself with Logan. Which is saying a lot cause she is with him for the longest and basically after she becomes an adult.
yes. Logan does have an influence, but in the end these are Rory's choices. I do dislike Logan a bit. He thinks hes better than people who have less than him. I dont get why people act like Logan recognizing his privilege in such a big deal. Yeah, he thrives in his privilege, which is ok, but we never see him work hard (and yes, some rich people also work hard, they have an advantage and they make the best out of it) and if he doesnt like the plan his father has for him, he never makes an effort to divert from it. He thinks he can do stupid things, just bc he knows he can get away with it, because of his father's money. He thinks hes better than others (just like his father) and thats not something I can put up with.
Honestly I think that part of the reason Luke is so quick to attack Dean is partly due to his self-hatred. He sees too much of himself in Dean. He doesn’t think he deserves Lorelei and so Dean doesn’t deserve Rory. Also, I don’t think that Liz being goofy is really all that jarring. I think she’s fairly realistically portrayed as what kind of mother Jess would have and it makes sense why he turned out like that. It’s clear that Liz had a bit of a revolving door of men through her life while Jess was younger, and it’s clear through her inability to really look after herself that she wouldn’t have been fit to look after a child. I also imagine Jess would have had to deal with Liz’s outbursts and emotional breakdowns a lot, and definitely would have been someone that Liz relied in way too much emotionally. You gotta remember, we really only meet Liz after she’s met TJ, and we know that he had a really positive influence on her settling down into a proper routine. But even then, you can see how she often will still subtly manipulate Luke into helping her do things. Liz may come across as goofy and light-hearted, but that’s clearly not the full picture. Also, we do see her have one of her emotional breakdowns with TJ after she falls pregnant with her second kid. I can only imagine that these sort of breakdowns would have been a much more common occurrence before TJ became a stabilising factor in her life.
I think the painful truth is GG is actually quite honest about class in America … as opposed to merely having money. Lorelei’s genuinely valid achievements are made possible by the intangible education of growing up Emily’s daughter: she becomes a party planner and small in manager that caters to the very rich. She learned the tastes and skills to make that happen growing up in that environment. She also has the imagination to say my kid is going to be in the Ivy League because Lorelei is a Yale legacy whose idea of rebellion is that Rory will go to Harvard instead… giving Rory a sense that she gets where she’s going without being a legacy. She understands the value of private school for that goal. And then of course Emily and Richard don’t just bring money to support Rory with Chilton but actively present Rory with high class cultural enrichment… a coming out party, they teach her how to dress and present herself, she meets people in high places. They end up undermining whatever efforts Lorelei made to break from that social class, and they do it on purpose. Class is a structure that transcends mere money and Gilmore Girls captures that perfectly.
THANK YOU for saying "emotions from a (teen) boy isn't toxic"! We NEED to accept that guys have emotions, too, and SHOULD be able to express them. That is healthy and I think the LACK of that expression HELPS cause more toxic masculinity problems! Thank you so much for noting this difference!
Team Jess because I relate to him the most. I don't think Liz is a horrible person but who knows what type of abusive relationships she has been in that Jess witnessed or even was a victim of. I'm sure his love of reading was feuled by his desire to escape his chaotic home life. Also I think Jess is most like Lorelei because they both carry this weight of being unwanted by their parents (especially their fathers) and their both so sassy which is ironic because that's why Lorelei doesn't like him.
They changed Dean too... Because Jess was written the quirky, intelligent, smart dropout... Dean in contrast became written as "nice but dim" which is pretty much the working class trope used time and time by Gilmore Girls writers... Luke is a prime example of that as are other characters in town. Simply because they're not in the Gilmores circles... So then Rory kinda came across as intellectually superior as well as highly privileged...
My favorite Gilmore Girls' scenes which are related to love: 1. The episode where Lorelai is all prepared for Rory's broken-heart breakdown (I think from a Dean breakup). She has told Rory repeatedly that episode...that she is there to talk over everything and what foods/movies they would partake...to process the heartbreak...when Rory is ready to talk it through. Rory says repeatedly that she is fine. Then, Lorelai comes home...and Rory is crying (while eating ice cream out of the carton). Lorelai then gets her moment to comfort Rory through her 1st heartbreak. ❤ 2. The Lorelai episode - where we discover Lorelai was named after her independent Aunt Lorelai and that Rory's real name is Lorelai...named in part after that Aunt and Lorelai herself. However, the series seems to suggest that the nickname "Rory" seems to be for Rory to establish her own identity - separate from the 2 independent women for whom she is named. Plus, this episode shows how pregnant teenage Lorelai left her family to become independent and work for the Inn. This proved Lorelai's love to provide her daughter a better life. 3. The episode where Rory had a cotillion/coming-of-age-in-society party and Christopher was supposed to show up. He came late and Rory angrily & tearfully confronted him on his behavior and raced up the stairs. Next, Lorelai (who had been entertaining thoughts that Christopher was now a "changed" responsible man) also confronted him...and in distress, she raced up those same stairs. Protective parents Emily & Richard stopped Christopher from going upstairs and chastised him for causing their daughter and granddaughter to be consistently hurt by his behavior. (They finally realized why teenage Lorelai had chosen to raise Rory alone without Christopher). 4. Friendship love...when Sookie was certain her vegetable garden would die from the cold weather...and the whole Inn team slept outside amongst the vegetables with Sookie - to help Sookie's garden survive. Even previous-complainer Mi'chel reluctantly said it was the best night sleep that he had experienced in a while.
These are all great moments but I think the third is actually a combination of 2 different episodes. One i think from season 2 and another from season 3, but I can't remember the specific ones
@@MissIndipendant98 yea I think this is partially from the season where Rory and Lorelai are both upset with Chris because he got Sherry pregnant. If I remember correctly, Chris was at the coming-out party in season 2 because it's where we first learn about Sherry.
I really did like the high school episodes - they were so wholesome. Things got messier as the show went on. I could relate to Rory's first kiss and heartbreak experiences...not so much when she had an affair with a married Dean, though.
Small correction on 2: The first Lorelai is not Lorelai's aunt but her grandmother (she is Richard's mother). I'm deeply curious how Emily was ever persuaded to name Lorelai after her, given the way Emily feels about Lorelai the First.
@@thatjillgirl Thank you for the correction...it's been years since I watched the series...even though I lovingly own it. I wonder was there a compromise with Richard...he got to name their daughter after his mother...and Emily would have full say in the rearing of Lorelai???? He may have compromised other things (she could be a socialite housewife, have authority over how the house was run, could decide what society parties they would attend, etc.).
I kinda always assumed that Liz was a drug addict but that it being the CW they couldn't say it in so many words so I figured she was clean when moving to Stars Hollow
I also thought that was the implication. It's sort of re-emphasized by Luke too that like... "she's really trying this time." and when they realize that TJ is not abusive like her other partners, then he becomes open to supporting her and all. I actually quite like how she's described is different to how she ultimately appears because that's honestly a really human issue of people not being able to let of the idea of who a person was when they knew them, vs. the person that they have ultimately become. Also, Liz can be scraping by/trying her best, and that can still result in Jess being subjected to trauma tertiarily. So I think it's actually a very emotionally earnest 3D character rendering.
@@shelbymachado8712that’s what I always thought. She always wanted good for Jess and at times really tried, realised she wasn’t up for it but tried to redeem herself. Jess’ opinion on her will be very different being raised by her, than Luke having grown up with her, to ppl like Lorelei or the viewer only meeting her when we do.
Alright, you've convinced me, I'm going team Logan. I wasn't a particular team before actually, I was sort of thinking Rory just needed someone new, and I liked that season 7 left things open for her romantically. But yeah, I do think that Logan was the best, it was definitely the most functional relationship that she had in the show, where they did help each other grow. Unpopular opinion, but I don't hate Rory or think she's a terrible person (at least not overall). I think she's an interesting character, who does make a lot of mistakes and is often in the wrong. Maybe I like her more, because I never really felt like I was always supposed to take her side? Sometimes she's in the right, sometimes she's in the wrong, she seemed to very much be someone figuring herself out to me, which is normal for a teen and then new adult. She was a model kid in some ways, but absolutely played with bad behavior. I think something about Rory, is that she's a bit of a people pleaser, and because of that, has internalized both her mother's vision for her and her grandparents' vision for her. On the one hand, Rory is her mother's child, named after her, and strongly modeling herself after her mother. Here Rory internalizes Lorelei's scorn for the upper class. Lorelei has that scorn because of having lived the upper class upbringing, the repressiveness of it, the pressure, the negativity and insipidness, the valuing of superficiality and the nastiness and fakeness of it. Rory doesn't have that lived experience and Lorelei also shields her from the details of it, because she doesn't want that for Rory. Consequently, Rory's scorn of the upper class is more of a mimicry of her mother's, rather than informed, and she is consequently very unprepared for when she encounters real upper class nastiness with Logan's family. (Also, I'd assume that the reason Lorelei doesn't like Logan despite their similarities, is in fact, because of their similarities, and Lorelei's need to distance and differentiate herself from her upbringing.) Of course, despite Lorelei's scorn for the upper class... she still wants every opportunity possible for her daughter, she wants Rory to be able to benefit from the money and privilege they have access too. Because of this, she has to reevaluate her rejection of privilege, she has to shift her stance. She'll take advantage of that upper class identity for Rory. On the other hand, Rory is her grandparents 'redo' child, literally a new Lorelei, one who isn't combative and resistant, who wants to please. This is explicitly discussed in the show, this idea that Lorelei was a failure and that Rory is their shiny chance to have respectable offspring. An idea that gets challenged throughout the show. When Rory has her break from Yale, in the DAR (is that what it's called? I'm forgetting), is basically embracing upper class insipidness, Richard suddenly realizes that this isn't he wants for Rory, actually, and that actually he wants her to be more like Lorelei, meanwhile Emily is put off by his sudden switch, since Rory now is what they had wanted for Lorelei then. (In this situation, Rory also starts experiencing a little taste of what Lorelei experienced, the repressiveness and control when the grandparents realize she's sexually active and try to purity culture.) Mild (related) digression, but throughout the series, Emily and Richard kind of gain more appreciation for Lorelei's independent nature and abilities (Independence Inn, lol). Notably with Emily, when Richard is in the hospital, Emily is unable to do a lot of the things that need doing, because Richard always did them and Emily is very much the upper class wife who doesn't do work. Lorelei steps in and helps, shows Emily how to do things, and Emily observes that it's like she's in a kayak, rather than a canoe, she can do things on her own. Notably with Richard, when Richard is being 'phased out' by his company, basically when playing good boy to upper class expectations doesn't serve him, it's with Lorelei's help that he's able to set up his own competing business, and tbh, he probably couldn't have done it without her. Lorelei has the ability to function and succeed outside of the upper class structure, the ability to make things herself. So, getting a better appreciation for Lorelei contributes to the shift of actually wanting different things for Rory than they wanted for Lorelei. Like, pursuing her ambitions and interests. All of that family background is integral to who Rory is, because while she's shielded from the details of it, she experiences it in the expectations put on her. And of course she'd want to fulfill those expectations, those expectations come from love, her mom and grandparents absolutely love and adore her. Anyway, I think that this is why Rory sometimes has very conflicting ideas about class and I think her journey in the show is one of figuring out how to be her own person. (Which is wrecked by the damn revival in which they try to have her repeat her mother's accidental pregnancy thing, to be Lorelei 2.0 instead of Rory. I'm just going to ignore the revival, none of it made sense and ruins everything.) Generally, the class examination in Gilmore Girls is more about the benefits and detriments of depending on upper class privilege vs the benefits and detriments of independent self-making. It's a limited examination of class.
Spot on!! Rory being a people pleaser explains so many of her apparently contradictory actions... Driven but allergic to rejection... Also, I can't believe I never realized until now why the Independence Inn was named that way 😂😂😂
I believe Rory ends where she does because Amy came back and that is how she always envisioned the ending. Though I personally think Rory was supposed to say "mom I'm pregnant" after graduating from Yale, not age 35.
Very insightful! I never considered how Rory’s view of privilege is a limited one compared to her mom’s lived experiences. But yes, as a daughter and a people pleaser (potentially from growing up with only her mom and therefore cherishing her approval above all else) she was mirroring her mother’s belief system. Very very well written ^_^/
When you started going off about how dirty they did Logan in the revival this instantly became an interactive video for me I was out of my seat I cheering, I was shouting, I was adding, I had to go back and rewatch bc I ended up missing half of what you said lmao I got too amped up 😂
42:01 this phone call is… god, SO embarrassing when you listen to it from the perspective of the financial aid office worker. “My daughter is Rory GILMORE (who’s family came over on the mayflower and who’s grandparents will later donate a building), why didn’t we qualify for financial aid? Yes we got $75k but we spent it so it’s gone? Don’t you know how money works?”
Honestly Stars Hollow seems like such a rich place, it doesn't feel like anyone truly working class would even be able to live there. I think perhaps it doesn't help that Laurelei has already become very successful in her own right before the show starts. So the show is really more focused on a dynamic of middle class vs upper class and working class character are pretty minor. I don't even think Luke is really working class he just has the aesthetic of a working class character. He's a business owner who's father was also a business owner and he never really seems to struggle with money at all. As for the boyfriends this video makes a very good argument. I guess I dislikes Logan's personality but then I didn't like Dean or Jess either
Maybe the reason Lorelei doesn't like Logan is because he is another adult in her daughter's life, which also means that she could start losing her and their strong connection. So in that sense, he is a threat. It would be perfectly understandable for a single mom who was so close to her daughter for so long to feel scared of losing that relationship and closeness. While Lorelei is rationally aware of the fact that Rory will obviously go to college and make her own life, emotionally, it's hard to cope with that transition when it becomes real.
Thank you SO much for validating and articulating my thoughts about how Dean deserved so much better. My partner, who was only vaguely aware of the series growing up, has become very invested in the series since I started playing it as background noise while I work. Now he has very strong opinions and constantly clamors on about how Dean is someone with anger problems whom you have to walk on eggshells around. He calls me a Dean apologist when I remind him he’s a teenager and that Rory has entitlement issues as well as poor communication skills. I don’t have the heart to tell him that he’s always reminded me of Dean at his core; so supportive, dependable, unafraid of being emotional vulnerable, and never makes you question their motives. I’m showing him this video, then hopefully he’ll let me make a Dean shrine in our living room that he can make offerings to every day.
First, Team Logan. And about the Ace thing (I know, focusing on the important things here) I think it was viewed by some as him disrespecting her. Especially since Tristan called her Mary all the time. Except Rory never had a problem with Ace. She repeatedly told Tristan to stop calling her Mary, and he wouldn't listen. And the one time Logan knew she didn't like a nickname (kiddo) he acknowledged it and said he wouldn't do it anymore.
One thing I did like about the revival though, was Rory's and Jess's relationship. They have a mutually respectful relationship, they care about each other and are good friends. I think this was the best evolution for them, it just feels very natural.
Great video! I do have one qualm. Logan's Step Mom was right: There's Gilmore Money and then there's Huntzberger money. There's plenty of wealthy people but only a few "master of the universe" type families in any given country. Richard worked for a company. Mitchum owned a corporate empire. Logan was projecting his own class status onto Rory whenever he yelled at her saying that she was a hypocrite. Rory was definitely not on his level. Nobody on the show is clear-eyed about their class position, including Logan. But I do love Logan!
You would probably had to have a mother like Jess mother to understand how she was everything Jess/Luke said. Yet, at the same time being likable. I understood instantly. She was just as they described before meeting her on screen. Let me keep listening 🤣
Maybe so! I felt like Liz when we met her was a ditzy hippie mom. But she never seemed negligent imo. She felt just like Lorelei but without the class privilege and a child who would raise themself to me xD
that's interesting you felt that way especially because i remember when she was pregnant with her second child she mentioned something about how this time around she wasn't going to be on drugs and they played it off for laughs but nothing about liz and lorelai imo were remotely similar. It's obvious, atleast to me, with how she would constantly rely on Luke to bail her out and because gilmore girls is a show that imo can't go indepth with drug addiction but she always came across as someone who clearly didn't prioritize Jess, was probably strung out on drugs a lot of the time growing up and would bring around different men and sure she wasn't physically or verbally abusive, but I think it was clear she was not a very present parent, especially emotionally and that can be a lot for a kid who has also been abandoned by his dad. This isn't towards you but a general comment, I sometimes find it problematic the way people seem to think parents have to be such an extreme level of evil for for the audience to believe that maybe they are a shitty parent and that maybe the kids are valid for having antagonistic feelings towards them.
The idea that Rory is supposed to be portrayed as perfect, or that the show is not aware of the ambiguity/hypocrisy of Lorelai's class identity... suffice to say, we have very different viewing experiences.
THANK YOU! Finally a review that did right by my boy Logan. He's not a terrible guy as some people make him out to be to make Jess look good. I also LOVED that you didn't downplay that horrific assault scene and mentioned it several times.
A part of the show I really enjoy is the contrast between Lorelai and Rory. You have Lorelai who wanted to run away from the privileged and restrictive lifestyle she was born to , to live by her own merit (to an extent) and Rory who runs right back to it because as someone who grew up somewhat outside it she sees the desirable elements of it, like the glamour and opportunity
i watched gilmore girls for the first time when i was a kid and my favorite part was logan/rory. and i’ve rewatched it many times since then and i still love them. i love that butt faced miscreant and i’m so happy someone is finally sticking up for him.
I watched Gilmore Girls long after it premiered. Yet, I developped a special love for it. It's total comfort TV for me: nice ambience, a lot of humor, relatable characters, relatively low stakes - perfect. There's also the element that I come from a similarly complicated maternal background. There are obviously some problematic elements. I'm always shocked at the amount of homophobic jokes. And the classism is crazy, especially how the text tries to deny its existence. Regarding the topic of Rory's romantic exploits, I always considered Jess the most interesting option, specifically because of the issues and the potential of him going through some personal developpment to become ready for some actual emotional comittment. With Logan, I always got the impression that he kind of forced himself to be what Rory wanted which created some tension just below the surface (I saw his alcohol consumption as a sign for that and a potential long-term issue). But it's perfectly possible that I superimposed some personal feelings there.
Jess has always been my favorite, but that’s BECAUSE of how awful he is for (and to) Rory. He’s an interesting character who generated a lot of messy drama that was fun to watch. When Rory leaves him behind at the end of season 3, it feels like a real victory. Loved the class analysis, too.
As much as I hate Jess, I actually think that scrapped spin off could have worked really well. It would have allowed for him to have some actual proper character growth. Like, I feel like they could have done something really compelling with the character, if only they actually DID something with him. The main stumbling block for me is HE NEVER APOLOGISES FOR ALL HIS SHIT. He just turns up in S4 and is indignant that Rory hasn't magically forgiven him!
@@zumann874 I'm talking about every scene he's in in S4. His general shitty teen attitude. He acts like it was some break up where both people wronged each other. No, everything that lead to their break up in s3 was directly his fault and he treated her like crap. Do something with that, have him apologise or something. He just turns up at her dorm and asks her to run away with him.
@@Jaros yes, he should have apologized. thats totally his fault. but, he was never angry with rory that she didnt apologize? also, jess was mostly in the wrong for their messy relationship. but, the faults weren't completely one-sided. rory's fault was that she never trusted jess as much as she trusted dean and even she admits that in one episode. jess had a shitty self esteem to begin with and rory fueled it by always comparing him with dean even when he wasn't at fault (like the night at emily's dinner). so, both of them were at faults for their relationship and jess was more accountable, i agree.
@@Jaros thats the point? He was an awful boyfriend, and a teenager with lots of issues in those seasons. Thats why he gets what he deserves, he faces consequences for acting like a jerk. Hes rejected. But youre very consciously choosing to just remember teenager Jess. He grows up, hes in the show briefly and he has changed. So I dont get why would you hate Jess. I hated Jess as Rory's boyfriend when they were teens. After, he was the only person we see that truly has positive development. And no, I dont want him to be with Rory. Adult Jess is better off without her.
This might be one of the best video essays on GG and on the phenomena of “classlessness” I’ve ever seen, neatly wrapped up in an easily digestible package of a retro sitcom/soap.
55:28 Thank you so much for mentioning the attempt of Jess to assault Rory. I’ll never understand how that’s always forgotten by everyone, it’s a really serious issue.
I wouldn’t call that attempted assault. If you’re talking about the episode where he initiates sex and she isn’t ready and he gets all pouty about it? It’s shitty but not assault. Calling it that makes a disservice to real rape victims
@@clairewillow6475 And saying that’s not an attempt of assault invalidates the experiences of many survivors and does a disservice not only to survivors but also to people who could find themselves in those situations after watching that scene, which if seen as an attempt on sexually assaulting Rory could help them recognise what’s going on sooner and hopefully get out of there. You do not get to invalidate my experiences.
the reason why is because the writers made it forgettable. They didnt present it as a serious issue. And honestly I get the feeling they just put it there to create tension. For the writers themselves, it wasnt that serious, which is fucked up.
@@optimistichaos9004 i completely respect ur opinion. i dont wanna feel like im invalidating ur opinion at all, but i just wanna state the context in which that scene happens. two eps before that party episode, the last kiss rory and jess have in front of the diner, both of them hint at having sex and rory says "keep thinking what you're thinking" and jess replies "i don't have a choice". and exactly right after that scene, rory goes home to tell lorelai that she wants to have sex with jess. many ppl forget this scene happened when talking abt what happened at the party. so lorelai replies "just tell me before it happens." and at the party, jess has no prior thoughts of having sex with rory that night at all, he sits there depressed. only when him and rory start mutually making out and she gets down on the bed by her own, thats when he thinks it would lead to sex. and jess shouldve completely stopped the first time rory said wait. yess thats totally his fault, he was so shitty for behaving like that. but as soon rory pushes and he gets off, rory literally just says "not here, not now". she doesnt ask why did he do that. analysing that scene its clear rory wanted to have sex with jess too, but not at a random party like that. thats the huge difference. she wanted her first time to be special and thats literally why she says "you didnt think it was gonna happen like this, did you". and even after all the fight gets over, she doesnt seem affected by that night nor do they bring it up again in the show at all. and its clear they added that scene just to cause more drama in the show and to write jess off of s3. if u disagree with my opinion, thats completely fine and i respect that. but, i just wanted to let u know why i dont think it's assault, but just jess acting like a completely messed up individual that night. also, i dont wanna come off as defending him for that night, not at all. i hated him in that scene too and it felt so out of character, it pissed me off. this is just me stating the context of the scene.
The last time I saw gilmore girls I was about 17-18 (and 19 for the revival) and I remember loving Jess and hating Logan and Dean because I saw myself in Rory (minus the rich family) and I thought Jess and Rory were soulmates but looking back at Rory's classism and entitlement now when I'm 25, I think Rory and Logan deserve each other. And I agree with you, the revival was awful
The thing about them eating out so much is that Stars Hallow seems to be a much more walkable city/tow/village/ whatever than....anywhere I know of. So they have lowish transport costs and diner food used to be cheap... I think.
It’s interesting that you brought up Rory not knowing how to make decisions and that Logan treats her like an adult and doesn’t make them for her. When you really break it down, even Harvard wasn’t Rory’s dream. It was Lorelai’s.
just because logan acknowledges the fact that he is privileged doesn't mean it gives him the pass to act like a classist snob. PERIOD. yall r like "atleast he knows he is privileged" THAT DOES NOT GIVE HIM A PASS TO ACT LIKE A DOUCHEBAG TO PEOPLE WHO ARE SOCIALLY LOWER THAN HIM.
Agreed. When we first meet him and he condescends to "naked guy," that's the same Logan we see over and over throughout the series. He is his father's son, and Rory is gradually molded into Logan's mother, combined w/ a good bit of the self-absorption of her own mother.
Jess is so much better than Logan. I'll summarize: Jess: THAT'S NOT YOU, RORY. Logan: THAT IS YOU, RORY. That's the difference between them. Logan saw Rory as privileged and fine with taking handouts and shortcuts (like he is), knowing she'll happily use "connections" (like his father) to get ahead. Logan was her downfall. Sure, he rejects working for his father at his father's company, but he doesn't reject his privilege as a whole-he embraces it. He merely wants to use his privilege to do something on his own terms because he hates his father. We can call him "honest" to the extent that he is transparently hypocritical, but that's not flattering. In A Year In The Life it's Jess's advice that sparks Rory to go back to a fundamental part of herself: her writing. Rory needs to connect through writing to her partner and I love the scene where Logan freaks out and calls her a trust fund kid like he is. (The scene where Dean can't articulate anything other than "I liked it" about her writing shows why they aren't a good fit even though he is grounded.) Rory reveals her true self in her writing and it shows that if she was being true to herself she wouldn't be with him. She didn't respect herself for living in his apartment rent-free and taking her grandparent's handouts, which is the point. It embarrasses her deep down because she knows it isn't right. She didn't earn it. A big reason she respected her mom was that Lorelai was self-made, yet she is scared she won't be able to handle it. Jess isn't the kind of person to waste a bunch of money or look down on other people the way Logan does to Marty. Jess doesn't need the trappings of wealth or even education to know that he has something worthwhile to say. He's smart and he doesn't need to prove that by going to an Ivy League school. (Or even finish high school!) He lives in the real world so that he can write about the real world. He is the grounding force Rory needs. Honestly, Rory isn't good enough for Jess by the end of the show the way they wrote her. But if she finally puts in the work, humbles herself, and comes back to reality then I could see them being a great couple after the revival.
I think so, too: Logan's "knowledge" about Rory is projection. This often applies to Dean as well, but Jess *knows* her. He's also the one who reminds her of her own goals when she "takes a break" from Yale.
With a lot of these shows I feel like you people have to ignore at least one super fucked up thing a character did as just some weird writing choice. Like Luke deciding to beat up a literal teenager in S1. However this is not to of course excuse him, just that I can see someone thinking "that was a dumb thing the writers had him do" than "that was a terrible thing this character did". However I find it really interesting that three of Jess's biggest moments are the same kind of thing. He's this guy who (supposedly) knows you so well, better than you know yourself, and gets angry when you don't go along with what he knows you want. Like, him assaulting her, him asking her to run away with him in S4*, and him asking why she dropped out of Yale are all VERY similar scenes. *WITHOUT EVER FUCKING APOLOGISING FOR ANYTHING BY THE WAY
@@Jaros even the writers stated that they did that to write jess off the show, cuz he was getting his own spinoff, but it was cancelled at the last moment. it was so out of character for jess to behave like that. the writers fcked his character up in s3 to include more drama and i hated it.
Rory's tirade after the dinner with the Huntzbergers was more about her listing the things that the Huntzbergers thought were important than the idea that she thought they were important. Surely, she thought, her pedigree would pass muster with them.
thank you. i’m so surprised that rory and logan aren’t the most popular, they were the most healthy. the only reason people don’t like hi. is because he came with college rory and that’s just rude to the quality of his character. i think my favorite part was that he was the first boyfriend (arguably first person ever) to treat rory like a person.
Thank you thank you thank you! This was really comforting and a fresh perspective for me. I watched GG as it aired and was very young so I was never really aware of the class-driven aspects of the relationships in the show, but because of the depth and care that most of the characters were given it was always my go-to comfort show. It always did feel like escapist fantasy to me (which it was, as I would find out once I grew up and continued a cycle of poverty with a life and a child of my own,) but it was done in such a wistful and romantic way that I could almost live in it. And I will never stop quoting the show with my mother and laughing and crying to it on my own on late nights every few years.
Also loved, 'Where You Lead,' being interspersed throughout this. Also, Team Paris. Team Emily. These were somehow the most consistently endearing characters to me. Emily demanding to, "go first," after Richard's heart attack is one of my favorite moments of any character in the show.
It was definitely escapist. I identified with Rory at first as a shy, kind of awkward, smart driven girl like me. But the fascination became-besides the humor and fast dialogue and kooky town and other things I enjoyed-about seeing a girl I kind of saw myself in (besides being white and rich and thin) get noticed where I got overlooked and opportunities I could barely imagine and be absolutely adored by everyone in her life.
Ugh, I really appreciate your thoughts on Dean! I’m not saying I’m team him (I’m actually team no one lmao), and I recognized his flaws, like you pointed out, but I’ve always had a soft spot for his character 😭
Look, I will always be Team Jess. This is just my take, but I think Logan was a bad influence on Rory. She became so reckless and Jess was the one who finally called Rory out on that behavior. But one thing I hope we can both agree on: Emily Gilmore roasted Logan's mom like a well-done ham and she is the true hero of this show.
I feel like Jess and his development could have an entire video. I acknowledge all of the shitty things he did but I also think that his growth is the most stable and has the most longevity. As a teen, yes, he wasn’t a good partner and most of that was because he had too much baggage to force someone else to shoulder, and it was probably good that it ended when it did so that he could finally help himself. This steadily progresses and gets better every time we see him, and by the time Rory kisses him because of Logan, he’s grown enough to finally decide he has standards and worth and isn’t interested in getting pulled into drama anymore. I think his work ethic is intrinsically attached to this and functioned as a therapy for him of sorts, especially when he finally trusts himself to publish his own writing. He didn’t want to work at Luke’s because of the strings attached to being “given” a job which was why he turned to Walmart, where he became one of their best employees because imo he saw working as a way to invest in himself and be his own support. By the time Rory is in Yale, the tables have kind of turned. He knows Rory is good, he has always known her potential, and while I know some people would disagree, I think he cares just as much about Rory as a friend as he does as a partner, so when he does all of this work on himself, inspired in part by one of the only people who saw his potential, he’s naturally disappointed to see how she’s lost herself. He wants better for her because he cares about her and wants her to thrive. No one wants to see their friends struggle, and in this case he saw that she needed someone familiar with her values to call her out and tell her to get back on her feet; and then she did. Him understanding the value of his friendship (separate from his romantic interest in her) with her was pivotal to his story and I think that development deserves acknowledgement in his own right. Do I think they should have ended up together by the end of the main series? No, I don’t think she was ready for that and he finally embraced his ambition for his own interests and I think that’s more important. That being said, and maybe it’s just because I work on the Upper East Side and see it all the time, but Logan regressing came as no shock to me, especially considering it’s so common for guys like him. What we saw from him in AYITL was exactly what I would have guessed would happen prior to it coming out in my opinion. I think Logan had potential but personally I don’t think he’s strong enough to stick to his guns. Plus the way he talks to people feels very manipulative in that it presents as self aware without feeling very genuine and it makes me super uneasy. It’s very “argues with the minimum wage host at the restaurant for something out of their control” to me. Mostly I think his relationship with his family is too messy and the efforts he makes to distance himself from them are, in my opinion, not committed enough to last long-term, which was why I think his life in AYITL makes complete and total sense. One can like him fine if they want, I’m just not personally interested in this “Lorelai but even worse” type storyline, it’s not for me. Okay that being said I’m happy with where Jess was at and it felt consistent with him from the previous series, him maintaining a healthy and friendly but not overly close friendship with Rory feels like a decision he’d happily make after learning how much he does and doesn’t want to get his feet wet with her anymore. Milo getting jacked was a bonus 💁♀️ long story short, I find Jess’s story and development really interesting and worthy as analysis outside of being a romantic prospect and think he grew more than most of the cast!
I honestly look at it this way...She became awful even before she met Logan. She didn't even meet Logan when the "sleeping with a married man" happened, and also in those seasons she was at her best when she was deciding stuff with him, and then at her worst when she was making her own stupid decisions. Logan was great, he just fell in love with the Rory who doesn't know how to be a responsible adult
@@laceyisnotreading !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! jess is interesting as a character, and not just as a romantic interest. i'm particularly fascinated by his downward spiral through season 3 (a honest, nuanced representation of how hard it is to maintain relationships with people you care about when you're struggling with yourself), hitting the rock bottom in season 4 and his resurgence as more well-adjusted, more mature and healthier than ever in season 6, and then the revival just further solidies his growth. also, your comment about logan's efforts not being commited enough to last long-term is on point, too.
This is the most detailed Gilmore girls video I have watched ever. And it makes me realize so much about how we view the characters. I will be thinking about it in such a different light now. Thank you so much for this I know you put a ton of work into this video. Amazing
Honestly - Backpacking in Europe can be romantic, but can add up financially to the same price as other more comfortable types of travelling. Especially because of the food. If you rent a place with kitchen here and there, you can prepare food ahead for your travels, if you backpack and sleep in hostels, you are going to either eat a lot of take out which is very expensive, or eat cheap cold food from grocery store. It seems like yet another thing writers of Gilmore Girls assumed but don't have any real experience with it. They didn't choose the style of travelling in Europe well in my opinion.
I think either 90% of people who watched GG, watched a different version where Jess and Luke aren’t terrible, or everyone just thinks it would be funny to gaslight me.
No Logan is definitely a lil shit, but honestly I kept waiting to see Jess’s good side but it never came. I mean the assault scene alone should put him out of the running. I like lots of problematic characters but with him I just don't get it…
and when does luke/jess gaslight lorelai/rory???? that is basically what logan/chris does. jess and luke have different issues- communication problems. that is the main issue. chris/logan take lead in the gaslighting department. logan cheats on rory, gaslights rory into thinking it wasnt his fault and that she was wrong for assuming that they were together and says "in my mind, i wasnt cheating on you". no, it was not a breakup. there was no verbal confession from either of the partners!
This is a 100% correct opinion and THANK YOU for also pointing out how much Jess sucks I have never liked him and did not understand why everyone was so ride or die for him
I think it's because in the end you realize so many of the characters were kind of awful in a way the show didn't want to acknowledge, while teenaged jess was the only one who really had a rough upbringing and life conditions to really justify his behavior. He was a neglected, angry teenager, who was abandoned by his parents ans never had good role models, he only had Luke as a kind of a male role model, and he was not always the best to look up to, and he was honestly much more present for rory than for jess. Jess is one of the only characters who were truly working class with a horrible start in life, and he still did okay in the end and was the best adapted adult in the later seasons and the revival.
And by horrible start in life i mean horrible by stars hollow standards, not the actual world, but still. The show glamorized self made people, but he was the only truly self made character, and i think that's what really made people relate to him, despite his flaws - he seemed like a real person, because him and dean were the only ones who had real consequences for anything, even if he got away with bad behavior. But yeah, he was the worst boyfriend, the pressuring her to sleep with h was prob the worst thing a male character has done on the show 😬
Lorelai's character really made no sense to me ins7 and ayitl, her being so adamant in hating logan, her refusal in the beginning to wanting rory to tell their story and after 10 years being in the same place with Luke??? I feel like logan was the most compatible to rory and the show really didn't expect that, or know how to reconcile with it in a way that doesn't highlight and conflict with the class issues throughout. i think in a lot of ways the show wrote itself into a corner. the white-feminist neo-liberal mechanisms against the backdrop of the early 00's the show spearheads conflating with the idealisms the show also wants to portray. the problems only become more apparent when the show moves into the revival and the 2010's landscape and i'm always left with that same confused, alienated and midly annoyed feeling-even though it's a comfort show for me. (also justice for lane.)
I get that Jess was immature and had some personal issues but, the way he abandoned Rory, without a word, without a single thought or regret, he look at her in her damn face while he was just leaving and said nothing!. This man was the worst boyfriend ever, worst friend ever, how is anyone rooting for their relationship after the se*ual assault and this? Is this fandom out of their damn mind? Nobody deserves to be treated the way Jess treated her, and she was so young!!!
God this was such a good analysis, you're very fair to all the characters, so good not to listen to Dean or Logan hate. I used to love Gilmore first seasons but as the story progressed I just couldn't relate with what was told and what was shown. Also, love that you are not Luke biased it's so refreshing. I'd like to hear more your opinions about Christopher, to me he was always better than people like to paint him.
OMG, Team Logan! I'm so glad to have found this video, as I am often the only person that feels this way about Logan (and season 7) in my circles, and for the exact reasons that you gave. I became a fan after your interview on TFD but I'm a loyal follower for sure now! Outside of the stupid parallel narrative and the wasted time on Stars Hollow the musical, I enjoyed AYITL and how they chose to treat Rory. It absolutely tracks with how she was always doted on for being smart and perfect, but when real life hits you, it takes more than that to make something happen.
I love your content. I am a Jess stan and and a Luke stan and this is still some of the best criticism of a show I regularly come back to. Thank you for sharing your thoughts, they made me see things a little bit differently. 💜💜💜
I never made it past the beginning of the season where Rory's first at Yale, but I didn't watch the show until a few years back when it landed on Netflix, because we didn't have good reception for the WB when the show was originally on. I really liked Laine and Paris, and it bothered me just how little the show called out Laine's mom's abusive parenting.
It still bothers me Lane's mom was so judgemental when she moved into an apt with male roommates after kicking her out of the house abruptly. To this day I'm not sure what she expected her to do
Rory is rich and an alumni and upper class when it’s convenient for her. And down to earth, small town girl, everywoman, when it’s convenient for her
WHO would Not Love to have the best of both worlds.....:)
She was raised in both environments... only to be expected for her to be torn between two lifestyles
Exactly. I love this show and always come back to it for comfort but I would have liked to see Rory own up to it. But she leans into the "small town girl" part far more often than not.
Yeah, a white woman
EXACTLY
I think what bothered me about Dean’s character is that at 16/17 he knows how to fully restore a car, which he then GIFTS TO SOMEONE, which points out that he must be incredibly knowledgeable in that aspect, he works multiple jobs, does fine in school, and truly works his ass off throughout the series AND he goes to college. By all means, he’s a very impressive person but the narrative in the show encourages us to look down at him and then applaud the characters “Just looking out for Rory.”
Working class skills aren't counted as real skills
Yes, having read a Jane Austen novel is more impressive, than repairing your car's brakes in American media.
So weird... @@catfacethemole9551
That made so mad, that Rory kicked him down so many times and he ended up out of the picture. Honestly after she dumped him and started to hang out with Logan just made hate Rory's character for the last couple seasons 😂
"Like the junk food she consumes, Dean is her comfort food, and she digest him and shits him out as quickly as she can"
Damn that hurts just to listen to
While he cheating on her is , ighuess that goe both sides.
@@marocat4749 Dean didn't cheat on rory...
@Mar Maro Cat said “cheated ON”. I know he cheated on his wife with Rory.
@Mar I wasn’t saying you insulted my knowledge, chill. I was clarifying my comment.
@@marocat4749 she cheated on Dean lmao. She had 4 bfs and cheated on half of them💀💀 And then was the other women twice. And once was cheating and was the other woman at the same time.
Logan’s “I’m a trust-fund kid” speech when Rory writes the article about his party, was so satisfying. It’s really the only time the show addressed Rory’s privilege. Like you’ve mentioned, she casually acts like the small-town girl and A Gilmore, respectively, when it suits her - and he reminded her that she’s no different than the people she turned her nose up at the party.
That comes from her mom though. Her mom made that part of their life horrible and naughty I kind of understand why Rory would be so confused. To her the “rich” life was pleasant and unlike how her mom made it seem. I feel like a lot of Rory’s issues have to do with Lorelai codependency.
exactly, if anything she’s more of a gilmore than a small town girl. She moved there when she was 11
@@ccutehoneyi agree
@@Jessica.ShawnteThink you got that wrong. Lorelai moved out and took Rory when she was about one year old to stars hollow, not when she was 11. I think Rory was about 8 or so when they moved into the current house they were living in. So Rory basically grew up in stars hollow all her life. They didn’t have regular contact with her grandparents till she was nearly 16.
It's all due to Lorelai. Lorelai claims to hate the affluent lifestyle she grew up in yet constantly asked her parents for money to provide for Rory. Lorelai was upset Rory was with Logan because he embraced his family's wealth, and she told Rory not to marry him.
The thing you need to remember about Luke attacking Dean, is that Stars Hollow is a Cult Town that sees Rory as some kind of chosen one. So for him deciding to assault a literal teenager is a religious act.
Never thought of that! But you are definitely right!
The Riverdaleification of Stars Hollow
I don't think that's an _invalid_ way to analyse it, but I see it more as an overprotective (toxic) father figure than anything - still not good. But I didn't feel like Rory was necessarily The Chosen One of Stars Hollow. I don't think Ms Patty or Taylor would have physically attacked someone to protect her. I think that was just Luke.
Sure it shows itself differently but when Dean and Rory broke up because she couldn't say I love you Babette and Kirk both just assumed Dean was the bad guy without even letting her explain that she ran away. So I think the idealization is there for sure.
Rory never had a present father figure so the whole town took upon themselves to be present in her life. Babette, Ms. Pat, Luke, Sookie etc so it does make sense why they are unreasonably protective over her.
You can not mention a life that one doesn’t want without mentioning Lane’s ending. I truly think that Lane’s story is the most awful and unfair thing the writers did on the show. Lane had dreams to travel and play with her band, she wanted to be free and experience a life far away from her mothers but instead she ended up pregnant from a bad experience and never got to do her dreams, she even took over her mothers business in the revival which is absurd to me. #LaneDeservedBetter
The writers must have hated Lane, even though Lane was based on one of the writers. I don't get it!
YES!!!
I always felt that they kept Lane down to make Rory look better. I think Lane was as good as Rory but she didnt have all those people propping her up telling her she was the second coming..
@@lisa-lisa-lisa Exactly. I think Zach is a good guy and she could've been dealt worse as far as partners go, but she definitely got the shaft in every other area.
Agree! Also lane deserved a better best friend than Rory. Honestly Rory never really cared about lane or bothered to visit her or anything most of the time.
I never understood her wanting to be a journalist. She hated all physical activity but wanted to report from the middle of a war. I thought a person like Rory would use her family connections to become a professor at an Ivy League school surrounded by her favorite books.
I think Jess said it best in 'that sounds a little too rough for you'. And the dean at Chilton hinted her wanting to Amanpour was a fame thing. I always thought maybe she romanticized the idea of travel and globe trotting, not the dirty practical reality
Yeah - the most obvious career choice for her would be an English Lit professor.
@ennui blue Right. I’m starting to think Logan’s dad was correct in that Rory didn’t have it but he said it in such a dick way that we didn’t believe him.
Which is why she was floundering in AYITL!
Her smart move would have been to marry Logan and use all those connections to find an excellent career.
I love how a show like "Gilmore Girls" has garnered so many video essays. I have gone through so many.
Literally had the same thought as I was watching. The niche of youtube that analyzes female-centric media through an academic lens is one of my favorites.
Yesssss!!!! This video being over an hour long is literally thrilling
Nice content to Just listen to
Same
same! I keep watching the show on and off because my mom thought it was a very "us" dynamic, but the video essays are making me not want to finish lol
I feel at peace knowing someone else also thinks Lauren Graham should have won at least one Emmy for this show
“Rory is an adult. She makes her own choices. It’s not Logan’s responsibility to be her caretaker.” PREACH. 👏👏👏
It's shocking how much more likeable Logan is as a character than Rory. And Jess's dislike of Logan only seems to highlight how likeable Logan really is. He's just so much more conscientious.
@@callmeswivelhips8229 100%!
I think people romanticize Jess, not because he's the best partner for Rory but because Rory was at her best in season 3/4. Headstrong, feuding with Paris again, but refusing to lose, making mistakes but paying for them ie. still recognizable to viewers. By the time she was with Logan her choices felt so out of character with some of the things she was doing. He wasn't bad, he just came along during Rory's flop era.
That's the only sensible explanation. And I agree, Rory as a character was probably at her best in those seasons.
Jess seems approachable to me as well. It's def some internal shit I need to unpack but he feels the most genuine and realistic
@@kateinthegrass yup, feel the same way.
@@holographicwing I found Jess boring. He didn't seem like a fun person that I'd want to spend a lot of time with as a girl friend. What would they even do? What did he do for fun? He didn't have any friends. I'm sorry, I feel that he would have bored her to death. I could never get into his personality. He looked OK but he was the least handsome of her boyfriends, to me. I thought that Dean was extremely cute, Logan sexy and handsome and his voice was so warm and smooth, Jess looked OK.
I think that Logan did not push Rory he guided her and let her make her own mistakes and decisions as an ADULT should but if and when she faltered he was ALWAYS there to pick her up. That's what a MATE/boyfriend does. Not push a person but guide them. This is just my opinion.
@@Tessiefaye least handsome out of all boyfriends??? lmfao im not gonna take u seriously after you just said that. dean looks like a sloppy wet blanket and logan is ur every other musty crusty blonde yt guy. just say ur taste is basic.
I think your points on Dean are so true! As the series progresses and it becomes more evident of him being working class, the more they almost dumb him down. They make him seem like he isnt able to meet Rory on her level, when he easily could in the first season.
Yeah. I think it has to do with what she explains here. The show is from the protagonists pov, we're supposed to always be on their side, which means Rory just started looking down on Dean as the show went on.
That actually makes sense because Dean goes down a different career path. He is technically blue collar while she is on a white collar path. In her eyes his work is 'less' despite the fact that it's his own field and specialty. That he earned it by himself.
But this is truth in tv for how people look down on blue collar work.When they were in school together they were sorta on the same 'level' but even then she was in a big fancy rich school while he was in public.
After Rory went Ivy league Dean was 'less' in her eyes. Rory looked at him like he represented a 'simpler' time. The condescension was there.
This is why she had so little respect for his marriage.
But Dean is also to blame because he himself also acted like she was better than him and his own wife. Sleeping with her was like his wish come true.
She was like his fantasy girl or something. But then reality set in and he realized it wasn't worth it at all. This is actually very realistic.
I think an interesting point about Luke is how he (as far as I recall) secretly has a decent amount of money but appears working class. He loans a large amount of money to Lorelai, and then later tries to buy her a large old historic home in the center of town. He's put forth here and in the academic articles cited as working class, but he's not exactly struggling financially. Just another way that Gilmore Girls skirts around economic classes in the real world I guess.
I work in a restaurant in a college town, and you would be AMAZED at how much owners make, even in small towns. He works at the most popular spot in town, is open the latest, and has the best coffee. Luke is rich, he’s also just low-key. Luke just doesn’t give a fuck haha.
My bumfuck nowhere-town sushi restaurant’s owners are millionaires, and our business isn’t great. We have multiple terrible reviews about the service, and we still make bank.
Yeah but it's mentioned in the show that Luke has money because he's very frugal. He lives in the same building as his restaurant, didn't have kids, was content to wear a backwards cap/flannel, and was content with his life. He inherited his father's building, but Luke also had to work hard to change it from a hardware store into a restaurant. And with both of his parents dead, he had to figure out how to start a business. Luke made decisions that allowed him to have a healthy amount of money, but I don't think it is fair to imply he is like mitchum or something.
There is a lot of middle ground between "one percenter old money rich" and "poor working class". Luke is middle class - he benefits from owning property and generational wealth (as he inherited his business and home from HIS dad). He is privileged, even if not as privileged as the Gilmores.
Working class doesn't necessarily mean poor. My dad was his own one man construction/ carpentry operation (mom worked insurance) and we had a decent amount of money. Enough to live in a nice house on 3.5 acres, have horses, multiple pieces of large equipment and outbuildings plus a vehicle for every family member, and take a vacation every year. We weren't uber wealthy but we weren't hurting either.
He also was able to buy that building next to his diner without much forethought!! Which leads to the storyline with him & Taylor’s Ice Cream/Soda parlour. He must also make something from that as well, rent or the such.
I just want to say is that Luke isn't working class - he's a landlord and a business owner who owns a boat. He is part of the non-metropolitan rich, so while he's culturally too rural in the eyes of the Gilmore's metropolitan elite circles, that doesn't negate the fact that he does posess wealth and (very regional) power.
To be fair, the boat was built slowly, and it's not like a yaht or anything.
Exactly! I always thought Luke was poor or at least lower middle class until he offered to give loralai something like 30,000 dollars for the inn. I was like oh shit who tf just has 30k to gift to a friend??
And there is a chapter during a dinner with Lorelei parents when they Talk about Luke properties and money, he is not poor at all
I was just going to comment on that. He was never poor or financially struggling.
@@zarouliaall5390 you ain't seen nothing yet xD
I think Jess is popular in part because his character has so much wasted potential. We never see his development, just the outcome of him getting his life together in later seasons. With Dean and Logan, we see them have character development, but with Jess there is this huge part of his development and how it relates to Rory of course, that the show just never explores.
exactly. his character had so much more potential. hell, he was gonna get his own spinoff called the "windward circle". we could've seen more of his life as a teen, and what shaped him to be the way he is. but, the spinoff was cancelled at the last moment :((
Yeah, as much as I dislike Jess, they could have done SO much with his character in Windward Circle, I actually think it could have been an incredible show
Why, he was so popular becaue he wa fun and not only got himsel plenty character developement, cu short, but she got tooand he challenged her too. In reallife he might be, not great as partner, but in fiction he is a rally good folly for her character to grow out of being the good girl. I ralize were they real, bad , but in show both actually help each other grow.
Unfortunately the writers wrote an “I can fix him” guy and then actually showed in later seasons that he was fixable
Actually, he does live up to his potential. Much more than Rory in all the ways that matter. He writes his own book and has it published. He creates and works hard on his own publishing company with a few peers. He becomes balanced and mentally healthy, mature and independent. Rory gets a fancy education mostly because of her grandparent's money and privilege. Sure, she's smart, but other characters are just as smart or smarter but don't have as much privilege. He ends up outgrowing her.
I have no problem seeing Liz as an immature neglectful parent to a small Jess. She’s not mustache twirly evil but she is consistently irresponsible and she does say that she changed in some way around the time she got with TJ.
exactly. just because she acts goofy and immature doesnt mean shes not a bad parent. also jimmy, jess's dad was the worst father ever.
@@zumann874 Gendo Ikari and Shou Tucker have entered the chat...
I agree! This felt really obvious to me, I’ve met a lot of “nice” and well-intentioned people who are in the end neglectful parents, and I thought it was a really nuanced dynamic to bring into the show. You can also like Liz and still acknowledge, as she does, that she didn’t have her priorities in line while raising Jess, and that him having an absent father compounded all of that abandonment. I also appreciate that Jess sees her with more than one dimension. He avoids talking about her because he knows it’s complicated, he does hold bitterness for feeling like he was second place in her life, but seeing them together it’s clear that he sees how she’s grown and he very clearly loves her. In my opinion it’s a super realistic dynamic!
Didn't she mention at some point having a history with addiction?
@@Ilikefrogs.. she and Luke both mentioned it I’m pretty sure, or at the very least both implied it.
Funnily enough, I ended up liking Logan a lot more than Rory. It really came back to his "I'm a trust fund kid" declaration. Something about Rory's refusal to take into account any of her privileges chafed. There was literally a storyline where she got to choose who would pay for her college education her Dad or her grandparents. And then she chose her Dad to spite Richard and Emily, with no explanation as to why she was mad at them. Maybe, maybe you can say they exploited her vulnerability when she wanted to drop out of Yale, but she didn't give them much of a choice. Rory's very much my way or the highway type person. If they had said no, she'd have cut them off too and probably ran to Lane's. Oh, wait she did do that, I forgot.
Pretty much anyone is better than Rory. They turned her in to a really shifty person for some reason
I don't blame her for doing with her dad I would have too. Emily and Richard used paying for her tuition to call her where as her dad was doing it to make up for his lack of parenting but he didn't try to focus Rory to be in his life like the Gilmore's did with Rory and Lorelai.
Yea I agree. I really respected Logan for calling her out finally.
@@snoozyq9576 lorelai raised her to not care about hurting others
I liked all Rory's boyfriends a lot more than Rory! All three of them even with all their faults, were far too good for her.
With all the Problems the show had, Sookie meant so much to me as a teenager. In the early 2000s, there really wasn't any representation of a woman even just on the upper end of a "normal BMI" finding love like Sookie, an actual fat woman, did, with a handsome man that was nice to her. I really thought at that age that nobody could even remotely find me attractive, and that I needed to compensate for my supposedly terrible body with a fun personality who could take a joke.
I watched Gilmore Girls for the first time 2 years ago (so long after it aired) and I think it's the first and only show I've seen that showed a nice love story with a plus-size character.
@@360shadowmoon I found Vicar of Dibley later, although it started before GG. Then later I watched Miranda and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. They're all not perfect, either, but they are very special to me.
Plus, Sookie's weight was never mentioned or became a plot point, which I loved.
This made me so happy to read. I’m so glad you felt seen in her, such a kind, funny and gorgeous lady. I loved Sookie. I think Melissa is incredibly talented and I specially loved how beautiful her wardrobe, hair and make up was.
This is how Angela from bmw felt for me
it feels to me like Lorilei didn't like Logan *because* they're too similar, like she is confronted with parts of herself in him that she doesn't want to see and she lets that get in the way of letting her see how he's different from her and how he makes Rory happy
It's like one of those "I'm dating my parent" but it's the parent itself that picked up on it.
THAT IS THE EXACT OPPOSITE OF WHATS THE TRUTH. LORELAI HATES JESS CUZ THEYRE TOO SIMILAR. LORELAI HATED LOGAN CUZ HE WAS A SNOB BUT THEN LOGAN STARTED GROWING ON HER. BUT, TO THIS DAY SHES NOT FOND OF JESS AT ALL, AND THATS CAUSE THEYRE TOO SIMILAR
@@zumann874 there are similarities between them though. Lorelai may have never left her parents house and lifestyle if she hadn't been pregnant with rory. She also was pretty wild as a teenager
I agree, I also think he was just too confrontational (identity-wise) for her, more than anything, and I felt that was a 'valid' response in the context.
@@zumann874 I wouldn't say a pregnant 16 year old working to support her child independently is very similar to an angry 16 year old crashing cars and getting drunk to deal with his abandonment issues.
I see "One Year" as the Emily Gilmore show. Out of the three Gilmore Girls, she is the only one that has a positive development.
Very true! I agree
Taking things out of context. Your definition of positive development is skewed and malformed.
@@BernardCharles first of all, rude. Second, what arguments do you have to say that? If you're going to insult me, at least you could say why.
I think Lorelai's development is alright. It's just weird because it feels like one of the several storylines that shouldn't have taken ten years to happen.
@@thatjillgirl yes, it's weird that is happening now. After 10 years she and Luke should be set as couple. Emily's development makes sense because it starts with Richard's death that happens right before the show.
I watched Gilmore Girls for the first time last year, and I'm honestly surprised that Rory/Logan isn't the most popular Rory ship. He was undeniably the man she loved the most, they lived together, they were almost engaged, and years later, they still can't let each other go. What I liked the most about their relationship is how Logan always understood the importance of Lorelai in Rory's life, and he was always respectful to her, even when Lorelai didn't like him. They communicated about their issues, and Logan always apologized when he messed up. They even had a great moment when Logan reassured her it was normal for Rory to find other guys attractive.
I wouldn't compare Jess and Rory to Luke and Lorelai; that "parallel" doesn't make sense. Luke and Lorelai shared a lot of moments together, and always loved each other. Every single time Rory interacted with Jess post-season 3, she's turning him down and showing zero romantic interest. They don't really know each other anymore and Jess should be over her by now.
I also agree with everything you said about Dean.
Loved the video!!
I didn't like Logan the fist time I watched the how in my teens, but in my late 20s I was like 'Damn he really was the best one'
Eh, Logan did apologise when he fucked up a lot (which is WAY more than you can say for Jess)
But at the same time some of his apologies were kind of shitty. When he first apologised for "cheating" on her (I do agree with Princess's stance on that whole incident, btw), he kinda steamrolled the conversation to "facts and logic" why she's not allowed to be mad.
Don't get me wrong, I'm mostly pro-Logan, but the way he handled that was very douch-ey and kind of "oh so you agree x? You agree y? Cool, therefore you're not angry at me :) let's go then"
I feel like watching this as a younger person, I understood the critique of the wealthy people at a very surface level. Ie Logan is rich so obviously he shouldn't be with Rory, so I wanted her with Jessie because he was the bad boy with a softness within and he "needed" her. Even though their relationship was super toxic, it was very exciting as a kid. As an adult Logan absolutely understood Rory the best, was willing to stand by her when she left Yale, supported her even when his own family was against them, and was willing to support her no matter where she ended up after graduating.
Barbie, I totally agree.
I was team Logan from the start too. I'm surprised the fandom is so pro-Jess. I'm assuming it's because most people watched when they were young and obsessed with the "bad boy" trope. Sure, Jess makes for a interesting storyline. But he for sure wasn't the best boyfriend to her. And she isn't his match. Logan is the clear best option.
The thing that frustrates me about Lorelai and Rory is while they rail against classism and privilige and Richard and Emily's snobbery, they have no problem profiting of off it. Ie, paying for Rory's education instead of her getting student loans, or even Rory ever having a steady job throughout her school career. Even in college, she only has a job for a short time that she clearly hates. She never really makes an effort to be financially independent, and we see that continued in AYITL. I understand Lorelai wanted Rory to concentrate on her schooling, but she never really taught Rory how hard it is to be solvent financially as an adult. Rory just always assumes someone's going to be there to pick up the bill. As for Rory's boyfriends, they all definitely had their own issues. dean was definitely gaslit in the earlier seasons, but after season four, he was the one manipulating Rory to feel sorry for him because he's in a marriage he seems to hate, even though lindsey is doing everything she can to please him. Jess matched Rory's intellectual stature, but was never going to be a long term boyfriend because he was too flighty and ran too easily when things got hard. I do believe Logan was the best match at the time for Rory, especially once she got to yale and fully emersed in the world of privilege of her grandparents. Ironically, besides Lorelai in season six, he was the only one who called her out on her bs even as he enabled her entitled behavior. I've already spoken quite a bit on their relationship in AYITL on your other video, but I hate how much they regressed him and almost turned him into a wealthy version of Dean. But again, what's not pointed out nearly enough, is Rory cheated on every single boyfriend she had. Instead, she's hailed as a kind of independent modern woman or something, and it's kind of gross, imo.
amazing take
who did she cheat on Jess with?
@@wordswarsandsymphonies She was going to use him to cheat on Logan. And I feel like she was trying to have her cake and eat it as well by her still being friends with Dean.
@@kenziecarlson7785 Amazing good?
Dean had a lot of issues from the get-go that kind of get glossed over by how much Lorelei praises him. I definitely think Lorelei is one of the most annoying characters on and off throughout the show because Rory really is just the result of her parenting, and it shows
Rory is not just a snob when it comes to her legacy but she's also extremely snobby when it comes to other women
1. She judges Lane for joining the cheer squad. She perceives her and Lane as the "better girls" because they never cared for the things that the stereotypical cheerleader would.
2. She's snobby towards Paris and Asher's relationship in season 4. Now while the relationship is terrible and definitely deserves it criticism, she's also rekindling romantic feelings for her married ex boyfriend at the same time. She sees Paris and Asher as this abomination but has no problem harbouring feelings for a married man.
3. She's a snob towards Lindsay, Dean's wife. She looks down on Lindsay for asking Dean to drop out of community college even though THEIR HOUSEHOLD as a married couple was under financial strain. She judges a situation from the perspective of a man she still has feelings for.
there are many other instances where we see Rory put herself above other women. She always wants to feel like she's the "chosen girl" she's different from everyone else so of course she knows better than the stereotypical "girly girl"
I mean their biggest quirk was how they ate a lot and stayed thin or how she stayed in on weekend nights to read books. She was bound to be a huge pick me.
Or how she's rude towards Jess's gf
This!🤌
she was really insecure and snobby towards logan's female coworker too 🙃 because she was gorgeous and competent she kept jabbing at logan about not being ok that he works with her
But Lindsey really is holding Dean back. I don´t think it´s ever mentioned if and what she works, but it seems like she just sits at home while he goes to work...just doens´t make sense
Jess was by far the most interesting male character in terms of depth out of the three but the absolute worst boyfriend. Even if the actual assault didnt happen he still abandoned town and left her without telling her or saying goodbye, came back and rold her he loved her and didnt wait for a response before running away, he tried to force her to run away with him, and still acts like he knows or understands her more than anyone else. Like bro you guys dated for a few months in high school never communicated anything to one another. Even the being attacked by a swan thing. Just tell her. Obviously she's going to think you were in a fight because you're constantly in fights.
Did he leave after the accident? Because she really had done him dirty by never telling anyone he swerved to avoid hitting an animal. Which could have happened to anyone, even Dean, even Logan.
@@ennuiblue4295 she actually stood up for him and got really mad at everyone for blaming him! I was referring to when they broke up for real, after he found out he wasnt graduating and couldnt take her to the prom he went to california to live with his dad without ever saying goodbye to anyone
@@seopark7467 yeah, he was a terrible boyfriend. But as you said, he was the most interesting character-wise and he does change. I like that he changed for himself, to be better and live up to his potential, not because of her. Honestly I think hes better off without Rory.
Disagree because he tried having sex with her without consent
I feel like a lot of people who criticize Jess tend to forget his upbringing. He never had a proper representation of a healthy relationship so obviously he’s not going to be the perfect boyfriend. Jess definitely was not perfect and was not a great communicator which was probably what led to the downfall of their relationship. Anyway…. team Jess for life.
Thank you for standing up for Dean, I've never understood why the fandom hates him so much. Also I will never forgive what they did to Lane!
He's a cheater
I disliked Dean from the first time he broke up with Rory just because she wasn't ready to say I love you at the same exact time as him. That was so immature and selfish. And he just never really redeemed himself to me after that. Next he gets clingy and jealous when Jess arrives, which only serves to drive her away faster. Then the next time he gets together with her it's by cheating on his wife, which is gross. And then he decides that he doesn't want Rory after all, because of the class issue, which he had known about for years and used to be fine with. I just find him consistently self-centered and disappointing.
@@thatjillgirl not only jealous/possessive towards jess, also with tristan. ppl always blame jess for dean's activities saying jess triggered him, but dean's always been that way towards any other man (potential love interests) in rory's life
@@zumann874 did we just forget that Tristan was inlove with Rory while she was with Dean and she was obviously attracted to him? Plus Dean only acted out again Tristan when he would come for him and hit on Rory when she was unconfortable. But then Rory had to lie to him about everything related to Tristan. If anything, I understud why Dean was so insecure with Jess. Rory already gave him trust issues with the whole Tristan situation,.
@@elicxc lol rory is a serial cheater.
You could say that the series' ambivalence towards the working class reflects the US' own ambivalence. On the one hand there's this mythologising of hard work and "pulling yourself up by your bootstraps" rhetoric, but the flipside is that people who are and remain working class are looked down on. It's almost like they failed to live up to this myth because they didn't "better" their condition, as if there were no such thing as privilege.
👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
Exactly! Both Lorelai and Luke proudly boast about having built their lives, on their own, no handouts/help from anyone, despite him inheriting the family business and her being taken in by the owner of the Inn and given a job and free accommodation because that woman liked her. That's not standard practice for real working class people 'starting with nothing'.
@@helenl3193 that’s very true!
@@helenl3193 And the show gets more and more neoliberal fantasy land the more you think about it - one of the biggest plot holes is public assistance and child support. Christopher may have been a f-up until Rory was in hs, he wasn't living a hobo life off the grid. Even if his family hated Lorelai, it's not a secret that Rory is his child. It's just weird they didn't provide child support money, even if they didn't want him to ever see her. And okay - let's say that Lorelai didn't want the child support money because she's independent or whatever. There's no way Lorelai could have applied for public assistance of any kind without the state going after Christopher. But like okay sure - lets say she never applied for assistance and lived off the kindness of strangers instead of making sure she could feed her child or at least get her into a children's healthcare program like CHIP. We know for a fact that Rory applied for financial aid - both at Chilton and Yale. It is literally impossible for a person who is under 24 to apply for financial aid without providing both of their parent's information. It doesn't matter if they are a noncustodial parent. It doesn't matter if you are not close, or they do not support you in any way. You either have to provide the info or provide a death certificate or proof their parental rights were formally terminated by the courts. This is not secret information that only people living in poverty know. There is a consistent ignorance about the basic building blocks of life in society that runs as a through line to the show that is really unfortunate - its truly a disservice to the performances and overall writing that storylines that wanted to be about class and privilege rang so false when they could have taken the exact same amount of time and cut like a knife with just a little basic awareness of how anything works.
@@helenl3193 ikr? This is a working class equivalent of the Cinderella trope
I think Dean is the best first boyfriend Rory could have had. Of course, he became problematic when cheating on his wife (character assassination) but in terms of his possessiveness, it makes sense. Of course, being possessive may be suffocating sometimes but Rory gave him little to no reassurance in their relationship, she not only physically but emotionally cheated. If Rory was a guy cheating and Dean was a girl being cheated on and jealous, it wouldn’t have been as much of a problem. He also was very happy to provide for Rory and his family. I also think Gilmore Girls fell into the stereotype of making relationships glorified yet having the girl boss/ strong independent woman issue. Dean liking the *idea* of a woman staying home with her family and taking care of her kids just shows that he likes domestic ideals, not necessarily being a masogynist. I think the writers wanted to show it as something he wanted because he lacked with his mother always working. As for being “aggressive”, he was quite a realistic teen boy with proportional reactions to the situations he was put in. He was always respectful to Rory and her family even when he was being blatantly disrespected. He really was made into a “bad guy” to make Jess look better and make him more appealing.
As for Jess, I think he is soooo idolised because he seemed to appeal to a majority of teen girls with his bad boy persona. Whilst he did help Rory see she was losing direction later in the show, their relationship was the most toxic out of the ones shown. They couldn’t communicate well and it felt like he had a deep rooted resentment towards Rory’s social class. Jess was disrespectful to her family and didn’t put effort into impressing them. Rory did need to be adored and it became so obvious throughout the series. The more you look into it, the more you realise how Jess did help Rory’s character develop but he was ultimately the opposite of Dean.
There is an element to those two boys being the two different versions of the teen boy. One (Jess) is much more toxic and demanding and a playboy that refuses to change his ways for a girl he supposedly loves. The other (Dean) is much more of a sweet, innocent and pure guy that gets his heart broken by the girl and reacts emotionally. It seems stereotypical but, at it’s core, it is quite accurate.
Logan and Tristan are also two sides of the same coin or more like the same person in different stages of life. Tristan is flirty but emotionally intelligent and quite likeable (I’ll forever mourn the relationship Tristan and Rory could’ve had). Logan is unapologetic about being rich and a snob (sometimes) and claims his identity. He was very similar to Lorelai but didn’t expect applause for going away from the path of privilege unlike her. There was a humbleness within him claiming that privilege. He understood that he had been fed with a silver spoon from the womb but didn’t try to hide it or be ashamed of it. This take was soooo refreshing because being privileged is not the person’s fault (from wealth to beauty), Logan didn’t need to apologise for it. He acknowledged it but was able to be likeable despite his jerk, spoiled background. Rory, on the other hand, wanted to have the naivety of being brought up “poor” but actually get to have the experiences and opportunities of the ultra-privileged.
Sorry for rambling, just some discussion points and thoughts. :)
This is one of the best comments. 10000% agree
I agree with everything you said but I don't think it's fair to criticise jess for not wanting to impress Rory's grandparents, especially because we all know it was highly unlikely that they would treat him fairly. Also most people despise the wealthy and their privilege so I don't we should criticise that either
@@lav1088 Completely agree! However, if you choose to date and, later, love someone, you need to understand and at least accept them completely. He knew what he was getting into from the very start. If he wanted to be with Rory, he needed to accept that she was and would always be of a higher social class.
I don't quite agree with you on Dean but mainly regarding the "character assassination" part. Dean was always jealous and possessive even in season 1. I could have maybe given him the benefit of doubt re: Jess in season 2 but we see him be incredibly weird around Tristan and Rory even in season 1 despite Rory repeatedly saying that she wasn't interested in Tristan. Yes, Tristan did try to get Dean angry at the dance and succeeded, but if Dean knew that Tristan was like this, why take it out on Rory when he sees them together despite Tristan repeatedly nagging Rory (and Rory showing no interest in him) and by the last episode in season 1, Dean had broken up with her, so Rory technically didn't even owe him an explanation re: why she was talking to Tristan in the school yard. This even continued in season 2 before Jess came to the show, and to be honest, Dean's possessiveness of Rory doesn't get any better even when Jess leaves and Dean marries another woman. If the show had always relied on Dean to make Jess look better, I'd understand the character assassination argument, but it doesn't. By the end of season 3, Dean ends up looking better than Jess did, and Dean's behavior only worsens in season 4 when Jess isn't even around. Also, another thing with Dean is that a lot of times, he expected there to be a "reward" for him doing these giving things to Rory, like expecting her to say "I love you" back solely because he built her a car. If this behavior of his had stopped by the time he left high-school, I would've understood that as him just being an emotional teenager, but unfortunately it again doesn't. By season 5 we see Lindsay also suffer from this because despite trying her best to be a good wife to Dean, he takes it for granted only to pursue Rory even when Rory herself tries to end the affair.
Re: Rory's family, Dean wasn't always "happy to provide", but I could understand his reaction towards her grandparents because they outright disapproved of him. And even with Jess, the situation ends up messy solely because he came with a black eye and was embarrassed about it. That isn't to say that he handled that situation well but he could've easily just not gone to the dinner at all despite making plans with Rory for it, yet showed up all the same. Also, I don't think Jess was really a playboy? He just had a relationship with Shane and broke up with her before doing anything with Rory.
Best fkn comment
What i liked about Rory and Logan is that it felt like they actively challenged each other while being good for each other- it seems like we got a lot more discussions between them when they argued versus JUST screaming matches. not that they were a perfect couple but they seemed like a good fit as Rory gravitated to the more upper class side of life later in life
The "break" between Logan and Rory drives me crazy. Logan made it VERY clear that he had never had a relationship before. Then, they have a fight and Rory refuses to speak to him for literal months (she talks to Logan's sister on Thanksgiving, hearing that he said they had broken up. They get back together after NYE, so it's been almost two months, minimum). Unless we were married, I would take such an extended distance as a clear break up. She doesn't even reach out to communicate with him, but is furious when he doesn't understand her opinion of the break? She thinks he owes her communication, when she never came give him that same consideration.
Wow I never realized it was that long of a time period. Yeah I don’t think I can really blame Logan that much anymore yeesh
And what Rory's a relationship expert? She had two lowkey toxic high school relationships. Logan's "I've never done this so you can't be mad at me" doesn't sit right. If Rory had slept with Jess in the off period, she would get no grace, and no one would expect Logan to take her back. And that doesn't even begin to address how Logan didn't call either. This isn't Friends where the word "break" was used. They fought, they BOTH ghosted, and then he slept around. He made no attempt to call her even though he was so heartbroken. Then the show doesn't address it because he gets injured in some cliff diving adventure and the whole thing's swept under the rug.
@@veronicachandler1314 In Rory's two toxic high school relationships, she still seemed to know that she couldn't avoid them for months and expect them not to move on. 😂
I agree with all of this, but also Logan is very sneaky at the end of the break and nobody ever says anything about it. He very clearly thought they were broken up(without confirmation, but that’s fine) and acts accordingly, he sleeps with other women, tells his family they broke up etc. His actions make that very clear, but the moment that Rory tries to get confirmation about it he lies, says “oh no, I’ve known we were together the whole time, it was just easier to tell my family we’d broken up.” And then only tells her the truth when she confronts him, and then they don’t get an actual conversation, just Logan flipping the blame onto Rory for the lack of communication.
Not saying he’s in the wrong for thinking they were separated, but he’s very like Rory in this way. He’ll say whatever’s the most convenient for him at the moment and try to play the victim when it comes to bite him in the ass. They almost never have a real conversation about how they feel because he pulls a Rory, and she lets him, then drops the topic. Only boyfriend she lets get away with it because she’s not the one doing it 😂
It has always bothered me how Rory has emotionally cheated on Dean. I feel like characters don't ever get put in their place when they emotionally cheat let alone physically cheat. I'm glad to see someone agrees. I agree with everything you say in this video you are speaking facts!
If you have been emotionally cheated on you get it.😢
So glad someone else feels this way. The revival ticked me off, Logan wouldn’t have regressed the way someone wanted us to believe.
I completely agree with you 💯 on this ❗️
@Lilith Greene She is SO unlike other girls. 🙄 🤮
Even as someone who wouldn't pick logan for Rory, I absolutely _hated_ what they did to his character. It was probably one of the worst aspects of the revival
@@LaviniaDeMortalium not really did you forget when he slept with all of his sisters friends after a fight with Rory. If anything they made him better people are forgetting the trouble Logan was in last season because they want to focus on Rory rejecting his proposal, but he was in serious legal trouble up to the last few episodes. In the revival he seem to had his head on straight and matured a lot yeah he was cheating on his fiancee with Rory but he was running around doing stupid stuff to piss off his dad anymore.
@Lilith Greene yeah I really HATE that trope on this show 🙄 the "she's so special that she makes cheaters faithful"
Thank you! That one time when Logan actually calls Rory out for who she really is and who she clearly wants to be is my favourite part of all of GG. She clearly likes her privilege and feel entitled to it, and simultaneously fights to deny it exists let alone the moral question of harnessing it for the greater good rather than for her own benefit. She does this because she likes thinking of herself as morally superior and using that to justify bad behaviour and vilify those who might challenge any of what she believes she is entitled to have. Logan at least forces her to be honest with herself about who she is.
They really tried to destroy him on the revival, but, on the actual show, he was the only one who truly saw her and stood up to her BS and they made each other better people.
Absolutely. Paladino spitefully undid all of his character development in the revival, likely because it wasn't her intended path.
While I do still believe that Jess is a slightly better match, Logan is BY FAR the best, most attentive, and most mature of Rory's partners by the time he exits. He genuinely does change, and if Rory had been more open to riding on his wealth/connections, they'd be an incredibly successful and happy power couple.
Of course, Paladino would've undid that success anyway (just like she did with the Obama thing) because she was weirdly intent on using Rory as a lazy millennial-stereotype.
@@V.elociraptor I actually don't think she was intent on making her a millennial stereotype. I can't quite say why but I kinda feel like she just wrote it, and then when people asked her afterwards started saying the millennial thing
made each other better ppl is taking me out im sorry in what fcking way?????
@@zumann874 She made her confront all her hypocrisy and acknowledge her privilege, which made her more grateful to the people around her and brought her down to be more grounded. She made him a much more responsible man, much more willing to take things seriously and be his own men.
@@kaichen04 he yelled at rory for writing that article, yes. but, where tf did they show us that rory became more grounded??? rory stole a yacht with him, ended up in prison, dropped out of yale, stopped talking to her mom for how long, started acting like a snob. and he didnt say a word about any of this and was content as long as rory was there partying and drinking with him. and you want me to believe they made each other better?? hell, no.
A bit of a tangent, but regarding the parallel, "history repeats itself" thing they were trying to do with Lorelei and Rory - I felt there was already a perfectly good parallel for Lorelei's story: Lane.
Lane had an overbearing mother, who Lane distanced herself from in order to grow as her own person. Lane got pregnant young, and (I thought) would need to figure out how to follow her dreams while struggling as a young mom. Just like Lorelei.
It's not an exact repeat of Lorelei's situation, but the themes of Lane's story echo Lorelei's, and I thought her path would riff on Lorelei's.
Of course, that's back when I thought Gilmore Girls was a fun escapist fantasy, and not a show that decided at the end that it hated its main characters. I thought we'd see Lane (and Zach and the kids) chasing Lane's music dreams, while adapting and sacrificing as necessary. I didn't realize they'd just drop Lane's character and story completely.
100% They did Lane so dirty, and it could have been such a beautiful, nuanced story.
I remember while watching as the girls criticized and mocked the wealthy, they themselves spent so much on superficial useless crap and eating out.
I always liked logan and hated Jess so I appreciate this.
They also have that thing they share with Parks & Rec where they focus so much on how the characters love eating lots of junk food, while also making fun of fat people a lot.
Lauren gram funnily enough had a very intense workout and diet; she’s like super tall and eats fewer calories than a 5’3 woman eats she would be one of those people she mocks if her character ate the way she ate in real life
@@Dorkeydaze No kidding! It's obvious that you cannot be than thin if you eat so much
@@silverbat5873
I totally agree you’re also super cute
I think Christopher's inconsistency is the point. He's constantly under the impression that he's capable of offering more as a partner and father than he's capable of giving, so he never lives up to the expectations. That paired with the issue of "timing" between him and Lorelai make for him never really being what either of them need.
I feel so validated hearing your points about Dean in the early seasons, people seem to forget that he was also a teenage boy, and it makes me so sad that they ruined his character just for another of rory’s love interest to be introduced like
I appreciate so much of what you said about Dean. People give him so much crap for not being “ambitious” enough. I always counter it by saying he is from a working class family and is way more practical and was not handed a silver spoon to take crazy risks with his career. And I’ve ALWAYS felt like his anger was justified. Even after all the BS he had to deal with he never mistreated Rory which is way more than we can say about Jess and Logan.
YESSSSS i've been saying for literally years and years that logan is the best because hes the only one who made any effort at all to recognize his own issues in the relationship and work WITH Rory to improve it. and i dont understand how anyone can be team jess after the attempted assault, like if literallly everything else about him and the relationship had been perfect (which, no) i still dont think i could have gotten over that.
And lets not forget how he just left, without as much as a word
I didn't like Jess when I first watched Gilmore Girls. I was already 18 and I guess thats why, if I had watched it back when I was 11 I probably would've loved him. However, I did sympathize with him. It seemed like he was pushing everyone away from him, to stop himself from getting too close with people. I was a bit like that too, when I was around 14 - 15, and I did a few stupid petty things. Jess was not welcome into the town as soon as he arrived, and he knew that. Being that the case, I understand why he basically hated everyone. He was simply defensive. Still, theres no denying had a lot of issues and he was responsible for the mistakes he made. And I think he did face consequences. He left and then came back expecting Rory to take him back, but she didn't, she rejected him. And then he basically disappeared, and was portrayed simply as Rory's mistake.
The reason why people like Jess so much is because when he came back, although it was short-lived, he definitely had changed as a person. He got his shit together and matured, and that was very touching for me, specially re-watching the show in my twenties. It was kind of bittersweet not to be able to watch him grow out of his angry boy attitude, but I was happy to see that he actually made something out of his strengths. He matured and that's not something that can be said about Rory or Logan (he was ok, yeah he was aware of his privilege and that makes him better than Rory, in a way, but he was a still arrogant rich boy who got everything he wanted without trying and he looked down on people that had less than him). Adult Jess made him the best "love-interest" character for me. However, in the end, Rory is perfectly matched with Logan, they're very similar and he does try to make the relationship work. I dont think he works too much on his issues, because his main issues are not related to or affect Rory directly. But yeah, he does work on the points of conflict within the relationship. So, they were ok together.
What attempted assault?? When did this happen cause I missed it
@@kiamaria331 s3e19 keg! max! , lanes band is playing at Kyle's birthday party, and Jess and Rory go, Jess is really upset because he's just found out that he's going to have to repeat senior year and can't go to the prom, and he and Rory go up to Kyle's bedroom to talk, and he keeps kissing her, and she keeps telling him to stop, and he keeps going even when she tells him to stop multiple times, until she basically throws him off of her, and then he gets pissed off at her for doing that and yells at her until she cries
@@strawberysprite Holy shit, I’ve been watching the show sporadically for years, just checked Netflix and last time I watched I was on S5 so I had to have seen that one. What a scene to forget, lol. Big yikes 😬.
"That charm is the remnants of their class privilege" well said 👏🏽
I find when ppl, celebrities esp are labelled as "charming" yes in some rare cases it's their amiable personality but more often than not it's the charm of living a charmed, financially stable life.
the roger sterling effect
Yup, what are more likely to be for having lived a charmed life? Optimistic or bitter? Enthusiastic or burned out? Fanciful or jaded? Outgoing or guarded? It makes sense tbh
I feel like all of Rory's relationships throughout the series follow a natural progression of teen to adult romances. Her relationship with Dean starts off sweet and innocent, and when she meets Jess he brings something out of her that she didn't even know existed, so she gets naturally drawn to this situation, but as a young teen she doesn't know exactly what she is feeling because she does love Dean and doesn't want to hurt him, but on the other side she is really attracted to Jess, and the big conflict is "Should I leave my secure relationship to pursue an unsure path?" which is a feeling I'm sure a lot of young teens can relate. Starting to date young is a confusing time.
Yeah - I actually don't blame her for "emotionally cheating" on Dean because I'm pretty sure young Rory didn't even recognize the feelings she was developing for Jess at first. When you're new to romance, you don't always recognize romantic attraction even when it's happening to you. Emotional cheating is a real thing among adults who have committed to long-term relationships (or marriage), but it's different when you're talking about kids in high school.
yeah I lived something like that as a teen, but I didn't cheat I just leave and didn't act as a victim like rory did xd I mean THE AUDACITY
I agree I feel like people want to condemn the characters for appearing too perfect while simultaneously condemning them for making mistakes. I think all the characters in the show are deeply flawed particularly Rory and Lorelei and that’s what makes them interesting and complex characters. They make many mistakes but their experiences are human and realistic. Of course no one enjoyed how Rory treated dean but it explored a lot of relatable themes about adolescence, young love, and self discovery.
@@360shadowmoon disagree. She kisses Jess and stayed with Dean. She was mad that he had a gf so it shows she expected him to wait for her. Maybe at first she wasn't aware of her emotions but it lasted for monthes and for a long moment she knew what she was doing that even her mom would tell her to pick between Dean and Jess. Being 16 does not make you completely oblivious. She was just bot being considerate towards Dean's emotions because she's very self centered.
The whole financial aide thing is not correct on many levels. The financial aide is based on the previous year's taxes so the fact that Lorelai recently got a $75,000 check would not have had an impact on that year's financial aide offer.
The cost of going to Yale is insanely higher than an average college and even though Rory was not low-income she still might have been eligible for 'some' financial aide.
That being said, this was kind of repeat of the beginning dilemma with Chilton.
Yeah, if you're a freelancer paying for your kid's tuition you learn this the hard way - if you have a bad year after a good year they still calculate your contribution based on your good year. I think this is significant because fluency with these kinds of financial issues is usually a result of legacy - if you went to college yourself or your parents teach you. Lorelei removed herself from that world before she learned about her parents' financial world in that way.
I don’t hate Logan, I actually like his character flaws and all. but damn do I like dislike Rory when she is with him. And I don’t think it’s really totally his fault. But Rory has always been my least fave version of herself with Logan. Which is saying a lot cause she is with him for the longest and basically after she becomes an adult.
Exactly my issues with him. Rory is good for Logan, but he's not good for her...
Yeah logan is fun and he grows a lot, but he is too good as charactr at least when he had that initial growth and motivation.
yes. Logan does have an influence, but in the end these are Rory's choices. I do dislike Logan a bit. He thinks hes better than people who have less than him. I dont get why people act like Logan recognizing his privilege in such a big deal. Yeah, he thrives in his privilege, which is ok, but we never see him work hard (and yes, some rich people also work hard, they have an advantage and they make the best out of it) and if he doesnt like the plan his father has for him, he never makes an effort to divert from it. He thinks he can do stupid things, just bc he knows he can get away with it, because of his father's money. He thinks hes better than others (just like his father) and thats not something I can put up with.
I don't know. The version of her that slept with Dean when he was still married was a pretty bad version.
Honestly I think that part of the reason Luke is so quick to attack Dean is partly due to his self-hatred. He sees too much of himself in Dean. He doesn’t think he deserves Lorelei and so Dean doesn’t deserve Rory.
Also, I don’t think that Liz being goofy is really all that jarring. I think she’s fairly realistically portrayed as what kind of mother Jess would have and it makes sense why he turned out like that. It’s clear that Liz had a bit of a revolving door of men through her life while Jess was younger, and it’s clear through her inability to really look after herself that she wouldn’t have been fit to look after a child. I also imagine Jess would have had to deal with Liz’s outbursts and emotional breakdowns a lot, and definitely would have been someone that Liz relied in way too much emotionally. You gotta remember, we really only meet Liz after she’s met TJ, and we know that he had a really positive influence on her settling down into a proper routine. But even then, you can see how she often will still subtly manipulate Luke into helping her do things. Liz may come across as goofy and light-hearted, but that’s clearly not the full picture. Also, we do see her have one of her emotional breakdowns with TJ after she falls pregnant with her second kid. I can only imagine that these sort of breakdowns would have been a much more common occurrence before TJ became a stabilising factor in her life.
I think the painful truth is GG is actually quite honest about class in America … as opposed to merely having money. Lorelei’s genuinely valid achievements are made possible by the intangible education of growing up Emily’s daughter: she becomes a party planner and small in manager that caters to the very rich. She learned the tastes and skills to make that happen growing up in that environment. She also has the imagination to say my kid is going to be in the Ivy League because Lorelei is a Yale legacy whose idea of rebellion is that Rory will go to Harvard instead… giving Rory a sense that she gets where she’s going without being a legacy. She understands the value of private school for that goal. And then of course Emily and Richard don’t just bring money to support Rory with Chilton but actively present Rory with high class cultural enrichment… a coming out party, they teach her how to dress and present herself, she meets people in high places. They end up undermining whatever efforts Lorelei made to break from that social class, and they do it on purpose. Class is a structure that transcends mere money and Gilmore Girls captures that perfectly.
THANK YOU for saying "emotions from a (teen) boy isn't toxic"! We NEED to accept that guys have emotions, too, and SHOULD be able to express them. That is healthy and I think the LACK of that expression HELPS cause more toxic masculinity problems! Thank you so much for noting this difference!
Team Jess because I relate to him the most. I don't think Liz is a horrible person but who knows what type of abusive relationships she has been in that Jess witnessed or even was a victim of. I'm sure his love of reading was feuled by his desire to escape his chaotic home life. Also I think Jess is most like Lorelei because they both carry this weight of being unwanted by their parents (especially their fathers) and their both so sassy which is ironic because that's why Lorelei doesn't like him.
“ Wake up rory, whether you like it or not, you’re one of us” (everybody clapped)
They changed Dean too... Because Jess was written the quirky, intelligent, smart dropout... Dean in contrast became written as "nice but dim" which is pretty much the working class trope used time and time by Gilmore Girls writers... Luke is a prime example of that as are other characters in town. Simply because they're not in the Gilmores circles... So then Rory kinda came across as intellectually superior as well as highly privileged...
My favorite Gilmore Girls' scenes which are related to love:
1. The episode where Lorelai is all prepared for Rory's broken-heart breakdown (I think from a Dean breakup). She has told Rory repeatedly that episode...that she is there to talk over everything and what foods/movies they would partake...to process the heartbreak...when Rory is ready to talk it through. Rory says repeatedly that she is fine. Then, Lorelai comes home...and Rory is crying (while eating ice cream out of the carton). Lorelai then gets her moment to comfort Rory through her 1st heartbreak. ❤
2. The Lorelai episode - where we discover Lorelai was named after her independent Aunt Lorelai and that Rory's real name is Lorelai...named in part after that Aunt and Lorelai herself. However, the series seems to suggest that the nickname "Rory" seems to be for Rory to establish her own identity - separate from the 2 independent women for whom she is named. Plus, this episode shows how pregnant teenage Lorelai left her family to become independent and work for the Inn. This proved Lorelai's love to provide her daughter a better life.
3. The episode where Rory had a cotillion/coming-of-age-in-society party and Christopher was supposed to show up. He came late and Rory angrily & tearfully confronted him on his behavior and raced up the stairs. Next, Lorelai (who had been entertaining thoughts that Christopher was now a "changed" responsible man) also confronted him...and in distress, she raced up those same stairs. Protective parents Emily & Richard stopped Christopher from going upstairs and chastised him for causing their daughter and granddaughter to be consistently hurt by his behavior. (They finally realized why teenage Lorelai had chosen to raise Rory alone without Christopher).
4. Friendship love...when Sookie was certain her vegetable garden would die from the cold weather...and the whole Inn team slept outside amongst the vegetables with Sookie - to help Sookie's garden survive. Even previous-complainer Mi'chel reluctantly said it was the best night sleep that he had experienced in a while.
These are all great moments but I think the third is actually a combination of 2 different episodes. One i think from season 2 and another from season 3, but I can't remember the specific ones
@@MissIndipendant98 yea I think this is partially from the season where Rory and Lorelai are both upset with Chris because he got Sherry pregnant. If I remember correctly, Chris was at the coming-out party in season 2 because it's where we first learn about Sherry.
I really did like the high school episodes - they were so wholesome. Things got messier as the show went on. I could relate to Rory's first kiss and heartbreak experiences...not so much when she had an affair with a married Dean, though.
Small correction on 2: The first Lorelai is not Lorelai's aunt but her grandmother (she is Richard's mother). I'm deeply curious how Emily was ever persuaded to name Lorelai after her, given the way Emily feels about Lorelai the First.
@@thatjillgirl Thank you for the correction...it's been years since I watched the series...even though I lovingly own it.
I wonder was there a compromise with Richard...he got to name their daughter after his mother...and Emily would have full say in the rearing of Lorelai???? He may have compromised other things (she could be a socialite housewife, have authority over how the house was run, could decide what society parties they would attend, etc.).
I kinda always assumed that Liz was a drug addict but that it being the CW they couldn't say it in so many words so I figured she was clean when moving to Stars Hollow
I also thought that was the implication. It's sort of re-emphasized by Luke too that like... "she's really trying this time." and when they realize that TJ is not abusive like her other partners, then he becomes open to supporting her and all. I actually quite like how she's described is different to how she ultimately appears because that's honestly a really human issue of people not being able to let of the idea of who a person was when they knew them, vs. the person that they have ultimately become. Also, Liz can be scraping by/trying her best, and that can still result in Jess being subjected to trauma tertiarily. So I think it's actually a very emotionally earnest 3D character rendering.
@@shelbymachado8712that’s what I always thought. She always wanted good for Jess and at times really tried, realised she wasn’t up for it but tried to redeem herself. Jess’ opinion on her will be very different being raised by her, than Luke having grown up with her, to ppl like Lorelei or the viewer only meeting her when we do.
Alright, you've convinced me, I'm going team Logan. I wasn't a particular team before actually, I was sort of thinking Rory just needed someone new, and I liked that season 7 left things open for her romantically. But yeah, I do think that Logan was the best, it was definitely the most functional relationship that she had in the show, where they did help each other grow.
Unpopular opinion, but I don't hate Rory or think she's a terrible person (at least not overall). I think she's an interesting character, who does make a lot of mistakes and is often in the wrong. Maybe I like her more, because I never really felt like I was always supposed to take her side? Sometimes she's in the right, sometimes she's in the wrong, she seemed to very much be someone figuring herself out to me, which is normal for a teen and then new adult. She was a model kid in some ways, but absolutely played with bad behavior. I think something about Rory, is that she's a bit of a people pleaser, and because of that, has internalized both her mother's vision for her and her grandparents' vision for her.
On the one hand, Rory is her mother's child, named after her, and strongly modeling herself after her mother. Here Rory internalizes Lorelei's scorn for the upper class. Lorelei has that scorn because of having lived the upper class upbringing, the repressiveness of it, the pressure, the negativity and insipidness, the valuing of superficiality and the nastiness and fakeness of it. Rory doesn't have that lived experience and Lorelei also shields her from the details of it, because she doesn't want that for Rory. Consequently, Rory's scorn of the upper class is more of a mimicry of her mother's, rather than informed, and she is consequently very unprepared for when she encounters real upper class nastiness with Logan's family. (Also, I'd assume that the reason Lorelei doesn't like Logan despite their similarities, is in fact, because of their similarities, and Lorelei's need to distance and differentiate herself from her upbringing.) Of course, despite Lorelei's scorn for the upper class... she still wants every opportunity possible for her daughter, she wants Rory to be able to benefit from the money and privilege they have access too. Because of this, she has to reevaluate her rejection of privilege, she has to shift her stance. She'll take advantage of that upper class identity for Rory.
On the other hand, Rory is her grandparents 'redo' child, literally a new Lorelei, one who isn't combative and resistant, who wants to please. This is explicitly discussed in the show, this idea that Lorelei was a failure and that Rory is their shiny chance to have respectable offspring. An idea that gets challenged throughout the show. When Rory has her break from Yale, in the DAR (is that what it's called? I'm forgetting), is basically embracing upper class insipidness, Richard suddenly realizes that this isn't he wants for Rory, actually, and that actually he wants her to be more like Lorelei, meanwhile Emily is put off by his sudden switch, since Rory now is what they had wanted for Lorelei then. (In this situation, Rory also starts experiencing a little taste of what Lorelei experienced, the repressiveness and control when the grandparents realize she's sexually active and try to purity culture.)
Mild (related) digression, but throughout the series, Emily and Richard kind of gain more appreciation for Lorelei's independent nature and abilities (Independence Inn, lol). Notably with Emily, when Richard is in the hospital, Emily is unable to do a lot of the things that need doing, because Richard always did them and Emily is very much the upper class wife who doesn't do work. Lorelei steps in and helps, shows Emily how to do things, and Emily observes that it's like she's in a kayak, rather than a canoe, she can do things on her own. Notably with Richard, when Richard is being 'phased out' by his company, basically when playing good boy to upper class expectations doesn't serve him, it's with Lorelei's help that he's able to set up his own competing business, and tbh, he probably couldn't have done it without her. Lorelei has the ability to function and succeed outside of the upper class structure, the ability to make things herself. So, getting a better appreciation for Lorelei contributes to the shift of actually wanting different things for Rory than they wanted for Lorelei. Like, pursuing her ambitions and interests.
All of that family background is integral to who Rory is, because while she's shielded from the details of it, she experiences it in the expectations put on her. And of course she'd want to fulfill those expectations, those expectations come from love, her mom and grandparents absolutely love and adore her. Anyway, I think that this is why Rory sometimes has very conflicting ideas about class and I think her journey in the show is one of figuring out how to be her own person. (Which is wrecked by the damn revival in which they try to have her repeat her mother's accidental pregnancy thing, to be Lorelei 2.0 instead of Rory. I'm just going to ignore the revival, none of it made sense and ruins everything.) Generally, the class examination in Gilmore Girls is more about the benefits and detriments of depending on upper class privilege vs the benefits and detriments of independent self-making. It's a limited examination of class.
Excellent analysis!!!! ❤😍🌹
Spot on!! Rory being a people pleaser explains so many of her apparently contradictory actions... Driven but allergic to rejection...
Also, I can't believe I never realized until now why the Independence Inn was named that way 😂😂😂
If you were close to a Rory you'd find her a terrible person. In real Iife you'd see how shit that behavior is.
I believe Rory ends where she does because Amy came back and that is how she always envisioned the ending. Though I personally think Rory was supposed to say "mom I'm pregnant" after graduating from Yale, not age 35.
Very insightful! I never considered how Rory’s view of privilege is a limited one compared to her mom’s lived experiences. But yes, as a daughter and a people pleaser (potentially from growing up with only her mom and therefore cherishing her approval above all else) she was mirroring her mother’s belief system. Very very well written ^_^/
When you started going off about how dirty they did Logan in the revival this instantly became an interactive video for me I was out of my seat I cheering, I was shouting, I was adding, I had to go back and rewatch bc I ended up missing half of what you said lmao I got too amped up 😂
Me too
😂 happens to me too!
42:01 this phone call is… god, SO embarrassing when you listen to it from the perspective of the financial aid office worker.
“My daughter is Rory GILMORE (who’s family came over on the mayflower and who’s grandparents will later donate a building), why didn’t we qualify for financial aid? Yes we got $75k but we spent it so it’s gone? Don’t you know how money works?”
Honestly Stars Hollow seems like such a rich place, it doesn't feel like anyone truly working class would even be able to live there. I think perhaps it doesn't help that Laurelei has already become very successful in her own right before the show starts. So the show is really more focused on a dynamic of middle class vs upper class and working class character are pretty minor. I don't even think Luke is really working class he just has the aesthetic of a working class character. He's a business owner who's father was also a business owner and he never really seems to struggle with money at all.
As for the boyfriends this video makes a very good argument. I guess I dislikes Logan's personality but then I didn't like Dean or Jess either
Maybe the reason Lorelei doesn't like Logan is because he is another adult in her daughter's life, which also means that she could start losing her and their strong connection. So in that sense, he is a threat. It would be perfectly understandable for a single mom who was so close to her daughter for so long to feel scared of losing that relationship and closeness. While Lorelei is rationally aware of the fact that Rory will obviously go to college and make her own life, emotionally, it's hard to cope with that transition when it becomes real.
“I was right then and I’m right now” -Me always
Hey booo
Thank you SO much for validating and articulating my thoughts about how Dean deserved so much better. My partner, who was only vaguely aware of the series growing up, has become very invested in the series since I started playing it as background noise while I work. Now he has very strong opinions and constantly clamors on about how Dean is someone with anger problems whom you have to walk on eggshells around. He calls me a Dean apologist when I remind him he’s a teenager and that Rory has entitlement issues as well as poor communication skills. I don’t have the heart to tell him that he’s always reminded me of Dean at his core; so supportive, dependable, unafraid of being emotional vulnerable, and never makes you question their motives. I’m showing him this video, then hopefully he’ll let me make a Dean shrine in our living room that he can make offerings to every day.
Also just subscribed! Excited to consume your content❤
First, Team Logan. And about the Ace thing (I know, focusing on the important things here) I think it was viewed by some as him disrespecting her. Especially since Tristan called her Mary all the time. Except Rory never had a problem with Ace. She repeatedly told Tristan to stop calling her Mary, and he wouldn't listen. And the one time Logan knew she didn't like a nickname (kiddo) he acknowledged it and said he wouldn't do it anymore.
One thing I did like about the revival though, was Rory's and Jess's relationship. They have a mutually respectful relationship, they care about each other and are good friends. I think this was the best evolution for them, it just feels very natural.
Great video! I do have one qualm. Logan's Step Mom was right: There's Gilmore Money and then there's Huntzberger money. There's plenty of wealthy people but only a few "master of the universe" type families in any given country. Richard worked for a company. Mitchum owned a corporate empire. Logan was projecting his own class status onto Rory whenever he yelled at her saying that she was a hypocrite. Rory was definitely not on his level. Nobody on the show is clear-eyed about their class position, including Logan. But I do love Logan!
You would probably had to have a mother like Jess mother to understand how she was everything Jess/Luke said. Yet, at the same time being likable. I understood instantly. She was just as they described before meeting her on screen.
Let me keep listening 🤣
Maybe so! I felt like Liz when we met her was a ditzy hippie mom. But she never seemed negligent imo. She felt just like Lorelei but without the class privilege and a child who would raise themself to me xD
exactly!
that's interesting you felt that way especially because i remember when she was pregnant with her second child she mentioned something about how this time around she wasn't going to be on drugs and they played it off for laughs but nothing about liz and lorelai imo were remotely similar. It's obvious, atleast to me, with how she would constantly rely on Luke to bail her out and because gilmore girls is a show that imo can't go indepth with drug addiction but she always came across as someone who clearly didn't prioritize Jess, was probably strung out on drugs a lot of the time growing up and would bring around different men and sure she wasn't physically or verbally abusive, but I think it was clear she was not a very present parent, especially emotionally and that can be a lot for a kid who has also been abandoned by his dad. This isn't towards you but a general comment, I sometimes find it problematic the way people seem to think parents have to be such an extreme level of evil for for the audience to believe that maybe they are a shitty parent and that maybe the kids are valid for having antagonistic feelings towards them.
The idea that Rory is supposed to be portrayed as perfect, or that the show is not aware of the ambiguity/hypocrisy of Lorelai's class identity... suffice to say, we have very different viewing experiences.
THANK YOU! Finally a review that did right by my boy Logan. He's not a terrible guy as some people make him out to be to make Jess look good. I also LOVED that you didn't downplay that horrific assault scene and mentioned it several times.
A part of the show I really enjoy is the contrast between Lorelai and Rory. You have Lorelai who wanted to run away from the privileged and restrictive lifestyle she was born to , to live by her own merit (to an extent) and Rory who runs right back to it because as someone who grew up somewhat outside it she sees the desirable elements of it, like the glamour and opportunity
I'll always be Team Lane! She deserved so much better!
But if I had to choose....I'm also Team Logan for Rory and Team older Jess for me!
i watched gilmore girls for the first time when i was a kid and my favorite part was logan/rory. and i’ve rewatched it many times since then and i still love them. i love that butt faced miscreant and i’m so happy someone is finally sticking up for him.
I watched Gilmore Girls long after it premiered. Yet, I developped a special love for it. It's total comfort TV for me: nice ambience, a lot of humor, relatable characters, relatively low stakes - perfect. There's also the element that I come from a similarly complicated maternal background.
There are obviously some problematic elements. I'm always shocked at the amount of homophobic jokes. And the classism is crazy, especially how the text tries to deny its existence.
Regarding the topic of Rory's romantic exploits, I always considered Jess the most interesting option, specifically because of the issues and the potential of him going through some personal developpment to become ready for some actual emotional comittment. With Logan, I always got the impression that he kind of forced himself to be what Rory wanted which created some tension just below the surface (I saw his alcohol consumption as a sign for that and a potential long-term issue). But it's perfectly possible that I superimposed some personal feelings there.
Jess has always been my favorite, but that’s BECAUSE of how awful he is for (and to) Rory. He’s an interesting character who generated a lot of messy drama that was fun to watch. When Rory leaves him behind at the end of season 3, it feels like a real victory.
Loved the class analysis, too.
As much as I hate Jess, I actually think that scrapped spin off could have worked really well. It would have allowed for him to have some actual proper character growth. Like, I feel like they could have done something really compelling with the character, if only they actually DID something with him. The main stumbling block for me is HE NEVER APOLOGISES FOR ALL HIS SHIT. He just turns up in S4 and is indignant that Rory hasn't magically forgiven him!
@@Jaros he is not angry that rory didn't forgive him. he literally just walks away in disappointment. what are u going on about?
@@zumann874 I'm talking about every scene he's in in S4. His general shitty teen attitude. He acts like it was some break up where both people wronged each other. No, everything that lead to their break up in s3 was directly his fault and he treated her like crap. Do something with that, have him apologise or something. He just turns up at her dorm and asks her to run away with him.
@@Jaros yes, he should have apologized. thats totally his fault. but, he was never angry with rory that she didnt apologize? also, jess was mostly in the wrong for their messy relationship. but, the faults weren't completely one-sided. rory's fault was that she never trusted jess as much as she trusted dean and even she admits that in one episode. jess had a shitty self esteem to begin with and rory fueled it by always comparing him with dean even when he wasn't at fault (like the night at emily's dinner). so, both of them were at faults for their relationship and jess was more accountable, i agree.
@@Jaros thats the point? He was an awful boyfriend, and a teenager with lots of issues in those seasons. Thats why he gets what he deserves, he faces consequences for acting like a jerk. Hes rejected. But youre very consciously choosing to just remember teenager Jess. He grows up, hes in the show briefly and he has changed. So I dont get why would you hate Jess. I hated Jess as Rory's boyfriend when they were teens. After, he was the only person we see that truly has positive development. And no, I dont want him to be with Rory. Adult Jess is better off without her.
This might be one of the best video essays on GG and on the phenomena of “classlessness” I’ve ever seen, neatly wrapped up in an easily digestible package of a retro sitcom/soap.
55:28 Thank you so much for mentioning the attempt of Jess to assault Rory. I’ll never understand how that’s always forgotten by everyone, it’s a really serious issue.
I wouldn’t call that attempted assault. If you’re talking about the episode where he initiates sex and she isn’t ready and he gets all pouty about it? It’s shitty but not assault. Calling it that makes a disservice to real rape victims
@@clairewillow6475 I’m a real rape survivor. It started like this. Forcing it and getting angry at you is another way of sexual violence.
@@clairewillow6475 And saying that’s not an attempt of assault invalidates the experiences of many survivors and does a disservice not only to survivors but also to people who could find themselves in those situations after watching that scene, which if seen as an attempt on sexually assaulting Rory could help them recognise what’s going on sooner and hopefully get out of there.
You do not get to invalidate my experiences.
the reason why is because the writers made it forgettable. They didnt present it as a serious issue. And honestly I get the feeling they just put it there to create tension. For the writers themselves, it wasnt that serious, which is fucked up.
@@optimistichaos9004 i completely respect ur opinion. i dont wanna feel like im invalidating ur opinion at all, but i just wanna state the context in which that scene happens. two eps before that party episode, the last kiss rory and jess have in front of the diner, both of them hint at having sex and rory says "keep thinking what you're thinking" and jess replies "i don't have a choice". and exactly right after that scene, rory goes home to tell lorelai that she wants to have sex with jess. many ppl forget this scene happened when talking abt what happened at the party. so lorelai replies "just tell me before it happens." and at the party, jess has no prior thoughts of having sex with rory that night at all, he sits there depressed. only when him and rory start mutually making out and she gets down on the bed by her own, thats when he thinks it would lead to sex. and jess shouldve completely stopped the first time rory said wait. yess thats totally his fault, he was so shitty for behaving like that. but as soon rory pushes and he gets off, rory literally just says "not here, not now". she doesnt ask why did he do that. analysing that scene its clear rory wanted to have sex with jess too, but not at a random party like that. thats the huge difference. she wanted her first time to be special and thats literally why she says "you didnt think it was gonna happen like this, did you". and even after all the fight gets over, she doesnt seem affected by that night nor do they bring it up again in the show at all. and its clear they added that scene just to cause more drama in the show and to write jess off of s3. if u disagree with my opinion, thats completely fine and i respect that. but, i just wanted to let u know why i dont think it's assault, but just jess acting like a completely messed up individual that night. also, i dont wanna come off as defending him for that night, not at all. i hated him in that scene too and it felt so out of character, it pissed me off. this is just me stating the context of the scene.
The last time I saw gilmore girls I was about 17-18 (and 19 for the revival) and I remember loving Jess and hating Logan and Dean because I saw myself in Rory (minus the rich family) and I thought Jess and Rory were soulmates but looking back at Rory's classism and entitlement now when I'm 25, I think Rory and Logan deserve each other. And I agree with you, the revival was awful
The thing about them eating out so much is that Stars Hallow seems to be a much more walkable city/tow/village/ whatever than....anywhere I know of. So they have lowish transport costs and diner food used to be cheap... I think.
It’s interesting that you brought up Rory not knowing how to make decisions and that Logan treats her like an adult and doesn’t make them for her. When you really break it down, even Harvard wasn’t Rory’s dream. It was Lorelai’s.
just because logan acknowledges the fact that he is privileged doesn't mean it gives him the pass to act like a classist snob. PERIOD. yall r like "atleast he knows he is privileged" THAT DOES NOT GIVE HIM A PASS TO ACT LIKE A DOUCHEBAG TO PEOPLE WHO ARE SOCIALLY LOWER THAN HIM.
facts! lol
@@reginaldfairfield glad u agree!
Agreed. When we first meet him and he condescends to "naked guy," that's the same Logan we see over and over throughout the series. He is his father's son, and Rory is gradually molded into Logan's mother, combined w/ a good bit of the self-absorption of her own mother.
omg, thats my fucking EXACT thought.
@@emileconstance5851 yup THIS THIS THIS
Jess is so much better than Logan. I'll summarize:
Jess: THAT'S NOT YOU, RORY.
Logan: THAT IS YOU, RORY.
That's the difference between them. Logan saw Rory as privileged and fine with taking handouts and shortcuts (like he is), knowing she'll happily use "connections" (like his father) to get ahead. Logan was her downfall. Sure, he rejects working for his father at his father's company, but he doesn't reject his privilege as a whole-he embraces it. He merely wants to use his privilege to do something on his own terms because he hates his father. We can call him "honest" to the extent that he is transparently hypocritical, but that's not flattering.
In A Year In The Life it's Jess's advice that sparks Rory to go back to a fundamental part of herself: her writing. Rory needs to connect through writing to her partner and I love the scene where Logan freaks out and calls her a trust fund kid like he is. (The scene where Dean can't articulate anything other than "I liked it" about her writing shows why they aren't a good fit even though he is grounded.) Rory reveals her true self in her writing and it shows that if she was being true to herself she wouldn't be with him. She didn't respect herself for living in his apartment rent-free and taking her grandparent's handouts, which is the point. It embarrasses her deep down because she knows it isn't right. She didn't earn it. A big reason she respected her mom was that Lorelai was self-made, yet she is scared she won't be able to handle it.
Jess isn't the kind of person to waste a bunch of money or look down on other people the way Logan does to Marty. Jess doesn't need the trappings of wealth or even education to know that he has something worthwhile to say. He's smart and he doesn't need to prove that by going to an Ivy League school. (Or even finish high school!) He lives in the real world so that he can write about the real world. He is the grounding force Rory needs. Honestly, Rory isn't good enough for Jess by the end of the show the way they wrote her. But if she finally puts in the work, humbles herself, and comes back to reality then I could see them being a great couple after the revival.
I can agree that Rory isn’t good enough for Jess by the end
This. ↑
this comment made my fcking day!!!! the only person with actual sense in the comments section!! YES YES YES
@@zumann874 Haha. Thank you!
I think so, too: Logan's "knowledge" about Rory is projection. This often applies to Dean as well, but Jess *knows* her. He's also the one who reminds her of her own goals when she "takes a break" from Yale.
YES!!! I can't understand how people keep defending Jess and ignoring the assault, I also see him as the worst boyfriend
With a lot of these shows I feel like you people have to ignore at least one super fucked up thing a character did as just some weird writing choice. Like Luke deciding to beat up a literal teenager in S1.
However this is not to of course excuse him, just that I can see someone thinking "that was a dumb thing the writers had him do" than "that was a terrible thing this character did".
However I find it really interesting that three of Jess's biggest moments are the same kind of thing. He's this guy who (supposedly) knows you so well, better than you know yourself, and gets angry when you don't go along with what he knows you want. Like, him assaulting her, him asking her to run away with him in S4*, and him asking why she dropped out of Yale are all VERY similar scenes.
*WITHOUT EVER FUCKING APOLOGISING FOR ANYTHING BY THE WAY
@@Jaros even the writers stated that they did that to write jess off the show, cuz he was getting his own spinoff, but it was cancelled at the last moment. it was so out of character for jess to behave like that. the writers fcked his character up in s3 to include more drama and i hated it.
Rory's tirade after the dinner with the Huntzbergers was more about her listing the things that the Huntzbergers thought were important than the idea that she thought they were important. Surely, she thought, her pedigree would pass muster with them.
thank you. i’m so surprised that rory and logan aren’t the most popular, they were the most healthy. the only reason people don’t like hi. is because he came with college rory and that’s just rude to the quality of his character. i think my favorite part was that he was the first boyfriend (arguably first person ever) to treat rory like a person.
Rory and Paris will forever be the enemies-to-friends-to lovers power couple will never get
Thank you thank you thank you! This was really comforting and a fresh perspective for me. I watched GG as it aired and was very young so I was never really aware of the class-driven aspects of the relationships in the show, but because of the depth and care that most of the characters were given it was always my go-to comfort show.
It always did feel like escapist fantasy to me (which it was, as I would find out once I grew up and continued a cycle of poverty with a life and a child of my own,) but it was done in such a wistful and romantic way that I could almost live in it. And I will never stop quoting the show with my mother and laughing and crying to it on my own on late nights every few years.
Also loved, 'Where You Lead,' being interspersed throughout this.
Also, Team Paris. Team Emily. These were somehow the most consistently endearing characters to me. Emily demanding to, "go first," after Richard's heart attack is one of my favorite moments of any character in the show.
It was definitely escapist. I identified with Rory at first as a shy, kind of awkward, smart driven girl like me. But the fascination became-besides the humor and fast dialogue and kooky town and other things I enjoyed-about seeing a girl I kind of saw myself in (besides being white and rich and thin) get noticed where I got overlooked and opportunities I could barely imagine and be absolutely adored by everyone in her life.
LMAO at Jamie Foxx just being that solo black dude awkwardly shoved into the corner in that WB commercial. Gotta love the early 00s
team paris all the way
An intellectual ✨👏
Paris deserves way better than Rory
Ugh, I really appreciate your thoughts on Dean! I’m not saying I’m team him (I’m actually team no one lmao), and I recognized his flaws, like you pointed out, but I’ve always had a soft spot for his character 😭
Look, I will always be Team Jess.
This is just my take, but I think Logan was a bad influence on Rory. She became so reckless and Jess was the one who finally called Rory out on that behavior.
But one thing I hope we can both agree on: Emily Gilmore roasted Logan's mom like a well-done ham and she is the true hero of this show.
I feel like Jess and his development could have an entire video. I acknowledge all of the shitty things he did but I also think that his growth is the most stable and has the most longevity. As a teen, yes, he wasn’t a good partner and most of that was because he had too much baggage to force someone else to shoulder, and it was probably good that it ended when it did so that he could finally help himself. This steadily progresses and gets better every time we see him, and by the time Rory kisses him because of Logan, he’s grown enough to finally decide he has standards and worth and isn’t interested in getting pulled into drama anymore. I think his work ethic is intrinsically attached to this and functioned as a therapy for him of sorts, especially when he finally trusts himself to publish his own writing. He didn’t want to work at Luke’s because of the strings attached to being “given” a job which was why he turned to Walmart, where he became one of their best employees because imo he saw working as a way to invest in himself and be his own support. By the time Rory is in Yale, the tables have kind of turned. He knows Rory is good, he has always known her potential, and while I know some people would disagree, I think he cares just as much about Rory as a friend as he does as a partner, so when he does all of this work on himself, inspired in part by one of the only people who saw his potential, he’s naturally disappointed to see how she’s lost herself. He wants better for her because he cares about her and wants her to thrive. No one wants to see their friends struggle, and in this case he saw that she needed someone familiar with her values to call her out and tell her to get back on her feet; and then she did. Him understanding the value of his friendship (separate from his romantic interest in her) with her was pivotal to his story and I think that development deserves acknowledgement in his own right. Do I think they should have ended up together by the end of the main series? No, I don’t think she was ready for that and he finally embraced his ambition for his own interests and I think that’s more important. That being said, and maybe it’s just because I work on the Upper East Side and see it all the time, but Logan regressing came as no shock to me, especially considering it’s so common for guys like him. What we saw from him in AYITL was exactly what I would have guessed would happen prior to it coming out in my opinion. I think Logan had potential but personally I don’t think he’s strong enough to stick to his guns. Plus the way he talks to people feels very manipulative in that it presents as self aware without feeling very genuine and it makes me super uneasy. It’s very “argues with the minimum wage host at the restaurant for something out of their control” to me. Mostly I think his relationship with his family is too messy and the efforts he makes to distance himself from them are, in my opinion, not committed enough to last long-term, which was why I think his life in AYITL makes complete and total sense. One can like him fine if they want, I’m just not personally interested in this “Lorelai but even worse” type storyline, it’s not for me. Okay that being said I’m happy with where Jess was at and it felt consistent with him from the previous series, him maintaining a healthy and friendly but not overly close friendship with Rory feels like a decision he’d happily make after learning how much he does and doesn’t want to get his feet wet with her anymore. Milo getting jacked was a bonus 💁♀️ long story short, I find Jess’s story and development really interesting and worthy as analysis outside of being a romantic prospect and think he grew more than most of the cast!
Rory was already reckless in season 4 when he slept with Dean
I honestly look at it this way...She became awful even before she met Logan. She didn't even meet Logan when the "sleeping with a married man" happened, and also in those seasons she was at her best when she was deciding stuff with him, and then at her worst when she was making her own stupid decisions. Logan was great, he just fell in love with the Rory who doesn't know how to be a responsible adult
@@laceyisnotreading THIS YUP YUP YUP
@@laceyisnotreading !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! jess is interesting as a character, and not just as a romantic interest.
i'm particularly fascinated by his downward spiral through season 3 (a honest, nuanced representation of how hard it is to maintain relationships with people you care about when you're struggling with yourself), hitting the rock bottom in season 4 and his resurgence as more well-adjusted, more mature and healthier than ever in season 6, and then the revival just further solidies his growth.
also, your comment about logan's efforts not being commited enough to last long-term is on point, too.
This is the most detailed Gilmore girls video I have watched ever. And it makes me realize so much about how we view the characters. I will be thinking about it in such a different light now. Thank you so much for this I know you put a ton of work into this video. Amazing
I was always Team Logan, because yeah, he was a great balance for Rory. Great video as always!
Honestly - Backpacking in Europe can be romantic, but can add up financially to the same price as other more comfortable types of travelling. Especially because of the food. If you rent a place with kitchen here and there, you can prepare food ahead for your travels, if you backpack and sleep in hostels, you are going to either eat a lot of take out which is very expensive, or eat cheap cold food from grocery store. It seems like yet another thing writers of Gilmore Girls assumed but don't have any real experience with it. They didn't choose the style of travelling in Europe well in my opinion.
I think either 90% of people who watched GG, watched a different version where Jess and Luke aren’t terrible, or everyone just thinks it would be funny to gaslight me.
But aren’t all the characters terrible at some point. The show does a great job at making you annoyed as hell at characters you loved.
@@shanzoni1200 exactly!!!! ppl here in the comments acting like logan was this great gentleman oh god
No Logan is definitely a lil shit, but honestly I kept waiting to see Jess’s good side but it never came. I mean the assault scene alone should put him out of the running. I like lots of problematic characters but with him I just don't get it…
and when does luke/jess gaslight lorelai/rory???? that is basically what logan/chris does. jess and luke have different issues- communication problems. that is the main issue. chris/logan take lead in the gaslighting department. logan cheats on rory, gaslights rory into thinking it wasnt his fault and that she was wrong for assuming that they were together and says "in my mind, i wasnt cheating on you". no, it was not a breakup. there was no verbal confession from either of the partners!
@@zumann874 ... ‼
This is a 100% correct opinion and THANK YOU for also pointing out how much Jess sucks I have never liked him and did not understand why everyone was so ride or die for him
I think it's because in the end you realize so many of the characters were kind of awful in a way the show didn't want to acknowledge, while teenaged jess was the only one who really had a rough upbringing and life conditions to really justify his behavior. He was a neglected, angry teenager, who was abandoned by his parents ans never had good role models, he only had Luke as a kind of a male role model, and he was not always the best to look up to, and he was honestly much more present for rory than for jess. Jess is one of the only characters who were truly working class with a horrible start in life, and he still did okay in the end and was the best adapted adult in the later seasons and the revival.
And by horrible start in life i mean horrible by stars hollow standards, not the actual world, but still. The show glamorized self made people, but he was the only truly self made character, and i think that's what really made people relate to him, despite his flaws - he seemed like a real person, because him and dean were the only ones who had real consequences for anything, even if he got away with bad behavior. But yeah, he was the worst boyfriend, the pressuring her to sleep with h was prob the worst thing a male character has done on the show 😬
Lorelai's character really made no sense to me ins7 and ayitl, her being so adamant in hating logan, her refusal in the beginning to wanting rory to tell their story and after 10 years being in the same place with Luke??? I feel like logan was the most compatible to rory and the show really didn't expect that, or know how to reconcile with it in a way that doesn't highlight and conflict with the class issues throughout. i think in a lot of ways the show wrote itself into a corner. the white-feminist neo-liberal mechanisms against the backdrop of the early 00's the show spearheads conflating with the idealisms the show also wants to portray. the problems only become more apparent when the show moves into the revival and the 2010's landscape and i'm always left with that same confused, alienated and midly annoyed feeling-even though it's a comfort show for me. (also justice for lane.)
I get that Jess was immature and had some personal issues but, the way he abandoned Rory, without a word, without a single thought or regret, he look at her in her damn face while he was just leaving and said nothing!. This man was the worst boyfriend ever, worst friend ever, how is anyone rooting for their relationship after the se*ual assault and this? Is this fandom out of their damn mind? Nobody deserves to be treated the way Jess treated her, and she was so young!!!
Did i watch the show? No.
Will i watch Pincesses video? Are you kidding me? Yes!
God this was such a good analysis, you're very fair to all the characters, so good not to listen to Dean or Logan hate. I used to love Gilmore first seasons but as the story progressed I just couldn't relate with what was told and what was shown. Also, love that you are not Luke biased it's so refreshing. I'd like to hear more your opinions about Christopher, to me he was always better than people like to paint him.
I've never been able to formulate why I love Logan for Rory, but I think you explained it perfectly
Thank you for posting an hour long video essay about Gilmore Girls that I can watch while begrudgingly working from home
OMG, Team Logan! I'm so glad to have found this video, as I am often the only person that feels this way about Logan (and season 7) in my circles, and for the exact reasons that you gave. I became a fan after your interview on TFD but I'm a loyal follower for sure now! Outside of the stupid parallel narrative and the wasted time on Stars Hollow the musical, I enjoyed AYITL and how they chose to treat Rory. It absolutely tracks with how she was always doted on for being smart and perfect, but when real life hits you, it takes more than that to make something happen.
I love your content. I am a Jess stan and and a Luke stan and this is still some of the best criticism of a show I regularly come back to. Thank you for sharing your thoughts, they made me see things a little bit differently. 💜💜💜
I never made it past the beginning of the season where Rory's first at Yale, but I didn't watch the show until a few years back when it landed on Netflix, because we didn't have good reception for the WB when the show was originally on. I really liked Laine and Paris, and it bothered me just how little the show called out Laine's mom's abusive parenting.
It still bothers me Lane's mom was so judgemental when she moved into an apt with male roommates after kicking her out of the house abruptly. To this day I'm not sure what she expected her to do
@@ChantelCarter-cc7cu ... yeah, that definitely plays into the racism part.
Gilmore Girls tricked me into thinking I would like living in a small town