One is the Loneliest Number: Unpopular GG Opinions

[Smad]

I was always the biggest LL shipper but I ended my time watching the show thinking both Luke and Chris should run for the hills!

However many years have passed and a rewatch on Netflix has only solidified that opinion! Lorelai is a terrible partner....terrible. Both Luke and Chris Stood no chance as long as she remained as self centred and emotionally immature as she was.

That certainly deserves a big fat DUH. Lorelai has never made sense to me when it comes to romance. She said yes to marrying Max I guess because she was swept up in his big flower gesture or because she simply wanted to be married, ironically the same thing she did in S7. Even though the way she ended things was disgusting at least she knew the package was empty if you didn't love the guy. After that and especially once Rory was at Yale I thought they would have her date a few guys (since she completely skipped over that part by becoming a parent so young) and then decide what kind of guy really could be that perfect package for her. I thought that was the point of both Alex and Digger. Alex was very casual and offscreen a lot till he ended up in a ditch. Jason was nice to quip with and have some sex too but clearly that's all she wanted.

 

And then comes the part that confuses me to no end when it comes to Luke. She told the shrink she realized how much she loved Luke because of how much he cared for Rory. I won't even get into how messed up that is and that it proves that Rory is the love of her life and the only person she can ever truly love apparently. And again ironically that is exactly how S7 ended because she gave up on Luke until she found out he organized Rory's Bon Voyage party. Of course it makes one wonder...if her love is dependant on how much a guy cares for Rory why on earth did she ever even look Cristopher's way? Considering that for him at most she was a stepping stone to get to Lorelai or used by him to get to Lorelai. Not that Lorelai ever had enough brainpower to connect those dots of course. She just doesn't make any sense when it comes to romance and what she is looking for in a partner/husband. Any guy would be wise to stay away because she could just change her mind about what she wants tomorrow.

Edited September 23, 2015 by Smad

[BellyLaughter]

That certainly deserves a big fat DUH. Lorelai has never made sense to me when it comes to romance. She said yes to marrying Max I guess because she was swept up in his big flower gesture or because she simply wanted to be married, ironically the same thing she did in S7. Even though the way she ended things was disgusting at least she knew the package was empty if you didn't love the guy. After that and especially once Rory was at Yale I thought they would have her date a few guys (since she completely skipped over that part by becoming a parent so young) and then decide what kind of guy really could be that perfect package for her. I thought that was the point of both Alex and Digger. Alex was very casual and offscreen a lot till he ended up in a ditch. Jason was nice to quip with and have some sex too but clearly that's all she wanted.

 

And then comes the part that confuses me to no end when it comes to Luke. She told the shrink she realized how much she loved Luke because of how much he cared for Rory. I won't even get into how messed up that is and that it proves that Rory is the love of her life and the only person she can ever truly love apparently. And again ironically that is exactly how S7 ended because she gave up on Luke until she found out he organized Rory's Bon Voyage party. Of course it makes one wonder...if her love is dependant on how much a guy cares for Rory why on earth did she ever even look Cristopher's way? Considering that for him at most she was a stepping stone to get to Lorelai or used by him to get to Lorelai. Not that Lorelai ever had enough brainpower to connect those dots of course. She just doesn't make any sense when it comes to romance and what she is looking for in a partner/husband. Any guy would be wise to stay away because she could just change her mind about what she wants tomorrow.

It's the million dollar question and that was always my sticking point with Christopher regardless of how good their chemistry was.  How could she even consider a dude who actually used his own daughter the way Chris did??  Here we had a woman who could fire off pop culture references at the drop of a hat - suggesting some degree of intelligence - yet she was unbelievably stupid when it came to her personal life??  I guess Lorelai Gilmore was and always will be in a state of arrested development - what most fascinates me is did ASP actually want to portray that or was she just really crappy at writing healthy relationships on any level.  If I had a chance to sit down with her I would love to ask her (after she pops a few truth pills!!) what her endgame for Lorelai was?  Did she ever see LL as together forever and meant to be or did the Gilmore Girls fans of yesteryear just get it all completely wrong.  

 

Having rewatched the majority of the show on Netflix in recent months it has really struck me how unbelievably cynical the whole show is....how could I have not seen that as clearly 10-15 years ago???  

 

Shout out to the Gilmore Guys!! ;)

[Smad]

It's the million dollar question and that was always my sticking point with Christopher regardless of how good their chemistry was.  How could she even consider a dude who actually used his own daughter the way Chris did??

 

I guess Lorelai Gilmore was and always will be in a state of arrested development - what most fascinates me is did ASP actually want to portray that or was she just really crappy at writing healthy relationships on any level.

Well I've already said my piece about ASP and the dichotamy in Lorelai's character when it comes to Chris vs everyone else in the LL thread so I won't repeat myself. But in short, for me ASP is a hack.

[JayInChicago]

You're right--underneath a lot of quippy pop culture and cutesy, this show really does have extremely cynical elements. Honestly though it's part of why I have rewatched.

Though I hear criticisms of Christopher and know they are accurate, the way Lorelai acted after they got married is part of why I let him off the hook a little bit for how he behaved. Particularly how Lorelai reacted to her mother wanting to throw them an actual wedding with Rory there and everything. Chris accurately saw through Lorelai's irreverence / snark about the reception and knew she wasn't really all in. The letter for Luke's trial was just a coffin nail. And then they were separated as can be and Richard had his heart attack. I have a friend who is recently separated after much drama, and I wouldn't expect him to be there for his still legal wife.

[Smad]

You're right--underneath a lot of quippy pop culture and cutesy, this show really does have extremely cynical elements. Honestly though it's part of why I have rewatched.

Though I hear criticisms of Christopher and know they are accurate, the way Lorelai acted after they got married is part of why I let him off the hook a little bit for how he behaved. Particularly how Lorelai reacted to her mother wanting to throw them an actual wedding with Rory there and everything. Chris accurately saw through Lorelai's irreverence / snark about the reception and knew she wasn't really all in. The letter for Luke's trial was just a coffin nail. And then they were separated as can be and Richard had his heart attack. I have a friend who is recently separated after much drama, and I wouldn't expect him to be there for his still legal wife.

I just can't feel sorry for him. He admitted at the end that he knew what the situation was going into the relationship and then he had issues every step of the way? Give me a break. This is like someone telling you if you take 5 steps forward you will land in quicksand and die. Then you take those 5 steps, land in the sand and die. And then you complain about the fact that you are dying even though you knew you would? He jumped on a distraught and emotionally fragile woman the night she showed up on his doorstep, then dated her then pushed for marriage. And during all of that he knew exactly where he stood as the rebound. If you know what the situation is going in, don't complain afterwards about it. Just makes you look like a moron and a weasel. I won't even get into the fact that he dragged poor GiGi into this mess. Gotta love his fabulous lack of priorities: Lorelai's pants > emotional welfare of his children.

 

Don't get me started about his 'that diner guy' comment at the party planning. Or his 'just a farmer' comment regarding his man-date with Jackson. Chris should have married Emily, they are 2 peas in a pod.

[Spartan Girl]

Totally agree with you about Christopher. He could have been a gentleman or a halfway decent human being by turning down Lorelei when she came to him after breaking up with Luke. Instead he used the situation to his advantage and came sniffing around until Lorelei finally agreed to date him. And we were supposed to feel sorry for him because all of a sudden he realized their relationship was a rebound??

His snotty behavior to Luke only made me so very glad that Luke punched him in the face when he did.

[Guest]

You're right--underneath a lot of quippy pop culture and cutesy, this show really does have extremely cynical elements. Honestly though it's part of why I have rewatched.

Though I hear criticisms of Christopher and know they are accurate, the way Lorelai acted after they got married is part of why I let him off the hook a little bit for how he behaved. Particularly how Lorelai reacted to her mother wanting to throw them an actual wedding with Rory there and everything. Chris accurately saw through Lorelai's irreverence / snark about the reception and knew she wasn't really all in. The letter for Luke's trial was just a coffin nail. And then they were separated as can be and Richard had his heart attack. I have a friend who is recently separated after much drama, and I wouldn't expect him to be there for his still legal wife.

 

This is why I really started disliking Lorelai in Season 7 and I don't usually rewatch Season 7.  She treated Chris horribly.  She shows up on his doorstep, and they end up having sex. We have no idea who was the initiator, if anyone took advantage, what anyone's motivations were, anything (sloppy writing).  She marries him (again, we don't really know how that was decided on because of lazy writing). However, she's unwilling to make any changes to her life to accommodate Chris and Gigi. It's still the Lorelai and Rory show.  Gigi doesn't need a bedroom. Gigi doesn't need to celebrate Christmas on time. New Christmas traditions should be shunned (yes, I know she eventually came around to that one).  Yes, Chris made all kinds of assumptions, but she clearly hadn't given it any thought either.  And then on top of that, she deceived him repeatedly, did favors for a man whose last interaction with Chris had been a sucker punch, etc.  

 

In short, Lorelai was about as thoughtful as Trix the last season.

[solotrek]

And then comes the part that confuses me to no end when it comes to Luke. She told the shrink she realized how much she loved Luke because of how much he cared for Rory.

 

The worst thing is, she played that against Luke several times. After the car accident with Jess, she goes on a rant about how Luke has an obligation to her and Rory and to hell with Jess and how dare he try to help his nephew out. Or when Rory's moving to Yale and Lorelai takes Luke's truck for basically 2 days instead of a few hours. When Luke says he needs his truck for something, Lorelai plays the whole "don't you care about Rory" card even though she's legitimately walking distance from home and her own car at this point. This is all before dating Luke.

 

After dating Luke it became, "I don't want to set a date for the wedding because things aren't right with Rory, but I myself will do nothing to fix this so maybe we'll never get married" (paraphrased and implications). And then after she sets a date and Luke finds out he has a 13 year old daughter and wants to make up for lost time, it becomes "how dare you put your daughter first, I'm sad that this wedding date that I set without talking to you got pushed back even though you're doing something about your daughter issue while I wasn't with mine earlier. I'll give you an immature ultimatum and then go sleep with the guy that I've been denying I had feelings for". Baffling.

[Taryn74]

Not that I really care all that much about defending Chris anymore.....but when the tables were turned in ICGS, Lorelai was the one happily being the "rebound girl" planning on moving forward with Chris -- until they found out Sherry was pregnant, of course.  Chris hadn't even moved out (of Sherry's apartment) yet, he just said he was thinking about it, and he made that clear.  Lorelai hopped into bed with him anyway.  I can see why he wouldn't have questioned it when Lorelai showed up on his doorstep after breaking up with Luke.  That's the kind of relationship they had always had, right or not.  I honestly believe that up until their divorce in S7, both of them subconsciously saw their relationship as the "real" one - the only one that was going to last - and anyone else they dated, got engaged to, or had children with in the meantime was just temporary.

[solotrek]

I'd say that Lorelai was like that with both Luke and Chris. When Nicole was back in Luke's life, she went on a rant to Rory about how Luke needed to get thru his thick skull that whoever is in his life is in her life. When Sherry told her that they didn't have to get to know each other, she flipped out at Chris and said that if Sherry is part of Chris' life, she's part of Lorelai's life. That is an insane amount of possessiveness over both these guys.

[JayInChicago]

It's weird--I normally don't like Chris very much and wouldn't really defend him, but...I don't know. lol

[junienmomo]

She told the shrink she realized how much she loved Luke because of how much he cared for Rory. I won't even get into how messed up that is and that it proves that Rory is the love of her life and the only person she can ever truly love apparently.

 

Rory is the only one she really loves is a theory that makes a lot of things fall into place, most importantly that Lorelai would probably never be as happy with a spouse as she was with Rory. I don't mean motherly love, I mean the freakishly connected part. Every man Lorelai ever dated was held up to the Rory yardstick, except for sex obviously, but it was also made clear from the first episode that Lorelai would never have a problem finding male partners interested in sex.

 

Lorelai was also not thrilled with any of Rory's boyfriends, with the exception of Dean, who she knew she could control. She actively disliked Jess and remained distant and untrusting of Logan. Reeks of jealousy, but also includes the natural protective instincts of a mother. Lorelai was also very unsatisfied with Emily doing anything to connect Rory with suitable partners. 

 

She seemed to not be ready to let Rory grow up either, not having prepared her for male-female relationships by mostly hiding hers from her daughter. Rory therefore had few examples of good male-female relationships to model her own after, and boy, when you consider Rory's poor relationship skills, it's actually no wonder that she didn't date anyone of significance during her first year of college and tended to attract questionable characters when she did. 

 

Sadly, it looks as if ASP fulfilled her intent of Lorelai and Rory not needing to be in permanent relationships by the end of the series; unfortunately she appears to have done it by leaving them emotional cripples. There's probably some named psychological disorder for that, although at this point I'd lean toward calling it the Lorelai syndrome.

[Anela]

I'm glad that they didn't feel the need to have them paired up. I was amazed when Paris declared that they were both happy, because they had boyfriends. Paris! Although I liked her with Doyle, I also liked it when she was trying to make sure that she made a big decision correctly for herself, instead of her relationship. 

 

It bugged me when Rory felt the need to put Jess' mind at ease, whenever she'd been around Dean. He was such a hypocrite. I don't care that Dean wanted her back. 

[alexa]

I don't know how unpopular this opinion is, because I never followed the Gilmore Girls fandom (and I haven't seen anything from seasons 6 & 7), but Emily Gilmore is by far my favorite character on the show. Kelly Bishop just runs it home.

I don't think that is really an unpopular opinion.  I think that many viewers like Emily and appreciate Kelly's acting.... it is more about the uneven writing of her character over time that becomes an issue.  Otherwise I really like Emily, and love how Kelly plays her--I just find her behavior baffling because it is not consistent from one situation to another.  

[FrumiusManxome]

I'm new to this particular forum, so I'm not sure how unpopular my opinions are, but I thought I'd post them anyways since I have no one to talk about Gilmore Girls otherwise.

 

I am in the midst of a Gilmore Girls marathon (my first run through ever actually) currently and I am at the end of season 5 now, but I have an idea of where things go from here as a result of other sources, and I actually cannot believe that it is supposed to get worse from here. Season 4 was dipping already, imo, because of the lack of interesting plots. Once Rory reached Yale everything became very monotonous with her. She's always busy with school and anything outside of that is typically romance related. Similarly, most of Lorelai's plots centered around her romantic relationships. I would love to see more focus on her and Emily potentially patching things up, but I already know that never happens so I'm left rather neutral to a lot of their interactions. I still am on Emily's side in regards to a lot of their issues, but blowing up Luke and Lorelai's relationship 'for her own good' was ridiculous so right now I'm rather pissed off with her. 

 

I hate Yale Rory in Season 5. One of Rory's biggest flaws has always been her timidity. And though that has infuriated me on several occasions it's part of her character so I deal and move on. However, she is so obsequious in season 5 it has been driving me up a wall. I like Logan singularly. He's smarmy and conceited, but to paraphrase Marty, I can see a few good reasons why she likes him. Objectively, he and Rory are not a good couple. Rory, in a way, has been good for him. But, he is not good really for Rory. She is so desperate to please him and more often than not just goes along with whatever he does. Her crying on the floor of the bathroom really clinched it for me. Because instead of reacting like 'Oh, poor Rory' I was more annoyed. Annoyed by the fact that instead of dumping his ass she's all woe is me about the fact that he hasn't called. Yeah, be sad. But, if he hasn't called or answered any of your calls and is apparently planning fancy skiing trips with a large crowd of people that he did not invite you to then you need to re-evaluate your relationship. Especially when she was treating it like they were exclusive. Just because he gets jealous you went to a party with someone else and has been hanging around you a lot does not mean you're heading towards boyfriend territory. Which was a large issue for me. Rory said it was okay to be friends-with-benefits, but she essentially treated this like a GF/BF situation. She didn't even try to reach out to other guys until Robert - who asked HER out. But, tbh my biggest problem was that this relationship reeks of the 'girl changes bad boy' trope. She was so happy to do little things with him, because she took every individual moment as a sign of his falling further for her instead of seeing herself as the booty call that she was. 

 

And the fact she blatantly ignores every single point against him made by Lorelai when there are actually some good points is indicative of how far in denial she is. She barely brought him up in the first place and now she rarely talks about him even when they're dating because she doesn't want to hear it. Like after the Huntzberger dinner in "But I'm a Gilmore". She immediately jumped at the chance to go to dinner with Logan totally disregarding not just her mother, but also his poor treatment of her just 5 minutes ago because she was so happy he was showing her just a little bit of interest. I just am so irritated with her tripping over herself to appease him because she's afraid he'll revert back to his philandering ways. 

 

I agree completely with Mitchum in his assessment of Rory at the internship as well. I have never seen Rory as the go-getter hard journalist type. I don't know if she wants to be Christine Amapour or something similar, but I think both are out of her reach. She is a very behind the scenes writer. I definitely cannot see her in the trenches or in a war zone. And with her very reserved nature I can't even see her doing anything that requires a lot of public speaking. While I can agree with some of the people on here, who several pages back said that he was clear in what he wanted her to do, she never even tried to put herself out there. What was the worst that could happen if she did? I doubt anyone, even someone as 'mean' as Mitchum, would fire her for one comment even if it was a little out of place.

 

This is a little Rory centric, but I've been getting progressively more angry with her lately. And, again idk how unpopular any of my opinions really are. 

[amensisterfriend]

It's funny, because objectively I fully get about 95% of the criticism that fans fire at Rory, but my very unpopular opinion is that of the main characters---Lorelai, Rory, Emily, Richard and Luke---Rory is IMO by FAR the least egregiously flawed and the one I'd like best in real life. More Rory-related UOs:

 

Her relationship with Jess had MAJOR issues, of course (as does/did Jess himself), but my UO is that they are still a far more compatible, chemistry-filled, connected match than the show other's couples, including Lorelai/Luke,  were even at their best. (And you guys know I hold the UO that Lorelai had the best chemistry with Christopher and the most compatibility/commonality with Jason, but that's for another post!) 

 

Alexis Bledel was much, much better in the role than she's generally given credit for. The actress's own shyness was perfect for introverted, somewhat awkward Rory, and she actually did a phenomenal job with the comedic material (IMUO, obviously!)---her line deliveries, facial expressions/reaction shots etc.  Granted, she did a poor job of crying, hugging and faking chemistry with non-Jess/Milo V. men...but, then again, the far more lauded and lavishly praised Lauren Graham was, IMO, every bit as unconvincing while pretending to have real romantic feelings/chemistry with anyone other than Christopher/David Sutcliffe. I actually think Alexis Bledel did a better job of seeming (mostly!) happy with even Logan than LG did while she was dating Luke, even while things between Luke/Lorelai were allegedly at their "best."   

 

I often hear that Rory was a poor friend to Paris. I adore Paris and find her easily one of the best written, most fascinating characters on the show, but even I can say that Paris would be a HORRIBLY difficult human being to deal with on any level, and I actually think Rory was remarkably patient and loyal in remaining her close friend. Very few people would have had anything to do with Paris at all, especially given how flat out awful she was to Rory in the first part of S1 (and at various other times as well.)  

 

I always laugh when Luke lovers insist that Rory thought of him as a surrogate father. I'll readily agree that it's possible AS-P WANTED us to think that, but on screen Rory and Luke had almost no interactions that weren't directly related to Lorelai and/or Jess, and the 2-3 times they had scenes on their own tended to be awkwardly written and acted, not remotely like a comfortable 'father/daughter' dynamic. (And those few scenes were precipitated by their mutual links to Lorelai and Jess.) Rory never seemed to maintain an independent relationship with Luke at all. She was fond of him, but no more so than she was of Sookie, Babette and a few other Stars Hollow adults who played a part in her childhood. In fact, she seemed to connect MUCH better with Max and feel closer to him while Lorelai and Max were dating than she ever did to Luke, and when Lorelai/Max broke up, Rory seemed to express far more genuine regret at Max no longer being in their lives. As much as I think Luke is an incredibly overrated character who I hold the UO of being not very fond of, I actually would have liked to see more of a real relationship between him and Rory. And I've even looked for it. But, honestly, outside of fanfic it barely exists. (IMUO, obviously!) 

 

I hated Rory's short bob from S4 and her bangs in S6. There, I said it ;) 

 

This one has been said enough that it's probably not even that unpopular anymore, but I could never see Rory as a happy or successful investigative journalist and wish so much that her 'crisis' in S6 had centered around her redefining her goals and dreams. I would have loved to see her interning/working as an editor/proofreader at a publishing house, tutoring kids in reading and writing, etc. 

[Guest]

A career goal based crisis would have been so much better than "my mommy was mean and my grandparents don't want me to have sex in their poolhouse" nonsense. She could have been pissed at Mitchum then realized he had a point.

[Taryn74]

I hated Rory's short bob from S4 and her bangs in S6. There, I said it ;)

 

 

LOL.  I loved the bob, I thought it framed her face perfectly and really brought attention to her eyes.  But I'm with you on the bangs.  They completely swallowed her tiny face.

[Gilmorefan]

To chime in on the hairstyles convo, I hated Rory's Bob, and liked the bangs. Both the girls had great hair for the last half of season five. I like Lorelai's hair almost all the time, but i don't always like her ponytails. I really hated when she would wear pigtails.

[FozzyBear]

My UO is I don't ever think Logan was a jerk at all. I don't even really mind Colin and Finn. Yes the were spoiled frat boys, but they were also young kids in college having fun. They were acting like kids because they were. Not everybody's cup of tea and with less than stellar judgement like most college kids, but not mean or cruel. Jesse was mean. He enjoyed hurting people.

[FozzyBear]

Another one: My god, Lorilie is a bitch in S6! She doesn't get her way so she pouts and freezes everyone out. Oh yeah, and once again, Rory screws up and Lorielie blames the boyfriend. No wonder Rory grew up to be something of a brat.

[takalotti]

I'm inching to the end of season five and here comes another unpopular(?) opinion: Marty was by far the most attractive of Rory's suitors and I would have preferred to see more of him than of Logan.

I would also assume this is an unpopular opinion, but you are not alone! I'm a huge Marty supporter myself; plus there's a not insignificant Nudist population out there, at least judging by the Rory/Marty fanfic available.

Fun fact: My season 4 DVDs have the following autograph...

"Thanks for rooting for me, (Takalotti)! Wayne Wilcox"

[Guest]

Re. Marty, I'm not sure how unpopular this is, but his season 7 plotline is one of my absolute least favorite Gilmore Girls plotlines. They could have brought him back in so many ways.  But they had to use him to prop up the Rory Gilmore Mythology of how special and wonderful she was.

[solotrek]

My own dad is pretty aloof, so I can see how Luke could be construed as a father figure for Rory. The scene that sold it for me was during her 21st birthday party when she's introducing Luke to Tweeny Halpern as her "step-father to be". Luke seemed genuinely proud? happy? And so did Rory. You don't need to be demonstrative to show affection and that seemed like their relationship to me. Luke's rant about how Rory was Pippi and needed to see the world and deserving better. Him almost beating Dean up after the first break up, warning Jess away from her, his first blush dislike of Logan, etc etc. These weren't motivated by his relationship with Lorelai or Jess, just his fondness for Rory. On the flip side, Rory seemed genuinely furious at Emily meddling with the Luke/Lorelai relationship and then Lorelai sleeping with Christopher right after her ridiculous ultimatum.

 

Though Rory's real father figure in the show, to me, was always Richard. Ed Herrman's affection for Alexis came across on screen and added something to the Rory and Richard relationship. It's probably my favorite relationship of the whole show.

 

amensisterfriend, is it really a popular opinion that Rory was a bad friend to Paris? Paris was such an insane handful, I can't imagine anyone saying that about Rory being as patient with her as Rory was. Because seriously, that girl had extreme issues.

[Guest]

I agree that Richard was probably Rory's primary father figure. He's the one she went to when she needed something, when she was upset, etc.  That's why I thought it was strange when she was a debutante, she never thought of asking Richard to escort her (though really her acting like she would ask the mailman or Taylor was just a way for Lorelai to bring up Chris, I think).

 

I think Paris was a much worse friend to Rory than Rory was to Paris, though they both had their moments. The fact that Rory would even talk to Paris after some of Paris' acts shows that Rory is pretty forgiving.  I think Paris was pretty terrible all the way around, but because she was so entertaining, she gets away with a lot of it.

[timimouse]

I just realised I seem to hold a very unpopular opinion....  I don't think Paris was entertaining at all! I'm really quite apathetic towards her.She added nothing to my Gilmore Girls experience nor did she take away from it. 

[dustylil]

I didn't doubt that Richard loved Rory very much. That said, I never saw Richard as being any kind of father figure to her. Or at least one of a positive sort. Despite being her grandfather, he never played a role in her life until she was almost sixteen years old. Once they did establish a relationship, as deeja mentioned, he didn't offer to escort her to the debutante ball.  He also had to be shamed into agreeing to help with her school business project. Even after  they were on warm terms, he thought it best to trick her into attending an interview for Yale, rather than being honest with her.

 

For reasons that continued to baffle me, he appeared to think highly of her actual male parent - and told Rory so.

 

When she went to him with her crisis of confidence at the end of the fifth season, he promised to help. Yet he did nothing, beyond bankrolling her frivolous lifestyle. As far as I could tell, there were no discussions or counselling sessions. Surely with his connections, he could have found her a part-time or full-time job more meaningful than that of a DAR coordinator and event planner - if such an occupation were so distasteful to him and his dreams for Rory. The most he came up with - and this was after several months - was a plan to manipulate Rory's trust fund monies.

[FozzyBear]

I never got why the DAR job was supposed to be distasteful.

[dustylil]

I believe it was because he considered it considerably beneath Rory's capabilities. And the sort of occupation suitable for a well connected and well-to-do housewife with free time.

[Purpose to defraud]

It's funny, because objectively I fully get about 95% of the criticism that fans fire at Rory, but my very unpopular opinion is that of the main characters---Lorelai, Rory, Emily, Richard and Luke---Rory is IMO by FAR the least egregiously flawed and the one I'd like best in real life. More Rory-related UOs:

 

Her relationship with Jess had MAJOR issues, of course (as does/did Jess himself), but my UO is that they are still a far more compatible, chemistry-filled, connected match than the show other's couples, including Lorelai/Luke,  were even at their best. (And you guys know I hold the UO that Lorelai had the best chemistry with Christopher and the most compatibility/commonality with Jason, but that's for another post!) 

 

Alexis Bledel was much, much better in the role than she's generally given credit for. The actress's own shyness was perfect for introverted, somewhat awkward Rory, and she actually did a phenomenal job with the comedic material (IMUO, obviously!)---her line deliveries, facial expressions/reaction shots etc.  Granted, she did a poor job of crying, hugging and faking chemistry with non-Jess/Milo V. men...but, then again, the far more lauded and lavishly praised Lauren Graham was, IMO, every bit as unconvincing while pretending to have real romantic feelings/chemistry with anyone other than Christopher/David Sutcliffe. I actually think Alexis Bledel did a better job of seeming (mostly!) happy with even Logan than LG did while she was dating Luke, even while things between Luke/Lorelai were allegedly at their "best."   

 

I often hear that Rory was a poor friend to Paris. I adore Paris and find her easily one of the best written, most fascinating characters on the show, but even I can say that Paris would be a HORRIBLY difficult human being to deal with on any level, and I actually think Rory was remarkably patient and loyal in remaining her close friend. Very few people would have had anything to do with Paris at all, especially given how flat out awful she was to Rory in the first part of S1 (and at various other times as well.)  

 

I always laugh when Luke lovers insist that Rory thought of him as a surrogate father. I'll readily agree that it's possible AS-P WANTED us to think that, but on screen Rory and Luke had almost no interactions that weren't directly related to Lorelai and/or Jess, and the 2-3 times they had scenes on their own tended to be awkwardly written and acted, not remotely like a comfortable 'father/daughter' dynamic. (And those few scenes were precipitated by their mutual links to Lorelai and Jess.) Rory never seemed to maintain an independent relationship with Luke at all. She was fond of him, but no more so than she was of Sookie, Babette and a few other Stars Hollow adults who played a part in her childhood. In fact, she seemed to connect MUCH better with Max and feel closer to him while Lorelai and Max were dating than she ever did to Luke, and when Lorelai/Max broke up, Rory seemed to express far more genuine regret at Max no longer being in their lives. As much as I think Luke is an incredibly overrated character who I hold the UO of being not very fond of, I actually would have liked to see more of a real relationship between him and Rory. And I've even looked for it. But, honestly, outside of fanfic it barely exists. (IMUO, obviously!) 

 

I hated Rory's short bob from S4 and her bangs in S6. There, I said it ;) 

 

This one has been said enough that it's probably not even that unpopular anymore, but I could never see Rory as a happy or successful investigative journalist and wish so much that her 'crisis' in S6 had centered around her redefining her goals and dreams. I would have loved to see her interning/working as an editor/proofreader at a publishing house, tutoring kids in reading and writing, etc. 

Rory being a journalist is one of those things we were told, rather than having it develop naturally. (Just as we were told how close Rori and Luke were when she was a child. ) But she never seemed to me to have nearly enough get up and go to actually go after a story. 

[Guest]

I believe it was because he considered it considerably beneath Rory's capabilities. And the sort of occupation suitable for a well connected and well-to-do housewife with free time.

 

I don't think it was supposed to, but I think it showed that Mitchum had a point. Her strengths were in administrative areas and not necessarily investigative journalism.

[FozzyBear]

I don't think it was supposed to, but I think it showed that Mitchum had a point. Her strengths were in administrative areas and not necessarily investigative journalism.

So I brought up the DAR. I probably worded my post badly. I sort of got in theory why the show thought the DAR job was bad, I just thought it was stupid. Rory was a college drop out with a criminal record. The DAR job was great! She was basically running special events for a large charity. That's actually a really good job. A job a lot of non boat stealing college graduates would love! And just a good job in general even if Rory had still been at Yale. Plus she was good at it because Rory really was a good organizer. Which isn't a bad thing or some lesser skill. It's the kind of skill and job that translates well into a ton of prestigious careers. The anti-DAR was just one of many times where I felt like the class warfare aspect of the show could be sort of clunky and poorly written. Working at DAR is for spoiled rich kids...for some reason. And Rory isn't a spoiled rich kid...even though she has had to pay for very little in life and is getting a trust fund when she turns 25.

[dustylil]

With respect, Rory wasn't running special events for a large charity. The DAR is headquartered in Washington, DC. Rory was working for the local Hartford chapter, planning functions and doing administrative work.

[readster]

Not to mention many times the DAR was not interrupted with what they really do. As I have said, we have a local chapter where I live and many of them were fans of Gilmore Girls but said they had the DAR so poorly done it was ridiculous and they even mentioned that Rory post drop out and boat stealing. That was a great way to get her back in good graces with future jobs. Of course we all know that Rory's punishment had everyone rolling their eyes after the court hearing. How Logan could so easily pull off worst stuff for years and get a slap on the wrist and yet Rory who had no previous record was thrown at the mercy of the court.

[dustylil]

I didn't find it surprising that Logan got a slap on the wrist despite his previous history of mischief-making. Was he ever convicted of any crime? I would imagine the Huntzberger family  money and prestige could buy his way out of most property-related offenses.

 

Not to be excessively cynical, but if the Gilmores were unwilling to take  advantage of the legal expertise offered to them by Logan and engaged their own inept lawyer, they got what they deserved.  It is not like the Gilmores always played fair themselves. And given this matter took place locally, surely a capable attorney would have known enough about the judge trying the case to present a more effective defense for Rory.

[FozzyBear]

Not to mention many times the DAR was not interrupted with what they really do. As I have said, we have a local chapter where I live and many of them were fans of Gilmore Girls but said they had the DAR so poorly done it was ridiculous and they even mentioned that Rory post drop out and boat stealing. That was a great way to get her back in good graces with future jobs. Of course we all know that Rory's punishment had everyone rolling their eyes after the court hearing. How Logan could so easily pull off worst stuff for years and get a slap on the wrist and yet Rory who had no previous record was thrown at the mercy of the court.

Ok I know that GG exists in a fantasy world where crime and poverty don't actually exist, but Rory got off pretty easily. She stole a boat likely worth several hundred thousand dollars and got community service and the chance to expunge her record. That's not really hard time or even harsh considering she was 20 at the time. I spent all of season 6 and a great deal of season 7 wanting someone to scream at Rory "You commited grand theft! Grand theft! And the worst thing that happened to you was an awkward sex talk with a priest! You are officially a spoiled trust fund kid."

As for what happened to Logan...we never actually found out. And he did offer to have his lawyer get Rory the same deal, she refused.

We also never found out how they got caught. Maybe Logan wasn't physically on the boat but Rory was?

With respect, Rory wasn't running special events for a large charity. The DAR is headquartered in Washington, DC. Rory was working for the local Hartford chapter, planning functions and doing administrative work.

Sorry, I didn't mean she was running special events for DAR in general, but that she was doing it for a branch office of a large charity organization. Still a very good gig all things considered. Edited October 9, 2015 by FozzyBear

[readster]

I found the entire thing not well thought out. AS-P even admitted that the "grand theft" was just to start the rift with Lorelai but they didn't have a real plan at the time. There were way too many holes in the plot as you mentioned.  Also, how stupid was the Gilmores' lawyer that he didn't know the judge or even better ways to handle the case? Especially when it was revealed by Richard he was a career lawyer who specialized in these types of things. 

[dustylil]

I think by the time the new showrunners came along for Season 7, the yacht theft had pretty much been forgotten. Certainly being a recently convicted felon didn't seem to be an issue when Rory was looking for either an internship or a regular job. Nor did it appear to disqualify her for membership in Phi Beta Kappa.

[solotrek]

I don't begrudge them just forgetting about Rory's grand theft issue for season 7. ASP seemed to be dropping grenades all over the place by mid S6 and they managed to try to salvage what little they could for S7. If that ridiculous plot line was collateral damage, so be it. I mean, we basically had a rehash of Rory freaking out about how she might not be good enough when she was taking finals at the end of S7 (and walked away with one of her blue books). So either she learned nothing from that freakout over Mitchum telling her she wasn't good enough, or the S7 writers just said "fuck it, it never happened".

[FozzyBear]

I don't begrudge them just forgetting about Rory's grand theft issue for season 7. ASP seemed to be dropping grenades all over the place by mid S6 and they managed to try to salvage what little they could for S7. If that ridiculous plot line was collateral damage, so be it. I mean, we basically had a rehash of Rory freaking out about how she might not be good enough when she was taking finals at the end of S7 (and walked away with one of her blue books). So either she learned nothing from that freakout over Mitchum telling her she wasn't good enough, or the S7 writers just said "fuck it, it never happened".

How did Rorey manage to graduate from anything? That girl couldn't complete a final if her life depended on it!

[dustylil]

or the S7 writers just said "fuck it, it never happened"

 

Like Luke having previously been married on board a ship!

[timimouse]

I'm curious. How do people feel about Rory?

I liked her initially. Then that started to diminish. Then I became quite apathetic towards her generally. But now I'm re-watching the season 4 / 5 affair with Dean and it's really pissing me off the way she behave with Lorelai who was pointing out the obvious "He's married". And then she's talking to Lane about it and says she going to be mature and adult but she did NOT handle that situation like a mature adult at all and it's bugging me even more now. I swear, every time i re-watch this series i dislike her more and more.

 

But i still LOVE the show! :)

[takalotti]

I also liked Rory initially, but then somewhere along the way I had way too many instances of thinking "Shut up, Rory!" I think it was sometime in S4, but not just at the end with the affair.

I also liked Rory initially, but then somewhere along the way I had way too many instances of thinking "Shut up, Rory!" I think it was sometime in S4, but not just at the end with the affair.

[dustylil]

Ooh! Ooh! I'll chime in about Rory!

I thought she was a wonderful character for most of the first three seasons. Of course, I am a sucker for any girl who reads books and has ambitions for her life. She was sheltered and cossetted but also bright, well spoken, hard-working, focussed, kind-hearted and loyal. She made mistakes but they were usually  the errors of someone first navigating the shoals of romance.

However, toward the end of the third season, I began to experience doubts. I was genuinely taken aback at her criticism of Lorelai for  repaying the Chilton loan. Surely at the age of eighteen and after three years of Friday Night Dinners and their assorted complications, she should have had some idea as to how stressful the entire arrangement had been for her mother. But her only concern was how Emily might feel. That she herself could have offered to go on with the FNDs (and continue to spend time with her grandparents) did not appear to have occurred to her.

The fourth season opener particularly bothered me. It was her error in reading her Yale schedule that resulted in Lorelai having to run a number of errands for her. But rather that inform the senior Gilmores that she had made a mistake, she let them believe that her mother was blowing them off. Then there was that study tree business. Sheesh. Apparently problem-solving was pretty much something for other people.

So by the time the affair was about to begin both my liking and respect for Rory were pretty much done. And while both Rory and Dean bear culpability  for what they did, I find it difficult to believe that Dean would have come to her house that evening, had she not been treating him as "my Dean"(confiding in him, having him collect her from the bar) in the preceding weeks.

[readster]

 

 

I was genuinely taken aback at her criticism of Lorelai for  repaying the Chilton loan. Surely at the age of eighteen and after three years of Friday Night Dinners and their assorted complications, she should have had some idea as to how stressful the entire arrangement had been for her mother. But her only concern was how Emily might feel. That she herself could have offered to go on with the FNDs (and continue to spend time with her grandparents) did not appear to have occurred to her.

The fourth season opener particularly bothered me. It was her error in reading her Yale schedule that resulted in Lorelai having to run a number of errands for her. But rather that inform the senior Gilmores that she had made a mistake, she let them believe that her mother was blowing them off.

 

 I hated everything during that time. Lorelai was all: "Wahoo! I have money, my Friday nights are free again from my moron parents!" Which I didn't like, so hence I understood why Rory said those things, but Rory should have understood her mother's POV from that. I also hated how Emily couldn't open her big mouth and say: "I'm so sorry that my effort for us to rebuild has been such a bother to you. I just wanted you back in my life." Yet, Emily Gilmore could never admit that. The entire situation with Yale, man, Rory screwed that one up royally but Lorelai could say: "Well, I'm sorry mom, if Rory wouldn't have made the mistake, we wouldn't be here." Emily acted like Lorelai was the worst parent in the world. Those last few episodes with those manufactured drama from AS-P were just horrible.

[solotrek]

Rory had a whole rant at the end of season 3 on how she was going to go supply shopping for Yale before leaving for Europe because otherwise it'd bother her the entire trip. Season 4 comes along and she hasn't purchased anything? Also, when they were buying supplies, I know there's a charm in small town shopping, but clearly it was not the most economical/time saving method of buying her college supplies. We know there's a Wal-Mart somewhere nearby.

 

The fourth season opener particularly bothered me. It was her error in reading her Yale schedule that resulted in Lorelai having to run a number of errands for her. But rather that inform the senior Gilmores that she had made a mistake, she let them believe that her mother was blowing them off.

 

I don't believe for one second that during the extra long dinner, the conversation never turned to her moving into Yale the next day. That means Rory had ample time say anything along the lines of "mom had to buy some more supplies so I could make it to dinner" or "I wrote the day down wrong so I have to rush the packing job, sorry I can't stay too late".  The fact that she had to call her mom to beg her to "rescue" her is mind boggling. If she was unable to say those basic things to her freaken grandparents, a journalist she was not made to be.

 

Then there was that study tree business. Sheesh. Apparently problem-solving was pretty much something for other people.

 

You mean you've never had a tree perfectly fit the curve of your back? /s Not even problem solving, just dealing with what life gives you. Loud roomates? Get some earplugs. Too quite? Put in headphones. Yale's libraries are too ___? Fucking deal with it instead of driving home and complaining about your mom having to use your room for her business. Libraries in colleges aren't just pretty buildings that hold books. And then there was that date with Trevor. Rory was never really a socially awkward person, suddenly she's Monk?
 

 

And while both Rory and Dean bear culpability  for what they did, I find it difficult to believe that Dean would have come to her house that evening, had she not been treating him as "my Dean"(confiding in him, having him collect her from the bar) in the preceding weeks.

 

I'm always going to blame the married person more. But Rory was doing her best imitation of Lorelai, being possessive of a man she has no business being possessive of. And then doing her best imitation of a 4 year old, "I saw it first so it's mine".

 

Rory in seasons 4 (listed above), 5 (the Dean thing again, her inability to handle the Mitchum thing, the yacht situation), and 6 (pool house life and general spoiledness) had a lot of unlikeable qualities. She still had her good traits, but her "issues" sometimes made her a difficult character to root for.

 

I do think that season 7 Rory was better. She called out Lorelai for sleeping with Chris, she called out Logan about the deal he made and lost a ton of money on, she was a little more introspective, and was a fuller person.

 

 

I hated everything during that time. Lorelai was all: "Wahoo! I have money, my Friday nights are free again from my moron parents!" Which I didn't like, so hence I understood why Rory said those things, but Rory should have understood her mother's POV from that.

 

I saw both sides of the issue as well. But at the end of the day, she had to pay off the loan and she did. She might have known how Emily would have reacted and probably should have paid it off in installments or something of the like so it wasn't an "abrupt" end to FND. Both ways pay off the loan, but one would have less of an over the top reaction from Emily. Which is what I think was Rory's ultimate (but poorly made) point.

Edited October 14, 2015 by solotrek

[dustylil]

Another thing about Lorelai repaying the Chilton loan was that she naturally assumed that her mother knew she had come into money through that investment Richard had made all those years ago. How might Emily react if she had made no effort to repay such a significant obligation as soon as she was able?

 

solotrek, I agree there was some improvement in Rory by the seventh season. But she was then in her early twenties so I would certainly hope so. As to being more introspective, perhaps. However, her inability to recognize her own gilded circumstances as a trust fund kid continued to irk.

[Guest]

I agree with dustylil's earlier posts about Rory being generally likable through most of Season 3.  Even at the end of Season 3, I was generally impressed with her going to her grandparents and making a deal to get Yale paid for. Season 6 Rory would have been indignant that Yale wasn't paying her to grace their campus. ;) She had good moments seasons 4-5, but they were overshadowed by her brattiness.  Season 6 she irked me considerably - part of the strings of living with your grandparents is putting up with their rules. Her sex life isn't their business, but if she doesn't want to follow their rules, there is a little thing called "full time work" and "getting an apartment."  Not to mention the endless whining about how many hours of community service she had to do - no job at first, no school, and yet the hours were "overwhelming?"  Please. Even the ease with which she was elevated to supervise her fellow community servants and the fact that a number of her hours seemed to be dancing with charming senior citizens - she was hardly sent to the salt mines.  Season 7 - meh, whatever. I guess she was better, but that whole season is so awful I can barely remember. Maybe I was just so annoyed by the season I had no time to be annoyed with Rory.

[solotrek]

However, her inability to recognize her own gilded circumstances as a trust fund kid continued to irk.

 

I think it slammed her like a train when Logan pointed it all out to her. That's why she moved back in with Paris and Doyle instead of staying at Logan's rent free. I don't think she was blind to it as she was back in S6, but obviously had room for improvement.

 

How might Emily react if she had made no effort to repay such a significant obligation as soon as she was able?

 

Maybe she'd be thinking that Lorelai was paying back the loan she took from the bank to fix her house from termite damage.

 

 

Her sex life isn't their business, but if she doesn't want to follow their rules, there is a little thing called "full time work" and "getting an apartment."

 

I thought that was a stupid storyline. She really just non-chalantly told her grandparents' priest that she was having sex? At the beginning of what was going to be an awkward dinner? I'm not a fan of lying, but it's pretty similar to agreeing with a crying pregnant woman that she's fat. A horrible idea where a white lie is perfectly acceptable. She didn't even have to lie. Just say thank you for the advice and time and change the topic. Journalist? Please.

Edited October 14, 2015 by solotrek

[desertflower]

Overall I liked Rory. Of course I agree she had her unlikable moments; sleeping with married Dean and stealing the yacht being the biggest ones. The Dean thing I can actually believe more than the yacht thing. It was bad, and it wasn't very Rory-like, but I can believe it happened because she was young and naive and I think she really did believe Dean and Lindsey were over. (Still doesn't make it right, mind you.) But the whole event and her reaction to it afterward (stubbornly fighting with her mom about it) rang true as someone who desperately wanted to believe that Dean was available and meant for her, yet was slowly beginning to realize she had made a huge mistake. It's not easy admitting that, and I saw her snottiness toward her mom as a defensive thing, and almost like she was trying to convince HERSELF as well as Lorelai that what she had done was ok.

The yacht story was just dumb all around!

The one recurring fault I thought Rory had was her insensitivity towards some of the guys in her life. She's totally clueless around Marty, forcing him to come to her stupid Marx Brothers marathon (because apparently Yale students have time to watch movies all day and procure props and wigs with go with it) and is practically sitting in his lap during it. Then to top it all off makes him go out with Logan and his crappy friends afterward. I'm not saying she was intentionally leading him on; I think she genuinely liked his friendship, but it seemed to be all about her comfort and entertainment, and not once did she have even an inkling that Marty might like her and it might be making him uncomfortable. And don't get me started when she goes to see Jess at his open house, just to get back at Logan. Jess and his cute haircut, standing there realizing she's still with Logan and didn't come to be with him. :( Again, I don't think she purposely hurt people but she tended to play fast and loose with their feelings, without really being aware.