Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life Season 1

[Kohola3]

Luke had a mullet?  When was that?  I don't recall that at all.  He did have that stupid soul patch for a few episodes.

[jeansheridan]

1 hour ago, Kohola3 said:

Luke had a mullet?  When was that?  I don't recall that at all.  He did have that stupid soul patch for a few episodes.

I just rewatched the first season and maybe it wasn't a full on mullet but he had a lot of curly hair around his neck under the hat bill.  It was just a bit too long.  Bugged me a lot.  But he is also a man who doesn't look good without a hat so there's that too.  

[starri]

16 hours ago, jeansheridan said:

I've avoided that show.  I avoid all Shonda shows (I like her as a person, but hate her shows).  But if you tell me Liza is going around and killing people and getting away with it, I might watch.

It's not a Shonda show, it's just from her production company.

And for the latter part....spoilers.

[Beatriceblake]

I enjoyed watching this for the most part while I was watching it but Rory's storyline was the biggest part of it and I hate what they did with the character. There were a lot of promising ideas (difficult love life, career trouble, pregnancy at not a great time) but the execution was off. I feel like they still could have explored these things but given Rory a bit more character development. She doesn't seem any more mature than in S6/S7 when she was ten years younger. I don't buy a 32 year old who had previously made a living as a freelance writer would have been that unprofessional in an interview for a start. Learning that you still have to give it your all and show interest even when applying for non-dream jobs is one of the first things any graduate fresh out of university learns.

Speaking of the career woes, I would have quite liked it if they could have fleshed out the thirtysomething gang a bit (or at least a couple of them). They could have used it as a kick up the backside for Rory, since she's probably luckier than the average struggling millennial (good degree, has experience at dream job, appears to be able to command access to expensive fancy housing and plane tickets despite being "broke").

I also don't understand the point of Paul and Odette respectively other than to make Rory and Logan seem hateful (unnecessary).

On the upside I liked Lorelai and Emily's arcs much better. I can just about buy the late marriage given that Luke and Lorelai were never the best at communicating and all their major arguments in the original series led to prolonged spells apart. It makes sense for both of them to be afraid to risk ruining their relationship. 

I liked Emily's arc and although she was a bit cruel to Lorelai at points, that was certainly in character. As ever the Palladinos are good at writing those arguments where they both have a point. Lorelai could have thought of/made up one nice story about Richard (him being proud of her success with the Dragonfly springs to mind) but also Emily could have let her be/come back to her. Similarly both Rory and Lorelai have a point when they argue about Rory's book, although I was slightly more on Lorelai's side since it will clearly involve Rory publishing a lot of personal stuff about Lorelai. 

There's also something a bit sad and navel-gazing about Rory looking about for things she feels passionately about and that is herself and her mother. Remember when she wanted to be a serious journalist anyone?

Edited December 11, 2016 by Beatriceblake

[cuddlingcrowley]

1 hour ago, Beatriceblake said:

There's also something a bit sad and navel-gazing about Rory looking about for things she feels passionately about and that is herself and her mother. Remember when she wanted to be a serious journalist anyone?

I don't like when shows get meta.  At all. But I think Jess's idea could have been salvaged if Rory hadn't been so damn literal about it.  A bio felt extremelly uninmaginative. Hell, even a book inspired by Lorelai's early years as a single mother would have been vastly more interesting, imo.

[tarotx]

The problem with Rory is Amy was treating her almost like she was fresh out of College, with a few success stories but nothing really pushing her career forward. Plus the important part of nothing really inspiring Rory as a writer. I had heard about the Book before I watched Summer and Fall. I figured Rory would go from doing the Spec on the Naomi Shropshire book to writing Lorelai's story. Rory talked why she wanted to tell Naomi's story-breaking barriers and empowering women. To me, that was going to be a nice segue into changing it to Lorelai's story. But nope Rory needed Jess to give her the book and story idea. I think Jess could have easily been used to lift Rory's spirits enough to motivate her into changing the direction of the book on her own. And the linking of Lorelai's story to why Rory wanted to write Naomi's would have made Rory come out better. Instead, that link was left as a joke. 

The point of Paul was hahaha Joke. They even make the Joke with Logan. Rory gets a text, has Logan read it, Rory has forgotten Paul again. Logan starts to comment (which surely was going to be the who's Paul Joke again) and Rory says Vegas. To me, that should have been the last Paul reference. 

As for Odette, In season 7/8 Logan would have been in London being influenced by his family, their business and forced to live a separate life than Rory. This dynamic doesn't work as well for 34/32-year-old Logan and Rory.  So Vegas, Paul, and Odette were created. Amy was focused on the dynamic which would lead to the full circle ending she wanted. 

2 hours ago, Beatriceblake said:

I enjoyed watching this for the most part while I was watching it but Rory's storyline was the biggest part of it and I hate what they did with the character. There were a lot of promising ideas (difficult love life, career trouble, pregnancy at not a great time) but the execution was off. I feel like they still could have explored these things but given Rory a bit more character development. She doesn't seem any more mature than in S6/S7 when she was ten years younger. I don't buy a 32 year old who had previously made a living as a freelance writer would have been that unprofessional in an interview for a start. Learning that you still have to give it your all and show interest even when applying for non-dream jobs is one of the first things any graduate fresh out of university learns.

Speaking of the career woes, I would have quite liked it if they could have fleshed out the thirtysomething gang a bit (or at least a couple of them). They could have used it as a kick up the backside for Rory, since she's probably luckier than the average struggling millennial (good degree, has experience at dream job, appears to be able to command access to expensive fancy housing and plane tickets despite being "broke").

I also don't understand the point of Paul and Odette respectively other than to make Rory and Logan seem hateful (unnecessary).

On the upside I liked Lorelai and Emily's arcs much better. I can just about buy the late marriage given that Luke and Lorelai were never the best at communicating and all their major arguments in the original series led to prolonged spells apart. It makes sense for both of them to be afraid to risk ruining their relationship. 

I liked Emily's arc and although she was a bit cruel to Lorelai at points, that was certainly in character. As ever the Palladinos are good at writing those arguments where they both have a point. Lorelai could have thought of/made up one nice story about Richard (him being proud of her success with the Dragonfly springs to mind) but also Emily could have let her be/come back to her. Similarly both Rory and Lorelai have a point when they argue about Rory's book, although I was slightly more on Lorelai's side since it will clearly involve Rory publishing a lot of personal stuff about Lorelai. 

There's also something a bit sad and navel-gazing about Rory looking about for things she feels passionately about and that is herself and her mother. Remember when she wanted to be a serious journalist anyone?

 

7

Edited December 11, 2016 by tarotx

[dubbel zout]

2 hours ago, Beatriceblake said:

I don't buy a 32 year old who had previously made a living as a freelance writer would have been that unprofessional in an interview for a start. Learning that you still have to give it your all and show interest even when applying for non-dream jobs is one of the first things any graduate fresh out of university learns.

Rory has led a pretty charmed life, though, so I bought (most of) this particular 32-year-old's attitude. I can see the original job on the Obama campaign leading to some other good freelance jobs, and then as the industry contracts, those jobs become more competitive, and Rory is unable to set herself apart because she's never had to. So she ends up at a crossroads.

I agree that the thirtysomething group should have been used for more than just a bad joke.

[random chance]

1 hour ago, cuddlingcrowley said:

I don't like when shows get meta.  At all. But I think Jess's idea could have been salvaged if Rory hadn't been so damn literal about it.  A bio felt extremelly uninmaginative. Hell, even a book inspired by Lorelai's early years as a single mother would have been vastly more interesting, imo.

I don't see how her life story would even be interesting. They lived on a budget and Lorelai worked while raising a child - not exactly War and Peace. ASP herself knows the story didn't get good until Lorelai needed to borrow money from her rich parents for Rory's fancyass school, because that's where she began the tale.

[cuddlingcrowley]

2 hours ago, random chance said:

I don't see how her life story would even be interesting. They lived on a budget and Lorelai worked while raising a child - not exactly War and Peace. ASP herself knows the story didn't get good until Lorelai needed to borrow money from her rich parents for Rory's fancyass school, because that's where she began the tale.

You can make pretty much any subject into a interesting story. It's all about how you tell it.

I would be totally up to watching a pre-Gilmore girls show about young Lorelai. Starting with her still living with her parents and how that must have been like, then their relationship reaching an all time low during the pregnancy/runaway years. But also Lorelai struggling with the identity of being a teen mother AND choosing to leave a life of wealth and comfort behind.

We know Lorelai isn't good with finances but can you imagine how much her 18 year old self must fumbled trying to support herself, for the first time, but also a toddler with minimum age? How bad did things get? Did she have regrets? Just how unpopular did her arrangement with Mia make her with the other maids? Did Lorelai try to keep her origins a secret at first?

What about Christopher? What percentage of Lorelai's pride play in Christopher decided being a father was optional, after the baby is there? What percentage did her love for him play in that perception? Did she ever resent giving him a way out and him taking it, going to college, travelling and enjoying all those she wasn't allowed to by taking on the responsability of raising a child all by herself? Did anyone challege that self-imposed sacrifice?

What about her (former) peers? What must have felt like watching the people she grew up with enjoying their youth and being stupid and chasing their dreams while she had to keep her feet firmly on the ground and made her life all about this little human?

You can keep War and Peace.

Edited December 11, 2016 by cuddlingcrowley

[Kohola3]

Po-tay-to, po-tah-to.  None of that sounds remotely interesting to me.  Not that I like War and Peace but I do like a little more meat in my stories.

[peggy06]

On 11/27/2016 at 11:29 AM, MaiSoCalled said:

I think Rory's "job" at the Stars Hollow Gazette shows that it's not about arrogance, but rather personal satisfaction. Teaching would certainly be more prestigious than running a small town newspaper, and even the clickbait website would pay better. 

The whole of Winter and Spring showed Rory getting increasingly spooked by her lack of prospects - Conde Nast pushing back a meeting, her prevarications about where and how she was living - all culminating in her series of humiliations with the book being dropped, the Conde Nast prospect not amounting to anything, and the disastrous Sandee Says interview. With each step she became more desperate - remember her conversation with Logan about Sandee, and how it wasn't a top-tier publication? But she was going to take it because there was nothing else. And afterwards, she talked about smelling of failure. Sure, she preferred the prestige jobs, but ultimately was willing to take what she could in that profession. It seems like she was living off one New Yorker article, and I don't think they said when it had been written.

As for the Chilton job, she perceived it as an offer made from pity, and spoke of it in a derisive tone. So I don't think she saw anything prestigious about it. Taking on the newspaper was something she could do because she was at loose ends. When she decided to write her Gilmore story, she went to Hartford to do it - who knows what happened to the Gazette.

Edited December 11, 2016 by peggy06

[clack]

The comedic point of the Sandee Says job interview scene was that Rory didn't know that it was a job interview -- she thought that, after months of being recruited by the company, she had at last deigned to accept what was a firm job offer. There is even dialogue to that effect  : Rory wonders why she is being shown around by the boss instead of going through the paperwork in the Human Resouces department.

Rory is unprepared not because she is unprofessional, but because she overestimates her professional status. The joke is that she thinks that she's too good for Sandee Says, while Sandee Says thinks that she's not good enough.

[random chance]

The only story of their earlier years I ever enjoyed was Lorelai explaining how she got Rory to stay away from the stove, and even then it was all in Lauren Graham's delivery rather than the story itself.

[Deputy Deputy CoS]

I've decided that there's no point in trying to unravel Rory's plot in the revival because it all hinged on those last four words. Everything ASP put Rory through was so she could have her "full circle" moment. It is a f'ck you to the actors, characters and fans that her sole purpose of bringing them back was so she could pretend S7 and the last 10 years didn't happen.

Actually, given her questionable work ethics, it goes beyond S7 because Rory IS a hard worker. 

Edited December 12, 2016 by Deputy Deputy CoS

[txhorns79]

Quote

I've decided that there's no point in trying to unravel Rory's plot in the revival because it all hinged on those last four words. Everything ASP put Rory through was so she could have her "full circle" moment. It is a f'ck you to the actors, characters and fans that her sole purpose of bringing them back was so she could pretend S7 and the last 10 years didn't happen.

But she didn't pretend Season 7 didn't happen.  Characters reference plot points from Season 7.  I would agree that Rory's storyline was geared towards the last four words, but I don't think anything done during the revival was meant as a f* you to anyone. 

Quote

Rory is unprepared not because she is unprofessional, but because she overestimates her professional status. The joke is that she thinks that she's too good for Sandee Says, while Sandee Says thinks that she's not good enough.

Eh, I kind of feel for Rory during that whole debacle.  I think Sandee completely misled her about the job and the interview.  Yes, it's always good to be prepared for anything, but I can forgive her for not preparing when the job was sold to her as a done deal.   

[Beatriceblake]

8 hours ago, Deputy Deputy CoS said:

I've decided that there's no point in trying to unravel Rory's plot in the revival because it all hinged on those last four words. Everything ASP put Rory through was so she could have her "full circle" moment. It is a f'ck you to the actors, characters and fans that her sole purpose of bringing them back was so she could pretend S7 and the last 10 years didn't happen.

Actually, given her questionable work ethics, it goes beyond S7 because Rory IS a hard worker. 

The "full circle" moment doesn't really work for me the more I think about it because it bugged me that Rory is talking to Christopher when she's possibly wanting to cut Logan out of the baby's life. I don't particularly like Logan but if Rory is having the baby, he should at least get the chance to be involved.

Edited December 12, 2016 by Beatriceblake

[Melancholy]

3 hours ago, Beatriceblake said:

The "full circle" moment doesn't really work for me the more I think about it because it bugged me that Rory is talking to Christopher when she's possibly wanting to cut Logan out of the baby's life. I don't particularly like Logan but if Rory is having the baby, he should at least get the chance to be involved.

There's no indication that Rory wanted to cut Logan out of the baby's life. The series is silent on that point. The conversation with Christopher works as Rory trying to figure out, "If I refuse to marry this baby's father as my mother refused to marry you, how much does that ensure that the baby's father will be as uninvolved as you were?" I'm not sure what exactly Rory learned but stuff like Christopher saying essentially, "Oh, I decided to not be involved upon seeing the typical latching/attachment between newborn infant and her mother" would indicate that he's a very special kind of asshole who bucked parental instincts instead of what typically happens to a man who didn't get to marry the mother.

A lot of children grow up without fathers but Christopher struck me as rather unusual in his assholicness about it. You'd really think that a guy raised in affluence who understood paternal involvement and responsibilities, who may travel around but whose home-base is close to his daughter, who went along with a mythology that fathering a child derailed his academic and professional life, would have scheduled a visit in the first sixteen years of his child's life or invited that child more than once to his new Boston apartment or wasn't always being caught up to speed on the basic details of his kids' life long after they happened (Rory having a boyfriend, Rory dropping out of Yale). Christopher would have been better served as romantic contender and sympathetic character if he was like a Don Draper-type of father minus financial support until he inherited lots of money in S6. A small consistent visitation structure (every other weekend), some dazzling planned events/trips with his kids, believable attempts to really connect with his kids and some Christopher/Rory scenes where they really did connect- but just always not enough and still resulting in the mother doing basically all of the day-to-day parenting. Christopher always fell way, way, way below that standard. 

Then again, this is why I don't exactly picture a "full circle" ending. I don't think Logan would do this terribly at being a father. Christopher has a mannequin-like emptiness to him and he was only able to fill himself up with continuing his puppy-love for Lorelai but seemed to fail at demonstrating any other deep feelings in the series. I don't see Logan that way. Some of my impression comes from the writing. In his time on the show, Christopher only showed puppy-love for Lorelai which didn't materialize in truly being there for her in an adult, generous way at some of her darkest hours. Logan, meanwhile, had a full-on adult relationship with Rory where he was there for her darkest hours even if imperfectly. Logan also canonically loved his sister. Logan/Mitchum is a fairly complex relationship on screen where there's love on both sides while Straub/Chris was just weird and bad in its references and on-screen moments. Admittedly, though, some of it comes from the acting where Matt was able to make me really like Logan while David couldn't do that. David was an able banterer and smirker which is a lot of Christopher's role but that's really all he did. I was rewatching It Should Have Been Lorelai the other day. In Lorelai's and Christopher's little argument before FND, I agree with Christopher in the writing that he should have been introduced to Max or should have even known that his own daughter was going to be getting a stepfather before Lorelai's drunken call from her bachelorette party. Absolutely- Christopher isn't the custodial parent but he's enough in the picture that Lorelai really screwed up by not even advising him on such a big change to his daughter's life. But then, after Christopher lands that point, David makes a choice to smirk for the remainder of the scene and triumphantly get into the car like he's won and suddenly, I don't want to be on his side anymore. 

Edited December 12, 2016 by Melancholy

[Deputy Deputy CoS]

12 hours ago, Beatriceblake said:

The "full circle" moment doesn't really work for me the more I think about it because it bugged me that Rory is talking to Christopher when she's possibly wanting to cut Logan out of the baby's life. I don't particularly like Logan but if Rory is having the baby, he should at least get the chance to be involved.

The thought that she's thinking of cutting Logan out of the baby's life is inconceivable to me so I don't even speculate that way.

In all honesty, what anyone's opinion on the baby is, is a mystery because ASP decided to drop that bombshell the last 5 seconds of the show. 

Edited December 12, 2016 by Deputy Deputy CoS

[junienmomo]

2 hours ago, Deputy Deputy CoS said:

The thought that she's thinking of cutting Logan out of the baby's life is inconceivable to me so I don't even speculate that way.

In all honesty, what anyone's opinion on the baby is a mystery because ASP decided to drop that bombshell the last 5 seconds of the show. 

Yeah, terrible to do that without giving us a path to even suspect it. 

I think lots of characters have an opinion on the a-word, with maybe only Lorelai and Paris supporting Rory if that's the decision. And I'm not that sure about Lorelai. 

I think some characters will simply presume she'll keep it and raise it with parental assistance and probably the father helping. Lane, Luke, Sookie, townies; geez, Rory's friends is actually a short list. 

On the marriage side, maybe Christopher and the non-Logan LDB. Emily puzzles me because she stopped giving a damn about Lorelai in the last episode, but pounded on her for not being married during therapy. 

On a side note it makes me wonder why Emily would enable Luke to have the trust when he wasn't a family member.

[shron17]

42 minutes ago, junienmomo said:

On a side note it makes me wonder why Emily would enable Luke to have the trust when he wasn't a family member.

Or tell him he must have a will before he dies so everything won't fall on Lorelai.  Sounds like Emily has more faith in their relationship than she's willing to admit to her daughter.

[Jack Shaftoe]

Quote

You can make pretty much any subject into a interesting story. It's all about how you tell it.

Technically, that's correct. Realistically, Rory would probably be better off trying to win the lottery. At least it won't waste much of her time.

Quote

I would be totally up to watching a pre-Gilmore girls show about young Lorelai.

But you are already fond of these characters and that's why you want to learn more about them.  The target audience of Rory's book would be people who have no clue who the Gilmores are.

[snarktini]

17 hours ago, txhorns79 said:

Eh, I kind of feel for Rory during that whole debacle.  I think Sandee completely misled her about the job and the interview.  Yes, it's always good to be prepared for anything, but I can forgive her for not preparing when the job was sold to her as a done deal.   

That's how I felt, too. After a year of phone calls and VMs saying we want you I'd have assumed the meeting was a formality to discuss details, not an interview. It's true she should have been able to recover and at least respond to what she could write there -- esp. since that would be part of the details and Rory would have thought about how she could survive in a place she didn't want to be -- but I don't do well when I'm caught off guard either so that seems normal enough. And perhaps her inability to talk about her general topics is part of the aimlessness we were supposed to see.

[Melancholy]

4 hours ago, junienmomo said:

Yeah, terrible to do that without giving us a path to even suspect it. 

I think lots of characters have an opinion on the a-word, with maybe only Lorelai and Paris supporting Rory if that's the decision. And I'm not that sure about Lorelai. 

I think some characters will simply presume she'll keep it and raise it with parental assistance and probably the father helping. Lane, Luke, Sookie, townies; geez, Rory's friends is actually a short list. 

I wonder if Lane/Sookie/Lorelai would take a, "Well I had a baby even when it wasn't planned or wanted and it derailed plans and I ended up loving my kid" attitude that could result in, "Rory would be making a mistake to abort- she doesn't know what this kid will end up meaning to her" or worse, "I sucked it up and took the harder route to have the baby. Why can't Rory?"

I think Lane and Sookie are at too much of a distance to make those judgments. But I see Lorelai making them. Certainly the more benevolent "She is wrong to give up a child. Which is a treasure and one that I already started getting attached to and I'm not even carrying it." If ASP wanted to write a sequel where Rory aborts, There could be a very in-character rift where Luke and Lorelai are the most disappointed and upset at Rory having an abortion. It would be really painful if there's a story where Rory ends up miserable and tortured in her own home based on a twist of the values that brought her into the world and into Stars Hallow with Lorelai. 

Edited December 12, 2016 by Melancholy

[MV007]

I think Lorelei's story would be amazing if true.  A young woman who voluntarily gives up the comfort and luxury of money rises from adversity to own a small business and raise a young daughter.  

Besides, I thought the idea behind the book was that it would be about their relationship.  You know like the show we all became transfixed by.

[hippielamb]

On Sunday, December 11, 2016 at 3:01 PM, cuddlingcrowley said:

You can make pretty much any subject into a interesting story. It's all about how you tell it.

I would be totally up to watching a pre-Gilmore girls show about young Lorelai. Starting with her still living with her parents and how that must have been like, then their relationship reaching an all time low during the pregnancy/runaway years. But also Lorelai struggling with the identity of being a teen mother AND choosing to leave a life of wealth and comfort behind.

We know Lorelai isn't good with finances but can you imagine how much her 18 year old self must fumbled trying to support herself, for the first time, but also a toddler with minimum age? How bad did things get? Did she have regrets? Just how unpopular did her arrangement with Mia make her with the other maids? Did Lorelai try to keep her origins a secret at first?

What about Christopher? What percentage of Lorelai's pride play in Christopher decided being a father was optional, after the baby is there? What percentage did her love for him play in that perception? Did she ever resent giving him a way out and him taking it, going to college, travelling and enjoying all those she wasn't allowed to by taking on the responsability of raising a child all by herself? Did anyone challege that self-imposed sacrifice?

What about her (former) peers? What must have felt like watching the people she grew up with enjoying their youth and being stupid and chasing their dreams while she had to keep her feet firmly on the ground and made her life all about this little human?

You can keep War and Peace.

Now that would be interesting. As someone who did a similar thing in letting the guy off the hook, I would love to see if Lorelai had days when she questioned that decision. She mentioned keying his car once, so there must have been some issues there. Plus, we see them 16 years later when their relationship has gone through some of those bumps. A 20 something Lorelai with a young kid, trying to save enough for a home, and knowing that Chris was leading a carefree existence would be a different matter. 

14 hours ago, Beatriceblake said:

The "full circle" moment doesn't really work for me the more I think about it because it bugged me that Rory is talking to Christopher when she's possibly wanting to cut Logan out of the baby's life. I don't particularly like Logan but if Rory is having the baby, he should at least get the chance to be involved.

I don't think she was considering cutting him out of the child's life. But he does live in a different country, and is going to marry another woman. I am sure Logan would financially contribute if that's what Rory wanted. How often he would see their child is another matter. Unlike everyone else, I enjoyed the Rory/Logan relationship in the revival. However, Rory was the one going to him. It wasn't until Logan thought he was losing Rory that he bothering coming to see her. 

5 hours ago, junienmomo said:

Yeah, terrible to do that without giving us a path to even suspect it. 

I think lots of characters have an opinion on the a-word, with maybe only Lorelai and Paris supporting Rory if that's the decision. And I'm not that sure about Lorelai. 

I think some characters will simply presume she'll keep it and raise it with parental assistance and probably the father helping. Lane, Luke, Sookie, townies; geez, Rory's friends is actually a short list. 

 

There's an article on cosmo that examined how often abortion is considered for the many unplanned pregnancies this show has, and it failed miserably (the show, not the article). 

http://csmo.us/fucAXeo

[Kohola3]

Quote

But you are already fond of these characters and that's why you want to learn more about them.  The target audience of Rory's book would be people who have no clue who the Gilmores are.

I think that Joe Shaftoe is right on.  Fans may think this would be a fascinating book but there are many, many more compelling ones than that of a rich and privileged individual striking off and make a moderate success of herself.  Think of the Ben Carson story, a man raised by a single mom in abject poverty in a bad neighborhood to become a prominent neurosurgeon.  Now, that's a story.  (Just wish he'd stuck to what he was good at.)

[random chance]

23 minutes ago, Kohola3 said:

a rich and privileged individual striking off and make a moderate success of herself.

That right there is why it would be a boring story. There are no stakes. If she fails, she can eat crow and be saved by her rich family.

[txhorns79]

Quote

What about Christopher? What percentage of Lorelai's pride play in Christopher decided being a father was optional, after the baby is there? What percentage did her love for him play in that perception? Did she ever resent giving him a way out and him taking it, going to college, travelling and enjoying all those she wasn't allowed to by taking on the responsibility of raising a child all by herself? Did anyone challenge that self-imposed sacrifice?

I presume that Lorelai was happy to have Christopher out of the picture.  He was likely the only person with the standing to be able to have destroyed her plans for running away from home.  He could have said: "Lorelai, if you want to run away from a comfortable home to live in a shack, I can't stop you, but I will not allow you to do this to our daughter."  After all, what would Lorelai's response have been?  It's not like a court would have found Lorelai's immediate post-Gilmore lifestyle to have been in Rory's best interests.  With Christopher out of the picture, Lorelai was fully in charge, with no interference.   

Quote

I think that Joe Shaftoe is right on.  Fans may think this would be a fascinating book but there are many, many more compelling ones than that of a rich and privileged individual striking off and make a moderate success of herself.  Think of the Ben Carson story, a man raised by a single mom in abject poverty in a bad neighborhood to become a prominent neurosurgeon.  Now, that's a story.  (Just wish he'd stuck to what he was good at.)

I don't know, a single mother, high school drop out walking away from a life of privilege to live in a shack, and then working her way up from maid to Inn owner, while sending her daughter to Yale, seems like an interesting hook on which to base a book.  I think the people who would focus on issues like wealth or privilege aren't going to be the book's target audience anyways.     

Edited December 13, 2016 by txhorns79

[ChlcGirl]

Lorelai didn't send her daughter to Yale.  Her parents and Christopher did.  She also didn't send her to Chilton. Her parents did and while yes, she paid them back it was with money given to her by Richard for her building.

Edited December 13, 2016 by ChlcGirl

[txhorns79]

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Lorelai didn't send her daughter to Yale.  Her parents and Christopher did.  She also didn't send her to Chilton. Her parents did and while yes, she paid them back it was with money given to her by Richard for her building.

I meant more that despite Lorelai's challenges she was able to give her daughter the resources and support needed to get into Yale.  Whether she was the one paying for school or not, is a different issue, IMO.   

[ChlcGirl]

I guess I didn't see Lorelai having many true challenges in her life, except the ones she herself created. 

[Deputy Deputy CoS]

4 hours ago, txhorns79 said:

I meant more that despite Lorelai's challenges she was able to give her daughter the resources and support needed to get into Yale.  Whether she was the one paying for school or not, is a different issue, IMO.   

Even though Rory herself who got into Yale is not given credit because everything is handed to her? I guess Yale is one of the things handed to her by Lorelai.

[random chance]

Harvard was handed to her by the writers, I don't believe the actual Rory would have gotten in there.  Yale was handed to her by Richard.

[Melancholy]

Rory was valedictorian of one of the most competitive prep schools which was described as a feeder to the Ivy's from the beginning. Based on her PSAT scores, she must have done beautifully on the real tests. She was a slow starter when it came to working extra curriculars but I always assumed that she or a competent college counselor at Chilton showed her how to discuss the multitude of charitable and community activities that she did in Stars Hallow without a college agenda. Between her mother's and her life story and her role in Stars Hallow and her passionate take on novels, she had grist to write a great personal essay.

I get how Rory made it into Harvard and Yale on her own merit and I can be dubious about TV teenagers getting into great schools. (Summer Roberts getting into Brown. Buffy Summers getting into Northwestern and Cordelia Chase getting into Columbia.)

Edited December 13, 2016 by Melancholy

[Lady Calypso]

5 minutes ago, Melancholy said:

Rory was valedictorian of one of the most competitive prep schools which was described as a feeder to the Ivy's from the beginning. Based on her PSAT scores, she must have done beautifully on the real tests. She was a slow starter when it came to working extra curriculars but I always assumed that she or a competent college counselor at Chilton showed her how to discuss the multitude of charitable and community activities that she did in Stars Hallow without a college agenda. Between her mother's and her life story and her role in Stars Hallow and her passionate take on novels, she had grist to write a great personal essay.

I get how Rory made it into Harvard and Yale on her own merit and I can be dubious about TV teenagers getting into great schools. (Summer Roberts getting into Brown. Buffy Summers getting into Northwestern and Cordelia Chase getting into Columbia.)

I would hope so, because if Paris couldn't get into Harvard with her many extra-curriculars and her impressive grades, then I have a hard time imagining Rory getting in to all of the Ivy League schools with far less extra-curriculars, at least on par with Paris'. I can see Rory's participation in Stars Hollow events helped her out. However, it is still a bit unbelievable to me, though I guess we still have to accept it since she did get in. I guess Rory had a kickass interview and a kickass personal essay to help her out. I guess I could imagine her getting into non Ivy League schools, but it still feels like a stretch after all these years for her to get into all these Ivy League schools. Maybe if we had actually seen her do more journalism jobs in high school, then it could have made sense. But we really only heard her pursue a couple of stories. We never actually SAW her be a journalist. 

But more discussion on this should be taken to the All Episodes Thread, so I'm happy to do that! 

[dubbel zout]

Just now, Lady Calypso said:

if Paris couldn't get into Harvard with her many extra-curriculars and her impressive grades

Paris was one of a million Parises trying to get into Harvard. When everyone is a valedictorian with a million extracurriculars, you have to start looking a little deeper. Rory's life story was a little different.

[Melancholy]

22 minutes ago, Lady Calypso said:

I would hope so, because if Paris couldn't get into Harvard with her many extra-curriculars and her impressive grades, then I have a hard time imagining Rory getting in to all of the Ivy League schools with far less extra-curriculars, at least on par with Paris'. I can see Rory's participation in Stars Hollow events helped her out. However, it is still a bit unbelievable to me, though I guess we still have to accept it since she did get in. I guess Rory had a kickass interview and a kickass personal essay to help her out. I guess I could imagine her getting into non Ivy League schools, but it still feels like a stretch after all these years for her to get into all these Ivy League schools. Maybe if we had actually seen her do more journalism jobs in high school, then it could have made sense. But we really only heard her pursue a couple of stories. We never actually SAW her be a journalist. 

But more discussion on this should be taken to the All Episodes Thread, so I'm happy to do that! 

Paris flipped out in the Harvard interview. That's why she didn't get in there. She really seemed like an assholic nutcase- more so than usual. I think it would be enough to disqualify her. Paris did seem to get in to the other Ivy's including Yale. Even still, Rory had better grades and PSAT scores. (Although, I do head canon that Paris had better grades until she flipped out after the college acceptances came back and lost her valedictorian position.)

i just assume that Rory was an active writer at The Franklin. She pretty frequently alludes to working on pieces. It's just not delved into by the show. 

I would even agree that Paris was more driven and stood out more in their group projects. However, college applications don't measure all of that. It's a personal essay, grades, scores, and a few resume style highlights on an application. Colleges don't really have a way to measure how many articles and how the quality of Rory's work on The Franklin. It's too much data. 

Edited December 13, 2016 by Melancholy

[ChlcGirl]

God knows I'm hard on the Gilmore Girls, but I never doubted that Rory managed to get into Harvard/Yale/etc.  Not only did she have the grades and valedictorian, but by the time she left Chilton she was on the newspaper staff, VP of the school, plus all the Stars Hollow crap.  In addition, she probably got some great recommendations and wrote an excellent essay.  And she had a link to Yale through Richard, so yeah, I can see it easily.  Also, didn't Rory major in English?  With all the reading that girl did I'm sure she had pretty impressive interviews (except the surprise! Yale one).

You know, I'm kind of retroactively sad that we didn't have an episode in the third season with Rory traveling around and doing interviews at the colleges she applied to.  A road trip episode!

[Deputy Deputy CoS]

Paris' applications were no doubt impressive but it was realistic that she burned the bridge in a face to face interview. Paris looks good on pare, however try spending 2 seconds in her presence.

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You know, I'm kind of retroactively sad that we didn't have an episode in the third season with Rory traveling around and doing interviews at the colleges she applied to.  A road trip episode!

Would've been nice indeed. However, Lorelai   Rory's heart was set on Harvard. The apoplexy with she showed an interest in Yale 

[txhorns79]

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Even though Rory herself who got into Yale is not given credit because everything is handed to her? I guess Yale is one of the things handed to her by Lorelai.

I think a lot of people played a role in getting Rory into Yale.   

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Paris flipped out in the Harvard interview. That's why she didn't get in there. She really seemed like an assholic nutcase- more so than usual. I think it would be enough to disqualify her. 

Yeah, doesn't Paris describe herself as sounding like a meth addict?  You can watch the scene on YouTube.  There's no way the interviewer was going to recommend her after that. 

Edited December 13, 2016 by txhorns79

[ChlcGirl]

9 minutes ago, Deputy Deputy CoS said:

Paris' applications were no doubt impressive but it was realistic that she burned the bridge in a face to face interview. Paris looks good on pare, however try spending 2 seconds in her presence.

Would've been nice indeed. However, Lorelai   Rory's heart was set on Harvard. The apoplexy with she showed an interest in Yale 

I know we never got true confirmation on the other schools but at that Christmas or Thanksgiving, didn't the guests ask if she hadn't applied to Princeton, Yale and ... Penn? (wasn't that the other??) in addition to Yale? And Rory said yes, schools like that.

I would have liked seeing Rory interacting with the various Ivy reps.  Seems like there could have been some fun there.  *Sigh* ?

[Melancholy]

27 minutes ago, ChlcGirl said:

God knows I'm hard on the Gilmore Girls, but I never doubted that Rory managed to get into Harvard/Yale/etc.  Not only did she have the grades and valedictorian, but by the time she left Chilton she was on the newspaper staff, VP of the school, plus all the Stars Hollow crap.  In addition, she probably got some great recommendations and wrote an excellent essay.  And she had a link to Yale through Richard, so yeah, I can see it easily.  Also, didn't Rory major in English?  With all the reading that girl did I'm sure she had pretty impressive interviews (except the surprise! Yale one)

It even sounds like the surprise Yale interview went well. The Admission Dean was praising Rory to Richard with "Your granddaughter is just as impressive as you said." Rory got into Yale. She was fluidly recommending books as they walked out. It's entirely possible Rory was nervously getting hung up on stuff like her casual dress which didn't bother the Dean or how she didn't bring transcripts or test scores which could have endeared her even more since the conversation was spontaneous. 

There was a method to Richard's madness. He created a friendly non- programmed conversation between Rory and the ultimate decision maker at Yale. 

Edited December 13, 2016 by Melancholy

[junienmomo]

3 minutes ago, Melancholy said:

It even sounds like the surprise Yale interview went well. The Admission Dean was praising Rory to Richard with "Your granddaughter is just as impressive as you said." Rory got into Yale. She was fluidly recommending books as they walked out. It's entirely possible Rory was nervously getting hung up on stuff like her casual dress which didn't bother the Dean or how she didn't bring transcripts or test scores which could have endeared her even more since the conversation was spontaneous. 

There was a method to Richard's madness. He created a friendly non- programmed conversation between Rory and the ultimate decision maker at Yale. 

I see it more as Richard's hubris backed by money. He was a donor and this was his first legacy. If they were known to be wealthy enough to later donate a building (must not question GG finances too much), she would be a shoo-in even if she was as lackadaisical student as Logan.

[ChlcGirl]

59 minutes ago, Melancholy said:

It even sounds like the surprise Yale interview went well. The Admission Dean was praising Rory to Richard with "Your granddaughter is just as impressive as you said." Rory got into Yale. She was fluidly recommending books as they walked out. It's entirely possible Rory was nervously getting hung up on stuff like her casual dress which didn't bother the Dean or how she didn't bring transcripts or test scores which could have endeared her even more since the conversation was spontaneous. 

There was a method to Richard's madness. He created a friendly non- programmed conversation between Rory and the ultimate decision maker at Yale. 

I meant that by Rory's standards, the Yale interview didn't go well. I was never on that character's level when choosing colleges but in her position I would also be rattled by the surprise interview.  Especially if it was at a prestigious school like Yale.  Even though the Dean was complimentary, I would want to be dressed appropriately, have transcripts etc, and do some prepping beforehand.  It really was a shitty thing for Richard to do.

[Kirjava]

On ‎12‎/‎12‎/‎2016 at 2:28 PM, Jack Shaftoe said:

But you are already fond of these characters and that's why you want to learn more about them.  The target audience of Rory's book would be people who have no clue who the Gilmores are.

I had no clue who the Gilmores were when I decided to watch the first episode of the show, but I was instantly hooked and intrigued to learn more. We here are definitely interested enough in Lorelai's and Rory's story to have watched seven seasons worth and to talk about it online. Yes, TV shows are different from books, but I don't think this show would have such a following if the entire concept was a snooze.

A book about a single mom turning her back on her privileged life to raise her daughter on her own terms would not be a guaranteed bestseller, but it is the kind of book I would read, and I could see it developing a decent sized audience if it was written well and marketed properly.

[Jack Shaftoe]

TV is a whole different animal. Even today, despite the ever growing number of TV channels, the number of TV shows is vastly smaller than the number of books that are being published every year, for the simple reason that a TV show costs so much more to make.  A non-fiction book about the family of the author - a family that no one but their relatives, acquaintances and friends has heard about - is very unlikely to become popular unless Rory convinces some of her rich relatives or Logan to pull some strings and even then it will probably never gain much traction. If Rory is a talented writer, she would have a much better chance to find success if she writes just about any other kind of book. Write what you know is a good advice but it usually shouldn't be taken quite so literally.

The whole thing is just way too meta for my taste.

[CoolMom]

On 12/11/2016 at 5:55 PM, clack said:

The comedic point of the Sandee Says job interview scene was that Rory didn't know that it was a job interview -- she thought that, after months of being recruited by the company, she had at last deigned to accept what was a firm job offer. There is even dialogue to that effect  : Rory wonders why she is being shown around by the boss instead of going through the paperwork in the Human Resouces department.

Rory is unprepared not because she is unprofessional, but because she overestimates her professional status. The joke is that she thinks that she's too good for Sandee Says, while Sandee Says thinks that she's not good enough.

This is how I felt about that scene too.  If I had been hounded by someone regarding taking a position at their company for almost a year it would shock me if they were just interviewing.  I mean that girl sent gifts to woo her and it seemed to me like she'd been offered a position not being told hey we'd like to talk to you about a position. 

[dubbel zout]

Lots of personal stories become bestsellers. Look at Eat, Pray, Love: Rich white lady decides to take a lavish world trip in order to find herself. Or it's much less lavish version, which Lorelei tried to imitate: Wild.

Rory's story fits that genre somewhat, IMO. Plucky single mom turns her back on rich family and pulls herself up by her bootstraps to be a successful small business owner and raises a high-achieving, Ivy League–educated daughter.

That would be the marketing pitch for sure.

Edited December 15, 2016 by dubbel zout

[Anna Yolei]

On Sunday, December 11, 2016 at 2:55 PM, clack said:

The comedic point of the Sandee Says job interview scene was that Rory didn't know that it was a job interview -- she thought that, after months of being recruited by the company, she had at last deigned to accept what was a firm job offer. There is even dialogue to that effect  : Rory wonders why she is being shown around by the boss instead of going through the paperwork in the Human Resouces department.

Rory is unprepared not because she is unprofessional, but because she overestimates her professional status. The joke is that she thinks that she's too good for Sandee Says, while Sandee Says thinks that she's not good enough.

I dunno, I can't say I blame Rory too much for thinking she got the job from the way Sandee was talking. 

[Lady Calypso]

1 hour ago, dubbel zout said:

Lots of personal stories become bestsellers. Look at Eat, Pray, Love: Rich white lady decides to take a lavish world trip in order to find herself. Or it's much less lavish version, which Lorelei tried to imitate: Wild.

Rory's story fits that genre somewhat, IMO. Plucky single mom turns her back on rich family and pulls herself up by her bootstraps to be a successful small business owner and raises a high-achieving, Ivy League–educated daughter.

That would be the marketing pitch for sure.

And I can see why Lorelai was more hesitant to agree to Rory's book idea at first. Lorelai's story seems to be the more interesting one than just Rory and her close relationship with her mother. Rory needs Lorelai's side to have any future of a highly successful book. The close mother-daughter relationship is one good angle, but not enough to garner enough traction to get it put into major bookstores, in my opinion. Much like if Gilmore Girls didn't have the hook being about Lorelai getting money from her estranged, rich parents, would it have lasted seven seasons? Without a hook, there's little reason for any story to get an audience. Sometimes, you need multiple hooks. 

11 minutes ago, Anna Yolei said:

I dunno, I can't say I blame Rory too much for thinking she got the job from the way Sandee was talking. 

I agree with this because the CEO (oh, I guess it's Sandee) definitely handled things the wrong way and I can't blame Rory to be taken aback that it was a job interview, especially with how she was hounded for a year. It doesn't mean that I don't put some blame on Rory on not being prepared. I guess she assumed that she would just be signing paperwork and getting settled in, but I'm surprised she didn't research the company beforehand. I think especially if you get the job, you should be finding those things out so you don't look unprepared on your first day. She knew nothing about the company and was just accepting the job because she felt like she had no other options.