#fun watch

Genius Game photoset with David Tennant

The Beatles GIF by Turner Classic Movies https://media1.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTZjMDliOTUybHQ1dTV0cGg5ZXBhMTR6Zm51c3I3M3BtbjFwYTA0NDdoOXZoNGc0ZyZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/Y0t7MyTsmXtRapsy5x/giphy.gif

Bad ass bitches with guns! (oh, and the plot was fun too)

Rory Gilmore

Rory ‘Lorelai’ Gilmore, played by the talented Alexis Bledel, is the other half to the ‘Gilmore Girls’ duo that the show is centred around.

Rory, at 15 (about to turn 16), starts the series as a highly intelligent, bookworm with quick wit & the same fast talking nature that her mother shares. Rory is the reason a lot of people got sucked into the show in the first place. She’s a good girl who is interesting & has the whole world in front of her. I loved her & identified with her in a lot of ways.

Her best friend was Lane Kim who was a repressed & anxious girl hiding her true self from her mother. Rory helped Lane grow up as she was a confidant & friend.

However, over the course of the series we see Rory gradually distancing herself from Lane. After a rough beginning, Rory becomes close with Paris Geller who I feel is her real best friend because she’s the one she spends more time with...obsessed over her school & life choices with...and does stupid & fun things with. Even academically, Paris becomes central in Rory’s life at Yale, often carrying her & motivating her. Both girls were true friends to Rory, though she often ignored Lane & acted like Paris was just an annoying roommate - even stating a couple times that they weren’t friends or how sad it was Paris had no friends...NO friends? What about you Rory Gilmore? Huh? What about YOU?

Even the end of their reign at Yale, it’s glaringly obvious that Paris is the one to actually appreciate & treasure her time at the school. She had tried new things, had various relationships & at the end, she made those charts to push each other forward, trying to ensure they had zero regrets when leaving school. She wanted to make sure they used their time wisely & tried new things. A true friend.

Yet Rory acted like Paris was pathetic & sad. Paris was neurotic, excitable & intense but far from sad or pathetic. She was independent & a great friend to Rory.

It took Rory to the series finale for her to admit to Paris that they were going to still be in each other’s lives. But still it wasn’t very heartwarming. No ‘l love yous’ as best friends often declare...just something like ‘oh I think we’ll be stuck with each other’.

Rory went from being a good friend in season one to being a terrible friend in the series end - and even A Year in the Life.

In season one we see adorable & sweet Rory doing things on her own & she mentioned how she did laundry herself...her own clothes. Then her mother , Lorelai, is shocked about it & asked why Rory did that. Rory says something along the lines that she does laundry when there’s no clean clothes. As if it’s normal for her own mother to just not care. It makes me think Rory was the mom in the relationship, which is not only wrong but sad too.

Rory & Lorelai are unhealthily close. We’re talking Norman Bates unhealthy. As in, her first date was shared with her mother. I get it, it was out of panic but there are such things as boundaries.

Rory doesn’t have a lot of friends because she spends 80% of her socializing time with her mom. The other 20% was with Lane. Then when she dates she basically keeps her mom time the same and Lane gets about 2% of her time.

Eventually she has a steady boyfriend in Dean Forester. At first he appears to be the perfect boyfriend but soon we see he gets jealous easily, throws tantrums, becomes controlling & possessive. He also gets a little scary on a few occasions by how angry he gets. But everyone - Rory, the town & especially Lorelai say ‘he’s perfect’ or ‘he loves you’.

It felt like I was watching an abusive relationship in the making. Even later he becomes an ass. He picks fights, gets upset if he doesn’t feel superior. When Rory wasn’t emotionally ready to say ‘I love you’ he dumps her.

He gets married & they have an affair. Then after his separation from his wife (or super duper fast divorce??) when they date again, he doesn’t like that she spends so much time at school with her new friends. Then when he sees her all glammed up he dumps her - because he was insecure. But they still called him the ‘perfect boyfriend’. Rory said it a lot about him & for the life of me I don’t know why.

Yes Jared Padalecki is dreamy. He also seems like a great guy...but let’s not confuse the actor with the character. On GG his character was an abuser in the making...a angry, controlling douche.

When Rory’s dating Jess Mariano she seems to be happy & they were in sync intellectually & had chemistry. But Jess made a lot of dumb decisions & often pushed her away. I respected Rory more with him though because she tried to help him but she also stood up for herself more.

When she was with Logan Huntzberger it became clear how sheltered she was. And how confused. Sometimes being pushy, sometimes teasing, and sometimes just being supportive & encouraging her, Logan got Rory to try new things. They were good together for the most part. Logan didn’t criticize or scare her. He was always upfront with her about who & how he was. He helped her grow.

Rory however acted entitled like he should be thrilled to be with her. That was basically a line the show threw out there a lot. That people should be (highly paraphrasing here) lucky to be in the presence of the Gilmore women.

Which is just ridiculous.

Logan was a good boyfriend in that he & Rory grew together. Definitely not endgame in my opinion but short term he was good for her. Rory often got upset with him for various reasons (usually if he did something stupid) but as soon as she confronts him or set boundaries, things got better.

Rory started the series as wanting to go into journalism & be an on-the-ground /in-the-trenches reporter travelling the world. She loves reading & books. She had a goal of graduating a prestigious college - at first thinking of Harvard then decided on Yale.

But we see that at the first sign of a struggle - one mediocre grade on an assignment in one class- and she gets intimidated & drops a class.

Then Mitchum Huntzberger tells her ‘harshly’ (aka rather calmly & straightforwardly) that as far as making it in the journalism industry she doesn’t ‘have it’. She didn’t have what it takes according to his lifetime of experience. That’s ALL he said. She didn’t ‘have it’.

Rory crumbles & gives up. She zones out during an exam & then runs off & tells Logan she wants to take a boat sailing & didn’t care if it was his or not.

And they get caught & arrested.

Lorelai is upset with her but not mad...for some reason. She just wants to know what’s up with her daughter. A REAL parent though would be furious & scared for her. Yes it was stupid but she now has a criminal record. Forever!

Rory takes time off from school. That’s the one time Lorelai is ever angry with her. Which I respected.

Gradually we see Rory becoming more like Lorelai in that she acts entitled & she starts disrespecting people. She even mocks people the way her mom does.

During her break from Yale Rory lives in the pool house at Richard & Emily’s. They are amazing & supportive...trying not to pressure her & give her space.

Eventually Richard wants answers about Rory’s plans & Emily realizes that Rory has mixed feelings about being in the DAR (both liking it & mocking its members).

Emily & Richard try to get answers about what’s going on with her. Rory disrespects them. In one episode, Emily asks her a simple question about what Rory was doing & that she had a commitment to the DAR. Rory shouts at her “I do what I want, when I want!”

Emily was annoyed at Rory’s insolence so she points out “You’re more & more like your mother every day” to which Rory responds (in a pissy attitude) “and you’re sounding more and more like my mother’s mother which each day!”

I was like ‘listen up bitch that’s your grandmother, show her some respect!’. Seriously, unless she’s being abusive (she wasn’t) then suck it up & do as she says or get the fuck out of her house & pay your own way! And still don’t talk to her like that.

So disrespectful.

Another examples of her whiny entitled ass during her stay at the grandparents’ home is how she was mad she couldn’t eat in ‘her’ room - when she was staying in the actual house with her grandparents. It’s their house, their rules. That means do the decent thing & respect those rules.

Rory also moved out without telling her grandparents. That was stupid & disrespectful. However, she one-upped it by giving the keys to Colin & Finn who barely even met Richard once (I think at a party for two seconds?), to the house. She let them into someone else’s house! Rory you don’t own the house why are you letting people come & go?! Wtf?!

Richard’s reaction was justified & I felt bad for him. She didn’t even have the decency to call & say ‘two of my friends will pick my boxes up’. That would be the normal, decent thing to do.

Then she crashes with Lane, Zach & Brian. It was obvious that she didn’t ask ahead of time by Rory asking onscreen, if Lane was sure about the arrangements. Lane said yes & something along the lines of not wanting her best friend to be homeless. She had to help out.

Clearly Zach didn’t want it for practical reasons- they were broke. And not just broke. Poor. They couldn’t afford another mouth to feed. And while he wasn’t tactful, it shows that Rory was still selfish. She made no offer the help out.

When my roommates’ relative moved in with us for a month she chipped in & shared the cost for things like toilet paper, milk, paper towels & cable etc. Things we shared. It was like $20. Not much but we appreciated it.

And when I go out of town with people I give them $5 for gas, which is my share. Common decency especially of you know they struggle with bills.

Rory moves out of a mansion to use up food from ‘friends’ that were struggling. It’s just one disrespectful thing after another.

When Rory runs into Jess & has a bad non-dinner with him & Logan, she rightfully calls Logan out on his brattiness. But then shortly after she tries throw herself at Jess. Showing how manipulative she is. She knows he has feelings for her & she tries to use him as revenge. I’m glad he called her out on it.

But right after the confrontation she magically wants her old goals & becomes the ‘old Rory’. Riiiight.

What actually happens is:

1. Rory somehow is miraculously allowed back into Yale. Considering universities & colleges have codes of conduct you have to stick to, I don’t know how this is possible - anyone committing crimes get expelled. Especially if a school tries to keep a good reputation like Yale.

2. She wants a job at the Stamford Gazette. She doesn’t look anywhere else that could be hiring. So she camps out to get a job. There was no job available & the boss/editor says he’d have to fire someone to hire her. She challenges him to find the room for her. I get the writer was trying to make it look like she had gumption but after the rest of the season to me it just looked like Rory was ignoring boundaries & being disrespectful again. Also, all those classes she had to pick up...you’d think she’d at least spend that time trying to study!

But let’s be real, when companies say they don’t have the budget for another employee, they don’t have the money. They use their money for employee perks like benefits, maintenance etc. And if they have a few thousand dollars left it goes to CEOs or for a budget of something more important like building repairs etc. Everyone has to justify their spending too. For an editor to hire another assistant or another writer that’s money they need to justify. Or, they can fire someone else to make room. Rory doesn’t care about any of this. The ‘old’ Rory would have thought about the other people involved.

3. Rory decides its time to contact her mother again. However, she only does so after she gets into Yale & after she has a job. Because she’s now all about appearances. While not completely materialistic she cares more about looking successful than anything. At least Emily is upfront about keeping up appearances and as an old woman her reputation is important. Rory however acts superior & wants to hide her struggles from her own mother...it’s a very Lorelai move.

Later we get a funny episode of a Friday night dinner where the Gilmores are all together. It was amusing. However, we see the one & only time that Rory apologizes to her grandparents is when she’s yelling at them. And it’s more of ‘I’m sorry but you...’ that’s not a real apology.

Her grandparents took her in during a rough time in her life. They provided food, shelter...Emily got her a job & tried to help with preparing her for community service...and because of a few awkward situations or conversations, Rory blew up at her & was disrespectful to both grandparents. And when she apologizes she screams?

Hell no. My mom would look at me heartbroken & teary eyed if that were me. My dad would shout ‘what’s the matter with you?!’

But I would never do that.

And Lorelai never once gets upset with Rory about her disrespectful attitude. And everyone forgives everything.

But during the argument/dinner, Rory said she was under (her grandparents) ‘their thumb’. How?? They’re her grandparents. I don’t know about you but mine did have rules & expectations but that’s how it works with different generations, it can be sometimes awkward & occasionally irritating but everyone does their own thing. As long as you try to work with each other it’s not usually a big deal.

Unless they’re cruel. The Gilmores weren’t. They had very few rules & gave lots of freedom. They were old fashioned but as long as Rory didn’t have boys in her room they were good. That by the way, is perfectly reasonable. It’s their house after all & she was a guest. Don’t you think it’s weird that a guest would be so upset she can’t have a boy over?

You’re a guest Rory! Go have sex at his place if you don’t like the rules. Or find a hotel. My god she’s a brat.

One of the moments where I respected later-seasons Rory was when Logan’s dumb prank lands him in a hospital. I love that she told off Mitchum. It was great. But then she goes right back to being spoiled & rude.

At this point I don’t have a clue if we’re actually supposed to like or hate Rory. Because I still disliked her.

I like how Rory interacts with Mitchum though. She confronted him in the elevator once saying he was trying to keep Logan from her. She came across as a silly little girl.

Now, do YOU think this is a person who can handle reporting in places from Saudi Arabia to Russia...to the outback of Australia & everywhere in between?

A silly little girl who would likely throw a tantrum if she had to do real camping & get her hands dirty.

I liked the interaction with Mitchum because her silly entitlement just proves him right. She is far from resilient.

When Rory was hopeful about moving to New York for her fellowship, Emily & Richard offer to buy her an apartment there. Rory acts like they just offered her a peanut. Seriously...she’s so ungrateful. I mean these are people that paid for her education twice, bought her a car, bought a building at Yale (donated money for it), let her live with them & now offers to buy her an apartment! She was completely ungrateful & so casual about the offer.

And when she was rejected from the fellowship she keeps it from Lorelai. She only tells her when she has to tell everyone- when she’s backed into a corner. It shows she turned into her mother.

Also don’t forget her grandparents throw her a huge graduation party for Rory. They even sing to her! That’s personal & very sweet but Rory just looked embarrassed. Why? Your elderly, adorable grandparents are singing to you! Put a smile on your face & be grateful! At least for their sakes.

I’m glad Rory chose herself over Logan. It was a good move but by this time I had hoped for a twist. A revelation of some sort.

Mainly because Rory only has a few episodes about her writing, I wanted her to realize she didn’t want to be a writer. Episodes regarding the newspapers...okay there are several but how many episode about writing other than for the newspapers? 2 or 3?

And once she gets into Yale she only does school reading. To me it’s very much a writer-at-school only.

Real writers are always writing! From doing silly blogs, to work emails (I’m told often I write ‘novels’ in my emails), to writing fan fiction, or commenting on how a book should have done this or that, we’re always writing. Even if we haven’t published in a very long time. It’s still there because it’s a passion & part of who we are.

Rory doesn’t do much of anything outside of necessity which is why she ‘fails’ later in life.

I wanted a revelation that Rory simply loves to read. That writing was fun but it’s more of a hobby. Let’s be honest, Paris was more serious about writing than Rory ever was.

So I thought, in the finale we would have Rory realize she wants to be a book editor. Something which would allow her to read countless books/manuscripts & something she could do well. Could’ve been a nice revelation imo.

But that never happened.

I also wanted her to admit to Paris she would be lost without her because we all know that’s true.

I like that the series finale talked about handing out 75 resumes & such because it was showing Rory trying to take control of her life. But why have her go on the campaign trail?

Is this something coveted? I’m not American so I have no idea. To me it sounds like a nightmare! Lol

Okay I get there might be writing opportunities but it sounds horrible to me. I personally would have preferred a scene where Rory has no prospects but decides to do something like volunteering abroad. And last two minutes of the series we see her in Nepal or someplace helping someone & gets a phone call about a job.

That would have been more satisfying to me.

Okay I’ve got to talk about the townspeople of Stars Hollow...when Rory has to leave early for her job & can’t throw her her party, they’re pissed! Like it’s her job, why are you mad? I get they care for her (often in a weird creepy way), but why are they upset? Say your goodbyes if you have to & move on.

I think the big party for Rory is supposed to be sweet & thoughtful but Rory isn’t the only ‘kid’ in town. What about every other student that graduated from high school there? Or the ones that left for college?

Lane never got a birthday party thrown by the town. Just a baby shower. But the townspeople had no high school graduation party or birthday for her...or Dean...or Jess...or Lindsey...or anyone else that lives there. Just parties for the Gilmores.

Which again shows part of the reason Rory feels & acts like a Princess. She started out as a cool character & turned into a spoiled brat.

Year in the Life has Rory floundering. Flying to London for booty calls with Logan (getting rid of all his evolution), which actually means he’s cheating on his fiancé with her - which is out of character as he never actually cheated on Rory or anyone else before. He even said once he didn’t like how his mother was hurt by what his father did (implying having affairs).

But Rory, here, supposedly 32 years old, is still hooking up with her college boyfriend. Dumb.

Then she has one night stands for the first time. Really? Never once during college or her twenties? Okay.

But the stupid part is that she hookups with an interviewee...for a job that was hard for her to get! So unprofessional!

And what’s worse is that they show she had a boyfriend- Paul -and cheated on him. That’s all kinds of wrong. What’s worse is she has zero remorse for it & Lorelai didn’t give a shit about the fact Rory was cheating on him!

‘I slept with a wookie !’ Probably was funny in Amy Sherman Palladino’s head but it really wasn’t funny at all. I thought it was so dumb. Now if it was when they were still at Yale, I thought that would have been a great thing coming from Paris. Why? Because of her high standards in everything. A wookie is the exact opposite. It’d be funny. But the way it was used in Year in the Life just felt...icky. Awkward & out of place.

And again because of context, she was cheating on Paul with 2 people! Logan & the wookie. It’s so...wrong. Not to mention tacky.

And can I say I don’t get at all why Paul was supposed to be forgettable? I’m serious, when I was watching, the first scene with him I just thought ‘aww he’s so sweet’ & I had hoped she was serious about him. Then right away they were joking about how forgettable he was.

A boyfriend she had for years and they were mocking him. What the actual fuck? Sociopaths. Who does that? It’s so cruel. Seriously, if you don’t like someone then break up with them. Don’t string them along. By the end he breaks up with Rory...after 3 years of dating!

3 years wasted. He could have met someone else in that time.

Oh but the way the show mocked him made it sound like he was undeserving to have someone. But no. He was a nice, sweet, thoughtful man...supportive of Rory flying out of country to ‘work’ (aka bone Logan behind his back)...he had a job & a life. Why did they mock him? Seemed like a catch to me!

It was just so cruel & while I know these are fictional characters it made it impossible for me to want anything good for Rory anymore. I actually went from occasionally being annoyed with her to hating her because of this.

There are a million reasons I dislike Year in the Life but a huge part of that is Rory. From the cheating to forgetting about Paul’s existence...to stringing him along, it was repulsive.

Then she mocks overweight people with Lorelai. And not just a casual remark...they have an entire scene so it felt really uncomfortable. I’ve been overweight a few times in my life. I used to find some fat jokes actually really funny (go watch old clips of Chris Farley - hilarious!). But how these two ladies said theses ‘jokes’ just felt cruel so it wasn’t funny at all.

Then the other 30 year olds struggling in Stars Hollow....Rory acts superior to them. Why? At least they are making friends with each other! They’re trying to work whatever jobs they can. Rory does fuck all. She acts rude & bitchy to potential employers & is unprepared for interviews.

The Stars Hollow 30 yr olds was a refreshing addition...for 2 seconds. Rory should have embraced them & had fun. Instead she wallows in self pity. She’s selfish.

I like that Jess had a heart to heart with her but if we’re honest we know at this point, Jess’ character deserves someone better than Rory.

Rory’s decision to write a book felt awkward to me because it was too obvious & meta. It felt forced & just...come on we didn’t wait 10 years to get something so obvious did we? Season 1 I knew there could a Gilmore Girls book because...Rory is writer! So obvious ...

I know it was in there because ASP said it was in her original plan. Just like how she wanted Rory & her friends to become Lorelai - to mimic her life. ASP wanted the men to be like the men in Lorelai’s life. Jess = Luke, Logan = Christopher etc.

Okay but they’re completely different people with different backgrounds. Rory had a degree from Yale & years of work behind her. She had the fortune of royalty! So ASP had to write in that she was broke - without an explanation as to how that could be possible.

Jess was a writer & had matured. He actually communicates very well (which is not a skill Luke seems to possess). Logan started the series as a bit of a brat & selfish (a little Christopher-esque) but by the end of season 7, he matured & changed. During Year in the Life, they had to change his character in order to make him into the person that would fit that mould.

And one of my biggest pet peeves with Year in the Life...the finances.

Okay. Rory’s great grandmother Lorelai (aka Richards mother ‘Trixie’) said Rory was going to have to ‘.wait to get her inheritance until she’s 25’.

Richard also would have left Rory money in his will. And Rory had at least some jobs along the way. Are we to assume she blew through all that money with nothing to show for it? And if so, that would have been more interesting to see instead of the awkward therapy sessions or Luke looking at places to franchise (which is a related storyline from an earlier season).

But really, it was lazy writing & lack of researching their own show.

And as for the final four words...*sigh*

Rory at 22 & pregnant would be more impactful. However, she had her degree, her family & friends so it’s not a huge deal. She’d have struggled but would be okay. Rory at 32, pregnant...my first thought was ‘and?’ Then ‘so what’ followed by ‘you couldn’t wait a few days until after your mom’s wedding to announce it?!’

Ugh 😩

Honestly it’s so nauseatingly bad.

While the show & ASP had their ideas as to how the story would end, it didn’t fit at all. They should have paid attention to how the story & character evolves. Basic rule of writing.

However, I don’t put any of the poor storylines or poor writing on the actors. They were fine. Any mistakes were clearly on the side of the writing & directing. The actors were likely excited to work together again & I’m guessing, probably signed on before the script was done.

Still some speculation Alicia will die. Wide agreement that would kill the show.