It’s taken me a year to write this blog. And I’m still wrestling with my feelings.
As an avid “Gilmore Girls” fan, I was excited – yet skeptical – to watch “Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life” last year when it came out on Netflix.
Yes, the reason for the reboot was great. It reunited the cast and the Sherman-Palladinos to finish the story they wanted to tell. And we’d get to hear the final four words. And among the cast, no one (seemingly) hated each other. The nostalgia factor was small, it was more about getting the chance to return.
But I wasn’t impressed. In fact, I was frustrated. After waiting for years – I started watching on ABC Family (now Freeform) around the time season 7 was airing – I was sorely disappointed.
I even watched it again months later, thinking some time away from it with more understanding and less hype would help, and I still didn’t like it.
Most people will say the Emily storyline was pretty great, Dean got just enough screen time and thank goodness Lorelai and Luke got married.
Most people will also say why Logan, Rory sucks now and why did the Stars Hollow Musical get so much screen time?
I agree with all those things. But the Rory storyline really bothers me.
I’ve had countless conversations with friends, colleagues and acquaintances on why or why not the revival was good. And I found something interesting.
People who watched “Gilmore Girls” when they were older than the ages Rory was during the original air didn’t care that much about the Rory storyline. They thought it made sense. Here she was, a privileged girl who had gotten almost everything handed to her, and with one setback she seemingly lost her career. Her spoiled nature finally caught up with her.
But the ones, like me, who at least started watching “Gilmore Girls” in their high school years, found the Rory storyline hard to stomach. Here was the girl we wanted to be, the girl who loved to read and was still cool, the girl who wanted to be a reporter and was thriving most of the time. And she was floundering. Failing, even. She lost control of her life and lost sight of what she’d always wanted.
In all reality, Rory is a complicated character. Some like her, some hate her. Is she spoiled? Yes. Is she smart? Yes. Was her growth stunted? Yes.
In trying to understand the show and the revival, I started listening to the “Gilmore Guys” podcast this summer and recently finished it. I had heard about it, but one of my friends who liked the revival recommended it, so I finally gave it a try.
First of all, those guys are great. Kevin T. Porter and Demi Adejuyigbe did a fantastic job just talking about the show. If you haven’t listened and are a “Gilmore Girls” fan, I recommend checking it out. Start in season 2 if the pilot episode bothers you, and skip the one where they talk about episode 109, even if you love that particular “Gilmore Girls” episode. Yes, they go off the rails sometimes, but it’s part of the fun.
The Gilmore Guys talked at length about the revival…something they didn’t expect to happen when they started out. (Porter had hoped it would happen but wasn’t sure it would.)
After my frustrations with the revival, I was curious to hear their thoughts. They seemed to like it overall, but really hated certain parts.
On the episode of the podcast that recounted the revival’s episode “Fall,” the Gilmore Guys and their guests, Aisha Muharrar and Sarah Heyward, talked at length about the problems with Rory’s storyline. And their thoughts stuck with me and made me question the talking points.
Sherman-Palladino claimed two reasons for Rory’s failure: Rory is a millennial and journalism is dying. While both of those are true, they shouldn’t have been the only reasons. Plenty of millennials are thriving in journalism, which is changing not dying (though the fake news movement isn’t helping the cause).
But would Rory’s failure really happen? It seems unlikely. She was a Yale graduate, Phi Beta Kappa, editor of the Yale Daily News, and published an article in The New Yorker. She’s no slump.
But she’s also run out of ideas, and some of her stories fell through.
That all seems realistic. We’ve all gone through slumps. But not for an entire year.
And working at the Stars Hollow Gazette for no pay? Yeah, right. If you want to use the millennial excuse, no millennial will work for no pay. Low pay, yes, but not zero pay.
The storyline where she went to Sandy Says as a last resort, I get. Sometimes desperate times call for desperate measures. Even her anger at not getting the job, while petty, makes sense. It sucks to lose out, especially at your last resort job. You want to feel important, wanted in your career.
Journalism is tough. It’s low pay, long hours, odd schedules and daily criticism. It’s going after the story no matter how scary, stressful or ridiculous. It’s also learning to keep up with an ever-changing world.
There is a reason I blog and don’t edit and design anymore. I get the stress Rory goes through. But while it’s tough, her lack of drive and unwillingness to try isn’t Rory.
The Rory we grew up with had focus. She worked hard to pass Chilton…and was named valedictorian by the end of her time there. She worked hard to still graduate on time after a semester off.
But this Rory didn’t care. She wanted everything to work perfectly without trying. She couldn’t find an angle for anything…for a year. A whole year.
Seriously? No good ideas? What kind of writer is that? And then her one idea (a book about her and her mom’s life) comes from Jess. It’s cliche and unoriginal.
As someone who idolized Rory, wanted to be Rory, her storyline was disappointing. Listening to the Gilmore Guys podcast made me see another side of Rory, one that was more socialite and less talent, more spoiled and less hard-working, so maybe another round of watching the show will make me see her in a new light.
But I think I’ll skip the revival.
