what did rory gilmore write her college essay on

Rory’s Major at Yale: Unveiling the Academic Journey of a Gilmore Girl

• by Brian Thomas
• October 7, 2023

Are you a fan of the beloved TV series Gilmore Girls? If so, you must be familiar with Rory Gilmore, the intelligent and ambitious daughter of Lorelai Gilmore. Throughout the show, Rory’s academic pursuits take center stage, and one burning question lingers in the minds of many viewers: What was Rory’s major at Yale?

In this blog post, we’ll dive into Rory’s academic journey at Yale University and explore the fascinating world of her chosen field of study. Along the way, we’ll also uncover intriguing details like how Lorelai managed to secure $75,000 and whether Rory received the prestigious Reston fellowship. Additionally, we’ll delve into the academic paths of other prominent characters, such as Paris Geller and Lorelai herself.

So, get ready to enter the vibrant realm of Rory Gilmore’s education and discover the pivotal role it played in shaping her life. Let’s unravel the mysteries surrounding her major at Yale and delve into the academic tapestry that defined the character we all know and love.

What was Rory’s major at Yale?

At Yale University, Rory Gilmore, the beloved character from the hit TV show “Gilmore Girls,” pursued her academic passions while navigating the trials and tribulations of college life. While Rory’s character development and relationships are certainly captivating, many fans have often wondered about her major at Yale. In this section, we’ll delve into the intriguing question: What was Rory’s major at Yale?

Rory’s Academic Journey

During her time at Yale, Rory’s intellectual prowess led her on a journey of exploration and intellectual growth. She was known for her love of books, journalism, and the written word. So, it’s not surprising that her major at Yale revolved around her thirst for knowledge and her passion for creative expression.

Unveiling Rory’s Major

After much anticipation, it was revealed that Rory’s major at Yale was none other than English ! Yes, Rory Gilmore decided to immerse herself in the literary world, studying the intricacies of language, literature, and the art of storytelling. With her sharp wit and avid reading habits, it seems only fitting that she would choose English as her academic focus.

The World of English

Studying English at Yale would have exposed Rory to a wide array of literary works, from Shakespeare to modern classics. She would have delved into the depths of prose and poetry, analyzing themes, unraveling symbolism, and engaging in lively discussions with professors and classmates. Rory’s major would have sharpened her critical thinking skills and honed her ability to articulate herself eloquently.

Writing Her Way Through College

As we witnessed throughout the series, Rory had a knack for writing. Her passion for journalism and storytelling allowed her to flourish in the English major. She likely had the opportunity to write various essays, articles, and even short stories during her time at Yale. Rory’s major not only allowed her to express herself creatively but also helped her develop the skills necessary for her future endeavors.

Life Beyond Graduation

After graduating with an English major from Yale, Rory went on to have a successful career in journalism, working for various publications. Her experience at Yale undoubtedly played a significant role in shaping her writing abilities and providing her with a solid foundation for her professional life. Rory’s major brought her one step closer to fulfilling her dreams and aspirations.

In conclusion, Rory Gilmore’s major at Yale University was English. Throughout her academic journey, she immersed herself in the world of literature and honed her writing skills. Her major not only contributed to her personal growth but also paved the way for a successful career in journalism. So, the next time you watch “Gilmore Girls,” remember that behind Rory’s quick wit and charming personality lies the mind of an English major.

FAQ: What was Rory’s major at Yale?

Welcome to the FAQ section all about Rory Gilmore’s major at Yale University. As avid fans of Gilmore Girls, we understand the burning questions you may have about Rory’s educational journey. So, let’s dive right in and shed some light on this topic!

How Did Lorelai Get $75,000

To refresh your memory, Lorelai Gilmore obtained a loan for $75,000 from her affluent parents, Emily and Richard Gilmore. This significant sum was a loan specifically requested to cover Rory’s prestigious education at Yale.

Does Rory Get the Reston Fellowship

Yes, she does! In the final season of Gilmore Girls, Rory is awarded the prestigious Reston Fellowship. This accomplishment serves as a testament to her intelligence, hard work, and dedication to her studies at Yale.

What Did Paris Geller Study at Yale

Paris Geller, Rory’s driven and ambitious best friend, majored in Political Science at Yale University. Her field of study perfectly aligns with her fierce determination and her aspirations to conquer the world of politics.

What Is Chilton Based On

Chilton, the prestigious private high school attended by both Rory and Paris, is said to be loosely based on several real-life schools. However, it’s important to note that there is no official confirmation of which specific schools served as the direct inspiration for Chilton.

Where Did Emily Gilmore Go to College

In the Gilmore Girls series, Emily Gilmore attended Smith College, a prestigious women’s liberal arts college located in Northampton, Massachusetts. She values her education and often emphasizes the importance of attending a reputable institution.

Why Does Logan Call Her Ace

Logan Huntzberger, Rory’s charismatic love interest, lovingly refers to her as “Ace.” This nickname is derived from Rory’s exceptional skills as a reporter and writer. “Ace” serves as a term of endearment, acknowledging her intelligence and talent.

What College Was Rory Gilmore in at Yale

Rory was a member of the fictional college “Branford” at Yale University. Yale’s residential college system is uniquely designed to foster a sense of community and identity among students, with Rory being affiliated with Branford College throughout her time at Yale.

Why Did Rory Miss Lorelai’s Graduation

Rory, unfortunately, missed Lorelai’s graduation from business school due to a series of miscommunications and misunderstandings. Though the circumstances were less than ideal, the strong bond between Rory and Lorelai perseveres through their dedicated support for one another.

What Does Rory Study at Harvard

Rory’s dream of attending Harvard comes true when she is accepted into the esteemed university’s journalism program. As an aspiring journalist, Rory hopes to further hone her skills and knowledge in the field she’s passionate about.

Is a Kropog Real

Apologies, but a “kropog” does not exist in reality. It seems to be a delightful creation solely within the confines of Gilmore Girls. Perhaps it’s a term that Rory and her fellow Yale students playfully invented!

What Did Rory Study at Yale

Rory’s major at Yale was English Literature. As an avid reader and writer, Rory’s passion for literature shines through as she delves into the works of renowned authors and explores her own creative writing endeavors.

Why Did Rory Not Become a Journalist

While Rory initially aspired to become a journalist, her career path took a different turn. After graduating from Yale, she pursued various opportunities in journalism but faced some challenges and setbacks along the way. However, Rory continued to explore different avenues, showcasing her adaptability and resilience.

How Far Was Stars Hollow from Yale

Stars Hollow, the idyllic town where Rory and her mother Lorelai reside, is approximately 30 minutes away from Yale University. Despite the proximity, the contrast between the small-town charm and the bustling campus life provided an exciting dynamic within the series.

Where Did They Film Gilmore Girls Yale Scenes

The Yale scenes in Gilmore Girls were predominantly filmed at various locations in and around Southern California. While the series aimed to capture the essence of Yale’s architectural beauty, the actual filming took place primarily on studio sets and other carefully chosen locations in California.

What Degree Did Lorelai Gilmore Get

Lorelai Gilmore successfully completed her degree in Business Management from the University of Hartford. This achievement allowed her to advance her career and pursue her dreams of entrepreneurship in the hospitality industry.

What Is Rory Gilmore’s Aesthetic

Rory Gilmore’s aesthetic can be described as classic and timeless. She often opts for preppy and sophisticated outfits, exuding a mix of bookish charm and effortless style. Her signature style includes pleated skirts, cardigans, collared shirts, and a love for accessorizing with scarves and headbands.

Why Was Rory Not Successful

Rory faced her fair share of challenges and setbacks throughout the series. While she had moments of success, her journey was an authentic portrayal of the highs and lows experienced in real life. These obstacles tested Rory’s perseverance and resilience, making her character relatable and human.

What Is Rory’s Job After Yale

Following her graduation from Yale, Rory embarks on a career as a journalist. Although she faces obstacles and experiences a rocky start, she eventually finds her footing and begins to make a name for herself in the field she is passionate about.

How Old Was Alexis Bledel Season 1

During season 1 of Gilmore Girls, Alexis Bledel, the talented actress who portrayed Rory Gilmore, was approximately 18 years old. Her portrayal of the young and intelligent Rory captured the hearts of viewers around the world.

Why Did Rory Choose Yale Over Harvard

Rory’s decision to attend Yale over Harvard was influenced by several factors. While Harvard was initially her dream school, she ultimately chose Yale for its exceptional English Literature program, its proximity to Stars Hollow, and the opportunity to escape the intense spotlight that her grandparents’ influence would have placed on her at Harvard.

What Did Rory Study in College

In college, Rory studied a wide range of subjects to fulfill her liberal arts education. Her major was English Literature, reflecting her love for reading and writing. Additionally, she explored other disciplines such as history, political science, and journalism.

And there you have it—our comprehensive FAQ section addressing all your burning questions about Rory Gilmore’s major at Yale University. We hope this enlightens you and adds more layers of enjoyment to your Gilmore Girls viewing experience!

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• beloved tv series gilmore girls
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Brian Thomas

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Long Live Rory Gilmore: An Ode To My First Feminist Role Model

Every Tuesday night from 2000 to 2007, my two sisters and I looked forward to our weekly Gilmore Girls ritual. We raced home from school to finish all of our homework before inhaling dinner and claiming a spot in the living room with our mom (while our dad hibernated in the basement watching sports).

We settled into the couch just in time for Carole King's "Where you Lead," to serenade us into the latest episode. This practice prevailed for seven years until the show ended during my last month of high school.

In ways I only now recognize in hindsight, Rory Gilmore shaped the trajectory of my life during an impressionable phase of transition-hood. While it sounds silly and cliché for a fictional character to have had such an impact, she truly was an integral part of my adolescence.

Now nine years later, I've spent the last few weeks binge watching all seven seasons in anticipation of the Netflix revival series. It has transported me back to those formative years, from age 11 to 18, where I was immersed in the witty world that Amy Sherman-Palladino so thoughtfully created.

Each episode touched on a theme that correlated to my own life, almost in real time.

From the whip smart dialogue, to astute cultural references, and all-too-relatable mother-daughter moments, it was hard not to swoon for the small town and its quirky cast of characters.

Although our weekly cable date would now be considered an ancient tradition with Netflix reigning supreme, the delayed gratification only strengthened my allegiance to the whimsical realm of Stars Hollow.

I watched as Rory navigated major and minor life milestones: from high school drama to first loves to college application anxiety. Each episode touched on a theme that correlated to my own life, almost in real time.

While other TV female protagonists were overdosing on spring break in Tijuana, Rory embodied traits that I recognized in myself and her goals resonated deeply with my own aspirations. She read voraciously, worked hard in school, and dreamed of attending Harvard someday with paraphernalia plastered to her wall. I loved to read and write but never fathomed a career in journalism or as a writer until Rory illuminated the path.

Ironically, Rory was ahead of her time as her own role model was none other than Hillary Rodham Clinton. In an episode that aired in the early 2000s, she wanted to write her college admissions essay on the trailblazing feminist. (I can only imagine what she would feel now in light of the recent election results).

Rory also never let herself be defined by her relationships with men.

When I was younger, I was teased for being a "goody-two-shoes," and a "teacher's pet" (hope those terms are finally extinct). Two girls used to throw rocks at me to break my concentration as I walked home from the bus with my head burrowed in a book. I preferred studying to partying and Bowie to Backstreet Boys. When you're young, anything against the grain is considered game for public teasing consumption. As you age, there is (usually) a shift as horizons broaden and world views expand.

Right around the transition from elementary to high school, I remember realizing that I was suddenly expected to look and behave a certain way in the hopes of attracting the opposite sex. Developing earlier than most of my peers made me inexplicably self-conscious. Without consent, my identifier became based on uncontrollable changes to my appearance rather than intellect or athleticism. It's as tangible as going from playing soccer as an equal at recess to standing on the sidelines. There's an atmospheric shift. The messages that you're bombarded with during this moldable phase, particularly as a female, are confusing to understand.

Part of what helped me to circumvent these muddy waters of adolescence was asking myself WWRD? She was a multi-faceted role model that embodied various forms of femininity. Rory was this and that: witty and pretty, an opinionated fast-talker and demure debutante, career-driven and nurturing. While there is subliminal pressure as a woman to adhere to societal norms, from her I learned the invaluable lesson that identity can be dichotomous.

Rory also never let herself be defined by her relationships with men. In one episode, her boyfriend Dean gets upset that she's taking too much time away from him to prepare for her Harvard applications. She firmly stands her ground and stays in on a Friday night to study, unwavering from her goals. Sounds simple now, but in high school the peer pressure to conform and "be liked" often feels overwhelming. Rory's self-awareness and future-focused perseverance gave me the wherewithal to always keep my ambitions at the forefront.

In a recent interview Gilmore Girls creator, Amy Sherman-Palladino, reinforced that the show was always about a motivated girl and her family, not her romantic prospects. "Rory didn't spend her days thinking, "Who am I going to end up with?" Rory was much more concerned about "How do I get that interview at the New York Times ?" [Her boyfriends] were there to show Rory's evolution as a character," said Sherman-Palladino.

Although Rory ended up graduating from Yale (there's an expiry date on spoilers' from the first installment, right?) -- last year, after having paraphernalia plastered to my own wall, I received my master's degree from Harvard University.

Following a few twists and turns, I am finally doing what I have always dreamed of but never thought I could do: finishing my first book. Without giving away any big secrets from the revival series, it gave me great comfort to see that Rory's path also hasn't been linear.

Over a decade after the first episode aired, I am forever indebted to the fictional character and imagined town that inspired my first feminist role model and instilled the confidence to fearlessly pursue my authentic self.

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20 Years Later, The Shiny Promise Of College That 'Gilmore Girls' Portrayed

• Sarah Ruth Bates

I exist because of a university admission committee’s decision. My parents met in medical school. When the committee decided to offer them spots, a group of people probably sat around a table, fluorescent lights buzzing. Maybe they were distracted, thinking about an experiment, or a colleague, or lunch.

That’s how I picture that process now, in my late 20s. As a high school senior, though, I thought college admission committees had divine insight and power. Those committees assessed and decided an applicant’s worth. They were gatekeepers to the “the best four years of your life,” the determinant of the rest of that life.

I’d grown up atheist, curious, hungry for some larger purpose to my days. Adults offered “Getting Into College,” and I took it. That quest answered the questions that would otherwise have kept me up at night — the questions that keep me awake now.

Some teenagers get into anime, or old films, fashion, sports. I got into getting into college.

Most nights, for a while, I’ve fallen asleep listening to “Gilmore Girls.” If you’ve never seen the show, it follows Lorelai and Rory Gilmore, a mother and daughter in small-town Connecticut, from Rory’s high school years through her graduation from college. The show keeps me company. It’s not always chill — one of my friends doesn’t watch it because the characters fight too much. But it comforts me. When I first watched, I didn’t really think about why I liked it. Years later, I’m still turning back to it.

I think it’s because the characters believe in the same college myth I grew up with. We follow them through relationships and breakups and family drama, but one imperative carries the story: getting Rory into Harvard.

My teenage years followed the same track. I went to a “pressure cooker” Boston-area prep school. I’ve never gotten less rest. Go to school, to practice, homework until 3 a.m., fall asleep in my clothes, wake up at 6 a.m., repeat. Fall of my senior year, I got A’s. The skin under my eyes turned a fragile blue. My advisor posted my report card on her wall. I’d succeeded.

Of my graduating high school class, the largest group of students all going to the same school went to Harvard. At what cost, though? Even now, every time I write “college essay,” I feel the old adrenaline/anxiety — a pairing that still makes me believe I have to feel stressed to be “productive.” My fellow nerds and I prepared with the singlemindedness, devotion and discipline of astronauts. We were kids.

Some teenagers get into anime, or old films, fashion, sports. I got into getting into college. This is why I think I’m susceptible to joining a cult: I kind of already did. I was told, "there is one most important thing to do, and you should devote your life to it, and it will make you happy and whole in ways you cannot imagine." I said, "yes, yes, where do I sign?" On the show, Rory’s the same. Lorelai worries about her, asks her to relax, but Rory doesn’t — and she gets into Harvard, Princeton and Yale.

The “Gilmore Girls” pilot aired 20 years ago. The college myth it’s based on — that my teenage years were based on — has since cracked. The Varsity Blues celebrity admissions scandal reminded us that the admissions process has never been the meritocracy it purported to be —  even if celebrities’ kids can’t cheat the sports recruiting system, that system’s not meritocratic. Its least broken version is still broken. Kids get recruited for sports that only the wealthy play: lacrosse, crew. Then you have SATs and SAT tutoring, the pressure to pursue impressive-looking extracurriculars instead of working paying jobs, and more. Money tilts the admissions scales. It did on the show, too — Rory’s grandparents pay for her prep school and college tuition, her car, and more — but she’s still presented as scrappy and hardworking and deserving of a spot at a top college, and in the show’s world, that’s why she gets in.

As with all myths, the unified blur of what defined "college" served its power.

This year, with COVID-19, students who can’t come to campus ask themselves which parts of college are essential, and which are superfluous. As with all myths, the unified blur of what defined “college” served its power. Breaking up that definition — itemizing its parts, valuing them individually, selecting some but not all — erodes the mystique of the whole.

A show with the premise of “Gilmore Girls” couldn’t get picked up today. Watching it, though, I get the comfort of my old faith in the shininess, the promise, of getting into college. The show preserves the certainty in its power, that held breath.

I’m glad I’ve seen the man behind the curtain — but I miss the awe of the wizard’s show. I miss the simplicity of believing. I didn’t like sitting in math class, but I loved the feeling that I was supposed to be in each class, that spending these 90 minutes at this desk would move me towards college.

I thought, after going to undergrad, that I’d never again struggle with admission obsession. Then I applied to Harvard for grad school. I tried not to care about the name, but the old wanting crept back. Harvard . The nexus that all of this anxiety swirls around. I’d gotten rejected for undergrad. This time, I got in.

I started my master’s that fall — and Harvard lost its gloss. Of course, it did. Nothing you want so much is as good in the having, except love. Harvard both loves and hates itself. What else could happen when thousands of strivers move to a place that they’ve been sold as utopia? The getting-in anxieties spill into conversations on campus, like a bowstring snapping back on no arrow.

I lived by Harvard last summer. The campus was quiet, undergrads on their exotic breaks. I passed groups of tourists. They walked with selfie sticks held out, capturing everything. Rory and Lorelai took endless photos on their visit to Harvard, too. (“That’s a Harvard squirrel!” “Sitting on a Harvard rock!”) Tourists queued to touch the glowing foot of the John Harvard statue.

I knew something they didn’t: there’s a bucket-list tradition of Harvard students peeing on that statue’s foot at night. Gold in the sunlight, gold in the dark. Who is the fool, exactly? You can laugh at the tourists. I envied them, in the clarity of their certainty of value, of worth, of what did and did not merit desire.

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Sarah Ruth Bates Cognoscenti contributor Sarah Ruth Bates is a writer in Boston.

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Gilmore Girls’ subtle liberalism and universal empathy

Gilmore Girls wasn’t necessarily a political show, but it was a liberal one in a conservative climate.

by Noah Gittell

In May 2007, a young reporter named Rory Gilmore took a bus from Connecticut to Iowa to start her very first job in journalism, covering the presidential campaign of Sen. Barack Obama for a small online outlet. To those who knew her, it must have come as a surprise. Rory had always been a Hillary Clinton supporter, and was even planning on writing her application essay to Harvard on Clinton before someone told her just how common a subject Clinton was.

But like many young men and women of her generation, Rory’s fate was about to become entangled with that of the young black senator from Chicago with a funny name. We know what happened to him, but Rory’s fate was left open, since she’s not a real person. She’s one of the two Gilmore Girls . The episode where Rory goes off to follow the Obama campaign was the series finale, and she was never heard from again. Until now.

After running from 2000 to 2007 on the WB (later the CW), Gilmore Girls will premiere four new episodes on Netflix on November 25. The show was only a modest hit, never breaking into double digits in the Nielsen rankings but consistently ranking first in its time slot among women ages 18 to 25 . Its proportionally small but mighty fan base was and still is ravenous, showing up en masse to a recent promotion for the Netflix revival in which dozens of coffee shops around the county were transformed into Luke’s Diner, a central location on the show.

It’s fitting that Rory went off to work for Obama in the finale, and not Clinton, who was running 10 points ahead in the polls at the time, or John Edwards. Gilmore Girls creator Amy Sherman-Palladino has always had her finger on the pulse of liberal America. Running for almost the entirety of the Bush years, the show was an antidote to the conservative values that pervaded that era. And now, with another, much more divisive Republican president on the horizon, maybe it can be that again.

Gilmore Girls subtly rebuked conservative values from its premise on down

Gilmore Girls was a rarity among hit television shows: It was made by, for, and about women. Created by Amy Sherman-Palladino , formerly a writer on Roseanne , the show is driven entirely by the characters’ emotional lives. It begins when Rory ( Alexis Bledel ) is 16 and her mother, Lorelai ( Lauren Graham ), is 32, a symmetry that casts a long shadow over the events that follow. Although Lorelai can never quite say it, her worry that Rory will make the same mistakes she made as a 16-year-old is the basis for every dramatic moment on the show.

In fact, Lorelai’s very situation might have inspired criticism from conservative circles, had the show been popular enough to warrant a response. Gilmore Girls premiered in 2000, only eight years after Dan Quayle criticized the character of Murphy Brown for “mocking the importance of fathers by bearing a child alone.” We can only imagine what he and his supporters thought of Lorelai, who raises a single daughter to adolescence without even dating a man, and works full time as the sole breadwinner.

Through its central mother-daughter duo, Gilmore Girls served as a celebration of working women. Lorelai’s first job at 16 was as a maid at a luxury inn, and when the show begins, she has worked her way up to manager. Her affluent mother, Emily Gilmore ( Kelly Bishop ), looks down on the accomplishment. Rory suffers the same indignities when she first meets her college boyfriend Logan’s parents, who are even wealthier than the elder Gilmores and judge Rory to be a poor choice for Logan because she aspires to have a career. In their world, wives plan charity events; they don’t have professional lives. Lorelai and Rory stand as clear correctives to that ethos.

While this conservative-correcting ethos is built into its premise, Gilmore Girls never shied away from making its liberalism explicit in more direct ways, either. Emily is a devoted member of the conservative Daughters of the American Revolution, which she is often mocked for. Rory’s dorm room at Yale prominently features a Planned Parenthood poster, and her friend Lane’s room sported a Fahrenheit 9/11 poster. There are derogatory mentions of “swift boating” and celebratory references to Noam Chomsky, not to mention the aforementioned reverence for both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Madeleine Albright even appears in a dream sequence as herself .

In some ways, Rory could be seen as a prototype for Leslie Knope in Parks and Recreation , an overachieving, public service–minded young woman who thinks of Democratic female politicians as major celebrities.

Gilmore Girls offers a small antidote to current political tensions

Despite its liberal bent, though, what makes Gilmore Girls universal is its empathy, even for its characters who seem disagreeable at first. The best corollary may be Freaks and Geeks , the high school dramedy that famously made time to give an empathetic backstory to even its most despicable characters. At its best, Gilmore Girls does the same thing.

Some of the show’s most poignant moments are when its steeliest characters show their vulnerability, like when Emily feels her involvement with the DAR has been mocked by her husband, or when Taylor ( Michael Winters ), the town’s overbearing selectman, grieves an electoral loss with only a can of whipped cream to cheer him up.

Gilmore Girls was also was far more diverse than it’s ever been given credit for. Even in complimentary reviews, the show is referred to with terms like “horrendously white.” While it’s true that there was only one black series regular — Michel ( Yanic Truesdale ), a snooty French concierge at Lorelai’s inn — the townspeople of Stars Hollow included three Latinos (Miss Patty, Gypsy, and Caesar), a Korean family (Lane and Mrs. Kim), and at least one character who can be read as part of the LGBTQ community (Michel is generally assumed to be gay, though the show never addresses it specifically).

The ethos of inclusivity and empathy seen in the original series is vital to the revival’s relevance in the Trump era. Again, Gilmore Girls will accompany a new Republican president. Again, it will be born into a world in which outsiders are increasingly viewed with suspicion. Members of various marginalized communities fear for their physical safety, while tensions between Americans of different political parties, religions, and race seem to be at record highs.

It’s too much to ask Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life to fix all this, or even seriously grapple with it — but it could provide a meaningful antidote. It’s a simple reminder that if we can find a way to coexist, it will be based on the recognition that each of us has a life behind our words, and that we’re all vulnerable in the same ways, no matter how different we may seem on the surface.

That message is particularly poignant today because if Stars Hollow did exist, it would likely be filled with Trump supporters: The show’s references to neighboring towns like Woodbury, New Milford, and Washington Depot situate Stars Hollow firmly in Litchfield County, Connecticut, where Trump won 54 percent of the vote. So maybe we can understand Gilmore Girls as a vision of the future in which Trump supporters can coexist with liberal working women, Latina dance instructors, and gay black Frenchmen. To paraphrase its title song, where Gilmore Girls leads, we should follow.

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How I Learned Rory Gilmore Isn't The Perfect Role Model

When I was a teenager I wanted to be just like Rory Gilmore, but after rewatching Gilmore Girls in my twenties I realized I deserved a better teenage role model.

BuzzFeed Staff

When I was 16 years old, I wrote and saved a digital sticky note on my computer desktop titled "Reasons You Should Be More Like Rory Gilmore." I'd been watching — and loving — Gilmore Girls since the show first premiered in 2000 when I was in the fifth grade, so this was not a short list. It included items like traveling to Europe, getting into an Ivy League college, reading an uncountable amount of books on a regular basis, and falling in love with someone who looked like Jess Mariano. Even the act of making the list was rooted in my admiration for Rory; after all, wouldn’t Rory Gilmore of all people make a list like this as a way to set goals and check them off as she achieved them?

Loving Rory was a no-brainer over the course of Gilmore Girls ' seven seasons.

She ate junk food to her heart’s content without exceeding a size 0, studied and read during every waking moment, had a report card collection of straight A’s, and was accepted into every college she dreamed of attending. Her relationship with her mom was the pinnacle of mother-daughter goals, her best friend was cool, and the two hottest guys in town even fought to win Rory’s love and affection. Generally speaking, she was great at everything she did.

Not to mention, Rory was an independent, feminist thinker who looked up to journalists like Christiane Amanpour, initially wanted to write her college essay about the strength and influence of Hillary Clinton , and read Toni Morrison and Sylvia Plath for fun.

In a vacuum, she embodied an idea of perfection I saw all around me in pop culture , especially during my formative years as a teenager when there are so many unrealistic ideals to live up to — images of what beauty is supposed to look like; mixed messages when it comes to dating, sex, and love; and the pressure to be all things to all people at all times.

The social, political, and cultural pressure to be a Perfect Girl didn’t circumvent me, either. I felt individual pressure from myself and my peers to live my “best” possible life, according to elusive standards: be skinny, be beautiful, be smart, be likable, be everything.

I thought Rory was all of those things: the perfect role model in every idealized sense.

But last fall when Gilmore Girls first came to Netflix, I decided to watch the series again in its entirety and remind myself why I fell in love with the show as a high-schooler. I rewatched Rory deliver her valedictorian speech at Chilton, become editor-in-chief of the Yale Daily News , and land a writing gig covering then-Senator Barack Obama on his presidential campaign trail, all thanks to the surplus of straight, white, upper-class, Gilmore privilege that's required to achieve all of these things. This time around, I didn't find myself envying her perfect tendencies nor did I yearn for those similar “perfect” qualities.

After staying up all night for weeks on end to binge-watch Gilmore Girls episodes at 24 years old, it occurred to me that the real strengths of Rory’s character are actually her (sparing) mistakes. They are what make her dynamic, interesting, and authentic. She stops communicating with Lorelai for a while because that's what people do from time to time — they don't always have flawless relationships with their family members and the people who raised them. She gets arrested, takes a temporary leave of absence from college, and doesn’t act like herself for a short time because that's also what people do sometimes — they mess up, they make impulsive decisions without thinking things through, and they act on their emotions.

And when Mitchum Huntzberger tells Rory she isn’t good enough to achieve her dreams of becoming a reporter, when she drops out of Yale, moves in with her grandparents, and deviates from her original plan to take over the world; when she doesn’t get her dream job at the New York Times after graduation, she is far more relatable.

Sixteen-year-old me had a very specific vision for my life: Go to the best possible college I could get into, stay with my longtime boyfriend until we were old enough to plan a more serious and official life together, and get hired at the biggest-name newspaper I could.

Ten years later, it looks like the joke was on me. I didn't get into the most prestigious school I applied to, my boyfriend and I broke up because you don't always marry your high school sweetheart, and the internet took over the media landscape. But just because my "perfect" life didn't come together the precise ways I thought it should, doesn't mean I'm not happy.

I had to grow up, fail, and find beauty in my own flaws and mistakes to realize that human beings aren't perfect; we’re far from it, actually. And as quintessential as Gilmore Girls may have seemed to me during high school, it’s still fiction — life doesn’t always go according to plan; wrenches often get thrown into our dreams. You don’t always get into Ivy League schools, there isn’t a One Size Fits All idea of beauty, and — possibly most important — there’s only one Jess in the world.

I originally thought Rory Gilmore's appeal was in her incomparable excellence, but the pressure to be just like Rory is crushing and unrealistic. After all, whose idea of perfection does she embody, and how attainable is that in reality?

With the recent announcement about a Gilmore Girls revival on Netflix, viewers will be able to see Rory as a twentysomething navigating the difficulties of adulthood. And personally, I hope she's far from perfect — that she's grown up and learned that life's hard because that's when we see how amazing Rory really is.

For whatever reason — OK, mainly because I’m a monster who rarely cleans her computer desktop — I recently came across my "Reasons to be Like Rory Gilmore" sticky note. I re-read the list and decided I was ready to let go of my Rory Gilmore-wannabe self. In order to embrace the person I am, I needed to let go of the perceived perfection that Rory embodies and, instead, love my perfectly imperfect self.

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My Life with Rory Gilmore

I grew up in Stars Hollow. By which I mean, I was raised in a village—the “village” designation was always very important to my home town—where an overabundance of troubadours was dealt with in a town meeting, and where I was a dancer at, no kidding, a studio called Miss Patti’s. I was in sixth grade when “Gilmore Girls” premièred, a show in which those quirks were part of the atmosphere. One night after ballet, my mom and I watched. In the first scene I caught of the first episode, I saw a dazzling woman with a strange name looking for a missing bird—her daughter Rory’s science project—and shouting, “Stellaaaa!” My mom laughed. I didn’t know why, but I wanted to. Soon enough, I did. In this way, I also learned about Russian novels and Patti Smith and “Grey Gardens” and Dorothy Parker. Lorelai Gilmore (Lauren Graham), a stylish innkeeper with an enviable music collection, and her daughter, Rory (Alexis Bledel), a sweet teen-ager aspiring to be Christiane Amanpour, were characters I sought to emulate, and dreamed of hanging out with.

I was four years behind Rory in school, at just the right distance to follow. We Bush II-era teens escaped to Gilmoreland to watch democracy delightfully rendered as Town Selectman gags. We wanted a mom as fun as Lorelai and a boyfriend as cool as Jess. (He’s from New York.) When “Gilmore Girls” ended, in 2007, and the charmed enclosure of Stars Hollow—its seasonal festivals, its Edgar Allan Poe Society controversies, its coffee addiction—entered cryogenic freeze, I still clung to my parallels. And, even after my life moved beyond Rory’s time line, Stars Hollow remained a retreat (first on DVD, then on Netflix). Yet I can’t be the only one for whom, as the years passed, watching the young Rory brought some of the uncanny dread of a home movie.

Ten years later, she seems never to have graduated to adulthood. In the revival for Netflix, “A Year in the Life,” our girls, now both women—Rory is thirty-two, the age that Lorelai was when the original series began—reunite after what “feels like years,” they say, with a hug. In the first episode, “Winter,” we learn that Rory is returning home to Stars Hollow after an extended reporting trip; she is now—the parallels continue—a writer for The New Yorker and The Atlantic . Perfectly coiffed and mascaraed, she and Lorelai banter fast and walk slow around the gazebo in the central square, where everything looks exactly as it did before. (And there’s Miss Patti teaching a dance class: hi, fictional Miss Patti!) Back at the house, Lorelai warns of “Proud Luke”—Luke Danes, the change-averse town-diner owner, who has remained her partner for nine years. When we see him again, he congratulates Rory on a recent piece for this magazine’s Talk of the Town section, and says that he’s now a New Yorker subscriber. But Rory slips from proud to perturbed to past hope. She regresses with an old boyfriend, forgetting her current one exists. Her latest story for The Atlantic is killed. In her early thirties, she is hitting a wall. Is journalism really a viable profession? What is she trying to discover with her writing? How could she fall asleep mid-interview and then have a one-night stand with a source dressed as a Wookiee? By “Summer,” Rory is swallowed by her past life, bumming around her childhood haunts.

“Wow, like a time machine,” April, Luke’s daughter (an unfortunate character from the weaker, later years of the original series, who is, nevertheless, very perceptive), says, as she walks into Rory’s bedroom. April, a senior in college, tells Rory that she’s “still kind of searching.” Rory doesn’t seem to relate. “I think I’m having an anxiety attack,” April goes on, over Rory’s thin attempts to console her. “It’s just very weird here, seeing you back in your childhood room. It’s like a postcard from the real world.” Rory tries to squirm away, but we’ve got her now. Journalism is supposed to involve some discomfort; Amanpour’s eminence was built on years of dogged war reporting; and how could Richard Gilmore have been so mellow about his granddaughter pursuing a career that doesn’t necessarily promise insurance? The girl who had for so long been unencumbered by reality is, at last, facing genuine challenges, and her own shortcomings. Just like the rest of us Rorys must.

Throughout “A Year in the Life,” it’s exasperating to watch Rory foundering in uncertainty, but she has atoned and reset before. Much more frustrating, to me, was seeing Lorelai stuck—in the office of a vacuous therapist in “Spring”; in a miserably overlong musical rehearsal in “Summer”; outside the Pacific Crest Trail (a tribute to “Wild”) in “Fall”; and, throughout, in murky relationship trouble with Luke. Happiness eludes her. Her father’s death fills her with a foggy kind of despair. (Rory somehow recovers quickly.) Emily Gilmore (Kelly Bishop), the grandmother and Wasp queen, gets the lone satisfying arc, delivering herself from profound grief after taking one last D.A.R. cookie.

But plot was never the point of “Gilmore Girls.” The new series, like the old, is all about the hang: “Talk. Don’t talk. Whatever,” as it was defined in the show’s early days. The pleasure of watching doesn’t come as much from what the Gilmores do as what they say (and how fast they say it). And so what is said, in the standout scene of the “Year,” stings. In “Summer,” Emily brings Lorelai and Rory to check on the fifth try at a headstone for Richard. The punctuation’s amiss. While Emily is off lambasting whoever’s responsible, Rory, having turned her framed David Carr headshot to the wall sometime before, tells her mother about her intention to write a memoir of their lives. “No,” Lorelai replies. “I don’t want you to write that.” Rory, like so many millennial writer types before her, has decided that she is her own best subject, but telling that story violates the fabulous vortex of Stars Hollow—of innocence itself. To dwell there is a privilege, and Rory has come to feel entitled to much too much, exposing the roots her mother had so arduously planted, simply to sell a book proposal. Her favorite works of art—journalistic, novelistic, whatever—overlap with life, but she ought to be well read enough to know that telling stories can upend the realities of living. Rory and Lorelai have always talked in circles, never moving, but, at the end of the “Year,” Rory has returned to where Lorelai began. Perhaps, since it’s revealed in the last four words that Rory is pregnant, it will be motherhood, again, that forces a girl to grow up.

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How Realistic Is Rory's Writing Career?

If there's one incredibly polarizing struggle on the Gilmore Girls revival, it's Rory Gilmore's career in journalism . Her job interview at SandeeSays was indicative of what she was getting right and failing at as a writer, and served as one of the key moments that I, as a professional writer myself, related to on a very deep level. In fact, I was able to find plenty to praise about Rory's journey as a struggling writer ; there were also some big moments where I was screaming at my computer screen because Rory was going about things in the entirely wrong way.

Even when factoring in Rory's white privilege and the fact that her entire childhood in Stars Hollow was a kind of echo chamber, continuously reaffirming how special she was, Rory's nose wasn't always clean in A Year in the Life . At times during this revival, the portrayal of Rory's writing career was problematic. But before I discuss where Rory's life as a writer wasn't portrayed 100 percent correctly, let's take a moment to celebrate the successes.

First things first: Rory's got gumption . I like a girl with gumption. As a writer and a woman, I can tell you that working as a freelancing female writer requires nerves of steel and gumption. When you spend hours trying to squeeze out even a glimmer of an idea for a story, you then spend even more time frantically searching the internet to make sure it hasn't been covered before you feverishly write out a pitch to an editor you've probably never met. All the while, you're hoping to get the pitch approved, get validation for your ideas, and use your new platform to show off your voice. You need gumption for that.

Rory is also tireless in her search to find the right way to use her writing talents. Whether it's writing Naomi Shropshire's biography on spec (read: for free), brazenly calling a Condé Nast editor to write a piece on lines, or actually finding the nerve to actually write a book about the Gilmore women , Rory was always looking for a silver lining. Optimism is key, especially when you're working as a freelancer and quietly fighting to remain visible to the public and those in the journalism field.

Even the way Rory's own failures as a writer affected her emotionally were a very real, right, and positive portrayal. She's constantly flailing. She worries she's irrelevant. She is less than thrilled to have to move back home after living and working in London and New York. These are real, lived-in experiences that I have and that plenty of millennials have. Her choice to pursue writing as a career means she may experience struggles or setbacks along the way.

Unfortunately, the things that make Rory's writing career seem legitimate are counter-balanced with some pretty unrealistic aspects, too. First off, I can tell you right here and now that there are maybe a baker's dozen writers who have been working less than a decade that are living on the fame of one piece they wrote years ago. This is the case for Rory, whose New Yorker article is constantly referenced and acts as the laurels she feels she can rest on as times. Every time that damn New Yorker article got a shoutout, I moaned to nobody in particular (but mostly Rory, who couldn't hear me); the sentiment remains. Don't even get me started on the fact the she thought she could show up to the SandeeSays interview without any story ideas and somehow found the guts to lambaste the CEO over the phone without thinking twice about it. An actual professional writer would do neither of these things.

Also falling into the unrealistic category was Rory's ability to float from place to place , living off the kindness of friends and family, somehow paying for transatlantic flights without batting an eyelash. A writer's salary is absolute peanuts until you've spent a fair amount of years working, getting published regularly, and have climbed the ladder to the point where that work and visibility translates to a stable writing gig at a publication. This is the dream for many writers out there. In the meantime, most of us are scraping by and watching Rory live more than comfortably really struck a nerve.

For all of the good and bad, though, Rory's life as a writer is like mine in one very real way: She made it her way. She pursued the stories she wanted, connected with the publications she chose to connect with, and prioritized her voice over another's. As usual, Rory was stubborn in her vision of how her future should go, but steadfast in making in happen. Writer to writer, I gotta give props where props are due.

Images: Saeed Adyani (2), Neil Jacobs/Netflix

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What rory gilmore got wrong.

When you ask students why they came to Yale, a not-insignificant portion mentions the 2000s comedy Gilmore Girls , in which protagonist Rory spends a couple seasons at Yale. Whether or not real-life Yalies will continue to be inspired by the show as it gets older remains to be seen–but it wouldn’t be surprising if people keep watching for at least a few more years. I was recently in my bed, zonked out from finals and bingeing Gilmore Girls while half-asleep, when this line of Rory’s from the last episode of the fifth season woke me right up: “That’s not what Yale’s for!”

Here’s the context for the line: Rory and her mom, Lorelai, are arguing about whether or not Rory should take some time away from Yale. Due to Rory’s boyfriend’s dad convincing Rory that she will never be a journalist (long story, extreme drama), Rory wants to leave school for a bit and figure out what it is she actually wants to be. Her mom, Lorelai, really really really REALLY does not want Rory to leave school. Lorelai says, “You don’t want to be a journalist? Fine. I don’t care about that. But you stay in school, you take some classes, you figure out what you do want to be.”

To which Rory replies: “That’s not what Yale’s for!”

Now, I have several problems with Rory as a character. Honestly, I think she’s kind of a jerk–and I think, in general, that the show expects us to root for her and her mom a lot more than they deserve to be rooted for. So, Rory having no idea what Yale is “for” or “not for” is one of my smallest slices of beef with her, but in the spirit of this being an Admissions Office blog, let’s dig into it. 

So, according to Rory, Yale is not for taking some classes and figuring out what you want to do with your life. You have to move into your first-year dorm with your entire career planned out before you, and you have to stay with that plan OR ELSE. 

Ha! I say. Ha!

Almost all of my friends (and myself for that matter) started at Yale doing one thing and ended up doing another. We’re talking BIG transitions here: Italian film to environmental engineering. Biomedical engineering to music. We’re also talking smaller ones: English to American Studies. And we’re talking circuitous ones that actually did wind up where they began, just with a significant and delightful and useful detours in the middle: pre-med to ecology to pre-med with not a minute to spare! It’s true that some people come into college with a deep passion for interpreting hieroglyphic texts and graduate with that passion intact and an acceptance letter to an Egyptology P.h.D. program in hand. But even if those students end up doing what they always thought they would, it’s more than likely that they found something else that sparked their interest and brought them joy at Yale. Maybe, after a long day of Egyptology research, those students unwind with some printmaking–a passion they discovered in their sophomore year arts credit.

And Yale, in particular, encourages that kind of exploration. Actually, I’ll use stronger language: Yale forces that exploration. Why else would the college insist you take credits in math, science, writing, social sciences, language, and humanities? Why else would the college refuse to let you graduate without a breadth, as well as a depth, of education?

A lot of the research the Gilmore Girls writers did on Yale is pretty impressive. The classrooms look right, the residential college system is well-portrayed, and the Yale Daily News really does make its initiates craft newspaper hats. But they’re wrong about this one. Yale students of all ages and majors are constantly pushing themselves outside of their academic comfort zones. I also  think they’re wrong about the existence of the Life and Death Brigade. But I can’t swear to that one. 

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Literary culture and achievement subjectivity from gilmore girls to a year in the life, diletta de cristofaro.

Perhaps no image is more representative of the young Rory Gilmore (Alexis Bledel) — protagonist, along with her mother Lorelai Gilmore (Lauren Graham), of the TV series Gilmore Girls (2000-2007), created by Amy Sherman-Palladino — than her reading a book, so completely absorbed in a literary classic that she's blissfully unaware of everything else. This is how her passion for literature is first introduced in the show's pilot, when the new heart-throb in town and soon Rory's first love interest, Dean (Jared Padalecki), admits he has fallen for her when watching her reading Moby Dick with "unbelievable concentration," while a drama, complete with blood gushing and an ambulance, unfolds around her. "I thought," Dean confesses, "I have never seen anyone read so intensely before in my entire life. I have to meet that girl." 1

Rory is frequently hailed as one of the most well-read characters in TV and a role-model for bookworms everywhere. 2 She even spawned the "Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge," accompanied by book clubs both online and offline, which challenges people to read every single one of the 339 books mentioned in the series — a number updated to 408 after its revival, Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life , aired in 2016. 3 Writing about Gilmore -isms, the show's hallmark fast-paced dialogues, where we find many of the intertextual references to literary and popular culture that constitute the reading challenge, Justin Owen Rawlins argues that these dialogues align the series with prestige TV. 4 But literary references do not just serve to signal the show's cultural capital or explore cultural capital's very nature. Rather, the world of literature and books is integral to how Rory understands herself and, therefore, arguably helps illuminate the imperatives and shortcomings that characterize her as a neoliberal "achievement-subject." This is a subject defined by philosopher Byung-Chul Han as one driven by the "paradigm of achievement, or, in other words, by the positive scheme of Can. " 5

"I live in two worlds", Rory proudly proclaims at her prep school graduation speech. "One is a world of books. I've been a resident of Faulkner's Yoknapatawpha County, hunted the white whale aboard the Pequod, fought alongside Napoleon, sailed a raft with Huck and Jim, committed absurdities with Ignatius J. Reilly, rode a sad train with Anna Karenina and strolled down Swann's Way." 6 The image of living in two worlds, together with the iconic scenes of Rory's absorbed reading, seem to suggest a certain degree of separation between the world of literature and books and the "real" world, as well as Rory's desire to retreat from the latter world into the former. Yet Rory's love for literature is also very much intertwined with real-world ambition and aspiration. Lorelai, Rory explains in her speech, "filled our house with love and fun and books and music, unflagging in her efforts to give me role models from Jane Austen to Eudora Welty to Patti Smith" and "never g[iving] me any idea that I couldn't do whatever I wanted to do or be whomever I wanted to be." Here, literature and literary culture are framed as the fuel of Rory's "Unlimited Can ", which, Han maintains, "is the positive modal verb of achievement society". 7 And, hardly surprisingly, the fire of Rory's "Unlimited Can " is stoked by Lorelai, whose own neoliberal subjectivity is defined by her "cheery, ceaseless entrepreneurial drive". 8

We know Rory's aspirations right from the show's start: to be like CNN journalist Christiane Amanpour and "travel, see the world up close, report on what's really going on, be part of something big". 9 Except for a blip in season 6 when she drops out of university, Rory sails through the markers of a young person's individual and academic success, or at least the "narrowly defined, elitist notion of education" the show embraces, on her way to achieving these aspirations. 10 She is the year's valedictorian at the prestigious Chilton's prep school, goes on to be accepted to the country's top institutions, Harvard, Princeton, and Yale (she chooses to study journalism at Yale), and is the editor of the distinguished Yale Daily News . Of course, none of this would have been possible without the Gilmore family's money, which pays for the considerable expense of Rory's private education. Yet the show's emphasis is always on Rory's extraordinary abilities, her dedication, work ethic, and drive, rather than on the privileges, including her whiteness, that make the nurturing of these qualities possible in the first place.

As Anna Viola Sborgi argues, we can map Rory's character development, as well as her academic/professional development, onto her readings. These move from the novels by women writers which Rory reads in Gilmore Girls 's first seasons and which "portray strong-willed, witty, and independent women in the process of fashioning their own identity [ . . . ] echoing Rory's own struggles in 'writing' her own life narrative," to the political editorials and hard-boiled journalism of later seasons, when her career ambitions solidify around the world of journalism. 11 The show's end represents the culmination of Rory's reading experiences and writing aspirations, as Rory becomes a reporter on the Obama campaign straight out of Yale. Crucially, Amanpour has a cameo in Gilmore Girls 's finale, sanctioning the achievement of the aspirations Rory confided back at the show's start. 12 Gilmore Girls thus closes celebrating achievement — significantly, Rory reports on a campaign whose slogan ("Yes, we can") can be seen as epitomizing achievement society — and on the promise of a brilliant writing career ahead of Rory. 13

Nine years later, A Year in the Life find this promise flagging. A publicity stunt from a few months before the revival's release tries to take us back to the Rory we left in Gilmore Girls . We see her marching into the White House, confident and accomplished, accompanied by stacks of books and ready to advise Michelle Obama on her reading. Clearly, the short video implies, Rory still has an in with the Obamas. 14 What A Year in the Life eventually shows us is, however, very different. Rory's main success story since we left her seems to be a New Yorker "Talk of the Town" piece, whose singularity is comically emphasized by virtue of its replication in the many copies of the article accumulated by "super-proud" Luke (Scott Gordon Patterson), Lorelai's partner: boxes upon boxes of the magazine, as well as his diner's menus sporting the piece on their backs. 15 Where in Gilmore Girls Rory represented the potential of the achievement-subject, in A Year in the Life she represents this subject's failure, which left many viewers, who looked up to her and identified with her, feeling cheated by Rory's fate in the revival. 16

Something else left the audience of the revival perplexed: uncharacteristically for the Rory we came to know in Gilmore Girls , in A Year in the Life we never see her reading. 17 There is just one scene where we see her with (but not reading) a book, Anna Karenina . 18 Tolstoy's novel first appeared in Gilmore Girls 's first season, where Rory describes it as one of her favorite books. 19 That Rory returns to Anna Karenina in A Year in the Life underscores the main theme of the revival's third episode, "Summer": despite her many protestations that she's "not back" and that she's "just here temporarily," Rory is indeed back where we first encountered her all those years ago, home, in Stars Hollow. And this move back home, with no job or plans for the future, stinks of failure. In "Summer," and A Year in the Life more broadly, Rory is struggling to fulfill her aspirations and is adrift, which the revival symbolizes through the dissolution of that fundamental relationship that has fueled her ambition and drive to achieve throughout: her relationship with the world of books. That Rory then manages to find purpose and direction again by writing a book — a meta-memoir about herself and her mother titled Gilmore Girls — therefore rekindling this relationship, is telling. Dean even reappears in the revival just to sanction Rory's memoir plan by bringing us back to that iconic image of Rory reading with gusto: "You've read 'em [books] all, so what else are you gonna do?" 20 A less charitable interpretation of Dean's sentence, and of Rory's voracious reading, is of course also possible, namely, that neoliberal logics of competition and consumption have become part of the way reading itself is now understood — think, for instance, of the "Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge" itself.

But before we get to the meta-memoir resolution, A Year in the Life shows us a struggling Rory. In the revival's first episode, "Winter," Rory is desperately trying to keep up the pretense of being a successful achievement-subject. When her grandmother Emily (Carole "Kelly" Bishop) questions the idea of, as Lorelai puts it, " On The Road -ing it" — having no fixed address and traveling "wherever there's a story to write," crashing with family and friends — Rory responds defensively: "I know exactly what I'm doing. I'm busier than I've ever been. I'm traveling and pursuing a goal." Yet she's clearly anxious about the turn her life is taking, a feeling that she tries to keep at bay by tap-dancing in the middle of the night to YouTube videos as a stress-release exercise and by repeating as a mantra "I have a lot of irons in the fire." 21

A Year in the Life 's second episode, "Spring," sees Rory completely unravel. Writing projects fall through and Rory finally admits to Lorelai that she's feeling lost: "I'm blowing everything. My life, my career . . . I'm flailing, and I don't have a plan, or a list, or a clue." 22 Several commentators are of the Mitchum Huntzberger's school of thought — Mitchum (Gregg Henry) was Rory's boss during an internship at a newspaper in Gilmore Girls 's season 5 — and put this failure down to the simple fact that Rory is a terrible journalist. 23 Their bulleted lists of reasons why Rory just "doesn't got it," to use Mitchum's brutal words, 24 are admittedly compelling. The fact that Rory hasn't managed to have much of a successful career despite the enormous privilege and connections she has access to as a member of the Gilmore dynasty is, potentially, even more damning of Rory's abilities.

And yet, when I look at Rory in A Year in the Life , I also see somebody illustrating what achievement subjectivity feels like. Han's core argument in The Burnout Society is that the imperative of the "Unlimited Can " produces burnout and depression. Han writes that "the exhausted, depressive achievement-subject grinds itself down, so to speak. It is tired, exhausted by itself, and at war with itself. [ . . . ] It wears out in a rat race it runs against itself". 25 Rory is exhausted by a life spent being an entrepreneur of herself, endlessly laboring on project after project, chasing achievement after achievement. 26 She can't sleep because she finds it impossible to switch her mind off work — hence her late-night tap-dancing sessions. Ultimately, Rory reaches a point when the imperative of the "Unlimited Can " is impossible to sustain any longer and she simply can't anymore; even reading has become too much. The escape into the world of books, a reminder of her ambitions and missed achievements, is foreclosed.

And it's not just Rory who is shown collapsing under the weight of achievement subjectivity in A Year in the Life . Paris (Liza Weil), Rory's frenemy since the Chilton school days, is seemingly the successful achievement-subject par excellence: she owns the "largest full-service fertility and surrogacy clinic in the Western hemisphere" and has completed an impressive list of qualifications — she's an "MD, a lawyer, an expert in neoclassical architecture and a certified dental technician to boot" — which signify in their disparate assortment an almost compulsive drive to achieve. Yet Paris also feels "untethered," like a "mylar balloon floating into an infinite void". 27 Similarly, Luke's daughter, April (Vanessa Marano), a successful grad student at MIT, has an anxiety attack when she sees Rory back in her childhood room, fearing that Rory's fate might be her own in the near future. 28 Even the "thirty-something gang" who, like Rory, are back in Stars Hollow after college with no prospects, despite being relentlessly mocked by the show for their traumatized ineptitude, seem to hint at the fact that something isn't quite right with the model of education and work our society is predicated upon. 29 Where Gilmore Girls celebrated the promises of endless entrepreneurial drive, therefore, A Year in the Life shows its cracks, in particular the unbearable pressures this drive exercises on us. A Year in the Life , however,also gestures at how hard it is to let this drive go, even when it fails us.

Thus, Rory frames her Gilmore Girls book as her last desperate stab at achieving her fantasy of the dream writing job: "Without this [memoir]," she tells Lorelai, "it's groveling for jobs that I don't want". 30 To know whether this wager has been successful we might need a second reboot.

Dr Diletta De Cristofaro ( @tedilta ) is a Research Fellow based between Northumbria University in the UK and Politecnico di Milano in Italy. She writes about contemporary culture, crises, and the politics of time. She is the author of The Contemporary Post-Apocalyptic Novel: Critical Temporalities and the End Times (Bloomsbury, 2020). She is currently working on a new book project about representations of sleep and the sleep crisis — the idea that contemporary society is profoundly sleep-deprived — across contemporary fiction, non-fiction, and digital culture.

• Gilmore Girls , season 1, episode 1, " Pilot ," directed by Lesli Linka Glatter, aired October 5, 2000, on The WB . [ ⤒ ]
• Cf. Anna Viola Sborgi, "'The Thing That Reads a Lot': Bibliophilia, College Life, and Literary Culture in Gilmore Girls ," in Screwball Television: Critical Perspectives on Gilmore Girls, edited by David Scott Diffrient and David Lavery (Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 2010), 186-201; see specifically 187: "Rory's bibliophilia — her love of reading and writing printed words — is not likely to be found in other contemporary television series depicting teenage life." Numerous Internet pieces also praise, and indeed thank, Rory for her unabashed love of literature. See, for instance, Selina Falcon, " Thank You, Rory Gilmore ," Bookriot , December 31, 2018. [ ⤒ ]
• Cassie Gutman, " The Rory Gilmore Reading List: How Novel ," Bookriot , January 8, 2021. [ ⤒ ]
• "Although marketed toward a gender and age demographic substantially different from the audiences of other programs deemed to be exceptional [such as The Sopranos or The Wire . . . ] Gilmore Girls nonetheless explicitly and repeatedly invites similar viewing strategies by relying upon what French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu has termed 'cultural capital.'" Justin Owen Rawlins, "Your Guide to the Girls: Gilmore-isms, Cultural Capital and a Different Kind of Quality TV," in Screwball Television , 36-56, 37. Rawlins also remarks, however, that "while other quality shows solicit and most often appeal to those viewers possessing cultural capital, those programs' intertextuality and prerequisite cultural knowledge often go unacknowledged within the diegesis and lead to a rigid divide between those 'in the know' and those not. Gilmore Girls , on the other hand, openly discusses and questions the nature of cultural capital by repeatedly examining its relation to education and socioeconomic status" through Gilmore -isms that "are often commented upon and frequently become the focus of conversation." See Gutman, "Reading List," 37. [ ⤒ ]
• Byung-Chul Han, The Burnout Society (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2015), 9. On Gilmore Girls 's neoliberal politics see also Molly Geidel, " On the Entrepreneurial Feminism of Stars Hollow ," Avidly , December 6, 2016, and Daniela Mastrocola, "Performing Class: Gilmore Girls and a Classless Neoliberal 'Middle Class,'" Studies in Popular Culture 39, no. 2 (Spring 2017): 1-22. [ ⤒ ]
• Gilmore Girls, season 3, episode 22, " Those Are Strings, Pinocchio ," directed by Jamie Babbit, aired May 20, 2003, on T he WB. [ ⤒ ]
• Han, The Burnout Society , 8. The way literature works here as the fuel of the neoliberal "Unlimited Can " is in direct opposition to how literary culture is conceived in another TV show examined in this cluster, Lodge 49 . See Arin Keeble's essay " The Ordinary Literary World of Lodge 49 ," Post45 Contemporaries , November 2021. [ ⤒ ]
• Molly Geidel, " On the Entrepreneurial Feminism of Stars Hollow ." [ ⤒ ]
• Gilmore Girls , season 1, episode 22, "The Lorelais' First Day at Chilton," directed by Arlene Sanford, aired October 12, 2000, on The WB . [ ⤒ ]
• Matthew C. Nelson, "Stars Hollow, Chilton, and the Politics of Education in Gilmore Girls, " in Screwball Television (Syracuse University Press: 2010),202-213, 213. [ ⤒ ]
• Sborgi, "'The Thing That Reads a Lot,'" 197, 199. [ ⤒ ]
• Gilmore Girls , season 7, episode 22, "Bon Voyage," directed by Lee Shallat-Chemel, aired May 15, 2007, on The CW . [ ⤒ ]
• Han, The Burnout Society , 9. [ ⤒ ]
• Gilmore Girls (@GilmoreGirls), " Just a couple of girls talking about books... ," Twitter , June 25, 2016. [ ⤒ ]
• A Year in the Life , episode 1, "Winter," directed by Amy Sherman-Palladino, aired November 25, 2016, on Netflix . [ ⤒ ]
• Cf. viewers' reactions to the revival collated in Jonathan Gray, Dislike-Minded: Media, Audiences, the Dynamics of Taste (New York: New York University Press, 2021), 118-122. Gray notes that "Rory was overwhelmingly discussed as someone a lot of viewers saw like themselves. When her AYITL iteration seemed stalled in terms of maturity, made bad decisions, and seemed significantly less confident in her abilities than before, this created a notable rupture that felt to some respondents like an attack on their generation, as if the writers were now casting aspersion on the notion that someone like themselves could (continue to) succeed." See Gray, Dislike-Minded , 121. [ ⤒ ]
• Lili Loofbourow, " The Decline and Fall of the Gilmore Girls ," The Week , December 1, 2016. [ ⤒ ]
• A Year in the Life , episode 3, "Summer," directed by Daniel Palladino, aired November 25, 2016, on Netflix . [ ⤒ ]
• Gilmore Girls , season 1, episode 16, "Star-Crossed Lovers and Other Strangers," directed by Lesli Linka Glatter, aired March 8, 2001, on Netflix . [ ⤒ ]
• A Year in the Life , episode 4, "Fall," directed by Amy Sherman-Palladino, aired November 25, 2016, on Netflix . [ ⤒ ]
• A Year in the Life , episode 1, "Winter." [ ⤒ ]
• A Year in the Life , episode 2, "Spring," directed by Daniel Palladino, aired November 25, 2016, on Netflix . [ ⤒ ]
• See, for instance, Megan Garber, " Turns Out, Rory Gilmore Is Not a Good Journalist ," The Atlantic , November 28, 2016; Saba Hamedi, " Rory Gilmore Is Not a Good Journalist ," Mashable , November 21, 2016; Jen Chaney, " Rory Gilmore and Why We Need Better Fictional Journalism ," Vulture , November 29, 2016. [ ⤒ ]
• Gilmore Girls , season 5, episode 21, " Blame Booze and Melville ," directed by Jamie Babbit, aired May 10, 2005, on The WB . [ ⤒ ]
• Han, The Burnout Society , 42. [ ⤒ ]
• On the endless nature of this entrepreneurial drive cf. Han, who argues that "a definitive work, as the result of completed labor, is no longer possible today," and that " the feeling of having achieved a goal never occurs "; Han, Burnout , 38, 39-40, emphasis in original. [ ⤒ ]
• A Year in the Life , episode 2, "Spring." [ ⤒ ]
• A Year in the Life , episode 3, "Summer." [ ⤒ ]

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'Impermeably and forever': Reflecting on Rory Gilmore's graduation speech

“Gilmore Girls” has been a comfort show of mine for years. Through my many watches, I've processed that Rory Gilmore is no perfect character. In fact, she’s one of the farthest main characters from “perfect” that I have come to know in my 22 years of reading, watching and learning. While she and Lorelai didn’t always get everything right, they’ve shaped who I am from some of their best moments and I’ve learned from watching some of their worst. 

One of Rory’s biggest, humblest moments (and simultaneously one of her best) is her Chilton valedictorian speech. In it, she touches on all that she learned and all those she loved. It is this speech that feels like the most relatable piece of Rory’s character for me at this moment in time. It felt that way at the end of high school, and it feels the most fitting now as the class of 2023 enters our final semester.

Because the speech feels so fitting, I’m going to follow its framework as I reflect on the people and the things that made these four years possible and made them worth all the work they required before I fully embark on my last semester on Notre Dame’s campus. A semester that I know will be full of light and laughs, but that ultimately came too quickly.

“I live in two worlds. One is a world of books.” 

For anyone who knows me, they know I understand that the ability to read and write day in and day out has been a gift. I’ll pick up anything from a pop culture magazine to Proust and read them cover to cover. Sure, reading has been tedious at times, but this university gifted me with the space to explore. My very first class started with Sophocles and his stories about Oedipus and Antigone. I learned that a coffee mug has one side and is, in fact, a doughnut. We read everything from Plato and St. Augustine to Betty Friedan and Malcolm X. And I defeated George Foreman with Muhammad Ali after simulating an acid trip with Timothy Leary. I can’t thank my professors enough for introducing me to some of the greatest minds of every generation. Especially the professors that have become my mentors in other facets of my work, as well.

I have not only read as much as I wanted, but I’ve also had the chance to put pen to paper. I’ve written essays I couldn’t be prouder of (and some I wish to never see again). I’ve interviewed some of the coolest athletes and coaches this university — or the world — has ever seen. And I’ve told their stories the best way I knew how. Writing has been an outlet and an exercise throughout my four years. I am so grateful to have taken the classes I did. They really focused on using the knowledge I gained in the ways I knew how: in my own voice.

And to The Observer, for training my journalistic voice in ways I would never be able to just in the classroom. There’s nothing more important to me than the work I have done in the basement of South Dining Hall. I will carry those skills for the rest of my life. And I hope to always read all the important work student journalists do on our campus each and every day. 

“It’s a rewarding world, but my second one is by far superior.” 

I am so grateful for all that I have learned here, but that is a fraction of what Notre Dame has come to mean to me. My second world includes the people I have had the chance to meet here. These people, like the people of Stars Hollow to Rory Gilmore, are eclectic, fun and beyond intelligent. Everyone I have come to know on this campus is “supremely real, made of flesh and bone and full of love.” I could not have grown and learned in all the ways that I have without the discourse, the support and the care of my friends here. 

From late nights in the library to similarly late nights out. From fabulous birthday parties to sitting on the couch playing a board game. I have come to recognize the people here as my family. Without them, my life here would not be the same. They let me cry in my hardest times, called me out in my stupidest and celebrated with me my achievements, no matter how big or small. I am every bit who I am after these four years because I got to know them. To the group of friends born of a math class we had to take — despite none of us wanting anything to do with math — I am so lucky we bonded as tightly and quickly as we did. To the friends who have come since then, you have come to mean the world to me, just as quickly. 

“My twin pillars … from whom I received my life’s blood and … without whom I could not stand.”

While I love it here, I had to get here first to figure that out. And it’s at this point that I stray slightly from Rory’s speech. She thanks her grandparents at this moment (and while my grandparents have always been the brightest lights in my life) I’d like to combine her words for them and her words for Lorelai into some for my parents.

To be at Notre Dame would not have been possible without the love I know from Heather and John McGinley. They truly are my twin pillars. They created a space for me to ask questions, figure things out and learn from everything I do. My mother and father “never gave me any idea I couldn’t do whatever I wanted to do or be whomever I wanted to be.” My mother showed me every role model imaginable, but none as influential as herself. And my father? He is the reason for my confidence. I never feel more prepared for anything than I do after talking to them. Without them, succeeding here simply wouldn’t be possible. And it wouldn’t mean all that it does to me. 

“But my ultimate inspiration comes from my best friend … the person I most want to be is her.” 

And I save the rest of Rory’s words for my very best friend in the entire world. My little sister is the person I learned from the most and has guided me through these four years even without trying to. She knows my every move, how I react, what to ask when I don’t know where to start and how to respond to my answer.

Without my little sister, I couldn’t do what I do. She inspires it all and I am so grateful. Weekends she would visit for football or for the hell of it were bright spots in semesters. Watching her perceive the people and spaces around me gave me new perspectives. For a while, she practically knew me better than I knew myself, and it helped me to find the right people in my life. I have so much more to learn from Ry but I cannot thank her enough for all that she's taught me already. She's a "dazzling woman" and the Lorelai to my Rory. She helped me to shape the person I have become and pushed me in ways no one else knows how. 

“Impermeably and forever”

The last thing I want to steal from Rory Gilmore is the sentiment that this isn’t an ending but a beginning. At least, that’s what everyone will tell us. We will get jobs. We will start new schools and we will do work in other ways and continue growing outside the gates of Our Lady’s University. Still, that doesn't mean I want to reach my last days here and say goodbye to all of this. It has meant so much to me and become such a powerful part of who I am. 

In spite of that, I know that at some point this semester, I will catch myself wishing it were all done. Wishing I could turn in my thesis as is and finish my finals already. I caught myself doing it in the seven semesters leading up to this one. This time, though, I refuse to hurry anything, even in those moments. I am going to cherish it all. For as quickly as this semester has come, I don’t want to see it go. As Rory Gilmore said, leaving here “means leaving friends who inspire me and teachers who've been my mentors, so many people who've shaped my life… impermeably and forever.” It’s going to hurt making that leap from our home under the dome. 

But that's the thing about it. Yes, we will be leaving, but Notre Dame will always be our home. "Impermeably and forever."

Contact Mannion at [email protected] .

The views expressed in this Inside Column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.

Those unseen forces

I know the end

Notre Dame suspends men's swimming program for 2024-25 academic year

14 Things About Rory Gilmore’s College Experience That We Can’t Relate To

There’s so much about Rory’s life and the Gilmore universe that’s relatable—all that college application anxiety, Rory’s obsession with books, Lorelai’s relationship with Emily. And even their eating habits can be pretty realistic, because who doesn’t want to eat Chinese food and pizza in the same sitting? 

The one thing that sticks out to many Gilmore Girls fans, though, is how unrealistic Rory’s college experience was at times, especially to those of us who binge-watched the series from our own dorms. What was it about her college experience that seemed so unrealistic compared to a town like Stars Hollow, where Kirk made shirts about Rory’s choice to attend Yale? Here are 14 things that we just couldn’t relate to during her Yale days.

1. She gets into every school she applies to, even Ivies

This is technically before she leaves for college, but still. This show gave us such high expectations.

2. Her dorm room

We know there are gorgeous dorms out there, and there are even suite- and apartment-style halls that offer a pretty swanky living environment, but most of them are reserved for upperclassmen and cost extra money to live in, something we think Rory would’ve at least considered with her financial aid woes before freshman year. 

Of course, it is Yale, and Rory’s dorm exists in real life. Durfee Hall has been called one of the college dorms with bragging rights , and we aren’t surprised, if it’s anything like Rory’s gorgeous suite. Still, even if Durfee exists in real life, most of us had to live in a double or triple dorm room with barely any space to ourselves, so we just can’t relate.

3. Paris showing up as her roommate

What are the odds, even if Paris selected her? Rory didn’t select Paris back, because she didn’t even know she was going to Yale. Many of us know what it’s like to choose a friend as a roommate, but the idea of getting stuck with someone we know but didn’t choose? Impossible.

4. Rory’s brand new mattress

If you were really picky, you maybe, maybe brought a memory foam mattress topper to put on your bed so you didn’t have to think about all the people who’d used it before you. Throwing out the school-supplied mattress in favor of a new one? Nope! The university would definitely charge you for that.

5. The first friend she meets has a crush on her

Okay, so her early college dating experiences are pretty spot-on, but Marty? He’s pretty much the first person Rory talks to outside of her roommates, and he crushes on her basically immediately. Everyone crushes on her. We wish we knew what that’s like, but sadly, we have to go on many crappy dates like most people.

6. She goes home all the time

We get why this is a thing, and we love seeing Rory and Lorelai together, but come on. Weekends are serious study time, especially if you’ve got anything going on outside of class, like being a writer for the school paper.

7. She works for, like, one minute

Out of all her time at Yale, we see her swiping cards at the cafeteria. We also see that she works at a bookstore during a college break, and she gets that part-time job at the Stamford Eagle Gazette after her disastrous internship experience. Most people who work part-time during college actually, you know, work . And have to figure out how our work and school schedules will allow time for a social life, not the other way around.

8. Lane lives in Rory’s dorm

This is pretty brief, but still. If our best friends had spontaneously moved in and slept on our floors/couches, our roommates would’ve called the RA to complain within seconds. Those dorms are small enough without an added, unwanted guest.

9. Paris dates a professor

I mean, this happens all the time on TV shows. But we’ve never seen it happen in real life, especially not with a tenure faculty member with such a reputation to lose. Rory’s reaction to it happening, though? Exactly how we’d react.

10. No fire alarms and unexpected RAs

We see Rory’s RA in the first episode where she moves in, but then never again. And no fire alarms? Having a fire alarm go off in the middle of the night—or, worse, when you’re in the shower—is pretty much a college mainstay. Especially since freshmen can’t cook.

11. She drops out and moves into her grandparents’ pool house

In a storyline that we all either absolutely love or hate, Rory abandons Yale for a semester and lives at her grandparents’ lavish house in Hartford. During this time, she’s also dating the gorgeous and ridiculously rich Logan, and she gets a Birkin bag. We wish, but no.

12. She drops out and still graduates on time

Graduating on time at a difficult school like Yale is already hard enough, but Rory missed an entire semester. Without taking any summer classes, when did she have time to make up all those credits? And all without breaking a sweat.

13. She never struggles to get into a class

We all know that the class registration process is the WORST part of college, especially in your first few years when you’re last to sign up. We saw Rory get into every class she wanted to take with ease, including “shopping” for classes during her first semester to pick the ones she liked most.  

14. She has guys lining up for her

Dean, Jess and Logan all try to get together with Rory during her time at Yale, whether for the first time or the third, and despite the fact that she struggled a little with dating in season four, we just can’t relate. Plus, that scene where Logan, Colin and Finn interrupt her class? We couldn’t dream of such a hilarious (and semi-romantic) thing happening.

Despite all this, there’s so much about Rory’s college years that we can relate to, like the way she freaks out before she graduates. If you haven’t thought about rewatching the final two episodes the night before graduation, give it a chance. We promise you’ll end the night sobbing and wishing you could stay on campus forever.

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Rory Gilmore’s Bag From ‘Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life’ Has a Random Connection to Bill and Hillary Clinton

Rory Gilmore’s bag became a staple on Gilmore Girls . Played by Alexis Bledel, Rory memorably carried a yellow backpack during her high school years at Chilton . Then when she went off to college at Yale Rory switched to a more grown-up leather messenger bag. Fast-forward nearly a decade to Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life and the youngest member of the Gilmore family’s carrying yet another bag. So what’s the story behind Rory’s bag? Not only does it have a connection to Bill and Hillary Clinton but, according to the Netflix revival’s costume designer, it’s a very Richard and Emily Gilmore purchase.

Rory Gilmore has a ‘power bag’ in the Netflix revival

Brenda Maben, the Gilmore Girls costume designer who returned for Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life , told The Hollywood Reporter all about Rory’s bag in November 2016. She explained that Rory’s style has evolved over the years which is reflected in her clothing and, of course, her handbag choice. 

Now Rory carries something else besides a backpack, messenger bag, or that expensive Hermès Birkin bag from Logan Huntzberger (Matt Czuchry). In Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life Rory’s bag is from the Los Angeles-based luxury handbag brand Jamah. 

Maben described it as a crucial element to Rory’s look, referring to it as a “power bag.” Also, it’s blue which the costume designer noted is “one is of Rory’s favorite colors.” As for why this particular bag caught Maben’s eye? It  “summed up” everything she wanted to convey on screen about where Rory is in her life. 

“I used that bag specifically because she’s coming from Europe and the first time you see her, I think it’s important that she had something that says, ‘I’m going for it. I’m going to be successful in what I’m doing,’” Maben explained. “I thought that bag just summed that up.”

“When you start a new job or you’re just starting off, especially Rory coming from the standpoint of her grandparents, you buy one good bag,” she told WWD in November 2016. “You buy a quality bag and that bag will last you for a really long time.” 

Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton also have Jamah bags

As fans of Gilmore Girls probably already know from watching — and re-watching — the series, Rory is a Hillary Clinton fan. She even decided to write her college admissions essay on Clinton. And, as she once told her high school boyfriend Dean Forester (Jared Padalecki), she liked to record footage of Clinton speaking on C-SPAN. 

With this in mind, Maben couldn’t have picked a better choice for Rory’s bag. According to WWD, Jamah designer Nancy Gale had been commissioned by Patient Safety to design bags for Clinton, former President Bill Clinton, as well as their daughter Chelsea Clinton.

Alexis Bledel signed Rory’s bag to benefit high school students

* Heavy breathing * pic.twitter.com/fQVlu4HsAl — Gilmore Girls (@GilmoreGirls) November 26, 2016

‘Gilmore Girls’: Why Lauren Graham Didn’t Wear Lorelai Gilmore’s Pink Coat in ‘Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life’

Where is Rory’s bag from the Netflix revival now? It’s certainly not among the items Lauren Graham took from the set . After filming on Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life ended Rory’s bag went back to Jamah. The costume department actually rented the bag before returning it to Jamah. Bledel signed the inside as part of an auction. The proceeds going to a non-profit organization for high school students. As Maben explained, “that was the other part of the bag because I think Rory would have done that, too.”

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Duggar Family Weddings: Who Will Be the Next Duggar to Get Married After Jana Duggar?

John Lennon’s Wife Shared Why He Always Had ‘the Edge’ Over Paul McCartney

The Annotated Gilmore Girls

Footnotes to the TV series

“Hillary Clinton and her profound influence”

MR. ROMAINE: I’m talking about run of the mill responses, a lack of originality, particularly in the essay category. If I read one more over-adulating piece of prose about Hillary Clinton and her profound influence, my head will explode.

A devastating blow to Rory, who now discovers her winning essay topic is in fact an unoriginal, commonplace idea, which many other girls will choose. Apparently writing an essay about any famous person, or a person you don’t personally know, is a sure-fire loser of an idea. Rory would do better to write an essay about Lorelai – which, for all we know, is what she eventually does.

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Screen Rant

Gilmore girls: rory and logan's relationship timeline, season by season.

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Gilmore Girls: Rory And Dean's Relationship Timeline, Season By Season

Gilmore girls: rory and jess' relationship timeline, season by season, gilmore girls: 10 times jess was rory's best boyfriend (& 7 when it was logan).

• Rory's relationships with Dean, Jess, and Logan shape her coming-of-age journey in Gilmore Girls, affecting her mother-daughter dynamic significantly.
• Rory's love life is full of highs and lows, from her sweet relationship with Dean to the complicated and passionate romance with Logan.
• As Rory navigates her romances, she learns about herself and what she needs from a partner, ultimately growing and evolving throughout the series.

Rory's (Alexis Bledel) love life is full of coming-of-age lessons for the beloved Gilmore Girls character, and Rory and Logan's (Matt Czuchry) relationship at the end of Gilmore Girls represents the culmination of those lessons. After beginning her sweet relationship with Dean (Jared Padalecki) in season 1, Rory feels guilty about her romantic feelings for Jess (Milo Ventimiglia), and she leaves both partners behind to experience college life. When Rory meets Logan at Yale, she's surprised to care about him so much since Logan is immature, and they quickly become a popular couple.

The focus of Gilmore Girls is really on the relationship between Rory and her mother Lorelai (Lauren Graham), but how Rory navigates her different romantic relationships greatly affects her relationship with her mother as well. Lorelai doesn't particularly like Logan, for example, but she understands that her daughter does. Rory's romantic relationship with Logan falls at the end of the timeline of Rory's boyfriends in Gilmore Girls , but it has a big impact on her storyline. From meeting and falling in love with Logan at Yale to experiencing many tough moments, Rory's relationship with Logan is a wild ride, and Gilmore Girls fans love following along.

Season 1: Rory Experiences Her First Relationship

Logan doesn't make his grand entrance into Gilmore Girls until more than half-way into the series. As a result, most of Rory's formative years are spent in a relationship with Dean, her very first boyfriend. Dean debuts in the pilot episode of the series, and so does Rory's crush on him. It doesn't take long for the two to become officially a couple.

Season 1 has great Rory and Dean Gilmore Girls episodes as Rory finds love with the new kid in town who is working at Doose's Market and who is polite, friendly, and incredibly kind. As Rory experiences her first relationship, it's interesting to think about the lessons that she learns that she applies to her later romance with Logan. Rory appreciates that Dean is there for her and compassionate and reliable, and when she experiences drama with Logan's immature behavior later in the series, she realizes that she needs more from Logan.

Dean Forester was Rory's first love on Gilmore Girls. Her relationship with the Stars Hollow grocery boy wasn't perfect but it had its sweet moments.

Season 2: Rory Is Caught Up In The Dean/Jess Love Triangle

Jess, not Logan, makes his Gilmore Girls debut in season 2. He throws a wrench into the Rory Gilmore boyfriend timeline by turning her world upside down and making her question her relationship with Dean. When Rory meets Jess, it's the first time she realizes she could be attracted to someone very different from her first boyfriend. Rory's love for Jess and Dean creates a lot of drama in her life for a long time. In season 2, Rory is still very much caught up in her high school life, happy to be dating Dean but wondering if she likes Jess more than she thought.

It's interesting to look back on Rory's Stars Hollow life at this moment. She has no idea that she will break up with both Dean and Jess and fall for someone else while in college. Rory still thinks that she and Dean will stay together for the long haul. She and Dean hit some bumps in their relationship in season 2 because of Jess, but ultimately, stay together heading into the next season.

Season 3: Rory Has Conflict With Jess

Jess creates issues for Rory on Gilmore Girls , and their relationship becomes tense in season 3, as Rory prepares to leave Stars Hollow for an Ivy League school and Jess doesn't talk about the future. The two immediately enter into a relationship in season 3 of Gilmore Girls after Dean breaks up with Rory. Their chemistry has been palpable since meeting in season 2, much like the immediate chemistry between Rory and Logan in a later season.

Rory and Jess fight more and have more problems than Rory and Dean do, which shows Rory that love is complicated and that when strong emotions are involved, communication becomes even more crucial.

In many ways, Rory is as different from Logan as she is from Jess, as Rory is serious about schoolwork and Jess and Logan don't care much. Fans can see that Rory realizes that she can care about someone who isn't the same as her and that she has to decide if there are too many issues to stay together. She carries those observations from her relationship with Jess forward into the series.

When it comes to Rory's boyfriends, many Gilmore Girls fans are Team Jess. But they had a tumultuous relationship when they first met in Stars Hollow.

Season 4: Rory Thinks About What Kind Of Partner She Wants

In season 4, Rory spends some time single, overwhelmed by Yale's course load and becoming more comfortable living on her own. Rory tries to find her footing in her new world. She misses Stars Hollow and is still thinking about Dean, who is now married to Lindsay. Rory doesn't meet Logan just yet in season 4 of Gilmore Girls , but instead, sees herself returning to her first love because Dean is familiar and comforting.

When Rory and Dean rekindle their relationship at the end of season 4, fans think that this is a mistake, just like viewers don't approve of Rory and Logan having an affair in A Year In The Life . Rory still feels comfortable with Dean, and she still loves Logan in the revival, but in both cases, she needs to commit to someone without any cheating involved. If anything, season 4 of the series very much foreshadowed the kind of conflict Rory would see in her love life another decade down the road.

This season demonstrates that Rory is someone who seeks the comfort of familiarity in her relationships. It's why she and Dean break up and get back together more than once. It's why she continues to see Logan even when they're both dating other people.

Season 5: Rory And Logan Fall In Love

While Rory meets great supporting characters at Yale , it's her relationship with Logan that fans love the most, and he has a huge impact on her experience. Season 5 features the debut of Logan , and the beginning of his relationship with Rory. The two don't start dating right away. Instead, Logan doesn't want a serious relationship, and Rory is willing to go with it in an effort to not repeat the mistakes of her past.

In season 5, Rory and Logan fall in love, which definitely surprises them both. Logan didn't think that he would want something more than just a casual relationship, and Rory isn't looking for anything serious after breaking up with Dean. Fans like this stage of the show as the characters are getting to know each other and having fun. There is a spark between them early in the season, but nothing becomes serious until the end of the season as Logan admits he wants a serious relationship and Rory gets to meet his parents.

Logan, much like Jess before him, brings excitement into Rory's life . He gets her to loosen up and take risks, something she doesn't do with Dean beyond the risk of having an affair with him when he was still married. Logan initially appears like he might be a more mature version of Jess, but that's not entirely true.

Season 6: Rory And Logan's Love Story Gets Complicated

It's in season 6 that Rory and Logan's relationship shows signs of falling apart . After a brief break, Rory learns that Logan slept with other people, and Rory wonders if they can stay together, since she has huge dreams for the future and Logan struggles to be responsible and mature.

Rory being a planner and her boyfriends not planning for their futures is something that Rory struggles with throughout the series. Dean struggles to connect with Rory when she focuses on school, Jess avoids discussing the future with Rory for most of their relationship, and Logan relies on the safety net of his family to secure his future, while Rory is constantly focusing her ambitions.

While fans appreciate how much Rory and Logan love each other, it's possible that Lorelai's concern that they are too different is valid and that the relationship isn't going to last beyond Rory's time at Yale. While their relationship is revisited in the Gilmore Girls revival series, they run into many of the same problems they have during Gilmore Girls all over again.

Rory Gilmore found love on more than one occasion. That said, was Jess or Logan her best boyfriend in Gilmore Girls?

Season 7: Rory And Logan Deal With Serious Problems And Split Up

Rory's Gilmore Girls journey from season 1 to 7 allows fans to see how much she changes. By season 7, Rory and Logan's relationship is no longer easy-breezy or that much fun. If the two want to stay together, they have to work at it , and that's complicated when Logan gets a job that takes him away from Rory at the end of season 6. They try to make things work with visits when he's in town, but their lives are being pulled in two very different directions.

While the characters still care about each other a lot, they've dealt with long distance and Logan's horrible injury from a Life and Death Brigade stunt. When Logan asks Rory to marry him when her four years at Yale are over, fans know why she says no, as Rory still wants to accomplish a lot in her reporting career. Several Gilmore Girls fans are still sad at the way that this great relationship ends.

Of course, because Rory is a creature of habit when it comes to her relationships, it's not entirely the end for them. The revival series revisits Rory and Logan's love for one another in a way that sees Rory repeat nearly all of the mistakes she made in relationships throughout the main run of the series.

A Year In The Life: Rory And Logan Have An Affair

Rory and Logan's relationship continues in A Year In The Life , and fans are still frustrated by this storyline.

While some believe Rory and Logan's affair to be out of character for her, it simply signals that Rory is repeating old patterns. Just as when becoming frustrated and overwhelmed in life at Yale, Rory got back together (and had an affair) with Dean, she does the same when her professional life is stagnating and has an affair with Logan. She seeks the comfort of someone she is familiar with and someone whom she shares love, but someone who isn't necessarily right for her at the time.

The trouble here is that the affair with Logan doesn't offer her the same level of comfort that her affair with Dean did when she was younger.

Here, she and Logan are both in other relationships. Rory doesn't even remember that she has a boyfriend for much of the revival series. Logan is set to get serious in his relationship, and it almost seems as though Logan and Rory are turning into the very people that they found repugnant and tried to stand up to when they were in college. It's good that things end between them in the revival series, seemingly for good.

Gilmore Girls: A Year In The Life allows Rory to revisit all three of her major relationships, but she only runs into Dean and pays a visit to Jess at work. It's Logan to whom she devotes the most time and has her most romantic moments. It's clear, however, that they no longer truly fit as a couple, and they go their separate ways amicably.

By the final episode, fans wonder if Rory is pregnant with Logan's child . If the Gilmore Girls revival does come back, perhaps fans will see Rory and Logan as parents, but it seems likely they will not be getting back together again.

Gilmore Girls

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In the fictional town of Star's Hollow, single mother Lorelai Gilmore raises her high-achieving teenage daughter Rory. Mother and daughter rely on each other throughout their own life changes, romantic entanglements, and friendships.

Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life

Acting as a follow-up to the original series, Gilmore Girls, A Year In The Life is a comedy-drama series. Having completed her stint on the Obama campaign trail, Rory now finds herself as a freelance journalist with an inconsistent life. Meanwhile, Lorelei finds herself lost in life before her upcoming marriage to Luke. This four-part mini-series follows the titular mother-daughter duo as they continue to navigate their mother-daughter relationship in Star's Hollow.

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Why did Rory and Lorelai want Rory to go to Harvard?

Possible reasons for Lorelai I can think of:

She wanted her only child to be an Ivy college graduate without "copying" or being influenced by Richard (though there are other Ivies besides Richard's Yale and Straub's Princeton)

Possible reasons for Rory:

Lorelai wanted her to, and it was ingrained in her since she was born

Does anybody have other possible or confirmed reasons? I'm trying to think of some but in the show I didn't see much evidence besides my points above. Did Harvard have the best journalism program in the 2000s?

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