How Gilmore Girls Has Gotten Me Through Life So Far
By Mary Gaffney
Included in Spring 2021 Magazine
Netflix
When Lorelai yelled to Rory, "If you’re going to throw your life away, he better have a motorcycle," in the first episode, I knew I was in for some life-changing content.
Everyone has their show. Mine is Gilmore Girls: a comedy-drama that ran for seven seasons in the early 2000s. It is set in a small, storybook Connecticut town full of the most eclectic collection of characters you've ever encountered. For those of you disappointing individuals who've never felt inclined to watch, you're missing out on Lorelai and Rory Gilmore, a mother-daughter best-friend duo, whose storyline will make you laugh and cry (happy and sad tears) and teach you everything you need to know about life (tell me that opening quote isn’t a winner?). After watching, you’ll undoubtedly wonder, How many times is too many to rewatch the series? If you're curious, I've been through all seven seasons at least 15 times, and I'm still not sick of it.
It all started in my freshman year of high school. As I thought about what college I would attend in the future, Rory Gilmore, Lorelai's daughter, was also navigating her high school experience as an overachieving, Ivy-League-bound student. Sound familiar? Yes, that was me (at least I hoped). In the first episode, Rory is accepted into Chilton Preparatory School. This prestigious private school promised acceptance into the nation's top universities. So, of course, I thought that the only way I could get into Cornell - my dream school - would be if I transferred to the private, all-girls Catholic school in my town. Yeah, I know... #nerdalert. Thankfully, I came to my senses and realized that Rory Gilmore was not my academic advisor, and that move was not necessary.
Nevertheless, I followed Rory through all of the same high school experiences: SATs, prom, first boyfriend (first break-up), college applications, friendships, graduation. By the time I was rewatching the show for maybe the third or fourth time, we were both able to graduate together! (By the way, you're lying if you say you didn't cry during the graduation episode... Rory's ode to her mother is priceless.) One of the reasons I love Gilmore Girls so much is because of the relationship that Lorelai and Rory have. My mom is, without a doubt, my best friend and biggest fan, and that is precisely what Lorelai is to Rory. I see so many similarities between our relationships, which warms my heart and keeps me coming back to watch again.
Four years later, I'm accepted to Cornell, and Rory is off to (*SPOILER*) Yale. The show (maybe my fifth time around?) was really comforting when I started my freshman year and became really homesick. On Rory's first night at school, she paged her mom, "Come back," and Lorelai drove straight to New Haven to spend the night and order take-out from every restaurant in town. Just the same, I knew that if I really needed my parents to come, they would be here in a heartbeat (still to this day). While our freshman experiences were not entirely the same socially, Rory and I both struggled to adjust to the college workload. While my academic stress was not remedied by simply finding my own personal "study tree," I was able to find my own ways to cope.
Eventually came the internship stress and self-questioning: "Am I good enough?" Everyone goes through this at various points throughout their lives. For both me and Rory, it came during our first ever internship. The constant awkwardness of not knowing where to go and when and not being entirely sure whether we were doing a good job. Eventually, we both became more comfortable. Fortunately, my job did not have the same disastrous end as Rory's, which included stealing a boat, spending the night in jail, and eventually (*SPOILER*) dropping out of Yale and joining the Daughters of the American Revolution. Nevertheless, I feel like we were *sort of* on the same page at this part of our lives.
After some time off, Rory finally gets back to Yale. Unfortunately, this time our shared path has to do with making long-distance relationships work. Not sure if this is an unpopular opinion, but Logan is by far the #1 BEST boyfriend for Rory, and I won't hear any arguments otherwise. One of the most important lessons the show has taught me is this (another *SPOILER*): If Logan Huntzberger ever proposes to you, DON'T SAY NO! Anyway, whenever I'm sad about my long-distance relationship, I watch the later episodes of Gilmore Girls, where Logan moves to London and Rory is left to finish Yale. The episodes remind me that even when you're an ocean apart, it's worth making it work.
As a junior in college, these life experiences are as far as the show has gotten me. I assume that next year when I'm a senior and getting ready to graduate, I'll have to rewatch again so that we can experience job applications and say goodbye to college together. And, of course, balling my eyes out during the final episode for the millionth time. I'm not really sure what I will do after that - maybe I'll have to start basing my life on the four-episode revival? Or progress along with Lorelai's life? Eh, maybe not - I should probably switch to watching it like a normal person.
While we didn't have exactly the same family dynamic or amount of drama (thankfully), Gilmore Girls has been more than just my favorite show for the last seven years. I've always felt this deep connection to the storyline and a love for the characters, almost like I'm part of their Stars Hollow family. More importantly, I've never known people like Lorelai and Rory with the same strong affinity for coffee as me - we like it with our oxygen. As I get older, I suppose every time I rewatch, I will reminisce on being a student who had my whole life in front of me. I will relive all of the experiences that I've had in my life that the show brings back. Will I ever stop watching? As Rory's friend Paris once said, "I want to live my life so I can read an in-depth biography about myself in later years." A life full of streaming Gilmore Girls seems pretty thrilling to me!