There is very little that can beat the deliciously cozy aesthetic of Gilmore Girls on a rainy afternoon. Like so many others, it has been my go-to comfort show since middle school, and I’ve done more re-watches than I’d care to admit.
For those who’ve never watched it, Gilmore Girls follows the story of a teenager, Rory, and her single mother, Lorelai, as the two grow up together. They encounter more than their fair share of romance, heartbreak, friendships, and family. While I would love nothing more than to sit down and analyze every episode of the show, for everyone’s sanity, I’m going to focus on Rory’s character, and specifically, what went wrong.
Rory Gilmore put shy girls on the map. In media, introverted characters are often the humble sidekicks, there solely to support the outgoing protagonists on their adventures. Rory was different. She portrayed an introspective character who was not just there to be a wallflower. She was the epitome of quiet but confident. She was a role model!
And then Rory went to college…
In Season 4, Rory’s college journey began, and with this, a whole new character was born. She lost the self-assurance of high-school Rory. This new Rory was flaky, less confident, and quite frankly, ditzy.
This new Rory slept with a married man, stole a boat, and dropped out of Yale. She ran away from her problems instead of facing them with the same passion high school Rory did. Why?
There are multiple reasons why this could have happened. Gifted kid burnout is perhaps the most likely reason. After years of being the perfect child and receiving constant praise, it caught up to her. But gifted kid burnout is not an excuse for that kind of behavior, and she was no longer the studious queen I spent years looking up to.
High school Rory worked hard. She studied for hours and fought for herself when the going was rough. College Rory stole a boat when an egoistic man told her she was not ready to be a big-time journalist. This is not to say that one person is responsible for her entire downfall, and in fact, I think it’s the result of many factors.
No, Rory was not handed everything on a silver platter the way that others (like Logan Huntzberger) were. While Rory did come from money, through both her grandparents and her father, Lorelai raised her to be self-sufficient and to work for what she wanted. Perhaps Rory’s new path was the influence of her new college friends, notably the Life and Death Brigade.
However, new friendships clashed with old friendships. The moment her college classes became challenging, Rory panicked, and ran right back to Dean…her former boyfriend and a currently married man. This uncharacteristic behavior led to her ultimate downfall of dropping out of Yale.
In the media today, why does the quiet girl have to turn into a trainwreck? I am not saying that Rory needs to always be the perfect child. That would be inconsiderate and unrealistic. However, Rory’s character did not deserve a complete 180. Through her downward spiral, she lost self-respect, faith in herself, and her dignity. No longer were her days of being a role model, rather this was the birth of a cautionary tale. After Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life only made matters worse, is there any chance of a redemption arc for Rory in a future storyline?