There are so many more important things I could be blogging about. A wrap up on my semester abroad. A summary of my work this summer. My new commitments for my senior year. Or any other myriad events that are taking over my life. Instead, I’m choosing to write about Gilmore girls.
A note:
It’s Gilmore girls. Not Gilmore Girls. The grammar nerd in me protests a little every time I write this but if you’ve ever actually watched more than a few episodes of Gilmore girls you know that 1. “Where You Lead” is damn catchy and 2. what precedes it are the words “Gilmore girls” written just like that against the fall-scape of the theme song.
I’ve seen Gilmore girls at least a dozen times since 7th grade.
I have just started watching it again–I type this as I watch the beginnings of Dean and Rory, contemplate the character changes of Emily Gilmore and wonder just how Lorelai didn’t have anything better than jean shorts to throw on for Rory’s first day of school. I know what comes next, when to expect my favourite lines, and how the episode will resolve itself. Gilmore girls is certainly not flawless but I love every moment of it, regardless.
I even watch A Year in the Life when I reach the end of season 7. When it first came out I marathoned the whole thing, ordered too much Chinese food and wore my best flannel and a backwards baseball cap. I was on Season 6 of the original so watched A Year in the Life again once I had finished reviewing the whole series. I have a lot of opinions on it I’d be happy to discuss but won’t launch into. This is about something more important.
I won’t say Gilmore girls has saved my life. But it certainly improves it.
I turn it on when I’m upset. Stressed. Anxious. Mad. It calms me. It makes me happier.
I can relate to Gilmore girls. Netflix’s summary describes Lorelai as “Fiercely independent” and that’s my goal. When people describe me, I want them to say I’m fiercely independent. When I’m on a mission or when I feel particularly accomplished I like to envision myself as Lorelai when she first opens the Dragonfly. Her employees might have been afraid of her but damn, she was living her best life and it’s just like people to be afraid of strong and independent women and I accept that.
I became a journalist because of Rory. In middle school, it was the first thing that showed me how to turn writing into a career. I wanted to work for a campus newspaper and become the Editor-in-Chief and kill it like she was. When Rory failed as a journalist in A Year in the Life it was a punch to the gut because if she couldn’t make it, could I?
Gilmore girls has made me cry.
It gets at my limited range of emotions. It makes me wish someone would propose to me with a thousand yellow daisies. It makes me want to jump off a building in a prom dress, holding an umbrella. It makes me wish my relationship with my mother was more Rory to Lorelai than Lorelai to Emily. Occasionally it has me thinking I could be a mother like Lorelai, forgetting my aversion to having children.
This is a show that, no matter the dozens of times I watch it, can make me feel like I have the thrill of watching it all over again for the first time. It will never get old. Netflix, never take it away.
