I guess you could say that I am a bit of a "Gilmore Girls" fanatic. I mean, I have seen the entire series at least four times. Seriously. I began watching Lorelai and Rory at the young age of 13, and although I'm at least 10 years younger than Rory, I feel like I've grown up with her.
I started Chilton with Rory; and fought with Paris and her cronies. I toted around thousands of books, and I was the editor of the Franklin with Rory. I fell in love with Jess just like she did. and I felt contempt for Christopher when he abandoned his family. There were times when I despised Emily Gilmore, and there were just as many times when I absolutely loved her spunk.
Like any "Gilmore Girls" fan, I was ecstatic to learn that Netflix was planning a revival of the show. Like a true Gilmore, I managed to binge watch the entire four-part series in one sitting. The day it came out. Seriously. Lorelai would be insanely proud of me.
As I sat watching a "Year in The Life" of my favorite mother-daughter duo, I found my 21-year-old self relating to a 32-year-old Rory in a multitude of ways. Although I am still a college student myself, nor am I thirty-two years old, I felt Rory's confusion and anxieties over the status of her future. I too worry that I will become a member of the "30 Year Old Club" of failures in my hometown, and I worry that everyone will ask me what my plans for the future are.. when I have none.
Rory Gilmore taught me in four ninety minute episodes (and about a hundred other episodes) how to be triumphant, strong, and successful, even when you are dealt the toughest hand. I hope that one day, I will have the strength, poise, and sass to make a career for myself like she did. And I hope that I do it as beautifully as she did.
When Emily and Lorelai first came together in this revival, I expected nothing less than the usual bickering between these Gilmore Girls. I was not in the least bit disappointed. Although Emily and Lorelai are in two completely different areas of their life since we last saw them, they are as feisty and powerful as ever.
However, aren't all the women in this show? "Gilmore Girls" follows a wide range of strong, powerful, and unforgiving women throughout the trials of their life. We've watched them struggle, thrive, bicker with one another, and we've seen them grow older. We find ourselves hoping to be a little like Rory, Lorelai, Emily, Sookie, Lane and Paris as we take on our own challenges, and fight our own battles- but we always return to Stars Hollow.
To the Gilmore Girls, thank you for giving me a handful of powerful women to look up to.
