Friday, November 25th saw the long-awaited return of the cult television series, "Gilmore Girls". During its original run from 2000-2007, "Gilmore Girls" was known for its fast-paced dialogue, coffee addictions, and the eponymous mother/daughter duo Lorelei and Rory Gilmore. Rory, a teenager at the beginning of the series' original run was always lauded for her intelligence and academic success. Having gone to a prestigious prep school called Chilton, becoming valedictorian her senior year, and getting into Harvard, Princeton and Yale; Rory's future was so bright, she needed shades. When the audience last saw Rory, it seemed she had nowhere to go but up. Unfortunately, by the time we meet Rory in the revival, she is so low, she's basically six feet under. What the revival really showed loyal "Gilmore" fans is that Rory Gilmore is kind of terrible person, and possibly always has been.
Whether she wants to admit or not, Rory was born into privilege, While she may not of had the lavish blue blood lifestyle her mother experienced growing up, Rory still had the best of both worlds. She was able to get into a prestigious school almost halfway through her high school career no problem, and even managed to be named valedictorian of her graduating class, despite there being more obvious and deserving candidates (*cough* Paris *cough*). Rory is entitled as hell, and "Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life" shows that entitlement in almost every scene featuring Rory. Now 32, unemployed and struggling to find her true purpose in life, Rory flits from Stars Hollow, New York, and London, expecting to get whatever she wants simply because she's Rory Gilmore. Whether it was being exasperated at the fact that she wasn't a top journalist at the New York Times, even though she's hardly done any work, or the childish tantrum she threw at an interview because she did not get a job she deemed beneath her, Rory displayed outlandish behavior.
Rory is also selfish beyond means. Constantly whining about how her life isn't going where she wants it to (her fault), and hardly concerns herself with her recently widowed grandmother, or any of the struggles her mother is going through during the revival. The epitome of Rory's selfishness emerges when she decides to write a semi-auto-graphical book about her and her mother, in particular her mother's time as a teenage mom. When Lorelei begs Rory to abandon the idea, Rory gets angry and refuses to see Lorelei's reasoning. Seeing Rory throw a fit, at her grandfather's gravestone no less, opened up a plethora of times Rory has always wanted her way or the highway.
Rory Gilmore is a warning, a "Beware" sign for the younger generation. Always seen as a role model for young girls, she is now becoming a self-absorbed monster. The "Gilmore Girls" revival makes fans wonder, was Rory always this way, her manipulative and destructive ways masked by her mother's and grandparent's piles of praise? Or, has the almost 10 year gap turned her into a warped Mr. Hyde alternative version of herself? Who is Rory Gilmore really? The intelligent bookworm, determined to be the next Christiane Amanpour? Or, the mess that fans were given in the revival. Would the real Rory Gilmore please stand up?
