Known as a Gilmore Girls for the choices she has made in her life. After leaving home as a pregnant teenager, she started living in a shed at the Independence Inn and got a job there, too. Lorelai wants Rory to be happy and successful and tries her best to her when life doesn't go her way.
While Lorelai is mostly viewed as a wonderful mom, she has moments of selfishness when she lets her emotions get the best of her. Other times, she forgets all about what she wants and chooses to be there for Rory and the people in her life.
Selfish: Cancelled Her Wedding And Ran Away From Town
A popular season 2 episode saw Lorelai canceling her wedding and taking Rory on a fun road trip.
This was definitely a time when Lorelai was selfish and only thinking about herself. While she had every right to call off her wedding since it didn't feel right to her, the way that she went about it was pretty rough. She skipped town and called Sookie without giving her too many details. Sookie had already made the wedding cake and all that effort was for nothing, not to mention how devastated Max must have felt. Lorelai could have been mature here, but she didn't choose that path.
Selfless: Gave Up Great Concert Tickets For Rory's Classmates
Chilton was a tough academic environment and it seemed like Rory would have an uphill battle making new friends.
When Paris, Madeline, and Louise came over for a school project, Lorelai was selfless and invited them to the Bangles concert she and Rory were going to. This meant that Lorelai and Sookie gave away their tickets and had to sit so far at the back that they couldn't see anything, but Lorelai didn't mind. She wanted her daughter to start making friends and fitting in at her new school.
Selfish: Disliked Logan Because Of His Background
If Lorelai had trouble warming up to Jess, she really had a problem accepting Logan when Rory shared that they were dating.
Even though Rory said that Logan treated her well and that they got along great, Lorelai was nervous that Rory would be with someone from a wealthy background. Lorelai disliked Logan because of where he came from and didn't take the time to get to know him. She was stuck on her preconceived notions and ideas.
Selfless: Agreed To See Her Parents Weekly For Rory's Sake
When Gilmore Girls began, it wouldn't have been Lorelai's choice to spend Friday Night Dinners making awkward small talk with her parents. But once she made a deal that if Emily and Richard paid for Chilton, she and Rory would see them once a week, she got used to seeing her parents regularly.
This was a selfless act of Lorelai's as she always felt stressed out about being around Emily and Richard, but she knew that these dinners were the best way for Rory to go to Chilton.
Selfish: Refused To Understand Rory's POV In Season 6
The Gilmore girls stopped talking in season 6 and it was so tough to watch.
While Lorelai was justified in thinking that Rory shouldn't have stolen a boat and dropped out of school, she wouldn't see the situation from Rory's perspective. She didn't understand that Rory's self-esteem was taking a serious hit and that Mitchum had really hurt her feelings. Lorelai was selfish here, as she could have talked to Rory more. Instead, she told her parents that Rory was theirs to deal with, and then she ignored her daughter for a while.
Selfless: Planned April's Birthday Party
April tracked her dad Luke down and Luke wanted to make up for lost time right away. He was incredibly kind to April and proved that he was a natural parent. But sometimes, he wasn't quite sure what to do or how to handle a situation.
In the season 6 episode "Super Cool Party People," Luke threw April a birthday bash at his diner but realized that he didn't really know what he was doing. Lorelai stepped in and helped out, which was super selfless since Luke had been keeping her away from April.
Selfish: Acted Badly At Richard's Memorial
A Year In The Life began after Richard's death and some flashback scenes let fans see what had happened at his funeral. When everyone gathered at Emily's house after, Lorelai hurt her mother when she couldn't think of a happy memory of her dad.
Lorelai talked about how her dad wasn't there for her when she was growing up. It might have been true, but it wasn't the right place or time. Lorelai couldn't help but focus on her own pain instead of doing the right thing in the moment.
Selfless: Helped Rory No Matter What, From Wallowing To Moving Into Yale
Lorelai was always selfless when it came to her relationship with Rory.
She helped her all the time, like when she invited Dean over for a season 1 movie night when she knew Rory wanted to spend time with him but was too nervous to ask him out. She also taught her about wallowing after Dean broke up with her and helped her become more comfortable telling Dean that she loved him. Rory loved her time at Yale, from ing the paper to meeting Marty, and it made sense that Lorelai would sleep over for the first night when Rory was having a hard time transitioning.
Selfish: Wanted To Have Her Own "Wild" Journey
In A Year In The Life, Lorelai explained to Luke that she needed time for herself and that included hiking the Pacific Crest Trail like Cheryl Strayed wrote about in her memoir Wild.
While Lorelai deserved to have some time to work through her problems and feelings, this was a time when she was only thinking about herself. Luke was worried about her and he was ready to finally have a serious conversation instead of pushing aside why they hadn't gotten married yet. Lorelai ignored the fact that her family and friends would worry about her since she didn't know anything about hiking or being out in nature.
Selfless: ed Chilton's Booster Club
Rory went through a lot at Chilton and her mom did, too, especially when Lorelai was told that she wasn't helping out at the school enough.
In the season 2 episode "Like Mother, Like Daughter," Lorelai became part of the Booster Club and said that they could have a fashion show at the inn. It ended up being a mother-daughter show so Lorelai asked Emily if she would appear in it, which was sweet and funny as Emily got really into it.