Gilmore Girls has never really been a major hit as a series, but during its original run on both The WB and The CW, and because of its long running success on Netflix, the little show that could has developed something of a cult audience. Following the lives of mother-daughter duo and best friends Lorelai and Rory Gilmore, the series is a slice of life dramedy, filled with bizarre pop culture references, far too much caffeine, and soapy love triangles and romances that inspire ionate debates and side taking.
In the wake of the revival series, Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, which premiered on Netflix over the Thanksgiving holiday in 2016, viewers have become increasingly critical of the series. The rose-colored glasses have come off, and with time, devoted fans have begun to realize that the sleepy little town of Stars Hollow is nowhere near as perfect as they once perceived it to be. One of the main subjects of discussion has been the fact that Rory Gilmore, once every young nerdy girl’s hero, isn’t really all that she’s been made out to be. Regardless of what romantic partner you prefer, or whether you were more interested in her unconventional relationship with her mother, it’s hard to ignore the fact that Rory just really isn’t a good person, or at the very least, one that makes any remote semblance of sense.
With that being said, here are 20 Things That Make No Sense About Rory In Gilmore Girls.
Her Hypocrisy About Faithfulness In Relationships
It’s one of the points of contention during Rory and Logan’s relationship: Logan has a bit of a reputation as a Lothario, and so, when he and Rory are briefly on a break, you know what happened. He also lets Rory attend his sister’s wedding, which results in her being in a room full of bridesmaids, all of whom he has been involved with at one point or another. This leads to a massive fight between the couple around the subject of fidelity in relationships.
As it turns out, Rory is hardly the model of faithfulness herself. She gets close to Jess when she’s with Dean in season 2 and again in season 6 while seeing Logan, she gets even closer with a married Dean in seasons 4 and 5, and of course, she carries on a lengthy involvement with an engaged Logan in the revival.
She Cancels Her Dreams Of Harvard Because Of Her Grandparents
One of the most defining traits of Rory’s character from the beginning of the series is her desire to attend Harvard. Her room is filled with Harvard memorabilia from the start. In an early season 2 episode, she and Lorelai sneak away from Stars Hollow and visit Harvard’s campus, with Rory sitting in on classes and proving that she can hold her own against the professors and students. When it comes time for Rory to apply to the colleges on her list, it’s beyond clear that Harvard is the one for her.
Yet, somehow, Harvard suddenly goes out the window at the drop of her hat when her grandparents, both proud Yale alums, shoehorn a surprise Yale interview into her schedule one day. Because of their influence, Rory re-configures her entire world view, much to her mother’s chagrin, and ultimately decides that Yale is the school for her.
She dates a man who's a carbon copy of her father
Given Christopher Hayden’s almost total absence from the first fifteen or so years of his daughter’s life, it stands to reason that Rory would have her fair share of “daddy issues.” What makes this subject all the more uncomfortable is the revelation that the writers played with the notion of these psychological scars to the extent that they designed Rory’s longest relationship to feature a man based entirely on her absentee father, according to Entertainment Weekly.
Christopher and Logan have far too much in common: they both come from worlds of outrageous privilege, they both refuse to accept blame or ability for much of anything, they’re both womanizers who think they can do no wrong, and they both fell from grace with their families. They do, however, work their way back into their families' good graces because names and money are what mean the most to them.
She consumes nothing but junk food and coffee, but never has to exercise
Try and come up with a time when, outside of the occasional lighter Friday night dinner with her grandparents, Rory eats something other than junk food or drinks something other than coffee that is way too strong. When she’s at home with Lorelai, there’s never anything remotely resembling healthy food in the house, since most of their food comes from Luke’s, Al’s Pancake World, or some other unhealthy restaurant in town.
Even when she moves on to Yale, Rory seems to gravitate towards the quick and easy foods in the dining hall, and her study food of choice appears to be late night macaroni and cheese (don’t even get us started on the high level of caffeine consumption she displays), and yet, despite all of her increasingly unhealthy habits, Rory is never once shown exercising, unrealistically maintaining her shape for the entire series.
She uses most of the men in her life for her own gain
After living her entire life constantly being told that she’s the best there is, it’s only natural that Rory would wind up believing it, too. As a result, she often places her own needs and desires above those of others, even if it means using people for her own gains and ignoring the validity of their feelings along the way. Over the course of her time at Yale, she takes advantage of Marty’s friendship, knowing the whole time that he has romantic feelings for her and using that to her benefit.
Similarly, she accepts a date from Life and Death Brigade member Robert in order to get close to her real intended target, Logan. In the revival, she carries on a relationship with Paul, for no apparent reason other than because it’s convenient to have a boyfriend whose niceness she can count on.
Her entire career path in the revival
Rory’s dream for the entire series is to become a successful journalist. When the original series ends, she’s already heading in that direction. When the revival picks up ten years later, it’s clear that Rory never really learned how to function as an adult with a career. After having a single editorial published in The New Yorker, Rory is aimless, and, supposedly, broke.
She bemoans Condé Nast for not dropping everything to have an interview with her, then waltzes into an interview with a lesser known online publication expecting the job to be thrown at her feet. When she secures a piece on people who wait in line for hot new items and events, she falls asleep mid-interview with her subject. In the end, she winds up back at home in Stars Hollow, reviving the local paper with no budget.
She never respects her mother's wishes
It’s typical for teenagers to act out against their parents, but when a teenager and her mother are written to be as close as Rory and Lorelai are, it’s jarring to see that teen in question act out in the ways that Rory does. Rory is always used to getting what she wants, so when her mother denies her the few things that she does, Rory immediately goes to seek the answer she wants elsewhere.
For the most part, these solutions are found via her grandparents, who can never say no to their perfect little golden granddaughter. Most of the time, these inquiries involve money, things that Lorelai had been too ashamed to ask her parents for, but Rory doesn't have that same problem. In other cases, Rory seeks out Luke’s or Max’s advice in areas where Lorelai has already told her no.
She gets involved in her mother's romances
It’s always an awkward storyline when single parents decide to start dating again. Parents are left to figure out when and how to introduce their children to their new significant others and it almost never happens at the right time, even when the kids are as old as Rory is during the original series. Without fail, Rory becomes far too emotionally invested in her mother’s relationship. In Lorelai’s relationship with Rory’s own English teacher, Max Medina, her investment begins to cross over into her daily life at Chilton.
When it comes to her mother’s on again, off again connections with her biological father, Christopher, Rory is almost childlike in her investment, hoping for a day when her parents get their acts together and get together. It’s her investment in her mom’s relationship with Luke that crosses the most lines, seeing as Rory has already had her own quasi-parental bond with Luke long before he and her mother became an item.
She drops out of college because her boyfriend's father is mean to her
Nothing says “ah yes, this kid has what it takes to make it in the big leagues” quite like dropping out of Yale because your boyfriend’s unpleasant father was mean to you. Yet, that’s exactly the narrative Gilmore Girls tries to sell its viewers when, following Mitchum’s comment that Rory doesn’t have what it takes to become a big league reporter, Rory summarily drops out of Yale and goes on a downward spiral of privilege that involves stealing a boat and getting arrested.
What makes this all the more laughable in retrospect is that, as it turns out, Mitchum was entirely right. The revival merely proves that Rory really doesn’t have the commitment and responsibility it takes to become a reporter, especially in this day and age of highly competitive journalism. The joke’s on you, Rory Gilmore. You really can’t handle the truth.
Every man who lays eyes on her falls in love with her
We get it, Rory has a waif-like innocence and cuteness to her that many would find irresistible. But does literally almost every man that Rory interacts with, whether in the original series or the revival, have to fall head over heels in love with her on the spot? From first boyfriend Dean, to Chilton rival Tristan, to bad boy with a heart of gold Jess, to college pal Marty, to rich kid Logan, to Finn and Colin and Robert, to Paul in the revival, even the guy in the Wookiee suit, Rory’s list is impressive, and totally unrealistic.
That’s even without including a few one-off dates here and there, most of which are set up by her meddling grandparents. There’s no way that she’s possibly able to juggle all this male attention, considering how unbearable she can be when you actually get to know her.