‘Gilmore Girls’: Was Lorelai Gilmore a Hypocrite?
Lorelai Gilmore was the type of mom every teenage girl thought they wanted. She was fun, easy-going, and ran her home as if it were a democracy. At the very least, that’s how it looked upon first glance. When you look at Lorelai closely, not only was she a lot like her own mother, Emily Gilmore, but she was also a giant hypocrite. Maybe Gilmore Girls wasn’t as wholesome as it seemed.
Lorelai was OK with Rory making her own decisions, as long as they were decisions she agreed with
Lorelai insisted she was OK with Rory making her own decisions. She seemed to pride herself on being her daughter’s friend instead of someone who told her what to do. That worked out just fine, as long as Rory was making decisions that Lorelai approved of; the second Rory deviated from Lorelai’s expectations, though, all bets were off.
Rory’s decision to befriend Jess Mariano was a point of contention for Lorelai. Instead of letting Rory figure things out, Lorelai made their friendship almost impossible. She told Emily about him, screamed at Luke to get rid of him, and made everyone uncomfortable every time Jess was around. She did the same thing when she found out Rory applied to schools other than Harvard, and when she decided to take time off of Yale.
Lorelai was completely judgemental towards the guys Rory dated
Lorelai hated when her own mother judged the men she dated harshly. In fact, she was careful to avoid introducing her to the men in her life and freaked out whenever Emily made even a passing comment about the social status of her boyfriends. Emily’s treatment of Luke and Lorelai’s reaction to it was a prime example. Lorelai, however, had the exact same response to Rory’s most significant beau.
When Rory initially mentioned Logan Huntzberger, she was careful to remind Lorelai that she knew she didn’t like him because he was from money. At that point, Lorelai knew very little of Logan. She only knew his family was connected to her parents, and that he and her daughter almost hooked up at Richard and Emily’s vow renewal. Her kneejerk reaction to dislike Logan, simply because of his social status, was incredibly hypocritical.
Lorelai expected more from Luke than she ever was willing to give him
Lorelai wasn’t only a hypocrite when it came to how she parented her daughter. She was incredibly entitled when it came to Luke Danes, too. She expected Luke to give up everything to be with her, yet, she was incredibly put out whenever Luke needed her to roll with things. In fact, Lorelai wanted Luke to change pretty much everything about himself, when she, herself, was resistant to change.
Lorelai also expected Luke to listen to her, no matter what, but she certainly wasn’t willing to offer him the same blind obedience. Overall, Lorelai most assuredly took some of the terrible qualities she accused her mother of having and expressed them in her own life. She portrayed the traits she insisted she hated when she pushed Luke to elope, and when she tried to force him to forgive her for sleeping with her ex.
