Unpopular ‘Gilmore Girls’ Opinion: Rory Gilmore’s Revival Storyline Was Realistic
When fans reconnected with Rory Gilmore in Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, she was listless, anxious, and unsure of how to proceed with her personal and professional lives. She had so much promise, insisted fans, and showrunner Amy Sherman-Palladino, destroyed all of that potential by making Rory entitled and a professional failure, to a degree. Some fans think Rory acted completely out of character in the revival. What if that wasn’t the case, though? What if Rory’s fall from grace was 100% realistic and predictable? There is evidence to support the theory.
There was evidence that Rory would falter in the original series
Rory was portrayed as the golden child in Gilmore Girls. She succeeded wildly at an academically rigorous prep school. Everyone in Stars Hollow loved her, and she was at ease around her grandparents’ high-society pals. Rory was everything Richard and Emily Gilmore had hoped Lorelai Gilmore would be.
While Rory’s drive to please and succeed can not be questioned, there were many moments when she second-guessed herself. You could argue there was evidence in the original series that Rory was not built for the stressful environment of fast-paced journalism.
Mitchum Huntzberger told her she didn’t have it, and she cracked under the criticism. There were signs of trouble even earlier than that. Her emotional response to being told to drop a class was overblown. Even at Chilton, how she measured success and failure was heavily skewed. Rory’s personality made her susceptible to burnout.
Rory Gilmore’s failure to succeed wildly is not an anomaly
Ivy league students are poised for greatness. They have access to the best professors and influential connections. They leave college with the cache of their degree to give them a leg up in the professional world. While many ivy league students succeed wildly, it might not be the sure thing many people think it is.
William Deresiewicz, who spent 10 years teaching English at Yale University, stirred controversy in 2014 when he penned an essay that advised students against pursuing an Ivy League education. He also sat down with The Atlantic to discuss his experiences. Deresiewicz noted that he saw a phenomenon of students primed to succeed but only in the narrow expectations set forth for them by a person in authority. He noted that Ivy League students appeared to have a more difficult time thinking in shades of grey and were prepared for the next “hoop” set forth for them to jump through.
How does that relate to the fictional character of Rory Gilmore? Rory showed signs of emotional distress early on in her academic career. She broke down when she didn’t receive the praise she was expecting. When she didn’t have someone to guide her to the next big step, she faltered and folded in on herself. Rory’s listlessness in Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life wasn’t so much about Rory’s privilege but her inability to understand how to measure success without someone else setting her goals. The storyline was a realistic one. If you think about it, Rory Gilmore wasn’t really a failure; she was experiencing burnout.
