Gilmore Girls has been my sister’s favorite show for as long as I can remember.  I always complained when it was on in the family room, and would always make fun of Lorelai and Rory.  I had never watched an episode form beginning to end until the screening.  Hoping my sister never finds this blog, I will admit that the show was at the least tolerable.  The pilot does a great job setting up the show in the first 10 minutes when a man starts flirting with Lorelai, and when she rejects him, he turns around and starts flirting with Rory.  When he finds out she is 16, and is Lorelai’s daughter, he is shocked and walks away stunned.

Watching the show certainly brought to mind several points of the articles we read for this week.  The article by Hoover quickly acknowledges that all Millennials are different, but Rory does fit many aspects of the Millennial definition.  She is definitely special.  She is a very smart girl who would rather read than discuss boys (compared to her mother who cannot stop prodding about her new boy interest). Rory is definitely goal-oriented and achieving as well, as she got into the prestigious private school and has her sights set on Harvard.  Rory is very excited to report when she plays volleyball at gym at school, and towards the end of the episode, Lorelai says how Rory, the younger of the two, has always been the more sensible in the house.

The article makes mention of how the Millennials will try to rebel by behaving not worse, but better.  Rory has a tremendous set of goals, and is very dedicated to her studies.  She works diligently to get into the private school, and Lorelai wants more than anything for her daughter to achieve her ultimate goal, which is to go to Harvard, and will do almost anything to giving Rory the opportunities she never had.  Lorelai’s parents chastise her, saying she could have “been something” had she not gotten pregnant.   Lorelai runs the inn she works at and has a life she is very content with, but still needs to go to her parents for help, showing how badly she wants opportunity for her goal-seeking daughter.

I’m not sure if I agree with the Fourth Turning article in terms of the American Dream argument.  The article says that many parents fear that the American Dream that was there for their parents and barely there for them will not be available for their kids.  Lorelai says she is trying to give Rory the opportunities she didn’t have, in effect, providing the American Dream for her daughter.  Lorelai had every advantage, or so her parents would say, yet was unable to fully see them through when she got pregnant at age 16.  She struggled, but would not have things any other way and has a very endearing relationship with her daughter.  The relationship is so close that she is shocked when they are fighting, something another character says happens all the time between normal mothers and daughters.