Amanda's Angle
For as long as I can remember, I've pinpointed only one person that I want to be like when I grow up. As much as my parents subtly nudged me to select an actual human to fill this role, time and time again I chose Rory Gilmore.
Although she only exists in the confines of my favorite television show, I've made several life decisions with the "What would Rory do?" mantra echoing in the corners of my pro-con lists.
If it wasn't for Rory and her quiet, yet resolute persona, I'm not sure if I would be where I am today. If I hadn't seen her fan-girling over Christiana Amanpour, I'm not sure I would've pursued journalism. I'm not sure I knew that it could be cool for girls to enjoy reading and get good grades and be sarcastic and have big career-centered dreams before I watched Rory do it all on Gilmore Girls.
And when I felt the "Stars Hollow" vibe during my first Uptown stroll - that's how I knew Miami was for me.
Through seven seasons and 153 wit-filled episodes, Rory and her mother Lorelai, who form the Gilmore Girls, quickly inched their way to a regular spot on my television screen and then claimed a permanent role in my heart. Gilmore Girls is one of those things - like an especially good chocolate chip cookie recipe or an awkward first-date story - that I can't wait to share with my own daughter. It's like a delicate and hilarious and life-shaping and slightly off-centered family heirloom, but filled with boot cut jeans and witty banter.
Gilmore Girls shaped me in more ways than a typical TV show is usually capable of. If I wanted to, I could probably trace the root of major aspects of my personality back to a scene from Gilmore Girls. As I watched, I started an unhealthy relationship with coffee-drinking, I got bangs, I was editor of my high school newspaper, I started taking a book with me on random errands, I watched old movies, I quoted old movies and I always ordered pancakes for breakfast. By simply clicking "play," I was launched into a world that - in big ways and minor ways - molded my own life. If you, too, are a part of the microcosm of girls who consider Rory Gilmore to be her hero (and best friend), we should probably high five or something. Because, well, you just know. You know what it was like to finally see a teenage girl on TV who was similar to you - and how freeing that was.
You know when to tweet "Oy with the poodles already" for comic relief, you have a strong opinion on which of Rory's male interests she truly belongs with, you've obnoxiously sang along to the theme song on more than one occasion, you've memorized Rory's reading list and you know that Kirk has at least 43 jobs. To you, I probably don't have to explain myself when I say all of this. If you've never seen the show (I'll try not to judge you) though, you're probably wondering what exactly the big deal is. Well, maybe you've heard recent rumblings about Gilmore Girls coming to Netflix this week - which is noteworthy, by any standard. But since you weren't a cult-like follower of the show, you may have been surprised by how many people (and media publications) were talking about it - I counted at least a dozen Gilmore-related tidbits on BuzzFeed.
Whether you give Rory and Lorelai a try or not, you should take notice the impact this little show has had. For girls everywhere, who found a part of themselves while watching the mother-daughter duo walk arm-in-arm around the gazebo, who watched it with their own mothers, this show left a mark that lasted well beyond it's finale. When a series like that ends, (think Friends or How I Met Your Mother), invested viewers are stuck in a void. You're hoping the characters' lives will go on, hoping it will transcend that small 40-minute span of time and that square box. You're sitting there missing these people that became a part of your weekly routine - and I was left to live a life not charted by my role model. But all of that misery is now a distant memory, cured by the bliss that is internet magic.
So, even though it may mean the demise of my study habits, I look forward to signing onto Netflix and seeing their faces tomorrow. I can't wait to joyfully quote each cleverly-written line (in a totally not-annoying way) and being reunited with my dear friends, the Gilmores.
hancocae@miamioh.edu
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