October is my favorite month of the year. With it comes everything I love about fall: pumpkins, colorful leaves, warm sweatshirts, and hot apple cider. As I’ve discussed previously, fall also brings a new television season with many returning favorites and new shows to check out. However, this fall brings an extra special treat: fan*s can now visit the quaint New England town of Stars Hollow whenever they want because Gilmore Girls has finally come to Netflix.
My family first discovered Gilmore Girls about halfway through its original run and became hooked almost immediately. My mom, brother, and I had busy lives that often took us in different directions, but we spent nearly every night having dinner with the Gilmores, thanks to ABC Family. If we weren’t going to be home to watch the episode as it aired, we would record it on videotape (you know those things you actually had to rewind when you were finished with them?) and later watch several episodes at a time.
One of the best aspects of the show was how it appealed to a wide audience. My brother doesn’t watch a lot of television, and what he does watch are the shows one would expect a guy to be interested in, like Sleepy Hollow, Castle, Bones, and The Big Bang Theory, but he loved Gilmore Girls just as much as my mom and I did. The writing was smart and the dialogue was clever; I still often find myself wishing I were as witty as Lorelai Gilmore — she had a comeback for everything!
The show also had a rich tapestry of secondary characters that strengthened the show’s storylines; even though the show was about the Gilmore girls, the rest of the characters in the town really helped make the story what it was. More than once, I’ve wished I could live in Stars Hollow and gossip with Miss Patty and Babbette, guess what Job Kirk would have next, argue with Taylor at a town meeting, have Gypsy work on my car, or listen to Lane and Zac’s band.
I was initially drawn to the show because I identified with Rory a lot. She spent much more time on her schoolwork in high school than I did, but she was the type of person who would rather sit at home with a book or enjoy a movie marathon with her mother than go to a party on a Saturday night; she was shy and often awkward in social situations.
Lorelai and Rory were the type of fictional characters you wish were real so they could be your best friends (because, obviously, if they were real, we would totally be best friends). They had great taste in movies, television, music, and fashion — exactly the qualities any girl wants in a best friend. Also? They made binge-watching television and movies while eating massive amounts of junk food (and never working out) look cool.
Aside from feeling a kinship with Rory, I also loved that she was simply a good female role model to have on television. Sure, she made her share of mistakes — sleeping with her married ex-boyfriend, stealing a yacht and getting arrested, to name a few — but, overall, she set a great example for young women.
There are a lot of TV characters, celebrities, and media personalities that are having a negative impact on young girls. Google “media and female body image” and you’ll find thousands of results to substantiate the negative relationship between the two. And it’s not only body image — girls see eating disorders, destructive behavior, substance abuse, and any number of issues being portrayed on their favorite shows with increasing frequency. Gilmore Girls was a show popular with all ages that showed women it’s “cool” to be who you are without trying to impress everyone around you.
Rory was a strong, independent woman who worked hard to achieve her goals. She wasn’t the type of person to define herself by her relationships, and she didn’t bow to peer pressure. Even her fashion sense was practical and much better than what you see on a lot of teenagers on television lately. When she did make a mistake, she faced the consequences of her actions and accepted responsibility. A girl could learn a lot from Rory Gilmore.
Gilmore Girls was, simply, a genuinely good show. It was the perfect blend of comedy and drama, coming of age, and family comedy. No matter where you were in your walk in life, you could identify with someone on that show — or just wish you were someone on that show. It’s also one of those shows that never gets old; I’m pretty sure I’ve seen every episode at least three times and could never get tired of it. And now that it’s available on Netflix, perhaps a whole new generation of young women will learn how to be comfortable with themselves from Rory Gilmore.
If you’re looking for the perfect fall binge show, look no further. Brew a nice cup of tea (or coffee, as Lorelai would prefer) and curl up on the couch with the Gilmore Girls.