Since 2000, Gilmore Girls has brought the Gilmore family to screens all around the world.
With Gilmore Girls being almost two decades old I think it should be cut some slack for some of these moments that aged terribly.
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Some were tone-deaf, some were insensitive, and others were straight-up gross. But some were simply a product of their time.
Jess ‘The Nice Guy’ Mariano
Anyone remember that time he tried to pressure Rory into sex?
And repeatedly ignored Rory telling him to stop? Then yelled at her when she tried to explain her side (not that she had to)?
That was not easy to watch.
Lorelai’s Depressing Predictions
When Luke’s on his way back from the Renaissance Fair she tells him she’ll see him “when Hillary’s president” .
Way to rub it in Lorelai…
Rory’s Fat Shaming
When assuring Paris that her boo isn’t cheating on her with another student, she chose to say that “she’s got fat thighs!”
As if that has anything to do with it.
C’mon Rory.
Rory’s Fat Shaming 2.0
She compared a ballerina to a hippo when pointing out a roll of fat around her bra strap.
Thankfully, her mother calls her out, but a lot of the people around her don’t see the issue.
Every Time They Called Something ‘Gay’
Back in the day, calling things ‘gay’ to insult them seemed pretty cool.
Luke was a repeat offender. But now we know how homophobic and dumb it is.
Very Light Stalking
Rory’s dad gets her a ‘Sidekick’ but later has to “apologize for his sidekick stalking.”
Turns out he was using it to track her location. Creepy.
Rory’s World Views
“It’s Avril Lavigne’s world. We’re just living in it.” .
This may have made sense for Rory back in 2004 but in 2020? Not so much. So we just have to remember when the show was filmed for this joke.
Emily Is Not So Tech Savvy
“If I wanted to talk to a machine, I’d talk to my VCR.”
Pretty sure she got her VCR and her phone’s answering machine mixed up. But we can agree to disagree.
Lorelai’s DSL Protest
To protest upgrading from dial-up, Lorelai claims “we like our internet slow, OK?”
Not problematic, but just a bad aging joke. Don’t lie girl, even way back when in 2000, no-one liked slow internet.
Luke’s Sexism
He once asked a woman to leave because she was breastfeeding her baby at the cafe!
While it was definitely something unheard of then, people are making it known that they want this behavior to be more normalized now.
Emily’s Fat Shaming
When Rory’s grandma is arranging chairs, she says “If someone needs that much room to get around a chair, they shouldn’t be at a party. They should be on a treadmill.”
Seems it runs in the family.
Lane Giving Up On Her Dreams For Her Kids
Lane gives up her rock’n’roll dreams to become a stay at home mom because it’s “what her mom did for her.”
Interesting intersect between sexism and racism folks.
Pretty Much Everything About Lane’s Mom
While Lane is quite Americanised and we get to see depths of her personality, Mrs. Kim is a walking stereotype.
She’s the bible-thumping tiger mom with an accent that’s always played for jokes.
Lorelai Slut Shaming Paris
She overhears Paris telling Rory about her mixed feelings about her first sexual encounter.
Later she calls Rory “the good one” for still being a virgin.
Emily’s Maids
Throughout the show, Emily hires, abuses, and then fires multiple maids of color who don’t speak much English.
This is played as a joke about how clueless Emily is, but it’s really just racist.
All The Trump Jokes
It seems that Gilmore Girls was ahead of its time when it came to Trump jokes. One, in particular, was when they found out someone owned the hotel and Sookie says: “Tell me it’s not that [expletive] Donald Trump.”
Some Trump supporters may not tolerate that kind of stuff.
When Emily joked about Richard’s death
In the first season, Richard dies from a heart attack and Emily makes a quip about how he’s not allowed to die before her.
While not problematic, the scene simply didn’t age well because unfortunately, the actor who plays Richard did in fact pass in real life.
Baby Colors
At one point in the series, Lorelai goes to a baby shower where all the decorations are green, despite the woman having a baby girl. She comments on this, asking “isn’t pink supposed to be for a girl?”
A Famous Quote By Lorelai
“We need to leave the country and have extensive plastic surgery and sex changes. Both of us so you know… we can kiss and not look funny.”
Transphobic and homophobic! The double dip!
The R-Word
There are several jokes in the show where they use the r-word in a joking manner. One comes up when Rory is looking to beef up her resume by volunteering, she says:
“[I need to] Find a r******d kid and teach him how to play softball.”
Yikes.
Girls Under 17 Are “The Enemy”
This is an actual quote said by Paris, in relation to boys finding girls younger than 17 more attractive than girls their own age.
This definitely sends a chill down people’s spines.
No Shaved Legs
During the Renaissance fair episode, the Gilmore Girls themselves make fun of women for not shaving their legs.
In this day and age, women not shaving is widely accepted by most.
Dean Is Temperamental And Possessive
Back in the day, Dean’s behavior would have been seen as cute or perhaps even manly.
These days, they’re just red flags. The guy is so darn possessive of Rory! Let her breathe a little more next time Dean!
Emily’s Attitude Towards Lorelai Being Single
There are so many jokes like the above one littered throughout the series.
Why can’t Lorelai just be a strong, independent woman, Emily? She doesn’t need a man! Luckily, Lorelai never cared very much about what her mother thought.
Janet Jogging
There is a character in the show that’s named Janet that jogs. Instead of reinforcing her positively, they just shame her for being a “jogging addict.”
Sure, not exactly problematic, but definitely something that newer audiences wouldn’t understand or make fun of.
Michel’s Diet
The same thing as Janet, they tend to make fun of Michel for his healthy diet. What was this show’s beef with being healthy?
Any comments, Amy-Sherman Palladino? Have anything to say for yourself?
Shane’s Slut Shaming
There was a lot of slut-shaming in the show, but one that springs to mind immediately was the way they treated Shane.
All because she had the audacity to make out with Jess in public!
Logan Can’t Take No For An Answer
Before he and Rory date, he pesters her for quite some time.
Then, once they break up and Rory doesn’t want anything to do with him, he continues to be pushy with her? A man in love, or a man who can’t take a hint?
The Attitude Towards Drinking Wine
We can probably say that this is because they’re very old fashioned, but still, looking back, you can’t help but cringe.
That would never fly on a show today!
How They Never Gained Weight
All in all, one of the biggest faults of the TV show was that Lorelai and Rory, despite claiming that they eat constantly, never gain a single pound.
To be fair, most shows are like that, but we’re sure that TV watchers today would call that out immediately.
