Millennials
Millennials...
Pfffttt! You know what they say... Selfish, narcissistic, shallow. Thin-skinned, lacking grit, self-absorbed. Attention spans roughly equivalent to those of gnats. Article after article declares the generation born between the late 80s and the early 2000s as 'Generation Me.'
An entire demographic of America that worships, not a higher power, but their latest selfie. A generation of spoiled brats who value the internet over integrity, craft cocktails over character, same day shipping over substance.
Well here's what I say to that:
Excrement.
Kaka.
Crap.
And don't you believe it either. Not for a minute. I love millennials. Maybe because I'm the Mother/Auntie/Cook to a whole slew of them. Or maybe because history shows us that it is our lot in life to always be challenged by the latest generation who is weird and mysterious.
Millennials refuse to cling to outdated social conventions, which rankles we Baby Boomers, not a little. But if the Baby Boomers' contribution was to spark a counter-cultural revolution, a national conversation embracing equality for women, civil and gay rights, and ecology, then surely the Millennials' superpower is to inculcate these dynamic social forces, no matter how uncomfortable. Oh ya, and Baby Boomers, pat yourself on the back because we eradicated polio and we wear seat belts and we made it a lot harder to smoke. Well done!
The outdated attitudes my generation was perpetuating, no matter how unintentional, no matter how unconscious — landed hard with an school assignment a few years ago. And isn't this what college is for? To open your eyes, to challenge your 'truths', to stretch, to grow. I wrote a paper for a class at ASU in my US Television and Cultural Studies class [insert oxymoron joke here ] on the outdated attitudes of gender, feminism and class in the Gilmore Girls. The Gilmore Girls. Lorelei and Rory. Not Archie Bunker, the Gilmore girls. That's how fast things can change. You go to sleep safe in your own generational conventions and you wake up to a world where Al Franken loses his Senate seat for sexual harassment. Social change is a wild ride and never easy.
Homosexuality as insult, ouch.
Ya, the political correctness of 20somethings catches us flat-footed at times, but it is because of Millennials we have come so far in our perspectives toward gender and LBGTQI+ issues, among others, in the last 10 years. And answer me this, if the crop fails, do you blame the crop or do you blame the farmer?
I love their lightening fast synapses, I love their bravado and I love their vulnerability. Their intellect, their love of the side hustle, their connectivity, their appreciation of the big picture. And besides, demonizing an entire generation puts you on an express train to 'Old Coot' station. No thanks.
And just for fun, here's the paper:
April 23th, 2015
FMS 300: US Television and Cultural Studies
Arizona State University
Professor Megan Biddinger
Submitted by Victoria Zulkoski
Class, Gender and Feminism in the Gilmore Girls
The late 1990s, characterized by the broadening of America’s tastes for alternative entertainment including hip hop, grunge and a stunning array of new television channels, was also marked by world events which shook our cultural bedrock. John F. Kennedy, Jr., our homegrown boy prince died in a plane crash and across the Atlantic, Princess Diana was laid to rest in a tomb at Althorp. ANC leader, Nelson Mandela was freed after 27 years in prison and elected president in South Africa, while our own President Clinton was impeached. We learned the hard way that not all terrorists are shadowy dark ‘others’ as Timothy McVeigh, blond and clean-cut, was convicted for his role in the Oklahoma City Bombing. If the images of the brutal conflicts in Serbia and Kosovo shocked Americans, then the genocide in Rwanda left us utterly speechless. Our long-standing Cold War enemy, the Soviet Union dissolved, seemingly overnight. It’s not surprising then, that advertisers and special interest groups were calling for more soothing, family-friendly programming, in the late 1990s (Elliot). It was in this turbulent cultural landscape that Amy and Dan Palladino pitched the concept of Gilmore girls to the WB, a fledgling network targeting teenagers and young adults in 1999. The plot follows the two main characters, a mother and daughter, close in age and temperament, whose enviable bond is more like that of best friends. Close reading reveals that though suffused with contemporary and topical pop culture references, Gilmore girls takes on a nostalgic, often outdated view of class, race and homosexuality in modern America and vacillates between a progressive and more traditional, negotiated feminine text.
Set in the fictitious, small town of Stars Hollow, Connecticut, this backdrop reflects the idealized relationship of single mother Lorelai Gilmore, played by Lauren Graham and her daughter, Rory, played by Alexis Bledel — quirky, sometimes complicated, but ultimately utopian. In this coming-of-age dramedy, Lorelai and Rory navigate the rocky road of relationships, while emphasizing the value of individuality, hard work and education. Lorelai grew up in the privileged but restrictive home of her parents (played by veteran character actors Kelly Bishop and Edward Hermann) in Hartford, Connecticut. When at 16 years old she became pregnant, Lorelai left home to forge her own way, settling 30 miles away in Stars Hollow. Though the setting attempts to subvert cultural and societal norms by showcasing the unconventional, (this is no Mayberry or Seinfeldian New York City after all, or worse an anonymous non-descript nowhere), under the thin veneer of capriciousness, Stars Hollow tends to reinforce societal norms rather than overturn them.
Stars Hollow, though eccentric and offbeat, is mostly populated by various representatives of white America, who naturalize Lorelai’s and Rory’s agency. The two notable exceptions, Lane Kim and Michel are supporting characters that do nothing to broaden our ideas of minorities and everything to contain them. Both are the foils for the comedic, rapid-fire genius of Lorelai and Rory. Mrs. Kim, (played by Emily Kuroda) Lane’s über-devout Seventh Day Adventist Korean mother is Lorelai’s opposite, a one-dimensional character created to showcase Lorelai’s undeniable cool factor. Abrupt, intolerant and strict, Mrs. Kim does not share the Gilmore girls’ penchant for pop music and junk food, once referring to french fries as “the devil’s starchy fingers” (S5, Ep.8). Sexually ambiguous Michel, played by Yanic Truesdale, is a light-skinned black French Canadian who works for Lorelai at the Independence Inn. He is obsessed with his appearance and his weight, splendid scrim for Lorelai’s charm and flagrantly unwholesome diet. Though clearly a Latina, Miss Patty’s ethnicity is never discussed, but her proclivity for younger men, her multiple marriages and her profession, (she runs a dance studio), stereotypes her as a lusty, gyrating other. Lane is given some depth and nuance (perhaps because she is based on Amy Palladino’s best friend in real life, Helen Pai), but her family is isolated from the lovely, warm idiosyncrasies of Stars Hollow. Michel and the other non-white characters who live in Stars Hollow are all in service industries; and with the exception of Lane, lack their own romantic plot-lines.
There is no room for homosexuality in Stars Hollow or Hartford, or even further afield at Yale University where Rory attended college in seasons four through seven. At an age when many young adults are declaring their sexual orientation, Yale remained a gender-normative bubble. Despite same-sex marriages and civil unions making headlines consistently during the show’s run, and high profile news stories like the killing of Matthew Shepherd in 1998, there are no openly gay characters and homosexuality is alluded to, but never discussed other than in jest. Consistently over the show’s seven year run from 2000-2007, there are jokes made at the expense of homosexuality, which by today’s standards would be considered if not homophobic, then at least insensitive. “Gay” is used as an insult many times from different characters. But perhaps most disconcerting is when Lorelai, the program’s moral compass utters “we should have extensive plastic surgery, and sex changes, both of us! So you know…we can kiss and not look funny” (S5, Ep.7). For all her contemporary coolness, she is hopelessly mired in more traditional, restrictive values. A show which uses clever banter to highlight a deep understanding of not only pop culture, but drier, more lofty academic subjects, the characters seem to lack this crucial understanding.
Despite their off-center charisma and whimsicalities, central to the lives of Rory and Lorelai, is the very time-honored subject of money. Lorelai’s flight from the established, financially secure home of her parents’ at 16, is that character’s most defining moment. In a world where money equals power and control, we understand the veracity of Lorelai’s independence in this single act. Financial setbacks inform Lorelai’s decisions throughout the series, and are used as a tool of manipulation by her parents. Clichés and television tropes suggest old world money and East Coast stodginess and are used to identify Richard and Emily Gilmore as snobbish and haughty, played by Edward Hermann and Kelly Bishop respectively. As Lorelai’s jeep wrangler pulls up to her parents’ stately mansion, we fully appreciate the disparity of their socio-economic status. By contrast, Lorelai and Rory’s cozy bungalow is warm and inviting, with a welcoming front porch, fairy lights and paper lanterns. Single Mom Lorelai, fiercely independent, eschews her parents’ blue blood extravagances and makes the conscious decision the secure her personal set of values on friendship and independence. Rory however, consistently makes decisions which perpetuate the money-equals-power dynamic, placing her trust in her wealthy grandparents and wealthy college boyfriend, Logan (played by Matthew Czuchry). Though raised in the loving embrace of Lorelai’s comfortable version of middle class, she “deviates from this established norm of hard work and education when she encounters others from the upper class world at Yale” (Johns and Smith).
Female-centric programming was in full swing in the late nineties, with shows featuring Bette Midler, Geena Davis, Nikki Cox — even Dora the Explorer making their premieres in 2000. Shows foregrounding alternative family structures were not common however, and narratives featuring strong, hardworking, smart (but sexy!) single Moms, raising charming, bookish daughters were noticeably lacking. Born out of wedlock, Rory represents a new type of teen heroine, who according to Amy Sherman-Palladino “was comfortable in [her] own skin” not one of the two common teenage girl representatives of the time. She explains that at the time Rory was created, there was either the ‘pretty cheerleader, popular but secretly anorexic” or the “angry, dark-haired, Doc Martin wearing, disenfranchised girls who hate the cheerleaders.” Teenage girls who were smart and funny, but not necessarily popular were underrepresented. A girl who “wasn’t having sex at 12 and a half, wasn’t dressing like a whore, wasn’t dying to be popular.” The concept for Rory came first, and the strong-willed and rebellious Lorelai was created as the only logical mother Rory could have (Fresh Air, NPR). The unconventionality of Lorelai’s life choices, to leave her wealthy parents and to raise a baby on her own, secures her agency as a feminist, at least at first glance. And though programs starring two female leads were not new, they too were in short supply.
Passionately self-reliant, financially independent and strong willed, Lorelai can easily be held up as a poster child to post-modernist feminism (McCaffrey). Anyone who has single-handedly raised a daughter so virtuous, intelligent and self-assured as Rory must understand the strength of women and their potential in the world. Though both Rory and Lorelai are thin and beautiful, the embodiments of the feminine ideal, they are driven by ambition to better themselves, not through their obvious feminine wiles, but by hard work, education and intentional life choices. Rory, explaining why Lorelai named her daughter after herself claiming “her feminism sort of took over” but mitigates this act of feminism by adding it might have been the Demerol” (S1, Ep.1). Like Ally McBeal before her, Lorelai Gilmore is a feminist, one who isn’t afraid to showcase her femininity. Amanda D. Lotz offers in In Ms. Beal’s Defense: Assessing All McBeal as a Feminist Text:
Stories depicting the new options available to women may now circulate in series featuring tough career women and women involved in more equitable romantic relationships, but most assume these gains without dealing with the complexity of residual sexism and patriarchal power (346).
Lotz would probably consider Lorelai as a character who negotiates the intricacies of sexism and patriarchal dominance, but her daughter Rory however is more passive in matters of love and money. While Lorelai is representative of third wave feminism as described by Jennifer Baumgartner and Amy Richards, embracing her femininity while pursuing her ambitions, Rory’s feminism is superficial. In her relationship with Dean, played by Jared Padalecki, Rory seems happy to let Dean call the shots: he kisses her goodnight, he decides when the evening is over and he says “I’ll call you tomorrow” (S2, Ep1). Rory seems content to play the pawn in the power play which enables her to attend Chilton. As the character of Rory is developed, she is dependent more on other people’s money and the decisions of strong male characters. Her relationships with all three of her boyfriends are “marked by dysfunction and inequity” (McCaffrey). As Rory matures and grows more independent of Lorelai, her self-worth relies more on the patriarchal establishment, that of her wealthy grandfather, Logan and Logan’s father. In the episode before the conclusion of the fifth season, Rory’s dependence on the established male hierarchy, on male opinion is never more obvious. In her performance review with Logan’s father — a white, wealthy and wholly unpleasant newspaper magnate, he states “And I have to tell you. You don’t got it” (S5, Ep.21). His opinion carries so much weight with Rory, she tailspins herself right into a jail cell and takes the following semester off from Yale. His authoritarian, hegemonic dominance is so profound, his opinion derails her character’s defining attribute. It would be hard to picture the same thing happening to Lorelai.
Marshall McLuhan famously stated that the “medium is the message” and nowhere is this concept more evident than in the naturalized but negotiated representation of class, race and gender in the Gilmore girls. From the pleasantly impactive golden-hued opening credits, to the soft murmuring La La Las of the soundtrack, we are lulled into a state of acceptance to the message, whose sharp edges have been effectively filed down with humor and playful banter. As a “cool” medium, McLuhan argued that television required more from its viewers — to think, to infer and to draw conclusions. Stars Hollow and its band of quirky inhabitants are normalized, because their eccentricities are served up so appealingly and we have done the work to understand them. Though impactive in their own way, feature films can be limiting as a visual medium. The medium of television, specifically the Gilmore girls enthralled audiences perhaps more thoroughly since we are inviting Lorelai and Rory into our homes, we ‘get’ them, we’re in on the joke. So perhaps our love of Rory and Lorelai, make their hypocrisy easier to swallow; a perfectly palatable (if a little bit poisonous) pop culture pill.
Resources
Blame Booze and Melville. Gilmore girls. The WB. 10 May 2005. Television
Elliott, Stuart THE MEDIA BUSINESS: ADVERTISING; A coalition of marketers is accelerating efforts to sponsor 'family friendly' prime-time television. Published: March 31, 2000
Gross, Terry Fresh Air National Public Radio Interview with Amy Palladino, Aired
May 5, 2005, retrieved March 27, 2015
Johns, Erin K. and Smith, Kristen L. “Welcome to Stars Hollow: Gilmore Girls, Utopia and the Hyperreal” Gilmore girls and the politics of identity: essays on family and feminism in the television series. Ritch Calvin, editor. McFarland, 2008.
Lotz, Amanda D. “In Ms. McBeal’s Defense: Assessing Ally McBeal as a Feminist Text” US television and cultural studies. Bambi Haggins, Editor. Arizona State University. Pearson Custom Publications 2009.
McCaffrey, Molly “Rory Gilmore and Faux Feminism: An Ivy League Education and Clever Banter Does Not a Feminist Make” Gilmore girls and the politics of identity: essays on family and feminism in the television series. Ritch Calvin, editor. McFarland, 2008.
McLuhan, Marshall “The Medium is the Message” US Television & Cultural Studies Bambi Haggins, Editor Arizona State University Pearson Custom Publications 2009 2009. Print.
Sadie, Sadie… Gilmore girls The WB 9 October 2001 Television
The Party’s Over. Gilmore girls The WB. 9 November 2004 Television.
The Pilot. Gilmore girls. The WB. 9 October 2000. Television
You Jump, I Jump, Jack. Gilmore girls, The WB 2 November 2004. Television
