Life According to The Gilmore Girls

I know I'm late to the party, but I am nearly finished watching the Gilmore Girls for the first time. Lorelai and Rory have helped me through washing many dishes, and folding a lot of clothes, and I am forever grateful for their assistance in some of my most loathed household chores.

I often like to watch popular shows like this one with this question in mind: "How has this show had an impact on the views of our culture?" The Gilmore Girls have given me a lot of material to ponder, but it also begs the question of the chicken or the egg? Did shows like this one shape and mold popular thinking, or did popular thinking shape the content of these shows?

Here are some observations of life according to the Gilmore Girls:

1. The mother/child relationship can be a friendship. While I believe that eventually, a mother daughter relationship can develop into a friendship, I do not agree that being your child's friend their entire life will help raise a responsible, respectful adult. Mothers are there for teaching and loving, but if they are seen as their child's equal, the child will not learn to respect authority. Sometimes being disliked for your decision is the loving thing to do. Thankfully, in Rory's case, she turned out to be a responsible adult, but this is scripted life; real life doesn't usually work the way it does on TV.

2. Flitting from man to man is perfectly normal and doesn't hurt as long as that next person makes you happier than the one before. I mean, I can't even keep track of all the men Lorelai has been with since the start of the show, let alone being engaged to two of them (three if you count the plan she had with Christopher until he found out his girlfriend was pregnant). It portrays sex as casual, and relationships and people as disposable. Lorelai did show some wisdom when she wanted to move slowly in her current relationship to make sure Chris was going to stay around this time. That only lasted about 2 hours though, and by the time he dropped her off at home, and kissed her passionately on the front porch, her resolve quickly melted away and she gave in to the emotions, inviting him in to spend the night (among other implied activities). Relationships are made to make us holy and more like Christ. Whether it is a romantic relationship, or a friendship, our happiness is not God's main purpose; holiness is.

3. Intimacy = sex. In an episode that I recently watched, Rory is talking to Lane about her boyfriend who has recently left for London on a year long work assignment. She's saying how much she misses him, and how much she's realized that sex, and the physical stuff is so important in a relationship. It sounds all nice and fluffy, but I want to tell Rory (and any other person who thinks like she does), "Honey, if your relationship is lacking without sex, then your relationship is empty." True intimacy is depth of relationship. It's that person knowing who you are more than any other person (apart from God of course). It is spiritual depth; praying together, sharing with one another what God is doing in your life, reading God's word together. It's sharing in difficulties, supporting each other, and rejoicing in happy times. And in marriage, when there is true intimacy, sexual intimacy is even better. Don't be fooled into thinking that a relationship isn't meaningful if sex isn't involved.

4. Babies suck. When Lane and her new husband found out they were expecting a baby right after they came home from their honeymoon, they had a heart-to-heart that ended in their agreeing that "this baby sucks!" Yes, unplanned pregnancies are surprising, shocking, and often unsettling, but that does not mean that the baby sucks. No matter how or when a baby is conceived, in our timing, or not, they are always a miracle and never suck. I fear that this is a pervasive attitude in our culture. If a baby interferes with our plans and expectations, then it must be bad. However, contrary to popular believe, life is not about us. Now, I'm curious to find out how this plays out througout the season, because this is just a new development (please don't spoil it for me), but I'm really hoping that once they see and hold that baby, their attitudes will be completely different.

And on a lighter note:

5. Pedestrians can walk at any speed in the middle of the road any time they want. Okay, that probably hasn't had an impact on culture, but it always strikes me as funny when the residents of Stars Hollow just meander through the streets as though they are just an extension of the sidewalk.

6. A person can consume crazy amounts of food, not exercise and remain an "acceptable" size two. Seriously, if a normal person ate the way Lorelai and Rory do, they would probably be morbidly obese.