The Gilmore Project is an experiment in composition form. As a huge fan of the show Gilmore Girls, I have watched and rewatched the episodes several times over. During my last full viewing in early 2018, I noticed myself watching the show differently than I had in the past and realized that there was a lot of personal reflection being stimulated by the events of the show as well as the music and cultural references. As a result, I decided to start a journey in blog form...exploring each episode and how it resonated with me personally.
Disclaimer: If you have not watched Gilmore Girls but plan to, you'll want to watch each episode before reading these posts. There will 100% of the time be spoilers. I'd be doing this wrong if there weren't. That's the nature of the beast.
Emily: There you go. Now you look just like Tiger Woods.
Rory: Wow. That's some hat.
Rory is being forced under the rigors of Chilton to join a sport. After the subject is brought up at Friday night dinner, Emily suggests that Richard take her golfing. Both Richard and Lorelai voice concerns with the situation. Rory spends a day at the club with her grandfather, after which all parties involved, including Lorelai, are surprised to find that both Richard and Rory enjoyed the outing. This spurs some crazy jealousy in Lorelai, who struggles with the idea that her daughter is finding closeness in a relationship with the parents she could never connect with.
The Lorelai Angle:
Ah...so much for my being able to identify more with Lorelai in the Gilmore episodes. Well...maybe that will change as we progress through the seasons. As for this episode, Lorelai spends most of her time coordinating a wedding at the inn and feeling crazy jealous of Rory's relationship with the elder Gilmores. Neither of these situations were really ones I could connect with beyond anything superficial.
The Rory Angle:
Oh, sports. When the subject of the school's requirement comes up at dinner, Rory's quip is "I'm not really the athletic type". This could not be more me. I'm a book worm, not an athlete. But...much like Chilton, my parents (specifically my dad) had it in their heads that I needed to participate in some kind of sport.
I managed to escape this requirement fairly well until junior high. At that point, I reluctantly joined the volleyball team. Now...it should be mentioned that I am ridiculously uncoordinated and completely lack any grace. My parents had enrolled me in both gymnastics and dance in prior years in an attempt to rectify this issue. It did not take. This was somewhat apparent on the court as well. I was...okay...I suppose, but I certainly did not have any natural athletic ability. It didn't help that I had what was probably a pretty crappy attitude about the whole thing. I didn't want to be there, didn't want to participate, and didn't really have any interest in the sport. I have very few memories about that season, but I made it through.
I thought this endeavor would be enough to satisfy my dad. Nope. He soon decided that maybe it was just that volleyball wasn't my forte. I needed to find a spring sport and try again. Ugh. My parents both had been athletic in their high school days. My mom was a cheerleader. My dad was a track star...like breaking school records type track star. I wasn't popular in any way and had zero interest in taking on cheer, so Dad decided that maybe some genetic ability had passed to me and I should definitely try track. Gah.
I hate running. Seriously. Not a fan. So I hedged away from those events (much to my long-distance running father's chagrin) and instead put myself in shot put, long jump, and...minimizing my running...a relay. This worked well for a while. However, there was an...incident. At one track meet, one of my classmates was unavailable for her leg in a longer distance relay. I was (reluctantly) subbed in. And...as if there was some cosmic sign that I should NOT be a runner...I nearly passed out during my run. A subsequent breathing issue led to a minor medical emergency and a resulting diagnosis of sports aggravated asthma. You had better believe I latched on to this. No more track for me. I finished out the season, but after that...there were no more organized sports. Sometimes things just have a way of working themselves out.
Rory's experience may have resulted in a bit more enjoyment than my volleyball or track stints, but...I did take a bit of joy in the fact that she didn't excel on the green any more than I did on the court or the field.
The Gilmore Project continues...
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