Gilmore Girls: A Good Example of a Bad Example

It's usually bad enough when fiction in the media portrays real life, but much worse when it's held up as a model by which to influence the public. Although its popularity has continued throughout its last few seasons, the television show "Gilmore Girls" is one of the most negative examples.

At the beginning of the show, one of the main characters, Loralei Gilmore, informs viewers that there are many paths in life-- and going with the theme of the show, not adding that any may be more destructive or wrong than others, and no mention of there being any consequences to the paths which one such as Loralei herself chooses. Loralei, who became pregnant at sixteen, chose to forego marriage and to become a single mom to her daughter Rory; she does not choose to eventually marry Rory's father until the girl is partway through her education at Yale University.

In previous seasons of Gilmore Girls, viewers were treated to an extreme of the "single mother with one child" syndrome-- Loralei, Rory, and all of the other significants are shown in an almost caricaturelike fashion, only slightly more colorful than their real-life counterparts. Loralei-- the mid-thirties girl-who-never-grew-up, both leaning on and cowtowing to her own parents instead of filling an adult role in either her own or her daughter's life, as if perpetually stuck in a time-warp of adolescent rebellion; her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Gilmore, who use monetary leverage and verbal talking-down to keep Loralei under their thumb: Rory, the teenager who was pulled too soon into the world of grown-ups; and, most disturbing, the relationship between Loralei and Rory-- relating as if they were chummy pals rather than mother and daughter, parent and child.

If the Gilmore Girls attempts to show viewers that unwed motherhood is not generally a great idea, or such important concepts such as there ever being potentially-negative consequences to one's decisions, it seems doubtful that many viewers would pick up on these points. In contrast, the Gilmore Girls is portrayed as a boast-- boasting the lack of responsibility, lack of care or even notice of consequences; and, in everything being a matter of "personal choice," very little commentary regarding the possibility that any choices in life may actually be "wrong." Although the show itself is an aggravation, what's worse is the fact that the media is a very strong influence over the public and what it comes to view as "real life."

It is difficult to tolerate an hour of Loralei, Rory, and their cohorts, without a stiff drink-- they are thoroughly annoying individuals. But continuing to watch this show, convinced that somehow, at some point, some type of common sense and social merit will come into the picture-- that is an even more disillusioning waste of time, for as one season fades into another, there has been little to the Gilmore Girls other than Loralei's incessantly chirpy adolescent ranting, her mother and father's condescending attitudes and condescending manner of relating, and young Rory's aging-too-soon without ever having had a childhood, for her youth was taken up by playing Pal to her carefree mother.