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An Open Letter to Amy Sherman Palladino

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Marywood chapter.

***SPOILER ALERT: IF YOU HAVE NOT WATCHED GILMORE GIRLS: A YEAR IN THE LIFE SPOILERS LIE AHEAD***

 

    Well Amy, I think you know what this pertains to
.Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life. Like most avid Gilmore Girls fans, I was overjoyed at the promise of a reunion for the cast. I couldn’t wait to see where Rory and Lorelai ended up. I was elated with the promise of seeing Stars Hallow again. I counted down the months, weeks, days and later hours until the Revival was available on Netflix. I watched every single promotional interview, teaser trailer, and social media clip I could get my hands on. I trolled through fan theories, blogs and opinion pieces as to determine what the ‘last four words’ were. To say I was excited for the revival was an understatement. Yet here I am writing this letter with the hopes that you will understand why I and a lot of other Gilmore Girls fans are disappointed with Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life.

    I understand that you left the original Gilmore Girls series prior to the seventh and final season of the show and have since claimed you never watched that season. However, Amy, your revival overlooks and contradicts major elements of character development from the show’s seventh season. In the show’s series finale we see Rory departing Stars Hallow to follow President Obama’s Presidential Campaign as a journalist. Rory has just turned down her long term boyfriend, Logan’s proposal in pursuit of career and personal happiness. As the show draws to a close we are reminded of Lorelai and Rory’s close friendship as a Mother-Daughter duo and that Luke is ultimately Lorelai’s soulmate. As the revival picks up, we are confronted with an unsuccessful and virtually lost Rory Gilmore. 

    Rory is in my honest opinion, lazy and unmotivated. Do you mean to tell me that the same Rory Gilmore who went toe to toe with Paris Gellar at Chilton over their school newspaper,  The Franklin is unwilling to fight back the rescheduling of her Conde Nast meeting? The same individual who graduated from Yale University with a journalism degree after serving as editor in chief of their school newspaper is unable to find a job in any media related field? Why didn’t Rory become a blogger while looking for more concrete work? Maybe she can’t hold a job because she misses phone calls from editors, and spends more time jet setting to London to be with Logan than she does working on her career? How about the fact that she falls asleep  while interviewing someone for a story? or the fact that she has a one night stand with another source for that same said story? Rory Gilmore who used to be a role model for our generation is now incapable of holding a job or a stable relationship. Rory treats her boyfriend, Paul, of two years like a doormat which is meant to be humorous but begs the question what happened to Rory Gilmore in the last ten years that has made her so jaded and inconsiderate of the feelings of others? Amy, why have you disregarded seven season’s worth of character development in erasing Rory’s humanity and determination? Why did you let Mitchum Huntzberger be right about Rory’s inability to be a journalist?

    Let’s talk about the stinted Story lines from the revival
..the appearance of Tristan Marino. A character played by Chad Michael Murray during season one and two of Gilmore Girls. A character who appears in the revival in a 5 second shot played by another actor and crating an unnecessary and strange storyline when there were far more pressing characters and plot questions to be answered. Amy, I am going to ask you some of the most important questions 

    Among the story lines I found to be the most touching from the revival 

 

    Amy, I was truly disappointed by Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life. I feel you did a disservice to the characters you once created and we have all grown to love by making the majority of your characters unhappy with their lives. Where your writing was once heartwarming and relatable, you have given us stilted story lines and awkward dialogue. I feel as if you were trying to make a point to the Television executives you once grappled with over contracts instead of considering the development of characters.

Alexandra Goebelbecker is a senior Advertising and Public Relations Major with a Comprehensive Social Science Minor. She co-founded Her Campus Marywood in April 2015 with McKensie Curnow. She makes up 1/2 of political column, Back to Back with co-author, Anna Notchick. In addition she is an intern at Condron Media, Student Activities Shadow, President of service sorority, Alpha Sigma Psi, Vice President of Marywood's Chapter of PRSSA and AAF, and LYM Campus Crew Member. Additionally she is a former  HC Campus Expansion Assistant and current High School Program Mentor.  Her passions include pop culture, popcorn and politics.   For more of Alexandra's Work: https://alexandrajgoebelbecker.wordpress.com