Rachel Wortman
Have you heard the good news? Gilmore Girls has risen again! Binge-watchers rejoice because it’s time to spend copious hours with your favorite girls in Stars Hollow. As of last week’s announcement that the show will be released on Netflix, the Internet is collectively flipping out over Gilmore Girls. If you’re an outsider to this little WB/CW television show, you might be wondering “What’s the deal?” — please allow me to explain.
As a cult phenomenon, the show built out of Internet fame and the blossoming of pop culture obsessiveness, which has created an unstoppable force of loyal followers that grows with each passing year. But what is it that makes this show so popular and enduring? For starters, it completely led the charge for representation of alternative families on television. In today’s TV, non-traditional households are all the rage. From Modern Family to Parenthood, this dynamic has won over critics and audiences alike, none of which would have been possible without the Gilmore Girls. The show’s hook concerns the idea of a mother and daughter who are more like friends than family, an important representation of a changing America. For all of us who grew up outside of Leave it to Beaver’s model family, there’s something liberating about seeing your reality normalized in such a loving manner. GG is about the story of the town it takes place in, Stars Hollow, and the weird and wonderful community of people who come together to raise Rory Gilmore. By having such a rich ensemble, the show is that much more relatable as the viewer searches for Lisa and herself in that Connecticut crowd.
If you ask any GG fan why the show is so great, they will likely mention its script. The show’s writers consistently created dialogue that was snappy and chock-full of pop culture references. Every episode features at least one laugh-out-loud moment and usually many more than that. And despite the years passed since their debut, the dialogue stands its ground without the feel of being dated or clunky.
Perhaps the best part of GG is that below its occasionally superficial dialogue was real substance: GG commented on social issues of the time, as well as larger phenomena. It was a feminist show made accessible to a wide base of viewers who fell in love with its star characters without realizing they’d been sucked into the world of social progressivism.
It’s rare to find a show that’s both led and dominated by women. While love interests and male characters hover around the show’s duo, it is Rory and Lorelai, not the Deans and the Lukes of their world, who are at the center of the drama.
Sadly, this female-centric focus is why this show is often referred to as simply “chick-flick” by those who haven’t see it. But, thanks to GG fans and to new programs like Orange is the New Black, continual proof that stories about women are compelling, vital, loved by audiences and extremely successful has never been more apparent. So here’s to you, Gilmore Girls! You may not have gotten the love you deserved back in 2000, but you will forever belong to the ages now.