For this blog entry, I wanted to write about the friendships that take place in Gilmore Girls. I'm not going to focus on just one particular episode, but a collective series of episodes.
The first friendship is between Lane and Rory. They were best friends since high school and have continued to be best friends. You know the saying, "A friend sticks closer than a brother," well in this case, it's true of Rory and Lane.
I like that the show emphasizes how important it is for girls to have strong friendships with other girls. For example, when Lane found out she was pregnant, she told Rory first instead of Zac. She tells Rory she needed to get a woman's reaction first before she could tell her husband. Of course, Rory was extremely happy for her and has even helped her out by getting baby stuff and fixing up her house.
Another example would be when Lane joined a band. Lane's mom would have sent her to a convent if she would have known that Lane was playing rock n' roll music. So, Rory, being the best friend, went to her mom to ask if Lane could practice in their garage. Lorelai is a cool mom so she allowed her to.
Now the show also portrays friendships between the adult women as well. Lorelai's best friend is Sookie. They met back when Lorelai was just starting out at the Independence Inn. Just like Rory and Lane, Lorelai and Sookie have been through a lot together.
Lorelai and Sookie were not only best friends, but also business partners. They worked so well together that they opened up their own inn. Since they know each other's strengths and weaknesses, they have been able to work together through hard times and succeed.
Another example of their "true friendship," is when Lorelai breaks up with Luke, Chris, Jason, etc. Sookie was always there for Lorelai when she couldn't decide who to date. She was also always letting Lorelai cry on her shoulder whenever she went through a bad break up. Only your best friend can comfort you through hards issues like break ups and make everything seem okay in the end.
As a result, many women enjoy watching Gilmore Girls with their best friends because they can identify with all the drama and situations the characters work through.
Friday, February 23, 2007
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Lorelai Gilmore
I've decided that each week I will focus one character so when people read my TV blog they'll understand the person I am writing about. It's taken from Wikepedia because I attempted to write my own character guide and failed miserably. Plus, I have 800 other things to get done for today. : )
The first character is LORELAI GILMORE
As a teenager, Lorelai dated Christopher while in high school, and became pregnant right before her society debut, which embarrassed and disappointed her parents. [Christopher's and Lorelai's parents tried to convince them to marry, and Christopher was amenable, but Lorelai refused. When she realized she was in labour, she drove to the hospital alone.
After her daughter -Lorelai Leigh Gilmore "Rory" -was born [4], she lived with her parents for a year before running away to find a job at the Independence Inn in Stars Hollow. The owner of the inn, Mia (Elizabeth Franz), took her in, gave her a job as a maid, and let her and Rory live in the potting shed (after renovating it). [5] Lorelai worked her way up over the years, and was eventually promoted to manager. The inn is where she met her best friend, Sookie, a talented chef.
For many years, Lorelai had almost no contact with her parents, except for visits during major holidays. The rebelliousness of her teen years stayed with her in adulthood, something her parents still resent. As they both grew up, Lorelai and Rory's relationship evolved into something resembling the relationship of two sisters rather than a parent to her child. Lorelai appears uncomfortable playing "the mom card", but will use it as a last resort. It wasn't until she needed to borrow a very large sum of money for Rory's education at the exclusive Chilton Academy that she started seeing her parents regularly again, since a condition of the loan was that Lorelai and Rory join Richard and Emily for dinner every Friday night until the loan was paid off.
Lorelai repaid her parents for the loan when a real estate investment that Richard had made in her name at the time of her birth paid off, but Rory soon made her own bargain with her grandparents for Yale tuition. Lorelai continued to attend occasional Friday night dinners, partly as a way to see Rory while she was busy at college. Lorelai's relationship with her parents is still strained, but she appears to prefer her father Richard over her mother Emily, despite moments showing that she clearly loves her mother.
Besides an on-again, off-again relationship with Rory's father, Lorelai's romantic relationships have included Alex Lesman, an outdoorsy coffee house entrepreneur (for whom she learned to fish), Max Medina, a teacher at Chilton, Jason "Digger" Stiles, and Luke Danes, the owner of the local diner. Despite rejecting his marriage proposals, Lorelai remained friends with Christopher throughout the years, and helped him to cope with the birth of his daughter Georgia, nicknamed GiGi, after his girlfriend Sherry Tinsdale deserted them to pursue a job in Paris. Despite his mistakes, Lorelai's parents like Christopher and have continually pushed her to pursue a relationship with him in their adulthood, so that their family can finally be together and whole. However, Lorelai broke off contact with him after he attempted to break up her relationship with Luke in Season 5, Ep. 13 "Wedding Bell Blues" (granted, Emily manipulated him in that direction beforehand). She proposed to Luke at the end of Season 5, Ep. 22 "A House is Not a Home", and he accepted at the very beginning of the next episode. They plan to renovate and live in Lorelai's two-story home in Stars Hollow. Lorelai fears that the wedding will never take place and has presented Luke with an ultimatum. Her relationship with Rory has been considerably strained after her arrest for the theft of a yacht and leaving Yale, and the two did not speak for several months. Rory was especially angry about Lorelai not informing her about the marriage plans. They have since reconciled.
Lorelai attended Hartford Community College and earned an Associate of Arts degree in business while running the Independence Inn. After the inn burned down, she and Sookie owned and operated The Independence catering Company in order to fund renovation of the Dragonfly Inn, their long-term dream, which opened to rave reviews on May 6 during Season 4.
Lorelai's eating habits are famously unhealthy; she subsists almost exclusively on Pop Tarts and takeout. She and Rory had regular food-and-movie nights, for which they would order enough food for several people and then use the leftovers as food for the rest of the week. A running joke on the series is that food rarely, if ever, makes it all the way to Lorelai's refrigerator.
Lorelai is innately humorous and has a witty remark for every situation, often with a pop culture reference. Often, however, her remarks do come at the expense of others, and can confuse people who aren't familiar with her. As such, most of the characters do not find her amusing. These kinds of interactions with people, among other things, often make Lorelai seem like a case of arrested development - a fully grown adult woman who somehow never quite outgrew her adolescence.
Lorelai tends to isolate herself from friends and family after extremely unpleasant arguments. Rather than try to work through the dispute like a mature adult, Lorelai will simply alienate the other person, whether it's her mother or her daughter, until the dispute is more or less forgotten, indicating that she never really learned how to deal with conflict.
Lorelai is somewhat insecure when it comes to the relationships between herself, her parents, and Rory. Because her daughter gets along better with her grandparents than she herself ever did, Lorelai often feels that her parents prefer Rory over her. She thinks they view Rory, who is considerably more subdued and more classically "feminine" than her mother, as the daughter they should have had. This seemed very evident when, following a rift between Rory and Lorelai after Rory attempted to steal a yacht and dropped out of Yale, Rory moved in with her grandparents, who welcomed her with open arms. Her fears were further cemented when Rory adapted very well to her grandparents' lifestyle.
When it is revealed in the sixth season that Luke has a daughter, April, from his previous relationship with Anna Nardini, Luke and Lorelai delayed their original wedding date again, after having already delayed it once so she could settle her feud with Rory, and continue to postpone as Luke tries to make up for lost time with April. There is no interaction between April and Lorelai until Luke asks Lorelai to help him with April's birthday party, during which time April comments that Lorelai is a lot like her own mother, Anna, and says they'd like each other; Lorelai hoped this would be a major breakthrough in moving things along. Unfortunately, Anna got mad at Luke for asking Lorelai to help him with the party without asking her first, after which Lorelai confronts Anna to assure her she doesn't mean to harm April, and that her relationship with Luke is serious, Anna throws her into doubt because, as she puts it, "people get engaged all the time." Lorelai eventually grows impatient and resentful of Luke taking so long to sort out things with April and in the season six finale, after having avoided him for some time, she gives him an ultimatum - elope with her now or never - and then storms away without giving him time to think it through, perhaps ending their relationship. Lorelai goes to Christopher for comfort and the season ends with a scene of her in his bed the following morning having slept with him. The next day, Lorelai threw out everything that reminded her of Luke, which included almost everything in her house. The day after that, Luke - following the destruction to his diner in a public event planned by Taylor that went horribly wrong - showed up at her home with his truck packed and passionately professed his love for her, only to have her reveal that she'd slept with Christopher after their fight. Without saying anything, Luke slammed the door behind him in his truck and drove away. After Luke verbally took his anger out on Lorelai while her passing her by in the street, Lorelai had to confront Rory on what happened when Rory overheard her father's phone message about "the other night"; Rory angrily berated Lorelai for her actions and left, only to come back later to comfort her mother when she was in tears. Lorelai had a chance encounter with Luke at a grocery store, where he attempted to apologize and summed things up as being that they simply weren't right for each other, but whether or not he really believes that is questionable. When she told her parents she and Luke had broken up, their reaction was strangely subdued to the point of being non-existent, which Lorelai found annoying.
After being unable to get her on the phone, Christopher ran into Lorelai after he had dinner with Rory; she offered him coffee, and Christopher responded by telling Lorelai that he still loved her, had always loved her and would never stop loving her, and that he didn't want to spend the rest of his life without her. Following this and her failed relationship with Luke, Lorelai decides to take a chance on rekindling her relationship with Christopher.
At the start of Season 7, Episode 7 ("French Twist"), Christopher and Lorelai return from Paris, apparently married -- Christopher calls her "Mrs. Hayden." She does not reply, but looks at the ring on her rather sadly, suggesting she is not quite content with the event. They have maintained a reasonably normal married relationship for a few episodes, but it seems as though Luke is not quite out of the picture, much to Chris' chagrin.
Real Indentity of twentysomethings
The readings for the week have been about Reality TV and racial and stereotypical identities. The essay I'd like to focus on is Twentysomethings.
Walter Kirn must think he is the greatest thing since, as cliche as it sounds, sliced bread. It must be nice to have lived and have an established career especially in the '80's during the Reagen Era, where everyone was prospering economically. So, I guess this gives him a license to rip on the generation right after. It's great that he had it pretty easy in a time of economic wealth and then can turn around deem the next generation as slackers because the economy of their time isn't doing so great.
He starts his article by listing qualities that describe the "slacker" generation. One of these traits was "a distrust of authority." The authorities of the "slacker" generation basically suck, to put it mildly, at their jobs. The authorities were set up to help people, not to screw them over. Is it any wonder that the "slacker" generation distrusts authorities?
Another ridiculous statement his makes is: "A generation whose defining collective experience is its lack of defining collective experiences, whose Woodstock was watching The Partridge Family with a couple of friends and whose great moral dilemma is "paper or plastic?" is unlikely to produce a crop of quick-witted passionate radicals."
(Argh, this comments just makes my nerves on edge).
First of all, the twentysomething generation he wrote about was fighting for issues of their time. Their Woodstock wasn't one of sex, drugs, and rock n' roll. There Woodstock was fighting the Gulf War, dealing with President Clinton, the Oklahoma City bombing, the shootings of Columbine, and Grunge music. So, don't sit here and say that twentysomethings didn't have enough on their plate and call them "slackers."
Also, as a result of these things I would have to say twentysomethings are quick-witted passionate radicals. They have done a lot things to fix the problems of the generation before them in hopes of a better future than their parents had. It's just that when the generation before you messes things up so badly that your generation has to fix the problems and even hand over the work to the generation after them, then it's going to take a while to fix these problems. Also, since it takes so long, the results aren't going to be immediate, therefore, it may look like you are "slacking."
He then goes on to rip on the movie Singles. He says, "...the world having shrunk to the cramped dimensions of one's wacky, sad, starter apartment, with its sardonic, cheap, recycled furnishings."
What is he thinking? Did he have a wonderfully, brand-new furnished, home or apartment at twentysomething? Um, seriously, it takes a while for people to have things like that. My friends are all in their mid or late twenties, and only two of them, because they are married, have their own house. Everyone else lives in dumpy apartments with three other people. That's just what you do until you are more financially stable.
Kirn needs to stop blaming pop culture on the twentysomethings and attitude, and start blaming his own neglectful generation.
Walter Kirn must think he is the greatest thing since, as cliche as it sounds, sliced bread. It must be nice to have lived and have an established career especially in the '80's during the Reagen Era, where everyone was prospering economically. So, I guess this gives him a license to rip on the generation right after. It's great that he had it pretty easy in a time of economic wealth and then can turn around deem the next generation as slackers because the economy of their time isn't doing so great.
He starts his article by listing qualities that describe the "slacker" generation. One of these traits was "a distrust of authority." The authorities of the "slacker" generation basically suck, to put it mildly, at their jobs. The authorities were set up to help people, not to screw them over. Is it any wonder that the "slacker" generation distrusts authorities?
Another ridiculous statement his makes is: "A generation whose defining collective experience is its lack of defining collective experiences, whose Woodstock was watching The Partridge Family with a couple of friends and whose great moral dilemma is "paper or plastic?" is unlikely to produce a crop of quick-witted passionate radicals."
(Argh, this comments just makes my nerves on edge).
First of all, the twentysomething generation he wrote about was fighting for issues of their time. Their Woodstock wasn't one of sex, drugs, and rock n' roll. There Woodstock was fighting the Gulf War, dealing with President Clinton, the Oklahoma City bombing, the shootings of Columbine, and Grunge music. So, don't sit here and say that twentysomethings didn't have enough on their plate and call them "slackers."
Also, as a result of these things I would have to say twentysomethings are quick-witted passionate radicals. They have done a lot things to fix the problems of the generation before them in hopes of a better future than their parents had. It's just that when the generation before you messes things up so badly that your generation has to fix the problems and even hand over the work to the generation after them, then it's going to take a while to fix these problems. Also, since it takes so long, the results aren't going to be immediate, therefore, it may look like you are "slacking."
He then goes on to rip on the movie Singles. He says, "...the world having shrunk to the cramped dimensions of one's wacky, sad, starter apartment, with its sardonic, cheap, recycled furnishings."
What is he thinking? Did he have a wonderfully, brand-new furnished, home or apartment at twentysomething? Um, seriously, it takes a while for people to have things like that. My friends are all in their mid or late twenties, and only two of them, because they are married, have their own house. Everyone else lives in dumpy apartments with three other people. That's just what you do until you are more financially stable.
Kirn needs to stop blaming pop culture on the twentysomethings and attitude, and start blaming his own neglectful generation.
Friday, February 16, 2007
Real Reality TV
I have to say that it's sweet that in an English class we are learning about Reality TV. Ok, back to the blog.
Personally, I think the reading is getting much more interesting. I guess with the ad reading it was always the same kind of message that ads are bad and affect you negatively. However, with the Reality TV reading, it seems that there are different view points. It's nice to get a variety of opinions.
I think one of the essays that stood out most to me was by Justin T.P Ryan. He wrote about dating reality shows. I liked it because it reminded me of my English teacher in high school. He was a staunch Republican and (ahem) elderly, but he always spoke about how young men need to respect women when they are dating. I guess this just brought about nostalgic memories of his class.
Justin Ryan wrote in his essay the same thing. American culture is taking a decline and showing these people who are looking for "true love," but it's just a gross misrepresentation of what that really is.
I remember watching this show VH1 did one time like three years ago about reality TV. It interviewed some well-known people that were on reality TV like the guy from Who Wants to Marry a Millionaire? and asked them what really went on behind the scenes. The guy (I can't remember his name for life of me) from above mentioned show, was being interviewed for one of the segments, and he said something really interesting. He said that the majority of the time in dating shows all the participants are liquored up--a lot.
Final question: How can you find your "soul mate" being all liquored up? I seem to recall that alcohol has an affect on your judgment.
Personally, I think the reading is getting much more interesting. I guess with the ad reading it was always the same kind of message that ads are bad and affect you negatively. However, with the Reality TV reading, it seems that there are different view points. It's nice to get a variety of opinions.
I think one of the essays that stood out most to me was by Justin T.P Ryan. He wrote about dating reality shows. I liked it because it reminded me of my English teacher in high school. He was a staunch Republican and (ahem) elderly, but he always spoke about how young men need to respect women when they are dating. I guess this just brought about nostalgic memories of his class.
Justin Ryan wrote in his essay the same thing. American culture is taking a decline and showing these people who are looking for "true love," but it's just a gross misrepresentation of what that really is.
I remember watching this show VH1 did one time like three years ago about reality TV. It interviewed some well-known people that were on reality TV like the guy from Who Wants to Marry a Millionaire? and asked them what really went on behind the scenes. The guy (I can't remember his name for life of me) from above mentioned show, was being interviewed for one of the segments, and he said something really interesting. He said that the majority of the time in dating shows all the participants are liquored up--a lot.
Final question: How can you find your "soul mate" being all liquored up? I seem to recall that alcohol has an affect on your judgment.
Thursday, February 15, 2007
so stupid
I am starting to get really annoyed with this whole Luke, Lorelai, and Chris love triangle. Seriously, these writers first decide that Chris and Lorelai should get married. That decision caused a whole upheaval among fans because everyone wanted Luke and Lorelai to finally get married. Then they gave you basically the whole season to get used to the idea of them being married, and now, they drop another bomb.
Lorelai wants out of the marriage.
I guess I am just so sick of Lorelai always choosing Chris, then changing her mind because she doesn't want to be with, then going back to him, then dumping him. It's just a vicious cycle with her. Also, this cycle gets old really vast as an audience member. It was okay for say the first three seasons, but Gilmore Girls is in their seventh season, you'd think the new writers would have at least tried to make the show more interesting instead of playing off of an hold hit.
However, on Rory's side of things, it was bit more interesting.
Rory started to have a crush on one the T.A's at her school. However, she was really worried that Logan would get mad. Towards the end of the show, she sits down with Logan and tells him that she has a crush on this other guy. Surprisingly, he doesn't freak out. He actually tells Rory that it is okay because they both know they are in love with each other.
To me, that seemed like a very mature thing for Logan to say. The general view is that most guys would FREAK out on the girlfriend for even looking at another guy or commenting that he is attractive. However, Logan was mature enough to know that even though you are in a relationship, you are still human and still find other people attractive. You can't turn off your sexuality.
Lorelai wants out of the marriage.
I guess I am just so sick of Lorelai always choosing Chris, then changing her mind because she doesn't want to be with, then going back to him, then dumping him. It's just a vicious cycle with her. Also, this cycle gets old really vast as an audience member. It was okay for say the first three seasons, but Gilmore Girls is in their seventh season, you'd think the new writers would have at least tried to make the show more interesting instead of playing off of an hold hit.
However, on Rory's side of things, it was bit more interesting.
Rory started to have a crush on one the T.A's at her school. However, she was really worried that Logan would get mad. Towards the end of the show, she sits down with Logan and tells him that she has a crush on this other guy. Surprisingly, he doesn't freak out. He actually tells Rory that it is okay because they both know they are in love with each other.
To me, that seemed like a very mature thing for Logan to say. The general view is that most guys would FREAK out on the girlfriend for even looking at another guy or commenting that he is attractive. However, Logan was mature enough to know that even though you are in a relationship, you are still human and still find other people attractive. You can't turn off your sexuality.
Friday, February 9, 2007
paper review
I have to say that this was one of the most fun papers to compose. I've had Advanced English in high school and took a few English courses at Macomb, but this paper doesn't even compare to the others I have had to write. The other papers were always so boring and "dry." Plus, it was always the same thing like write about what you read, or character analysis, or do an opinion essay BUT it has to be the way I (the teacher) tell you, you have to do it. So, it was really refreshing to finally do a paper that was creative and unique. I like that this essay was actually analytical, but FUN.
I visited my friend at her dorm earlier this week after class, and she had to the exact paper. However, her paper had to be about objects that describe her. So, I like how you (Ellen) made our paper actually tie in with what we have been learning and that is interesting to do.
The other thing that I liked about this paper and class is that it INTERESTING. This class and my communications class are the only ones I enjoy this semester. I'm going into journalism so I guess that explains it. I feel like this English class is my own personal pop culture gossip coulmn extravaganza. If I ever find myself working at People or US, I'll know what to do because of this class. : )
Well, I'm not going to lie to you, but the paper was actually hard to do. I seriously don't ever pay attention to ads, even on TV. I am an avid magazine reader, but I usually skip over the ads. On a side note, the worst magazine to read is Oprah's magazine O. Seriously, EVERY OTHER page is an AD! It's so annoying! Anyways, since I don't ever pay attention to ads, it was hard to find and analyze one that truly describe me, but doable.
Overall, I'm happy with this class and the assignments. I just hope I can keep up with everything.
I visited my friend at her dorm earlier this week after class, and she had to the exact paper. However, her paper had to be about objects that describe her. So, I like how you (Ellen) made our paper actually tie in with what we have been learning and that is interesting to do.
The other thing that I liked about this paper and class is that it INTERESTING. This class and my communications class are the only ones I enjoy this semester. I'm going into journalism so I guess that explains it. I feel like this English class is my own personal pop culture gossip coulmn extravaganza. If I ever find myself working at People or US, I'll know what to do because of this class. : )
Well, I'm not going to lie to you, but the paper was actually hard to do. I seriously don't ever pay attention to ads, even on TV. I am an avid magazine reader, but I usually skip over the ads. On a side note, the worst magazine to read is Oprah's magazine O. Seriously, EVERY OTHER page is an AD! It's so annoying! Anyways, since I don't ever pay attention to ads, it was hard to find and analyze one that truly describe me, but doable.
Overall, I'm happy with this class and the assignments. I just hope I can keep up with everything.
Thursday, February 8, 2007
New writers does NOT equal better episodes
I was watching a re-run of one of the episodes this week of Gilmore Girls from the new season. The more I watch the new episodes, the more I want to scream profanities (okay, that's a little harsh) more like write a strong letter to the writers telling them they are doing a horrible job.
The episode I caught this week was when Christopher and Lorelai go to Paris. Towards the end of the episode Chris and Lorelai decide to get married--without Rory there!
The main thing anyone knows about Gilmore Girls, even if they aren't fans, is that Rory and Lorelai go together like PB&J, like Burt and Earnie, like Bevis and Butthead, like...okay, I couldn't think of any good best friend analogies, but you get the point.
All hard-core Gilmore Girl fans know that Loreali would want her daughter and best friend to be in her wedding. The new writers just don't seem to understand and know the characters at all. Loreali and Rory are known for their witty banter and how easy it is for them to do this. However, the new writers make them sound stupid like teeny-boppers who are just rambling about the most pointless things. It makes their conversation seem akward, when it has always been easy-going.
Also, the characters seem more fake in the sense of them being unrealistic. Another huge problem is that Chris and Lorelai got married. EVERYONE who watches Gilmore Girls knew Luke and Loreali should have been together. It was until the new writers got brought in for the new season did everything start falling apart. The worst thing about this is that this is the last season of Gilmore Girls. Things can't get any worse...
The episode I caught this week was when Christopher and Lorelai go to Paris. Towards the end of the episode Chris and Lorelai decide to get married--without Rory there!
The main thing anyone knows about Gilmore Girls, even if they aren't fans, is that Rory and Lorelai go together like PB&J, like Burt and Earnie, like Bevis and Butthead, like...okay, I couldn't think of any good best friend analogies, but you get the point.
All hard-core Gilmore Girl fans know that Loreali would want her daughter and best friend to be in her wedding. The new writers just don't seem to understand and know the characters at all. Loreali and Rory are known for their witty banter and how easy it is for them to do this. However, the new writers make them sound stupid like teeny-boppers who are just rambling about the most pointless things. It makes their conversation seem akward, when it has always been easy-going.
Also, the characters seem more fake in the sense of them being unrealistic. Another huge problem is that Chris and Lorelai got married. EVERYONE who watches Gilmore Girls knew Luke and Loreali should have been together. It was until the new writers got brought in for the new season did everything start falling apart. The worst thing about this is that this is the last season of Gilmore Girls. Things can't get any worse...
Friday, February 2, 2007
Thursday, February 1, 2007
Stereotyping
So, this week in class, our reading focused on stereotyping in advertisements. And as it happened it got me thinking about stereotypes while I watched Gilmore Girls this week.
Every so often certain episodes will focus on Rory and Lane's friendship. Lane is Korean and sometimes this poses a problem in her. This week's episode was how Lane's mom was making Lane go on a chaperoned church outing with a boy because he was Koren, studying to be a doctor, and might marry if she would act like a "good" Korean girl.
Well, it got me to thinking if Gilmore Girls was stereotyping Asians. The stereotyping would mostly be about Lane's mom, Mrs. Kim. Some "typical" Asian things I noticed were, obviously, the name--Mrs. Kim. It seems like every show that has an Asian woman in it must be named Kim.
The most noticeable thing is that Mrs. Kim is portrayed as this little woman with a thick American accent who is a stingy business woman. She owns her own antique shop and is always trying to haggle with her customers so she can make the most profit. Plus, she is very traditionalistic and wants Lane to uphold Korean rituals.
For instance, in later episodes, Mrs. Kim wouldn't let Lane's boyfriend propose to her unless he made a hit single (he's in a band with Lane). Then Lane and Zach had to have TWO weddings because of her Korean heritage. The first wedding was everything Korean to make her grandma happy because her mom said, "You must respect your elders." Only then could they have the wedding they wanted.
Mrs. Kim was also really strict because she wanted everyone to think Lane was good a Korean girl. She wouldn't let Lane be alone with boys, listen to rock music (Lane hid rock CDs under a loose wood plank her room), and she made her go to a Korean church, and only date Korean boys.
Well, as we all know, you can't suffocate a person and try to make them to be something their not. As Lane got older, she began to be much more open with her mom. She joined a band at first secretly. Then she started dating Zach. Once her mom realized that Lane could still be a "good" Korean girl, she became okay with what she was doing.
I don't know this at all stereotyping since I don't know much Asian culture, but those were just some thoughts.
Every so often certain episodes will focus on Rory and Lane's friendship. Lane is Korean and sometimes this poses a problem in her. This week's episode was how Lane's mom was making Lane go on a chaperoned church outing with a boy because he was Koren, studying to be a doctor, and might marry if she would act like a "good" Korean girl.
Well, it got me to thinking if Gilmore Girls was stereotyping Asians. The stereotyping would mostly be about Lane's mom, Mrs. Kim. Some "typical" Asian things I noticed were, obviously, the name--Mrs. Kim. It seems like every show that has an Asian woman in it must be named Kim.
The most noticeable thing is that Mrs. Kim is portrayed as this little woman with a thick American accent who is a stingy business woman. She owns her own antique shop and is always trying to haggle with her customers so she can make the most profit. Plus, she is very traditionalistic and wants Lane to uphold Korean rituals.
For instance, in later episodes, Mrs. Kim wouldn't let Lane's boyfriend propose to her unless he made a hit single (he's in a band with Lane). Then Lane and Zach had to have TWO weddings because of her Korean heritage. The first wedding was everything Korean to make her grandma happy because her mom said, "You must respect your elders." Only then could they have the wedding they wanted.
Mrs. Kim was also really strict because she wanted everyone to think Lane was good a Korean girl. She wouldn't let Lane be alone with boys, listen to rock music (Lane hid rock CDs under a loose wood plank her room), and she made her go to a Korean church, and only date Korean boys.
Well, as we all know, you can't suffocate a person and try to make them to be something their not. As Lane got older, she began to be much more open with her mom. She joined a band at first secretly. Then she started dating Zach. Once her mom realized that Lane could still be a "good" Korean girl, she became okay with what she was doing.
I don't know this at all stereotyping since I don't know much Asian culture, but those were just some thoughts.
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