Wednesday Sept

My Ambivalence Towards Palladino’s “Gilmore Girls”

By SOFIA DONOHUE

DIGITAL PRODUCER

There’s no other show that embodies the fall season better than “Gilmore Girls,” a seven-season television series that first aired in 2000. The show follows teen girl Rory and her mom, Lorelai, as they live their day-to-day lives in Stars Hollow, a small town in Connecticut. One of my favorite fall activities is sitting in bed with a hot cup of coffee and rewatching one of my favorite episodes. Although it sounds dramatic, my life changed the first time I watched the pilot episode as a freshman in high school. I immediately found myself resonating with the show’s protagonist, Rory Gilmore. My familiarity with the characters in combination with the show’s slow pace and calming ambiance makes it the perfect show to rewatch. Never have I watched a show where I feel as if absolutely nothing is happening plot-wise, yet I still find myself coming back for more.

An element which makes the show so unique is Rory herself. While talking about “Gilmore Girls” with my high school principal a few years ago, she told me that Rory Gilmore was a revolutionary character for her time. When “Gilmore Girls” was first released, there were hardly any smart, female role models on TV. For the first time, young girls were shown a teenage girl who spent her Friday nights doing homework, loved to read and whose best friend was her mom. These aspects of Rory’s character

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“Gilmore Girls” is a fall staple for many, but has some troubling themes. are what make her so special to so many fans of the show, myself included. Although the “smart girl” is a common trope in television nowadays, Rory Gilmore was one of the first characters in television who showed young girls that it was okay to be a bit of a nerd.

Beginning the show my freshman year of high school, I feel as if I’ve grown up alongside Rory. Since the series follows Rory throughout high school and college, I’ve paralleled my life with hers — especially going through the transition from high school to college. For example, one of Rory’s main attributes is her passion for journalism. I’m not going to lie, joining the Ram may have been partially motivated by Rory’s time on the Yale newspaper (and my own love for writing, I guess). In all seriousness, Rory joining the newspaper as a shy, anxious freshman at any Ivy League school inspired me to try something new last year by joining the Ram, despite also being an anxiety-ridden freshman.

Similarly, one of my favorite episodes is when Rory and her best friend, Paris, spontaneously decide to go to Florida for spring break. The pair spends their first night sitting alone in their hotel room, eating pizza and watching movies. I watched this episode the other night, while laying in bed at 10 p.m. on a Friday night. Hearing music blasting from the O’Hare hallway and the chatter of people next door while simultaneously watching Rory and Paris spend spring break eating pizza suddenly erased my FOMO. Sometimes, I’d rather be in bed watching TV and “Gilmore Girls” reminds me that there’s nothing wrong with that.

Before this article turns into an ode to Rory Gilmore, it’s necessary to acknowledge her flaws.

Rory’s character can be frustrating. While her ambition is something viewers admire about her, her perfectionism leads to her downfall. For example, during Rory’s freshman year at Yale, she gets a D on a paper and, as a result, her professor suggests she drop the class to lighten her course load. After years of being crushed under academic pressure, Rory snaps and is sent into a spiral. She argues with her professor, insisting that she can handle all six of her classes, she cries and she calls herself a failure.

On par with the freshman year experience, by the end of my first week at Fordham I found myself crying on the phone to my mom. I felt as though I were an imposter; everyone had friends already, all my classmates seemed smarter than me and all I wanted to do was go home to my mommy. Rory’s first breakdown was a few weeks into her freshman year. “Gilmore Girls” realistically paints a portrait of a typical college student; I didn’t have anything figured out freshman year and neither did Rory.

Flash forward a few years later, while completing a competitive journalism internship, Rory is told that she doesn’t have what it takes to be a journalist which leads her to steal a yacht, spend a night in jail and drop out of Yale. From this point onward in the show, Rory lacks clear direction and motivation, qualities which defined her character in earlier seasons.

At this point in the series, I have more of an issue with the writers rather than with Rory herself. What precedent is the show setting for the young girls watching: girls who are academically-centered are destined to have a breakdown? Hard work doesn’t pay off because you’re going to fail anyways? Rory’s breakdown itself isn’t an issue; as Rory said herself, “A little nervous breakdown can really work wonders for a girl.” Rory was supposed to be a positive role model, so why is her character so flawed?

Despite my frustrations with the show, I find myself rewatching it again and again. Partially, what makes the show so addicting is the fact that Rory is such a flawed protagonist. Not only can I see myself in Rory’s love for books or her quiet demeanor, but I can relate to her when she grapples with making the right decision or struggles to navigate change. The uncertainty Rory feels about her future in later seasons is extremely relatable to a college student. Although I’ve never stolen a yacht or dropped out of college (so far), I connect with Rory’s growing pains and her bumpy journey from adolescence into adulthood. “Gilmore Girls” may forever be my comfort show.

Dear The 1975, I’m (Still) In Love With You

By SOPHIA FORLENZA

CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Amid growing excitement for the Oct. 14 release of their fifth album, “Being Funny in a Foreign Language,” The 1975 released the album’s third single “I’m In Love With You” on Sept. 1.

In this song, lead singer Matthew “Matty” Healy sings about his inability to express his love for a partner and the painful romantic yearning that comes along with it. Over an infectious guitar riff, a basic drum beat and an indie-pop sound reminiscent of previous hits, Healy repeats the title’s phrase “I’m in love with you” over and over again in the chorus (a whopping 24 times to be exact). Fans are loving it.

Healy has not been one to shy away from heavy themes in his music. Refreshingly, this new song is a surprising, yet much appreciated, shift from the overall tone of the band’s previous albums; this change is done in terms of its straightforward, happy lyrics as well as its uplifting instrumentals. Healy is open in his lyrics about his struggles with heroin addiction, mental health and heartbreak. The musician is known for somewhat pretentious and overly-erudite lyrics in other songs, such as calling himself “the Greek economy of cashing intellectual checks” and a “sycophantic, prophetic, socratic junkie wannabe.” Healy delivers a fun, passionate, stripped back and relatable hit with “I’m In Love With You.”

“I’m In Love With You” seems to represent a return to the band’s beloved 80s-inspired indie pop-rock sound, and it evokes a callback to their popular 2020 song “If You’re Too Shy (Let Me Know).” Even though The 1975 have tackled numerous genres throughout their career, ranging from punk-rock to country, one thing remains the same: the band’s lyrics are well-known, at least by fans, for being consistently and delightfully selfreferential — this fact alone warrants its own analytical essay. Phrases from songs such as “Robbers” and “The City” from their debut album can be found in multiple songs from their second album “I like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it,” and even on their most recent project “Notes On A Conditional Form.” They’ve even brought back their infamous clown characters from the sixyear-old. “A Change of Heart” music video for this new single, effectively turning “I’m In Love With You” into a prequel. These lyrics and references, therefore, act as a kind of hidden love letter to fans who have grown up with the band and witnessed the evolution of their sound.

Needless to say, the decision to make “I’m In Love With You” sound identical to “If You’re Too Shy” was obviously an intentional one. The melody is strikingly similar, and Healy’s emphasis on certain lyrics is too obvious to ignore. Die-hard fans have come to expect and love the band’s technique of cleverly echoing previous works throughout their music. Yet, “I’m In Love With You” somehow seems a formulaic copy of their previous hit and falls short of evoking that nostalgic tenderness when fans recognize a connection between old and new songs. Sadly, “I’m In Love with You” rings in a slightly hollow, simplistic attempt to top the charts.

Healy somewhat continues his soul-searching style with this new single as he briefly mentions some deeper issues in his romantic relationship with English singer-songwriter FKA Twigs. He gives voice in many of his songs (most notably “Love It If We Made It”) to his support for addressing issues such as the climate crisis, immigration inequities, the prison-industrial complex and the mass incarceration of people of color in the United States.

Despite this passion, Healy makes fun of himself in “I’m In Love With You” as he recognizes how much more he has to learn about truly empathizing with what it’s like to live inside someone else’s skin: “You show me your black girl thing / Pretending that I know what it is / Apologize, then you meet my eyes / It’s simple and it goes like this / I’m in love with you.” The average listener is likely to view this verse as problematic and insensitive. Even though his self-deprecating acknowledgement is a preemptive apology for his ignorance, the line should have been written differently.

But with the upcoming U.S. and U.K. concert tours selling out fast, fans seem to have forgiven The 1975 and are still in love with them regardless.