Why do people think Rory is a failure?
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life
yeamf-93422 — 9 years ago(January 25, 2017 07:29 AM)
I think people are being too harsh when they call Rory a failure. She's living a life that I personally wish I could live. She travels around (Logan mentioned seeing her in Germany, She goes to London a lot, and I'm sure she gets around in the U.S as well). Exactly how she put it: She travels wherever there's a story to tell. She started her journalism career at the worst possible time (2008)! Considering that, I'd say being a published writer in the Newyorker, GQ, Atlantic, and being the Editor at the Yale Daily News is still pretty big.
I don't know why people think it's weird that she doesn't have a real boyfriend. (Paul doesn't count) She's young, and she doesn't need a man. I also think it's smart to not have an apartment somewhere when she's never there. Why do that? unless you know you will be gone for months, and you can rent it and use the money. It makes no sense to have a place just to use whenever. Her system works. I would love to have a job that requires that much traveling, and is not at all boring.
People saying she should get her masters and teach. Why? Why would anyone do that? Unless teaching is a passion of theirs, it doesn't make sense today. A teacher's salary is so low, and it's hard work and I don't think Rory's ever shown sign of enjoying it. Getting her masters might be a smart move, maybe she can study something other than English/journalism. Something like Political Science, Economics, something a bit more focused. That won't hurt but even without it, I think Rory's living the perfect life.
But the again, I'm just about to graduate from college, and maybe I don't know anything. Maybe living this way is only exiting to me, and people won't think I'm a loser but things change when you are older. It's still a great life to me. Since I'm currently looking at, well, "
Anything's possible but one wrong move and you're dead
". LOL -
barbarapaulmayer — 9 years ago(January 25, 2017 01:03 PM)
It might seem like the perfect life on the surface.
BUT, she didnt travel wherever there is a story to tell or something like that. She travels to London do be Logans mistress. Otherwise she is doing nothing. She isnt writing anything, all the job interviews went south, because of her arrogant behavior. She has no income. That is also why her system as you call it does not work. I think her being without income and job and why it is a problem is elaborated on throughout all four movies.
She lives off of her trustfund and Logan probably paying her tickets to visit him for sex, although he is soon to be married.
I dont think that her having no boyfriend is the problem here. That is totally fine. What I dont think is fine is that she is sleeping with a soon to be married man and because of her constantly cheating with her. Since there was a scene when his fiance came to town and Rory couldnt be seen in the apartment, we can assume that they dont have an open relationship where sleeping with others is ok for the fiance.
I also dont think it is bad or something that she slept with Wookie guy, I think one-night stands are not that big of a deal, but I do think being the third woman and making a fiance cheat on his to be wife is the issue here.
I think from a probably 22-25 year old college grad point of view her live seems awesome, but keep in mind only because she gets money from her trustfund, (possible) mother, (possible) grandmother, possible inheritance from Richard - It is easy to live like Rory when you dont have to worry about money, because it is just there and you dont really have to earn it.
Remember she blew the "standing in line" article for no reason, showed unprofessional behavior during the interviews - For god sake she slept through one interview. She was completely unprofessional during her job interview with that Sassy-something magazine. Conde Naste postponed the interview with her for a year or so and she only got her chance because of Mitchum Huntzberger, then she blew it. That is not the picture of a perfect life and someone who is successful in his job.
As for her masters: First of all, I always thought that journalism is the wrong profession for an introvert like her, even in the first season of the original show. Second, she was always depicted as academic, loving to study and so on, so not even considering a Masters degree is pretty strange - also in season 7 when Paris and others raised that topic. And last but not least, a Prep School like Chilton probably pays the teachers better than normal and it would be a good and steady job. Also she seemed to enjoy teaching when she worked for Paris in Yale where the helped kids prepare for the SATs, so this idea is not that far-fetched as it seems. Furthermore, she felt very comfortable when she spoke in front of the class in Chilton. -
musicluvr88 — 9 years ago(January 25, 2017 02:49 PM)
I agree. I think Headmaster Charleston could see how Rory connected so well with the current Chilton students. Otherwise, I don't think he would've given that job offer, even though Rory ended up viewing it as some kind of pity present. The fact that she saw herself as way above the 30-something group made her seem like a delusional, arrogant brat.
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yeamf-93422 — 9 years ago(January 25, 2017 08:31 PM)
Some excellent points were made here. Just a few things to discuss:
Rory has always been an arrogant brat. I sort of associate her behavior with that of most Ivy league educated people. They sort of have this general sense of "
I got in here, I must be better than everyone else
" about them. Rory was no exception. Paris was also like that, but at least Paris was openly a jerk. Rory acted like she wasn't one of those. So naturally she came off as more of a jerk than Paris, since at least Paris was funny and entertaining.
About Chilton paying its teachers a lot more, I agree. It still doesn't make it a viable career option for Rory. It's hard work, and I'm glad she didn't take it just to have a job when she clearly didn't want it. It's probably not politically correct to say this, but there is this mentality that "Those who can't, teach." Maybe that's where she's coming from. I must be honest here, I'm a part time teacher and as soon as I'm done with school, I am done with teaching because of this. Also, it's hard.
Regarding Rory's unprofessionalism: I completely agree with you there. I feel like she expected to be sent to Syria, Iraq, something to cover terrorism! She accepted the lines story, and she's the same girl that wrote about Parking Space at Chilton in high school, and turned it into a worthy piece that got a lot of praise from others. I hate that a lot of Millennials are like this, that they have to do what they absolutely love all the time. I wish Rory realized that sometimes in order to move up the ladder, we need to do things we don't like. Maybe, her getting pregnant is going to force her to grow up.
Most of my post was in reply to barbarapaulmayer. Sorry for the confusion.