So tonight marks the series finale of a show I have been a fan of for a long time. Well, okay, it's not actually the series finale. In truth, the series finale is next week, but I knew tonight at 7:58 that this show was, as I know it, over and I didn't really want a part in it after that.
It ends, for me, on the note that Rory, a character who for a while I identified with and later I broke from, watching the series in a really pathetic, retrospective, 'what could have been if I'd done any of the things anyone thought I was going to do' kind of way, cutting ties with her long time boyfriend. Or, at least, that's what the spoilers said it was going to be. As it turned out, they were right insofar as to say that he would propose and she would say no. I guess, knowing what the series has always intended to imply – a sense of undying, independent, stubborn girl power – I can completely understand why they opted to write the characters down different paths. For Rory to say that she would marry Logan, move to Silicon Valley and grow her avocado tree would be…well, it would be unfair to all of the little girls this series was trying to reach and the part of me that has commitment induced panic attacks appreciates that there is something out here telling people that you don't have to get married and raise kids and call that your life. Still, for Rory and Logan to end on that note seems unfair in deference to the rest of their relationship. Rory is a stubborn, girl power kind of girl and hasn't this show done enough to show us that you don't always have to end up with the one you thought you were going to love forever? Lorelai and Chris, which I'll admit to supporting the demise of since it was suggested in the first ten episodes and Lorelai and Max who were adorable to the core – Max cared for her so much and was willing to forgive many of her commitmentphobic tendancies… - Lorelai and Jason, quirky though Jason was, and much though we all wanted him to get out of the fucking way to make room for the Luke/Lorelai love fest we were all so desperately waiting for, when it came, there was still an element of "Okay, we get the point. You don't have to be with someone to be happy and you can choose things that are important to you over men. It's OK to love things more than you love a guy."
On the other hand, for Rory to roll over and lie down when he said "You jump, I jump, Jack." (for the second time) seems wholey contradictory to that point. If she loves him – if she wants him, why let it be what it is that quickly. And if she doesn't, what have they been telling us for the last three years?
In the end, I suppose my attachment to the play out of the relationship, moreso than a simple affection for the characters themselves and my adorably naïve love of happy endings comes from some kind of a desire to see the cards fall nicely. Lets be honest, Rory and Logan gave me hope that it could be OK. That the panicked, intimacyphobic could be in relationships and not kill eachother. She was Annette Benning. She did land the whale.
Ah well, what you're reading are the inane musings of a person feeling a bit to much pressure from her insurmountable number of married/engaged pregnant/child raising co-workers and the strange sources from which this pressure comes outside of the workplace…like my neighbor's husband. (Seriously – how fucking weird is it for a middle-aged man with no vested interest in myself or Mike to ask me when we're getting married. Seriously?!)
Coffee. Gin.
I wonder what coffee and gin would taste like together…
It ends, for me, on the note that Rory, a character who for a while I identified with and later I broke from, watching the series in a really pathetic, retrospective, 'what could have been if I'd done any of the things anyone thought I was going to do' kind of way, cutting ties with her long time boyfriend. Or, at least, that's what the spoilers said it was going to be. As it turned out, they were right insofar as to say that he would propose and she would say no. I guess, knowing what the series has always intended to imply – a sense of undying, independent, stubborn girl power – I can completely understand why they opted to write the characters down different paths. For Rory to say that she would marry Logan, move to Silicon Valley and grow her avocado tree would be…well, it would be unfair to all of the little girls this series was trying to reach and the part of me that has commitment induced panic attacks appreciates that there is something out here telling people that you don't have to get married and raise kids and call that your life. Still, for Rory and Logan to end on that note seems unfair in deference to the rest of their relationship. Rory is a stubborn, girl power kind of girl and hasn't this show done enough to show us that you don't always have to end up with the one you thought you were going to love forever? Lorelai and Chris, which I'll admit to supporting the demise of since it was suggested in the first ten episodes and Lorelai and Max who were adorable to the core – Max cared for her so much and was willing to forgive many of her commitmentphobic tendancies… - Lorelai and Jason, quirky though Jason was, and much though we all wanted him to get out of the fucking way to make room for the Luke/Lorelai love fest we were all so desperately waiting for, when it came, there was still an element of "Okay, we get the point. You don't have to be with someone to be happy and you can choose things that are important to you over men. It's OK to love things more than you love a guy."
On the other hand, for Rory to roll over and lie down when he said "You jump, I jump, Jack." (for the second time) seems wholey contradictory to that point. If she loves him – if she wants him, why let it be what it is that quickly. And if she doesn't, what have they been telling us for the last three years?
In the end, I suppose my attachment to the play out of the relationship, moreso than a simple affection for the characters themselves and my adorably naïve love of happy endings comes from some kind of a desire to see the cards fall nicely. Lets be honest, Rory and Logan gave me hope that it could be OK. That the panicked, intimacyphobic could be in relationships and not kill eachother. She was Annette Benning. She did land the whale.
Ah well, what you're reading are the inane musings of a person feeling a bit to much pressure from her insurmountable number of married/engaged pregnant/child raising co-workers and the strange sources from which this pressure comes outside of the workplace…like my neighbor's husband. (Seriously – how fucking weird is it for a middle-aged man with no vested interest in myself or Mike to ask me when we're getting married. Seriously?!)
Coffee. Gin.
I wonder what coffee and gin would taste like together…
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