Episode 1: The Gilmore Girl Challenge

Finally! I can post that I completed the first episode of season 1 gilmore girl challenge!

  

"In my pursuit of mega-fandom I want to be able to relate to my favorite show on a different level. So, episode by episode, I'm experiencing the references first hand."

Episode 1; Pilot Reference List

1. Jack Kerouac- no action necessary, I read " On the Road" about two years ago. 

Lorelai is referencing this account of an American beatnik that travels from town to town interacting with locals when she sarcastically tells a man, "You are a regular Jack Kerouac" after he says he is just traveling through on his way to Hartford.

2. Rupaul- a quick Google search, reminded me of the fabulous RuPaul. Enough said.
Rory: "RuPaul doesn't have this much make up!"

3. Macy grey- listened to the ID album

Reaction: very pleasantly surprised. I've only ever heard 'I try' in the past and thought it was catchy but nothing to write home about. The albumn was catchy, funky, really enjoyable.

Listen Below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuYNMzDo-cA

4. "Officer Krupke" - no action necessary, I grew up watching West Side Story and immediately imagined this grumpy officer when Lorelia made this broadway inspired comparison to Luke.
Watch Link for West Side Story "Officer Krupke"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pq28qCklEHc

5. Brittany spears- no action necessary, as I was previously a Britney enthusiast. As a child of the late 90s & early 2000s this is kind of a given. My recommedation for those of you who haven't given her a listen is to peruse her Greatest Hits. It's Britney, Bitch.
When Rory asks if she is going to be in a Britney Spears video after receiving her Chilton plaid skirt, she is referencing Britney's iconic "Hit me Baby One More Time" video & school girl look.

 

6.Mark Twain's huckleberry Finn- a re-read

Reaction: So happy I read this as an adult,  rather than assuming I could check it off the list after my mandated experience reading it (begrudgingly) in the 7th grade. I was able to drink in Twain's superior story telling ability and reflect on the progressiveness of the relationships depicted between these characters. These are characters that represent some of mankind's most shameful injustices while simultaneously highlighting our ability to overcome.

7. Zsa zsa Gabor- Google search, wiki read & a few YouTube features.

Reaction: I had previously seen this women on television without digging further. Upon closer inspection, she is as fascinating as Marilyn Monroe. A Hungarian man eater; glamorous, mega rich, 9 marriages,  beautiful, & witty, she's worth a look.

8. Ruth gordon- rosemary's baby- first time movie watch The 1968 version, of course.

"Rory: God! You're like Ruth Gordon just standing there with the tannis root. Make a noise. Dean: Rosemary's Baby. "

Reaction: I can't believe I had never watched this movie before. It's excellent. We were watching in October, Halloween weekend. Mia Farrow was great, the perfect mix of fragile, yet fighting; melodramatic, yet relateable. The story was a perfectly creepy, suspenseful, & twisting story to complete the weekend.

9. Moby Dick- Melville- first time read -

Reaction: Well, this novel is solely accountable for the long delay in completing the "Episode 1"  challenge.  This is a whale of a novel. If you had asked me half way through this novel (you know, half way,  on chapter 60-80;  after reading about 300 pages...when YOU ARE STILL ONLY HALF WAY) if I would recommend this novel; I would have grumbled some indignant insults your way. Melville includes EVERY detail about the life of a sailor & their beloved Leviathans. The hunt scenes are gory and often seemed cruel to this animal loving, middle class woman who had some trouble relating to the mindset of a 19th century whalesman; BUT after the novel was over I found myself reviewing the symbolism, pondering over the foreshadowing, & reflecting over the adventure filled epic ending. At the end of the day, I'd recommend it.

10. Madame Bovary: first time read

Reaction: This read was reminiscent of my time reading Anna Karenina. Flaubert makes jabs at the bourgeoisie class, spins webs between doomed love-triangles,  and creates a cast of less than admirable characters to tug at your heart strings & enrage your judgmental mind as they all make mistake after mistake leading to the inevitable tragic ends...Just like Tolstoy.  Emma Bovary & Anna could have been BFFs. It's an entertaining enough read, a classic, but due to the many similarities between Bovary & Karenina, if you wanted to just read one, I'd recommend Anna Karenina. Sorry Flaubert.

11. Florence Delorez Griffith Joyner- Quick Wiki read  (December 21, 1959 – September 21, 1998), also known as Flo-Jo, was an American track and field athlete. She is considered the fastest woman of all time^[2][3][4] based on the fact that the world records she set in 1988 for both the 100 m and 200 m still stand and have yet to be seriously challenged.

 Lorelia to Rory "You'll have to Turn into Flo Jo to get away from me!"

12. The little Match Girl: a short story, reread. 

Reaction: Well, a little girl freezes to death dreaming about a better life while trying to sell matches to feed her abusive family...this isn't exactly a feel good story.  

13. "Pull a Menendez" a quick wiki read clarified that when Lorelai makes this reference "but I need you to be civil at least through dinner and then on the way home you can pull a Menendez", she is suggesting Rory can kill her later. As it is a reference to Lyle & Erik Menendez, brothers who murdered their parents with shotguns. Dark, Lorelai.

14. Mommie Dearest (1981)- first time movie watched


Another clever, but dark, Lorelai reference to Rory when she is receiving the silent treatment after their fight. This memoir turned movie depicts the abusive upbringing of Christina Crawford by her movie star mother, Joan Crawford. It's a hard to watch, yet, fascinating movie; in the way driving by a high way accident is fascinating. Worth a watch, but I recommend you have something cheerful lined up afterwards to restore your faith in humanity.

15. Nick at Night- no action necessary, again as a child of the late 90s,

 'Nick at Night' the evening programming for kid network, Nickelodeon, that included classic television like 'I love Lucy', "The Brady Bunch", and 'Bewitched' was a regularly viewed staple in my household.

Lorelai to Rory: "Is he dreamy?" Rory: "that's so Nick at Night"

On to Episode 2...