Also one of Emily’s issues is that she’d do anything for Lorelai, except listen to her and accept her. People call Lorelai ungrateful, but I often think, “do you know how unhappy a 16-year-old has to be to choose poverty over a mansion?” It’s telling that when Lorelai’s giving birth to Rory, Emily centers her own hurt feelings about not being invited to be there over Lorelai’s well-being. Lorelai doesn’t feel safe being vulnerable around Emily and instead of thinking about why Emily chooses to berate her while she’s in labor.
Agreed! People who call Lorelai ungrateful underestimate how much it hurts to feel like you can't do anything right, you behave wrong, your personality is wrong, you like the wrong things and you are just never good enough. And then not even being able to talk about it openly in a way that you feel heard or seen. At one point you give up on having a relationship with your parent. That happens in real life as well. It's actually quiet realistic that Lorelai cut Emily off, especially after she had a daughter. She did it, because she was probably hurting her whole life. Nice things you can buy can't make up for that. Only an honest apology and taking accountability could. Some people don't seem to understand that.
Agree completely. Emily never gave Lorelei unconditional love. If there is one thing we should receive from our parents, it is that. Everything with Emily came with strings attached. Re-watching the show as an adult, Lorelei makes so much more sense. She had an emotionally abusive childhood and in some ways was in arrested development as an adult. It makes a lot of sense why she is the way she is and why she raised Rory the way she did.
Emily was definitely a bad mother, but Lorelai didn’t work on any of her issues and instead also became a terrible mother with zero boundaries, who never taught Rory how to be responsible. Instead Rory had to grow up being parentified by a mother who acted like a petulant teenage girl who desperately wanted to be cool, not realizing that acting like the opposite of her own mother didn’t necessarily make her a good mother.
I think Emily was always worried that she wasn't good enough for Richard. (See episodes with Trix.) She wanted to make everything, including Lorelei, perfect and appropriate for Richard. That's why she loosens up so much after he dies.
Also she's a a baby boomer. She came from the last generation that was raised to be a housewife. It wasn't just about being good enough for Richard but everybody. Her only job was to make a home and keep up with appearances
You know you're doing a poor job at relationships, when you need to basically financially bribe and blackmail a person for sth. as "simple" as occasional visits.
Lorelai’s trauma is always overlooked because she comes from a rich family. I believe that Lorelai has been neglected and emotionally abused and I would love for you to analyze it since I feel like people would start to see it if a therapist analyzes it.
Yes this! People who critise her for being ungrateful or "oh I have to sit one week with my parents for dinner in a huge ass mansion" clearly don't have experience with manipulative people and I am glad for them. However if you have experienced this behaviour as a child you totally get lorelai. I see myself a lot in her and my therapist suggested that it's not about being vulnerable and honest in that kind of family. It's only about hierarchy and being right. So talking about facts doesn't work, which lorelai tends to do despite her rambling. The only thing that works is protecting yourself. People with happy family's don't have to do that and they can't truly understand if you have to.
I agree! It's always just pointed that Lorelai is "childish" or "immature". Then again, Lorelai has stunted growth and had to become an adult so young. If we add in the context of Emily and her lack of true care for Lorelai, we can deduct that Lorelai has been raising herself and growing up too fast for awhile, even before Rory was born.
@@not-a-ghost2206 honestly, I didn't have that kind of abuse in my life, but always understood where Lorelai was coming from. If it were simple 'ungratefulness', she wouldn't have tolerated the poverty-stricken life, she would have returned, tucked tail and all. The fact that she remained away, and didn't know how to establish bundaries with Rory, speaks volumes.
Exactly Just because you come from a wealthy family does not mean you can't have trama In fact the reason although I am not saying this happens in only in wealthy families In the U S minors are allowed to seek treatment Counseling .consultation etc .for issues pertaining to mental health Substance use .and birth control and other reproductive services without parental consent or knowledge for the last 30 ish years Due to stigma Wanting to keep up appearences etc Parents were not getting and still are not getting the help they need my Apparently the minimum age and perhaps the Spesifics vary from state to state .this is a FEDERAL Law
I have an aunt who is like Emily, and every dinner or visit with her feels like walking on eggshells and then you need three days to recover your mental health to the state it was before, feeling like you are an okay person, that is. It is just a barrage of open criticism, subtle digs and body language... not the way you want to spend every weekend for sure.
I can’t wait for a full GG analysis. You’re correct about her though; it’s both her upbringing and her misguided efforts to love her daughter. Shes so complex. The older woman is actually her mother in law. As a teen I loved the mother daughter relationship between Rory and Lorelai and hated Emily and Richard. Now, I see them as misguided, distant and elitist, all the while loving their family. Now being an adult and therapist, I see lorelai and Rory’s relationship differently and mostly one I wouldn’t try to emulate. It’s so well written with a lot of great themes about inter generational wounds, fathers, and mothers
What is the problem with Lorelai and Rorys relationship? I had the impression that Lorelai was strict and guiding when it was important, but chill and open when it was not.
@leza4453 I think it's the thing about Lorelai always putting Rory on a pedestal as this little well behaved studious angel, (Richard and Emily also do that with her) and how that feeds into Rory's ego kind of. And how everyone on the show thinks that Rory can do no wrong ever, even though at times she didn't treat Lane the best. I mean there's a list of things but there are videos about Rory being the absolute worst a lot of times.
Lorelai and Rory have something like a co depedent relationship (I'm not a therapist so I don't want to diagnose it...) Whereas Emily and Lorelei are inappropriately formal and distant, Lorelei and Rory are inappropriately close, probably out of Loreilei's being wounded about mother daughter relationships.
The older lady is actually Richard's (her husband) mother who is judging her, looking down on her bullying her constantly. Her own parents don't appear in the series, but it's a very interesting dynamic when we as viewers see her suddenly being treated similar to how she treats most people. Richard basically married his mother 😅
I believe Emily was constantly under Trixie's shadow. She had to be that way because Richard had that mother. She had to fill up Trixie' shoes. Plus, she basically stole Richard from his girlfriend, she had to show him she was the perfect woman so he would never regret choosing her and decide to leave her (and the standard for a perfect woman was Trixie). Also, she came from a rich family too, she was probably raised loveless, like she raised Lorelai - it was the common way of raising a child, specially in wealthier families. We see in the sequel series that after Richard died, she turned into a much more loose and sensible person. She moves to a beach house, start wearing jeans... 😂 She even agrees to go to therapy with Lorelai! She wants to be a better person and make emends. That's why I think Trixie and Richard were what made her worse.
When I first watched the show, I read Emily as emotionally and verbally abusive. Her love comes with conditions. She holds her granddaughter’s EDUCATION hostage in exchange for FORCING interactions with her family. Her 18 year old daughter chose white knuckling it and poverty and building her own family with her daughter (Rory) over generational wealth and living in a mansion. That alone speaks volumes about what Lorelei must’ve experienced.
I feel like holding it hostage is such an intense phrase. I saw it as Emily being so desperate to bring her family back together that she did what she had to. Was it unpleasant at times? Yes. But it brought them back together and once her “debt” was paid, they still came around. So even though it wasn’t the best way to go about it, she saw an opportunity to get her daughter and granddaughter back in her life, and she jumped at the chance.
@@sierrakay255it’s not intense, it’s accurate. Her daughter didn’t want a full relationship with her for very good reason, and she forced her into it by making it a condition of education.
I suggest watching the whole show. she is both a sympathetic character but she is also narcisistic and gaslights/ manipulates her family a lot- mainly loreali and Rory. the content creator Kiera loves tv has done a whole series on the show - she's in the middle right now looking at the characters but especially on Emily and her narcissism and manipulation/abuse actions while also looking at the sympathetic side of her character it's great .
@@CJWMTownsendI watch Kiera’s channel too and I think this is the first video of her Emily analysis series: ruclips.net/video/IJtFpBdTvms/видео.htmlsi=jztyxBnnLtWVwhyR I hope this helps!
Emily says it herself she wasn't raised to be friends with her daughter she was raised to be a good wife and mother. She is a extremely deep character I can't wait to watch you react and scream at the screen. Also to this day we don't know what the gift actually was and it drives me crazy😅
The problem with her was she was being too much like a mother and Lorelai was being too much like a friend instead of a mom, and that’s part of the reason why Rory doesn’t go very far and gets spoiled.
I love the episode where Lorelai is in a fight with her ex, at her wit's end and Emily goes full out Lioness and kicks him out, never raising her voice nor missing a beat. She has her daughter's back when need be.
She’s so complex, I hated her when I was a kid but have some empathy for her now I’m an adult. That older lady isn’t her mum, it’s her mum-in-law who doesn’t think she’s good enough!
There is an arc in the Netflix revival series where Emily and Lorelai go to therapy together and your thoughts are very on point about how that experience went
@@Me-wk3ix there's just the one series. I think it happens in either the winter or summer episode, I don't remember specifically. I want to say summer.
I grew up with Gilmore Girls and loved it so much. When I was younger, I first idealized Rory and wanted to be like her, than it was Lorelai who was my role model... and as the years went by I noticed how messed up and flawed both characters were (which is why i was not at all surprised about the sequel ten years later) and I started to actually feel for Emily a lot It's rare that TV shows have that many super layered personalities, that are developing so realistically So happy, that you are watching it now! Very much looking forward to your thoughts! Greetings from Germany :))
Actually though they changed their characters and Emily grew into a better person and was written more sympathetically in the revival. Rory was such a role model character in seasons 1-3 in high school and I don't think any criticisms of her really are fair till later on. Lorelai was always flawed but also impressive.
Each character is so complex which makes it so good.and real. Emily is judgmental, mean, and stuck up. She’s also loving, giving, and compassionate. Emily was horribly bullied by Richard’s mom, Lorelai the first. She never felt Emily was good enough for Richard. Constantly talked down to her, undercut her, and ridiculed her. Even left a copy of a note she wrote Richard before their wedding day begging him to leave Emily at the alter for Emily to find after she passed away. But what Lorelai never really explained well to Emily is that she was doing the same thing to her. Lorelai needed to sit down and explain how Emily’s treatment left her feeling the same way Emily felt from her mother in laws treatment. But I doubt Emily would have been receptive. Lorelai, the main character, was also complex. She was a rich kid who had too much freedom. But at the same time, not enough freedom. She was expected to act, walk, think, and BE someone she wasn’t. And everytime she failed to do so, she was put down and bullied by Emily. All Lorelai wanted was what ANY teenager wants: to be accepted for who she was. So she left and she found a town who DID accept her and love her and her daughter for who they were. No one expected her to be better or different. And she became very accepting of the strange people in her town. She never expected her friends to be different even when they were weird as heck lol because she knew what it was like to grow up not accepted. But she also struggled with giving that same acceptance to her daughter. She loved Rory and would do anything for Rory. But her knee jerk reactions were often very similar to Emily’s, just less intense than Emily. Unlike Emily, Lorelai nearly always calmed down and worked it out with Rory, accepting her choices for the most part even when she didn’t agree. And I think that showed how much growth Lorelai had as a person. It’s hard to break generational trauma and she did her best to do so. Rory was a complex character too. She had such high goals and expectations. She was very intelligent and that comes with a lot of stress. I too was advanced as a kid (started college at 16) so I related to Rory a lot. Even without pressure from your parents, you put so much pressure on yourself. And that leads to breakdowns. Bad decisions. Which was portrayed perfectly in how Rory handled the Dean/Jess situation, the Dean Affair situation, and even the beginning of her relationship with Logan. Then the breakdown of Rory’s life in adulthood is also true for many advanced kids. We spend so much of our young lives pushing and pushing that we just stop and need a break at some point. No one can keep up 100% forever. I didn’t understand that when I first watched a year in the life but I get it now. At 28, IM FUCKING TIRED YALL. I need a break. I wish I had parents I could go home to and live with while I just recentered my life, like Rory had. But alas I don’t. Overall, this show is so REAL and RAW and that why it’s still relevant today.
there are times where Emily's negative characters remind me of my mom. I was scared to invite my mom to my actual wedding, because she's partially ruined events in the past for me. We ended up eloping so I didn't invite her to that. She ended up coming to our reception and has the audacity to bluntly say I don't like your make up, it's too dark. Like fuck off, can you keep your opinion to yourself one time. Glad she wasn't apart of my actual wedding day and that day was filled with so many wonderful memories :).
Everyone has covered a lot, but one thing I think is important is that Emily is also very intelligent and would have been an excellent entrepreneur among other things, and raised in a time period and class that being a brilliant wife and household manager was the only avenue to pursue that would be socially acceptable. I'm reading more into the subtexts here, but I think that Emily feels undervalued for all of the accomplishments she had in the traditional realm (which includes for her running charity committees as well as the wife and mother bits), holds to those traditional standards just a bit more firmly because she didn't have other opportunities to exhibit her talents and skills, but also a little jealous that her daughter would have had a wider variety of opportunities (Lorelei could have gone to Harvard instead of a sister college, unlike Emily is just one example) and she Lorelei neither seemed to value Emily's route to social acceptability, nor did she appear to (for a while, at least) embrace the newer roles that women of her class and generation could have taken--entering finance or insurance and following her father's footsteps, for example.
That’s a good point, late in the series, I believe Emily might have been a bit tipsy or high and Lorelei is helping her with some financial thing, and Emily comments on how maybe it’s ok for a woman to forge her own path and do her own thing, she borders on praising Lorelei for her competence and independence doing these nontraditional things, while in her upbringing, a woman doing these things or a marriage ending was a bad thing, because it meant ‘the system failed’. Of course, the next day she ruins it by being disappointed in Lorelei again. 😂
Interesting you started with the flashback scene to Lorelai leaving the Gilmore’s house. That came further into the show, and it really gave you a dose of empathy for Emily, despite her fraught relationship with Lorelai, and there’s a scene where the normally quieter Richard is raising his voice to Lorelai and asking her if she knew how much running away affected her mother, that “she didn’t get out of bed for months” or something to that effect. And Lorelai’s very shaken by his pointed confrontation. I think you’d actually really enjoy Gilmore Girls, Jono. My boyfriend watched it multiple times long before he and I got together and introducing him to Amy Sherman-Palladino & her husband Dan Palladino got him into Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. And for years I was trying to explain to my mother how much my grandmother (her mother-in-law) is the Jewish Emily Gilmore and finally after watching the show, she agrees with me. Years ago, my grandmother had us walk around her apartment and put colored dot stickers on “things we wanted after she died” and my mom didn’t believe me that I’d seen the same thing on a tv show and of course Emily Gilmore did it too 😂
It’s hard to see Emily’s faults in just a few clips because the entire conflict with her and lorilei is that she constantly pushes boundaries. Because of Emily’s very rigid world view she always takes it upon herself to make it so that her daughter and granddaughter are making life choices that suit her preferences because she believes they don’t know what they want for themselves.
I love Gilmore! Some context missing, the older woman Emily calls "mom" is her mother in law who is highly critical and dismissive of her. Lorelai had Rory at 16 and moved out of her parents house taking Rory with her the next year working as a maid to support them. They had very little contact or involvement until Rory got into a private prep school and Lorelai had to ask her parents help to pay tuition and Emily set up a Friday night dinner agreement before she would agree to pay. So much else is revealed in the show over many seasons and I hope you do react to the series I would love to hear your opinions on several characters!
This is has been my “stand by” / “go to” show since I was a teen. I am so happy you are covering it as Emily & Richard [the grandfather] are carbon copies of my own, down to my grandfather being retired from the insurance business. I had the Lorelai relationship with them and my older sister had the Rory relationship. So I know I will be eagerly awaiting more GG themed episodes!! 😍❤️
I actually love Emily. As maddening as it is to have someone in your life like that (especially a parent), i think Emily cares deeply about the people she loves and genuinely wants the best for them, she just can't get past assuming she always knows best, and will shoot herself in the foot trying to develop the closeness she wants with people all the time by being wholly incapable of vulnerability, and you can see the pain it causes her but she just doesn't know how to express herself any other way. That being said, while we don't get to meet her parents or see where she came from, the impression that she didn't have people who really were there for her and that she feels she needs to prove something to be worthy is also a definite undertone in her way of being- so while part of it is that she cares about her loved ones and wants what's best for them, part of it is also the ego/image of doing things "right" (contrastingly she can also be someone who digs her heels in on her principles and fights caring about what anyone thinks of her or her family). So I think you were exactly right that it's both. It's interesting to see the motivation of closeness with her family combine with a person who doesn't know how to maintain closeness aside from forcing it, which creates more distance that she doesn't know why she can't fix. Ultimately a comedic, fairly light show, but some great characters and interesting relationship dynamics for sure. Also, this video might offer a window into a fuller side of Emily Gilmore (the woman who "raised" Lorelei and Rory when Lorelei left is the same person in the different clips, but a different actress) ruclips.net/video/9oc7VqjGUDc/видео.htmlsi=jFRBhKly-9yFgS9U
If you had had a mother like Emily, you would have more opinions about her character. I agree that she is written really well and fantastically portrayed by the actor. But Lorelai was running for her life and for Rory's freedom.
@@NatManzano I mean, there are a lot of things about Emily that remind me of my mother. And I have lots of opinions about her. Many more than I could fit in a RUclips comment, even as long as mine was. It might be a good rule of thumb moving forward to not assume you know someone's experience. Emily is dynamic, so maybe you are saying that there are aspects you relate to that were more difficult to go through, and I'm sorry you had to go through that.
@@ceceliam9014 I was mistaking your surfice for all of your thoughts. I apologise for that. I am Spanish and we express all of our opinion openly even if it is negative as a way to show others that we respect them because we think they can take it and then give us their truth. But this is more like an anglosaxon "say something positive", which I think is cool. But again, I would not use the word "dynamic" for Emily, since: 1. dynamic is something that moves, and Emily spends 45 years not moving from her position with a fury. 2. Dynamic does not have a lot of meaning as a word. If you use a different one I think I will understand better.
The dialog of this show is so much fun. Written in a way that brings everyone's character to life in such a unique way. The most sarcastic educated people of all time. It's like a small town of Frasier Craines. I love it.
Emily is, in my opinion, one of the most interesting and complex characters of the series. Which makes her feel very human. She’s cold and cruel, but there is love there and unexpected moments of warmth and compassion. My opinion is that she was brought up to be the perfect wife and mother, where we never show or discuss anything, and was never made to feel good enough as she was; which led to a desperation to have everything be perfect all the time. Had she been brought up differently, or simply been told she was enough as she was.. I think she’d have ended up a quite warm and kind person.
The one scene where Lorelai is helping her while Richard is grieving his mother.. And Emily lets her guard down & tells Lorelai how she's proud that she's independent & her own person...
Emily Gilmore is an ABSOLUTE LEGEND. The more times I go through the show, the more I absolutely adore her. She has an AMAZING story arc throughout the show and follow up. I won't give anything away about her character, other than that she will definitely make you want to scream plenty (which you can tell from these clips!) but will say she is a treat anytime she is on screen. Long Live Emily Gilmore! 🥳
A "sunday dinner relationship", well spotted, there, John! Gilmore Girls taught me aaaall my English, and it's an awesome show. I hope you find the time to watch it and appreciate it =D
You must watch at least the first season to get the context. There’s a complicated history here. I watched this with my teen daughter when it was on originally & I very much identified with Lorelai & her position between the grandparents & her daughter. We still watch reruns regularly, but now I find myself identifying with Emily & the disappointment & dreams lost that we place on our own children & the hurt caused by decisions our own children make, whether good or bad. I’m very much interested in your perspective AFTER you’ve watched the first season & have some context.
Agreed!! I feel like it would be very dicey to judge or assess the complexities accurately outside of a more full context - one episode alone can be more misleading out of that context. I even think you need more than just the first season for sure
My nana was so similar to Emily (except she has none of the redeeming qualities). She was always so critical of my mom and of us and she constantly put it back on us if we tried to say anything. Everytime my mom let her know how it made her feel she would start a huge fight. She had done some pretty terrible things and we finally had to go no contact with her.
Yay Gilmore Girls! I hope you do some discussion on Luke and Lorelai soon as well, especially I would love to hear your input on the arc in episodes 5x13 - 5x15. Would open up for insights on when the other parent of your child is causing problems in your current relationship, but also about the need to communicate in your relationship but also maybe giving your partner space if they ask for it. And of course, what to do when an Emily is getting too involved in your relationship 😅
That boundry drawing that you talk about near the end, I had to do that with my mum and ended up cutting her off entierly when I was a teenager because she'd try to manipulate me with threats/attempts of suicide. I lived with my grandmother at the time (since my mum had already lost custody) and what was really the last straw for me was when, a week after I had taken her out to eat with my own money (which is a big deal as a poor child with no income) for mother's day, I went to a school dance. When I came back from it I was informed by my grandmother that my mum had attempted suicide, again, and explicitly blamed me because I didn't hangout with her that weekend (despite not having any plans with her at all). I was done. I gave her my terms for what I'd need to consider continuing our relationship and she didn't want to comply at all, only accuse my grandmother of "turning me against [her]", and so I would refuse to see her. I related to this show quite a bit growing up. My grandmother (RN) was often critical and condescending with her words (i.g. expecting me to know medical terms and other complicated words as a child) while my mum and I were a bit like Lorlei and Rory in the sense that we were a lot more like friends than mother/daughter, it's just that friendship turned quite abusive when I was a teenager.
Oh my lord Jonathon. I’m so excited for you to therapize this show. The more you watch it the more you realize how messed up a lot of stuff is on the show. I’m at the point where I used to think how great Lorelei and Rory’s relationship is and now I think Lorelei really messed up Rory. Can’t wait for your take.
👏 Yes. its obvious the Emily Lorelei relationship is messed up, but the Lorelei Rory relationship is normalized but it's pretty unhealthy and codependent.
I don't think that at all. Lorelei was running away from the life of luxury. And Rory embraced it. Logan was bad for her. Her grandparents didn't help either.
This video was so well done! You analysed them so well without having watched much of the show. I actually think that Lorelai is a lot like her mother. She also wants to be involved in her daughter's life very intensely; she also oversteps boundaries and gives her unwanted opinion on everything her daughter does. She always says how she is nothing like Emily, but I think their dynamic as mothers is actually quite similar. She's so desperate not to be like her mother, that she doesn't see what she's doing clearly. And Rory is also like that, but with Lorelai. Rory is unhealthily involved in Lorelai's life. I mean, Rory told Christopher that he can't contact Lorelai every again. Regardless of what the viewers think of Christopher, that's overstepping every boundary there is. If there is ever another instalment of episode where we see Rory as a mom to her child, I really hope she broke the cycle - but sadly I doubt it. Thanks for coming to my TED Talk.
There's another therapist that analyzes all the scenes of Gilmore Girls, Heather Thom Counselling and I love her in depth videos and explanations in case anyone else is a huge of a GG fan like I am!
Jono, I appreciate this challenge you were given, reacting to Emily. I did watch the entire GG series and found myself reacting to Emily very strongly because she and my own mother have a great deal in common... while also being quite different. This video helped articulate what they have in common: judgment. Seeing her own worldview as THE right worldview, and struggling with perspective taking. She was a Southern Baptist rather than a member of the Connecticut Elite, but they had the same flaw. I was not ever able to articulate my boundaries with Mom in a clear way, although I did pull back and we had a Sunday-phone-call relationship. I succeeded in her later years by focusing on accepting that she was who she was, and her behavior was not a reflection on me, nor did her expectations need to have any influence on me. That was hard work, and I didn't do it well all the time, but the more I did that, the better off we were. Finally, although sometimes I am saddened by having lost her, I have generally benefitted from her death because her attitude was so judgmental. Thanks for this!
Please do more Gilmore Girls reactions! There's so much to unpack there! Also, there are a few therapy scenes in the show, especially in the 2016 Netflix revival. It'd be cool to see a therapist react to those
"Sunday dinner relationship" is Gilmore Girls in a nutshell, and I find it so ironic and so informative about your professional intuition that you summarized the through-line dynamic that begins the show without even seeing it. Many kudos.
My mom is an Emily (she thinks she’s a Lorelai). It was a challenging childhood. She loves me, but she was also abused in her childhood, which emotionally shut her down, and told repeatedly she wasn’t good enough for my Dad (even by the preacher who married them), so she in turn abused me. As an adult I can see that I can be sympathetic to what she went through, but don’t excuse her actions to me.
8:54 My therapist has helped me with this kind of relationship with my dad. I’ve had the “discussion” with him and we’re in a limbo. It is really hard to tell them how you feel and stand up for yourself when you care about the person. When your default to stress and fear is to fawn, standing up for yourself, your mental heathy and your life is very difficult. Thank you for all the content you share.
My mother is Emily to a T. This series was actually very therapeutic for me to watch as I was dealing with the constant judgment, criticism, and even gaslighting in my own relationship with my mother. It helped me realize that my mother, although misguided, was coming from a good place, my feelings of wanting to be a separate person from her was also a valid one. As someone who identifies with Lorelai deeply (having a child at a young age, enjoying whimsical things, living a life completely opposite of what her parents envisioned for her, rejecting the more entitled upbringing and way of life), seeing Emily's actions as the show progressed truly helped show her good intentions, and in turn my mother's as well. Having the patience to see past her comments helped give me the courage and strength to have tough conversations with her (as Lorelai does with Emily). Now, I would say my mother is my best friend (even though there is still some tricky territory). After about 15 years of VERY hard work, she and I have the relationship we both had thought impossible.
I love everything you said about drawing the line because the behaviour won't change and it will keep on hurting. It happened with my parents. I wanted to draw a line for the first time in my life and my mom said that I was dead to them. 6 years later, for my birthday, my father tried to force me into apologizing for being me. I did not. I drew another line. He said I am not longer their daughter. And it felt like a blessing to me. What you say on this video makes me feel safe with my decision to let them go. ❤
This particular character- we never see her mother or father- just Richard’s mother mostly. Three times and three different actresses I believe. Much appreciated! Thank you for this!
My therapist one told me, “What if they never change? What if they never realize your side of things?” That was my aha moment. Learning to set boundaries and keep them though is also part of healing and growing.
Love the writing on this show. It gives the actors so much to work with. When she tells her mother she is going to her neighbor's cats funeral... Poor Cinnamon? Emily is saddened by the fact that her daughter is out of her life and she desperately wants her back in. Thats her mother in law.
I can't believe you've never watched Gilmore girls!! There's so much in that show for you to react to 😂😂 Also is funny and brilliant and Kelly bishop makes an amazing job portraying Emily.
I'm commenting before fully finishing this video, but want to say that--as a huuuuuge Gilmore Girls fan--it has taken me countless, multiple rewatches to see all sides of Emily Gilmore. A huge credit to the writers for making such intensely complex characters. One of the best shows of all time. Impeccable writing.
You nailed Emily really well without having seen more than these clips. The Sunday dinner comment is funny because that’s basically their relationship. Thanks for giving me the words for a hard conversation I’ve been trying to figure out how to have without making it go on forever.
you definitely nailed her character! The woman you see criticizing Emily is actually her husband's mother, her mother-in-law and Emily NEVER acknowledges that the way Trix (that's her nickname, she's actually Lorelei the First) makes her feel is the way she makes everyone else feel. We actually never get any insight about Emily's childhood or her parents and I think that would've been a great addition to the show to explain how she became the way that she is. On the flipside, I've always found it hard to imagine how someone like Lorelei came to be in a household like this one with the constant micromanaging.
Emily is my favorite of the Gilmore girls. You should really find a compilation of her breaking down...so heart-wrenching. Also, you could spend the rest of your life analyzing the rest of the characters, especially Taylor, Kirk, and Mrs. Kim.
I love Emily. She and Paris are my favourites. Both so harsh and yet so vulnerable and likeable even with their mean streak. My opinion is that Emily is like this because she was taught a woman serves her husband’s needs and keeps everything looking perfect in “society”. Richard never respects her and he finds her tedious and dull since she has no outward aspirations.
The best quote about "Emily's world" is season 3 ep 5 (eight o'clock at the oasis) where Richard is talking to Lorelei about how Emily always gets the first cup of tea at the DAR meetings, Lorelei says she doesn't understand it, so Richard says he doesn't understand it either but "If my wife wants the first cup of tea, she's going to have it" Richard a good man, supporting his wife even if it's absolute nonsense to him.
Emily is a very interesting character throughout the entire series, and one of the things I love about the show as a whole is that you can really see how Emily's mother shaped her, how Emily shaped Lorelai and how Lorelai has shaped Rory. The main characters and most of the secondary characters throughout the series all have a depth of character that make them both relatable and fun to watch, and the witty banter perfectly balances the drama. Gilmore Girls has to be one of the best tv shows ever made. This is coming from someone who typically prefers their escapism through sci fi and fantasy - if it hasn't got spaceships, portals, magic or supernatural beings, I tend to lose interest pretty quickly. Gilmore Girls is an exception because it's just good. The writing, the acting, the story, the balance, it's all so well done and I can come back and watch it over and over again.
Wow! I don't know that I expected much depth from this video but I watched it anyway. I could not love your words more! I have watched this show at least 10 times fully all the way through since beginning it!!! Emily is infuriating... But you can see that she does love her family. You want a smacker and you want to yell at her and put her in her place so many times. But she does care. I can't believe you have so much depth when you answered something from such a small perspective! I just subscribed because I can't wait to hear more ❤️🙌💕
This is literally why I live halfway across the country. I wish I saw this video growing up and was gaslit so hard into believing I was just a horrible person when I was the healthy one just trying to set boundaries and be understood.
Emily is such an interesting character. When I first watched the show in my late teens I was 100% on Lorelai's side of her mother being overbearing for 'no reason' and unnecessarily strict. With each rewatch I gain more appreciation of Emily: caring about her social image AND loves her daughter and granddaughter dearly. She's badly hurt when Lorelai moves out with 'no warning' with baby Rory ('Missing missing reasons?), she sees that she's more than fulfilled her job as a mother by providing Lorelai with a good education and opportunities, tries to keep Lorelai on the path she sees as best so that Lorelai can flourish in her world, and struggles to understand Lorelai's deep unhappiness at this and at Lorelai's 'depriving' Rory of these opportunities. She was raised in this world to get her MRS and be Richard's wife and raise their child to flourish in society, to her she treats Lorelai (and later Rory) with their best interests in mind, and does this as an expression of her love for them.
I think you got it spot on!! -- Emily is a lovely, complex, and difficult woman. But so is Lorelai. And so is Rory. But all in different ways. And that's what makes the show so good. (Of course, the super-fast, witty, and culturally relevant - and hilarious- dialog helps, too.)
Thank you for beginning to therapize the gilmore girls! There are a lot of interesting dynamics in the show that I would love to see you dive into like Rory and Lorelai’s relationship and the various romantic relationships in the show. Can’t wait to watch more!
Thank you sooo much for this video!!! I’ve been dying to hear a therapist’s opinion on this. I actually recommended the show to my therapist. Between Emily and Richard’s misguided education of Lorelei (which ended up controlling and jugemental) and expecting a positive reaction, Lorelei’s arrested development, Rory’s total fall down due to her never really having a stable grown up parent figure, it’s a gold mine for therapy ! I would love to hear more of your analysis of this show, which to me represents the complexity of childhood trama in a situation where the parent actually loves their child but doesn’t respond to their emotional needs. It’s a perfect example of good intentions with a terrible execution. I totally agree with your final analysis. The writing is just amazing. I can’t tell you how many times this show has given me ideas for my own therapy !!!
You should definitely watch the whole series, and do a RAW reaction to Season 2, episode 16 - There's The Rub. It's the best one of the season! Context? Richard's mother (the original Lorelai and mom Lorelai's namesake) was very critical of Emily. I'll just leave it at that; you'll have to watch the series to get the backstory, but I promise you, it's a good one, and one you won't see coming. :)
Emily is one of the best written characters in this show. Her origin family is never mentioned, but you can kinda picture what it was like for her growing up. Someone already said that her relationship with Trix (Richard's mother, not hers :D the clip was very misleading for someone who doesn't know the show) is a big trigger for her obsession with perfection. Everytime Richard is out of the picture - because of illness or in the end because he passed away - she lets her mask slip and you are able to see beneath the chanel suit.
Oh man, I'm so excited to see this broken down. The relationships in this show are wild and thought provoking. As someone who watched this show when it first aired and was the same age as Rory to now being the same age as Lorelai, my perspectives on things have changed a bit.
My mother was like this but I understood her upbringing and could see how she would get to this point. In my 30's I told my family members that I embrace my ability to disappoint them and that was my answer each time someone would say something about my need to change. It broke the cycle and always got us out of the circle. It took a few months but it did work.
I think Emily is all the things. She’s nurturing and cruel. She’s wants what’s best for her girls so long as it makes the family look good. She is rigid, but will snap for her loved ones. My grandma was an Emily. Unfortunately, we were never able to work out our relationship. Watching the show brings up so many complicated emotions. It is also quite cathartic when they make it work.
Yeah, love Gilmore girls! Huge fan, I grew up watching the show back in the early 2000s. And I still watch it over and over again.! But I've always wanted someone like a therapist react and give theirb2 cents! You know Emily and Lorelei have a toxic relationship but at the end they heal but they are both don't understand each other!
I think you would find the character arcs and growth - especially of Richard and Emily - very realistic and rewarding. It would be really interesting to hear your take on Christopher, as well as his relationship with Lorelai. He’s always vilified.
Emily Gilmore is one of the best television characters, maybe even in my top 10. My thoughts: She has a tough exterior because she doesn’t want to show emotions. You mailed it right away about her stiff sense of propriety, especially in light of the upperclass life she leads. But she is of course not without emotions and deals with them with her intelligence. She always finds a way to get her way, and she does it with innovative ideas. You’re also spot on that she really also does care for her family and especially daughter and granddaughter. There are times in the show where you can tell her feelings are hurt, and it’s often because her daughter pushed back too far or didn’t realize that her mother could have feelings to be hurt. Lorelai, the daughter, doesn’t know how much her mother cares until she spends more time with her as an adult (they were estranged from the time Lorelai was 18-early thirties). She is, like Emily, exceptionally sharp and proud (and she can in anger, snap out some mean words), but she doesn’t care about the sensibilities of the wealthy. She left that world and made a life on her own, becoming proud in her hard work. Throughout 7 seasons, these two are dynamic and experience growth and understanding. The show goes further when the granddaughter is part of the drama, allowing us to see it through generations. You could even include Emily’s mother-in-law, who we saw. She is also a Gilmore Girl, and that’s the title of the show.
Emily is a GREAT character. That "mom" is her mother-in-law. Mother-daughter relationship is very good. Lorelai + Emily development through the series is heartwarming. ❤
Also one of Emily’s issues is that she’d do anything for Lorelai, except listen to her and accept her. People call Lorelai ungrateful, but I often think, “do you know how unhappy a 16-year-old has to be to choose poverty over a mansion?” It’s telling that when Lorelai’s giving birth to Rory, Emily centers her own hurt feelings about not being invited to be there over Lorelai’s well-being. Lorelai doesn’t feel safe being vulnerable around Emily and instead of thinking about why Emily chooses to berate her while she’s in labor.
Agreed! People who call Lorelai ungrateful underestimate how much it hurts to feel like you can't do anything right, you behave wrong, your personality is wrong, you like the wrong things and you are just never good enough. And then not even being able to talk about it openly in a way that you feel heard or seen. At one point you give up on having a relationship with your parent. That happens in real life as well. It's actually quiet realistic that Lorelai cut Emily off, especially after she had a daughter.
She did it, because she was probably hurting her whole life. Nice things you can buy can't make up for that. Only an honest apology and taking accountability could.
Some people don't seem to understand that.
Agree completely. Emily never gave Lorelei unconditional love. If there is one thing we should receive from our parents, it is that. Everything with Emily came with strings attached. Re-watching the show as an adult, Lorelei makes so much more sense. She had an emotionally abusive childhood and in some ways was in arrested development as an adult. It makes a lot of sense why she is the way she is and why she raised Rory the way she did.
@MR-hu3ht and it made sense all along watching it as a kid too if you grew up with a narcissistic and abusive mother 🔥
Emily was definitely a bad mother, but Lorelai didn’t work on any of her issues and instead also became a terrible mother with zero boundaries, who never taught Rory how to be responsible. Instead Rory had to grow up being parentified by a mother who acted like a petulant teenage girl who desperately wanted to be cool, not realizing that acting like the opposite of her own mother didn’t necessarily make her a good mother.
Lorelai is a brat, a confrontational brat a rebellious brat, emotionally immature, excessively stupid when dating and the list goes on
Him calling this a 'Sunday Dinner Relationship' with no context is insaane! Good therapy instincts ig
He was literally off by only 2 days! 😅 incredible
My thoughts exactly! I was impressed by how quickly he pegged Emily with little to no context!
I was thinking the same thing!!!
I was looking for this comment because how crazy was that 😂
i love it when therapists do that lmao
I think Emily was always worried that she wasn't good enough for Richard. (See episodes with Trix.) She wanted to make everything, including Lorelei, perfect and appropriate for Richard. That's why she loosens up so much after he dies.
Oh yes I thought the same
Spoilers!
@@jenbialek you're a little late for that to be considered a spoiler
Also she's a a baby boomer. She came from the last generation that was raised to be a housewife. It wasn't just about being good enough for Richard but everybody. Her only job was to make a home and keep up with appearances
I have never considered that. Interesting point. 😊
They literally have a Friday night dinner relationship. lol The weekly dinners were the condition for Rory to get their help with school tuition.
I did laugh at the comment about the weekly dinners, like, ah yes, that is a central theme throughout the entire show hahahaha.
The fact that he said that while knowing nothing about Gilmore girls was hilarious 😂
You know you're doing a poor job at relationships, when you need to basically financially bribe and blackmail a person for sth. as "simple" as occasional visits.
Just like Emily's "love" it's conditional
I was looking for this comment!
Lorelai’s trauma is always overlooked because she comes from a rich family.
I believe that Lorelai has been neglected and emotionally abused and I would love for you to analyze it since I feel like people would start to see it if a therapist analyzes it.
Yes this! People who critise her for being ungrateful or "oh I have to sit one week with my parents for dinner in a huge ass mansion" clearly don't have experience with manipulative people and I am glad for them. However if you have experienced this behaviour as a child you totally get lorelai. I see myself a lot in her and my therapist suggested that it's not about being vulnerable and honest in that kind of family. It's only about hierarchy and being right. So talking about facts doesn't work, which lorelai tends to do despite her rambling. The only thing that works is protecting yourself. People with happy family's don't have to do that and they can't truly understand if you have to.
I agree! It's always just pointed that Lorelai is "childish" or "immature". Then again, Lorelai has stunted growth and had to become an adult so young. If we add in the context of Emily and her lack of true care for Lorelai, we can deduct that Lorelai has been raising herself and growing up too fast for awhile, even before Rory was born.
@@not-a-ghost2206 honestly, I didn't have that kind of abuse in my life, but always understood where Lorelai was coming from. If it were simple 'ungratefulness', she wouldn't have tolerated the poverty-stricken life, she would have returned, tucked tail and all. The fact that she remained away, and didn't know how to establish bundaries with Rory, speaks volumes.
Exactly
Just because you come from a wealthy family does not mean you can't have trama
In fact the reason although I am not saying this happens in only in wealthy families
In the U S minors are allowed to seek treatment
Counseling .consultation etc .for issues pertaining to mental health
Substance use .and birth control and other reproductive services without parental consent or knowledge for the last 30 ish years
Due to stigma
Wanting to keep up appearences etc
Parents were not getting and still are not getting the help they need my Apparently the minimum age and perhaps the Spesifics vary from state to state .this is a FEDERAL Law
I have an aunt who is like Emily, and every dinner or visit with her feels like walking on eggshells and then you need three days to recover your mental health to the state it was before, feeling like you are an okay person, that is. It is just a barrage of open criticism, subtle digs and body language... not the way you want to spend every weekend for sure.
I can’t wait for a full GG analysis. You’re correct about her though; it’s both her upbringing and her misguided efforts to love her daughter. Shes so complex. The older woman is actually her mother in law. As a teen I loved the mother daughter relationship between Rory and Lorelai and hated Emily and Richard. Now, I see them as misguided, distant and elitist, all the while loving their family. Now being an adult and therapist, I see lorelai and Rory’s relationship differently and mostly one I wouldn’t try to emulate. It’s so well written with a lot of great themes about inter generational wounds, fathers, and mothers
Yes, absolutely this
What is the problem with Lorelai and Rorys relationship? I had the impression that Lorelai was strict and guiding when it was important, but chill and open when it was not.
@leza4453 I think it's the thing about Lorelai always putting Rory on a pedestal as this little well behaved studious angel, (Richard and Emily also do that with her) and how that feeds into Rory's ego kind of. And how everyone on the show thinks that Rory can do no wrong ever, even though at times she didn't treat Lane the best. I mean there's a list of things but there are videos about Rory being the absolute worst a lot of times.
Lorelai and Rory have something like a co depedent relationship (I'm not a therapist so I don't want to diagnose it...) Whereas Emily and Lorelei are inappropriately formal and distant, Lorelei and Rory are inappropriately close, probably out of Loreilei's being wounded about mother daughter relationships.
OMG thank you for this! I always see people loving rory and lorelai relationship and I think it's not the way to go.
The older lady is actually Richard's (her husband) mother who is judging her, looking down on her bullying her constantly. Her own parents don't appear in the series, but it's a very interesting dynamic when we as viewers see her suddenly being treated similar to how she treats most people. Richard basically married his mother 😅
I believe Emily was constantly under Trixie's shadow. She had to be that way because Richard had that mother. She had to fill up Trixie' shoes. Plus, she basically stole Richard from his girlfriend, she had to show him she was the perfect woman so he would never regret choosing her and decide to leave her (and the standard for a perfect woman was Trixie). Also, she came from a rich family too, she was probably raised loveless, like she raised Lorelai - it was the common way of raising a child, specially in wealthier families. We see in the sequel series that after Richard died, she turned into a much more loose and sensible person. She moves to a beach house, start wearing jeans... 😂 She even agrees to go to therapy with Lorelai! She wants to be a better person and make emends. That's why I think Trixie and Richard were what made her worse.
@@livialimaastrologia so true!:)
In the beginning, I got confused because Emily calls Trix "mom" 😅
When I first watched the show, I read Emily as emotionally and verbally abusive. Her love comes with conditions. She holds her granddaughter’s EDUCATION hostage in exchange for FORCING interactions with her family. Her 18 year old daughter chose white knuckling it and poverty and building her own family with her daughter (Rory) over generational wealth and living in a mansion. That alone speaks volumes about what Lorelei must’ve experienced.
I feel like holding it hostage is such an intense phrase. I saw it as Emily being so desperate to bring her family back together that she did what she had to. Was it unpleasant at times? Yes. But it brought them back together and once her “debt” was paid, they still came around. So even though it wasn’t the best way to go about it, she saw an opportunity to get her daughter and granddaughter back in her life, and she jumped at the chance.
@@sierrakay255it’s not intense, it’s accurate. Her daughter didn’t want a full relationship with her for very good reason, and she forced her into it by making it a condition of education.
I suggest watching the whole show. she is both a sympathetic character but she is also narcisistic and gaslights/ manipulates her family a lot- mainly loreali and Rory. the content creator Kiera loves tv has done a whole series on the show - she's in the middle right now looking at the characters but especially on Emily and her narcissism and manipulation/abuse actions while also looking at the sympathetic side of her character it's great .
Nice! Could you put in a link so I can check it out?
@@CJWMTownsend ruclips.net/p/PLGrXP1lm1aaH_x3Dbrk_kwLp-Rzf3uQ2V&si=JaVYFpbB2J2Nd2Bv
@@CJWMTownsendI watch Kiera’s channel too and I think this is the first video of her Emily analysis series: ruclips.net/video/IJtFpBdTvms/видео.htmlsi=jztyxBnnLtWVwhyR I hope this helps!
LOVE her analysis!
@@alyzu4755 me too!
Emily says it herself she wasn't raised to be friends with her daughter she was raised to be a good wife and mother. She is a extremely deep character I can't wait to watch you react and scream at the screen. Also to this day we don't know what the gift actually was and it drives me crazy😅
I have a theory about that... it's the ice cream maker that is sent to them anonymously and with no return address!
The problem with her was she was being too much like a mother and Lorelai was being too much like a friend instead of a mom, and that’s part of the reason why Rory doesn’t go very far and gets spoiled.
except.. she wasn't a good mother.
I think you're pretty spot on about Emily. I would love to see more Gilmore Girls analyses.
Emily' s grieving after Richard' s death was beautifully played.
literally the only good thing about the revival. Emily's story was beautifully done, and I loved where she ended up by the end.
@@wynterblackwell3640I totally agree 👍 😊
I love the episode where Lorelai is in a fight with her ex, at her wit's end and Emily goes full out Lioness and kicks him out, never raising her voice nor missing a beat. She has her daughter's back when need be.
Also when she gives Logan's mother a savage verbal teardown all the while retaining her composure with a smile on her face haha
@@jdg9825 Oh yeah, that was brilliant, too.
To then enlist him as her flying monkey to actively ruin her daughter's relationship at the vow renewal
That one with Sheera was the one!
Christopher Hayden 🤢 he hurt Lorelai and Rory too many times. I was so happy when Luke punched him right in the face 👊
She’s so complex, I hated her when I was a kid but have some empathy for her now I’m an adult. That older lady isn’t her mum, it’s her mum-in-law who doesn’t think she’s good enough!
There is an arc in the Netflix revival series where Emily and Lorelai go to therapy together and your thoughts are very on point about how that experience went
yesss wonderful scene!
Was that in the Year one? It's been awhile since I've watched it, so I've forgotten a lot. Or was there another revival?
@@Me-wk3ix there's just the one series. I think it happens in either the winter or summer episode, I don't remember specifically. I want to say summer.
@@Me-wk3ix It was in the latest season "a Year in the life" :) so not the original show but the extra season done by Netflix not so long ago.
@@ClaytonChick8it was the spring episode. Thats when it started n she got roped into going to therapy w her mom.
I grew up with Gilmore Girls and loved it so much. When I was younger, I first idealized Rory and wanted to be like her, than it was Lorelai who was my role model... and as the years went by I noticed how messed up and flawed both characters were (which is why i was not at all surprised about the sequel ten years later) and I started to actually feel for Emily a lot
It's rare that TV shows have that many super layered personalities, that are developing so realistically
So happy, that you are watching it now! Very much looking forward to your thoughts!
Greetings from Germany :))
Actually though they changed their characters and Emily grew into a better person and was written more sympathetically in the revival. Rory was such a role model character in seasons 1-3 in high school and I don't think any criticisms of her really are fair till later on. Lorelai was always flawed but also impressive.
@@VioletEmerald I agree. Lorelai has her issues but she is still a role model for me because she is so impresiv
The elderly woman was Emily’s mother-in-law, but I can only assume her mother was similar in attitude and expectations.
Jono calling it as a sunday dinner relationship and describing Emily as a dictator when Lorelai compared her mother to Stalin once is scarily accurate
I have a mother who is Emily Gilmore but thinks she's Lorelei. There are scenes between Emily and Lorelei that hit way too close to home for me.
Same. The series is good, but not a fun, escapist watch for me because of it. It's my mother + immense wealth.
Same, guys! Omg we could start a club
Each character is so complex which makes it so good.and real.
Emily is judgmental, mean, and stuck up. She’s also loving, giving, and compassionate.
Emily was horribly bullied by Richard’s mom, Lorelai the first. She never felt Emily was good enough for Richard. Constantly talked down to her, undercut her, and ridiculed her. Even left a copy of a note she wrote Richard before their wedding day begging him to leave Emily at the alter for Emily to find after she passed away.
But what Lorelai never really explained well to Emily is that she was doing the same thing to her. Lorelai needed to sit down and explain how Emily’s treatment left her feeling the same way Emily felt from her mother in laws treatment. But I doubt Emily would have been receptive.
Lorelai, the main character, was also complex. She was a rich kid who had too much freedom. But at the same time, not enough freedom. She was expected to act, walk, think, and BE someone she wasn’t. And everytime she failed to do so, she was put down and bullied by Emily. All Lorelai wanted was what ANY teenager wants: to be accepted for who she was.
So she left and she found a town who DID accept her and love her and her daughter for who they were. No one expected her to be better or different. And she became very accepting of the strange people in her town. She never expected her friends to be different even when they were weird as heck lol because she knew what it was like to grow up not accepted.
But she also struggled with giving that same acceptance to her daughter. She loved Rory and would do anything for Rory. But her knee jerk reactions were often very similar to Emily’s, just less intense than Emily. Unlike Emily, Lorelai nearly always calmed down and worked it out with Rory, accepting her choices for the most part even when she didn’t agree. And I think that showed how much growth Lorelai had as a person. It’s hard to break generational trauma and she did her best to do so.
Rory was a complex character too. She had such high goals and expectations. She was very intelligent and that comes with a lot of stress. I too was advanced as a kid (started college at 16) so I related to Rory a lot. Even without pressure from your parents, you put so much pressure on yourself. And that leads to breakdowns. Bad decisions. Which was portrayed perfectly in how Rory handled the Dean/Jess situation, the Dean Affair situation, and even the beginning of her relationship with Logan.
Then the breakdown of Rory’s life in adulthood is also true for many advanced kids. We spend so much of our young lives pushing and pushing that we just stop and need a break at some point. No one can keep up 100% forever. I didn’t understand that when I first watched a year in the life but I get it now. At 28, IM FUCKING TIRED YALL. I need a break. I wish I had parents I could go home to and live with while I just recentered my life, like Rory had. But alas I don’t.
Overall, this show is so REAL and RAW and that why it’s still relevant today.
I agree with you. Sorry you have a hard life. Jesus will help u. Just ask Him
I love that show! Emily Gilmore is such a complex character
Please please please do more videos about Gilmore girls!
yesssss I subscribe to that
“Emily Gilmore” and “warm and nurturing” in the same sentence is a TRIP.
there are times where Emily's negative characters remind me of my mom. I was scared to invite my mom to my actual wedding, because she's partially ruined events in the past for me. We ended up eloping so I didn't invite her to that. She ended up coming to our reception and has the audacity to bluntly say I don't like your make up, it's too dark. Like fuck off, can you keep your opinion to yourself one time. Glad she wasn't apart of my actual wedding day and that day was filled with so many wonderful memories :).
Everyone has covered a lot, but one thing I think is important is that Emily is also very intelligent and would have been an excellent entrepreneur among other things, and raised in a time period and class that being a brilliant wife and household manager was the only avenue to pursue that would be socially acceptable. I'm reading more into the subtexts here, but I think that Emily feels undervalued for all of the accomplishments she had in the traditional realm (which includes for her running charity committees as well as the wife and mother bits), holds to those traditional standards just a bit more firmly because she didn't have other opportunities to exhibit her talents and skills, but also a little jealous that her daughter would have had a wider variety of opportunities (Lorelei could have gone to Harvard instead of a sister college, unlike Emily is just one example) and she Lorelei neither seemed to value Emily's route to social acceptability, nor did she appear to (for a while, at least) embrace the newer roles that women of her class and generation could have taken--entering finance or insurance and following her father's footsteps, for example.
You're absolutely right! I literally have nothing to add lol.
Interesting perspective. I find it hard to be that sympathetic to a narcissistic character who reminds me too much of my own abusive mother though.
That’s a good point, late in the series, I believe Emily might have been a bit tipsy or high and Lorelei is helping her with some financial thing, and Emily comments on how maybe it’s ok for a woman to forge her own path and do her own thing, she borders on praising Lorelei for her competence and independence doing these nontraditional things, while in her upbringing, a woman doing these things or a marriage ending was a bad thing, because it meant ‘the system failed’. Of course, the next day she ruins it by being disappointed in Lorelei again. 😂
Interesting you started with the flashback scene to Lorelai leaving the Gilmore’s house. That came further into the show, and it really gave you a dose of empathy for Emily, despite her fraught relationship with Lorelai, and there’s a scene where the normally quieter Richard is raising his voice to Lorelai and asking her if she knew how much running away affected her mother, that “she didn’t get out of bed for months” or something to that effect. And Lorelai’s very shaken by his pointed confrontation.
I think you’d actually really enjoy Gilmore Girls, Jono. My boyfriend watched it multiple times long before he and I got together and introducing him to Amy Sherman-Palladino & her husband Dan Palladino got him into Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.
And for years I was trying to explain to my mother how much my grandmother (her mother-in-law) is the Jewish Emily Gilmore and finally after watching the show, she agrees with me. Years ago, my grandmother had us walk around her apartment and put colored dot stickers on “things we wanted after she died” and my mom didn’t believe me that I’d seen the same thing on a tv show and of course Emily Gilmore did it too 😂
It’s hard to see Emily’s faults in just a few clips because the entire conflict with her and lorilei is that she constantly pushes boundaries. Because of Emily’s very rigid world view she always takes it upon herself to make it so that her daughter and granddaughter are making life choices that suit her preferences because she believes they don’t know what they want for themselves.
You analyzed her SO perfectly with so little context it's scary
This show is one of my favorites. It is not without issues, but the dialogue, acting, and characters are so fabulous.
Emily Gilmore is such an interesting, layered character. I love Gilmore Girls so much, the dialogue is insane!
I love Gilmore! Some context missing, the older woman Emily calls "mom" is her mother in law who is highly critical and dismissive of her. Lorelai had Rory at 16 and moved out of her parents house taking Rory with her the next year working as a maid to support them. They had very little contact or involvement until Rory got into a private prep school and Lorelai had to ask her parents help to pay tuition and Emily set up a Friday night dinner agreement before she would agree to pay. So much else is revealed in the show over many seasons and I hope you do react to the series I would love to hear your opinions on several characters!
I absolutely loved Emily's arc in AYITL Netflix reboot, that was one of the only good parts lol we see Emily grow so much.
Yep, literally the only good part
Finally 🎉
Love this show! It's exactly how me, my ma, and gma was growing up!
This is has been my “stand by” / “go to” show since I was a teen. I am so happy you are covering it as Emily & Richard [the grandfather] are carbon copies of my own, down to my grandfather being retired from the insurance business. I had the Lorelai relationship with them and my older sister had the Rory relationship. So I know I will be eagerly awaiting more GG themed episodes!! 😍❤️
I actually love Emily. As maddening as it is to have someone in your life like that (especially a parent), i think Emily cares deeply about the people she loves and genuinely wants the best for them, she just can't get past assuming she always knows best, and will shoot herself in the foot trying to develop the closeness she wants with people all the time by being wholly incapable of vulnerability, and you can see the pain it causes her but she just doesn't know how to express herself any other way.
That being said, while we don't get to meet her parents or see where she came from, the impression that she didn't have people who really were there for her and that she feels she needs to prove something to be worthy is also a definite undertone in her way of being- so while part of it is that she cares about her loved ones and wants what's best for them, part of it is also the ego/image of doing things "right" (contrastingly she can also be someone who digs her heels in on her principles and fights caring about what anyone thinks of her or her family). So I think you were exactly right that it's both.
It's interesting to see the motivation of closeness with her family combine with a person who doesn't know how to maintain closeness aside from forcing it, which creates more distance that she doesn't know why she can't fix.
Ultimately a comedic, fairly light show, but some great characters and interesting relationship dynamics for sure.
Also, this video might offer a window into a fuller side of Emily Gilmore (the woman who "raised" Lorelei and Rory when Lorelei left is the same person in the different clips, but a different actress) ruclips.net/video/9oc7VqjGUDc/видео.htmlsi=jFRBhKly-9yFgS9U
Agree with all of this! 💖
The older I get, the more I like her (37 yo now)😊
If you had had a mother like Emily, you would have more opinions about her character. I agree that she is written really well and fantastically portrayed by the actor. But Lorelai was running for her life and for Rory's freedom.
@@NatManzano I mean, there are a lot of things about Emily that remind me of my mother. And I have lots of opinions about her. Many more than I could fit in a RUclips comment, even as long as mine was.
It might be a good rule of thumb moving forward to not assume you know someone's experience. Emily is dynamic, so maybe you are saying that there are aspects you relate to that were more difficult to go through, and I'm sorry you had to go through that.
@@ceceliam9014 I was mistaking your surfice for all of your thoughts. I apologise for that. I am Spanish and we express all of our opinion openly even if it is negative as a way to show others that we respect them because we think they can take it and then give us their truth. But this is more like an anglosaxon "say something positive", which I think is cool. But again, I would not use the word "dynamic" for Emily, since: 1. dynamic is something that moves, and Emily spends 45 years not moving from her position with a fury. 2. Dynamic does not have a lot of meaning as a word. If you use a different one I think I will understand better.
The dialog of this show is so much fun. Written in a way that brings everyone's character to life in such a unique way. The most sarcastic educated people of all time. It's like a small town of Frasier Craines. I love it.
I cannot wait for you to therapize this show!
Emily is, in my opinion, one of the most interesting and complex characters of the series. Which makes her feel very human. She’s cold and cruel, but there is love there and unexpected moments of warmth and compassion. My opinion is that she was brought up to be the perfect wife and mother, where we never show or discuss anything, and was never made to feel good enough as she was; which led to a desperation to have everything be perfect all the time. Had she been brought up differently, or simply been told she was enough as she was.. I think she’d have ended up a quite warm and kind person.
The one scene where Lorelai is helping her while Richard is grieving his mother.. And Emily lets her guard down & tells Lorelai how she's proud that she's independent & her own person...
@@girllittlemorbid absolutely! She had some moments where we see the true depth of her ability to care, connect, and show compassion/care/warmth.
Emily Gilmore is an ABSOLUTE LEGEND. The more times I go through the show, the more I absolutely adore her. She has an AMAZING story arc throughout the show and follow up. I won't give anything away about her character, other than that she will definitely make you want to scream plenty (which you can tell from these clips!) but will say she is a treat anytime she is on screen. Long Live Emily Gilmore! 🥳
A "sunday dinner relationship", well spotted, there, John!
Gilmore Girls taught me aaaall my English, and it's an awesome show. I hope you find the time to watch it and appreciate it =D
You must watch at least the first season to get the context. There’s a complicated history here. I watched this with my teen daughter when it was on originally & I very much identified with Lorelai & her position between the grandparents & her daughter. We still watch reruns regularly, but now I find myself identifying with Emily & the disappointment & dreams lost that we place on our own children & the hurt caused by decisions our own children make, whether good or bad. I’m very much interested in your perspective AFTER you’ve watched the first season & have some context.
Agreed!! I feel like it would be very dicey to judge or assess the complexities accurately outside of a more full context - one episode alone can be more misleading out of that context. I even think you need more than just the first season for sure
My nana was so similar to Emily (except she has none of the redeeming qualities). She was always so critical of my mom and of us and she constantly put it back on us if we tried to say anything. Everytime my mom let her know how it made her feel she would start a huge fight. She had done some pretty terrible things and we finally had to go no contact with her.
Yay Gilmore Girls! I hope you do some discussion on Luke and Lorelai soon as well, especially I would love to hear your input on the arc in episodes 5x13 - 5x15. Would open up for insights on when the other parent of your child is causing problems in your current relationship, but also about the need to communicate in your relationship but also maybe giving your partner space if they ask for it. And of course, what to do when an Emily is getting too involved in your relationship 😅
That boundry drawing that you talk about near the end, I had to do that with my mum and ended up cutting her off entierly when I was a teenager because she'd try to manipulate me with threats/attempts of suicide. I lived with my grandmother at the time (since my mum had already lost custody) and what was really the last straw for me was when, a week after I had taken her out to eat with my own money (which is a big deal as a poor child with no income) for mother's day, I went to a school dance. When I came back from it I was informed by my grandmother that my mum had attempted suicide, again, and explicitly blamed me because I didn't hangout with her that weekend (despite not having any plans with her at all). I was done. I gave her my terms for what I'd need to consider continuing our relationship and she didn't want to comply at all, only accuse my grandmother of "turning me against [her]", and so I would refuse to see her.
I related to this show quite a bit growing up. My grandmother (RN) was often critical and condescending with her words (i.g. expecting me to know medical terms and other complicated words as a child) while my mum and I were a bit like Lorlei and Rory in the sense that we were a lot more like friends than mother/daughter, it's just that friendship turned quite abusive when I was a teenager.
Oh my lord Jonathon. I’m so excited for you to therapize this show. The more you watch it the more you realize how messed up a lot of stuff is on the show. I’m at the point where I used to think how great Lorelei and Rory’s relationship is and now I think Lorelei really messed up Rory. Can’t wait for your take.
👏 Yes. its obvious the Emily Lorelei relationship is messed up, but the Lorelei Rory relationship is normalized but it's pretty unhealthy and codependent.
Thank you! Lorelei's codependency and constant hurting people (using the excuse of her trauma) infuriates me.
I don't think that at all. Lorelei was running away from the life of luxury. And Rory embraced it. Logan was bad for her. Her grandparents didn't help either.
This video was so well done! You analysed them so well without having watched much of the show. I actually think that Lorelai is a lot like her mother. She also wants to be involved in her daughter's life very intensely; she also oversteps boundaries and gives her unwanted opinion on everything her daughter does. She always says how she is nothing like Emily, but I think their dynamic as mothers is actually quite similar. She's so desperate not to be like her mother, that she doesn't see what she's doing clearly. And Rory is also like that, but with Lorelai. Rory is unhealthily involved in Lorelai's life. I mean, Rory told Christopher that he can't contact Lorelai every again. Regardless of what the viewers think of Christopher, that's overstepping every boundary there is. If there is ever another instalment of episode where we see Rory as a mom to her child, I really hope she broke the cycle - but sadly I doubt it. Thanks for coming to my TED Talk.
There's another therapist that analyzes all the scenes of Gilmore Girls, Heather Thom Counselling and I love her in depth videos and explanations in case anyone else is a huge of a GG fan like I am!
YES! THIS! I follow her channel too and it's awesome!
Jono, I appreciate this challenge you were given, reacting to Emily. I did watch the entire GG series and found myself reacting to Emily very strongly because she and my own mother have a great deal in common... while also being quite different. This video helped articulate what they have in common: judgment. Seeing her own worldview as THE right worldview, and struggling with perspective taking. She was a Southern Baptist rather than a member of the Connecticut Elite, but they had the same flaw.
I was not ever able to articulate my boundaries with Mom in a clear way, although I did pull back and we had a Sunday-phone-call relationship. I succeeded in her later years by focusing on accepting that she was who she was, and her behavior was not a reflection on me, nor did her expectations need to have any influence on me. That was hard work, and I didn't do it well all the time, but the more I did that, the better off we were. Finally, although sometimes I am saddened by having lost her, I have generally benefitted from her death because her attitude was so judgmental.
Thanks for this!
I don’t know why Kelly Bishop didn’t get an Emmy for this performance. She was incredible!
Please do more Gilmore Girls reactions! There's so much to unpack there!
Also, there are a few therapy scenes in the show, especially in the 2016 Netflix revival. It'd be cool to see a therapist react to those
Check out Heather Thom Counselling, she analyzes all the scenes in Gilmore Girls, I've watched all of them and can't get enough!
Gilmore girls is such a great show with lots of room for analyzing the characters. ❤
"Sunday dinner relationship" is Gilmore Girls in a nutshell, and I find it so ironic and so informative about your professional intuition that you summarized the through-line dynamic that begins the show without even seeing it. Many kudos.
My mom is an Emily (she thinks she’s a Lorelai). It was a challenging childhood. She loves me, but she was also abused in her childhood, which emotionally shut her down, and told repeatedly she wasn’t good enough for my Dad (even by the preacher who married them), so she in turn abused me.
As an adult I can see that I can be sympathetic to what she went through, but don’t excuse her actions to me.
Emily grows with the series. She's one of the best characters in the show.
the mii theme playing during the compilation was the cherry on top of this video
8:54 My therapist has helped me with this kind of relationship with my dad. I’ve had the “discussion” with him and we’re in a limbo. It is really hard to tell them how you feel and stand up for yourself when you care about the person. When your default to stress and fear is to fawn, standing up for yourself, your mental heathy and your life is very difficult. Thank you for all the content you share.
My mother is Emily to a T. This series was actually very therapeutic for me to watch as I was dealing with the constant judgment, criticism, and even gaslighting in my own relationship with my mother. It helped me realize that my mother, although misguided, was coming from a good place, my feelings of wanting to be a separate person from her was also a valid one. As someone who identifies with Lorelai deeply (having a child at a young age, enjoying whimsical things, living a life completely opposite of what her parents envisioned for her, rejecting the more entitled upbringing and way of life), seeing Emily's actions as the show progressed truly helped show her good intentions, and in turn my mother's as well. Having the patience to see past her comments helped give me the courage and strength to have tough conversations with her (as Lorelai does with Emily). Now, I would say my mother is my best friend (even though there is still some tricky territory). After about 15 years of VERY hard work, she and I have the relationship we both had thought impossible.
I love everything you said about drawing the line because the behaviour won't change and it will keep on hurting. It happened with my parents. I wanted to draw a line for the first time in my life and my mom said that I was dead to them. 6 years later, for my birthday, my father tried to force me into apologizing for being me. I did not. I drew another line. He said I am not longer their daughter. And it felt like a blessing to me.
What you say on this video makes me feel safe with my decision to let them go. ❤
This particular character- we never see her mother or father- just Richard’s mother mostly. Three times and three different actresses I believe. Much appreciated! Thank you for this!
It was two actresses, actually.
But even better, the first one returned later as Emily's MIL's sister at MIL's funeral, and was highly entertaining!
@@SeArquiteteMininumultiple actresses? I never realized that!
@@VioletEmerald that's alrighty I didn't either. I only noticed when I read on a fan page. Then I paid attention. Lol
@@SeArquiteteMininu oh yeah- that. 😂🤗 thank you
Marion Ross was the only actress to play Richard's mother.
My therapist one told me, “What if they never change? What if they never realize your side of things?”
That was my aha moment. Learning to set boundaries and keep them though is also part of healing and growing.
I cannot wait to watch you watch the full Gilmore Girls series! I adore it so so much!
Love the writing on this show. It gives the actors so much to work with. When she tells her mother she is going to her neighbor's cats funeral... Poor Cinnamon? Emily is saddened by the fact that her daughter is out of her life and she desperately wants her back in.
Thats her mother in law.
Emily is both. She wants the best for them but she also cares about appearances.
I can't believe you've never watched Gilmore girls!! There's so much in that show for you to react to 😂😂
Also is funny and brilliant and Kelly bishop makes an amazing job portraying Emily.
I'm commenting before fully finishing this video, but want to say that--as a huuuuuge Gilmore Girls fan--it has taken me countless, multiple rewatches to see all sides of Emily Gilmore. A huge credit to the writers for making such intensely complex characters. One of the best shows of all time. Impeccable writing.
Oh this should be a crazy good episode
yay! I've been waiting for this episode
You nailed Emily really well without having seen more than these clips. The Sunday dinner comment is funny because that’s basically their relationship.
Thanks for giving me the words for a hard conversation I’ve been trying to figure out how to have without making it go on forever.
you definitely nailed her character! The woman you see criticizing Emily is actually her husband's mother, her mother-in-law and Emily NEVER acknowledges that the way Trix (that's her nickname, she's actually Lorelei the First) makes her feel is the way she makes everyone else feel. We actually never get any insight about Emily's childhood or her parents and I think that would've been a great addition to the show to explain how she became the way that she is. On the flipside, I've always found it hard to imagine how someone like Lorelei came to be in a household like this one with the constant micromanaging.
Emily is my favorite of the Gilmore girls. You should really find a compilation of her breaking down...so heart-wrenching. Also, you could spend the rest of your life analyzing the rest of the characters, especially Taylor, Kirk, and Mrs. Kim.
Jono, I would pay big money to see you analyse this entire show 😂❤
I love Emily. She and Paris are my favourites. Both so harsh and yet so vulnerable and likeable even with their mean streak. My opinion is that Emily is like this because she was taught a woman serves her husband’s needs and keeps everything looking perfect in “society”. Richard never respects her and he finds her tedious and dull since she has no outward aspirations.
The best quote about "Emily's world" is season 3 ep 5 (eight o'clock at the oasis) where Richard is talking to Lorelei about how Emily always gets the first cup of tea at the DAR meetings, Lorelei says she doesn't understand it, so Richard says he doesn't understand it either but "If my wife wants the first cup of tea, she's going to have it"
Richard a good man, supporting his wife even if it's absolute nonsense to him.
Emily is a very interesting character throughout the entire series, and one of the things I love about the show as a whole is that you can really see how Emily's mother shaped her, how Emily shaped Lorelai and how Lorelai has shaped Rory. The main characters and most of the secondary characters throughout the series all have a depth of character that make them both relatable and fun to watch, and the witty banter perfectly balances the drama.
Gilmore Girls has to be one of the best tv shows ever made. This is coming from someone who typically prefers their escapism through sci fi and fantasy - if it hasn't got spaceships, portals, magic or supernatural beings, I tend to lose interest pretty quickly. Gilmore Girls is an exception because it's just good. The writing, the acting, the story, the balance, it's all so well done and I can come back and watch it over and over again.
Wow! I don't know that I expected much depth from this video but I watched it anyway. I could not love your words more!
I have watched this show at least 10 times fully all the way through since beginning it!!!
Emily is infuriating... But you can see that she does love her family. You want a smacker and you want to yell at her and put her in her place so many times. But she does care.
I can't believe you have so much depth when you answered something from such a small perspective!
I just subscribed because I can't wait to hear more ❤️🙌💕
This is literally why I live halfway across the country. I wish I saw this video growing up and was gaslit so hard into believing I was just a horrible person when I was the healthy one just trying to set boundaries and be understood.
Emily is such an interesting character. When I first watched the show in my late teens I was 100% on Lorelai's side of her mother being overbearing for 'no reason' and unnecessarily strict. With each rewatch I gain more appreciation of Emily: caring about her social image AND loves her daughter and granddaughter dearly. She's badly hurt when Lorelai moves out with 'no warning' with baby Rory ('Missing missing reasons?), she sees that she's more than fulfilled her job as a mother by providing Lorelai with a good education and opportunities, tries to keep Lorelai on the path she sees as best so that Lorelai can flourish in her world, and struggles to understand Lorelai's deep unhappiness at this and at Lorelai's 'depriving' Rory of these opportunities. She was raised in this world to get her MRS and be Richard's wife and raise their child to flourish in society, to her she treats Lorelai (and later Rory) with their best interests in mind, and does this as an expression of her love for them.
YES! I've been secretly hoping you'd cover the relationships of Gillmore Girls.
A good episode to analyse is Dear Emily and Richard because it shows a breakthrough on Lorelai’s part.
I think you got it spot on!! -- Emily is a lovely, complex, and difficult woman. But so is Lorelai. And so is Rory. But all in different ways. And that's what makes the show so good. (Of course, the super-fast, witty, and culturally relevant - and hilarious- dialog helps, too.)
Thank you for beginning to therapize the gilmore girls! There are a lot of interesting dynamics in the show that I would love to see you dive into like Rory and Lorelai’s relationship and the various romantic relationships in the show. Can’t wait to watch more!
Thank you sooo much for this video!!! I’ve been dying to hear a therapist’s opinion on this. I actually recommended the show to my therapist. Between Emily and Richard’s misguided education of Lorelei (which ended up controlling and jugemental) and expecting a positive reaction, Lorelei’s arrested development, Rory’s total fall down due to her never really having a stable grown up parent figure, it’s a gold mine for therapy ! I would love to hear more of your analysis of this show, which to me represents the complexity of childhood trama in a situation where the parent actually loves their child but doesn’t respond to their emotional needs. It’s a perfect example of good intentions with a terrible execution. I totally agree with your final analysis. The writing is just amazing. I can’t tell you how many times this show has given me ideas for my own therapy !!!
I would LOVE to see you react to this series. The relationships are so intense, there is a mountain for you to analyze.
You should definitely watch the whole series, and do a RAW reaction to Season 2, episode 16 - There's The Rub. It's the best one of the season! Context? Richard's mother (the original Lorelai and mom Lorelai's namesake) was very critical of Emily. I'll just leave it at that; you'll have to watch the series to get the backstory, but I promise you, it's a good one, and one you won't see coming. :)
Yes I would love an analysis of the whole series, and not necessarily just about Emily but maybe about Rory and her boyfriends as well.
Check out Heather Thom Counselling, she analyzes all the scenes in Gilmore Girls, I've watched all of them and can't get enough!
Emily is one of the best written characters in this show. Her origin family is never mentioned, but you can kinda picture what it was like for her growing up. Someone already said that her relationship with Trix (Richard's mother, not hers :D the clip was very misleading for someone who doesn't know the show) is a big trigger for her obsession with perfection. Everytime Richard is out of the picture - because of illness or in the end because he passed away - she lets her mask slip and you are able to see beneath the chanel suit.
I CANNOT WAIT for you to go into Gilmore Girls!!! ❤
Oh man, I'm so excited to see this broken down. The relationships in this show are wild and thought provoking. As someone who watched this show when it first aired and was the same age as Rory to now being the same age as Lorelai, my perspectives on things have changed a bit.
My mother was like this but I understood her upbringing and could see how she would get to this point. In my 30's I told my family members that I embrace my ability to disappoint them and that was my answer each time someone would say something about my need to change. It broke the cycle and always got us out of the circle. It took a few months but it did work.
perfect timing for this to show up on my home page suggested videos. I just finished my hundredth Gilmore Girls rewatch! 😁
I think Emily is all the things. She’s nurturing and cruel. She’s wants what’s best for her girls so long as it makes the family look good. She is rigid, but will snap for her loved ones.
My grandma was an Emily. Unfortunately, we were never able to work out our relationship. Watching the show brings up so many complicated emotions. It is also quite cathartic when they make it work.
I hope you do a video on Lorelai and her parenting of Rory. She's a bit of a mess but shes also very relatable.
Yeah, love Gilmore girls! Huge fan, I grew up watching the show back in the early 2000s. And I still watch it over and over again.! But I've always wanted someone like a therapist react and give theirb2 cents! You know Emily and Lorelei have a toxic relationship but at the end they heal but they are both don't understand each other!
I think you would find the character arcs and growth - especially of Richard and Emily - very realistic and rewarding.
It would be really interesting to hear your take on Christopher, as well as his relationship with Lorelai. He’s always vilified.
God, there's are so much to unpack in this whole series, I'd love for you to watch it and make a 3 hour video on it 😂❤ thank you
Check out Heather Thom Counselling, she analyzes all the scenes in Gilmore Girls, I've watched all of them and can't get enough!
I would LOVE to see more reactions/analysis of Gilmore Girls!
Check out Heather Thom Counselling, she analyzes all the scenes in Gilmore Girls, I've watched all of them and can't get enough!
Emily Gilmore is one of the best television characters, maybe even in my top 10. My thoughts: She has a tough exterior because she doesn’t want to show emotions. You mailed it right away about her stiff sense of propriety, especially in light of the upperclass life she leads. But she is of course not without emotions and deals with them with her intelligence. She always finds a way to get her way, and she does it with innovative ideas.
You’re also spot on that she really also does care for her family and especially daughter and granddaughter. There are times in the show where you can tell her feelings are hurt, and it’s often because her daughter pushed back too far or didn’t realize that her mother could have feelings to be hurt. Lorelai, the daughter, doesn’t know how much her mother cares until she spends more time with her as an adult (they were estranged from the time Lorelai was 18-early thirties). She is, like Emily, exceptionally sharp and proud (and she can in anger, snap out some mean words), but she doesn’t care about the sensibilities of the wealthy. She left that world and made a life on her own, becoming proud in her hard work.
Throughout 7 seasons, these two are dynamic and experience growth and understanding. The show goes further when the granddaughter is part of the drama, allowing us to see it through generations. You could even include Emily’s mother-in-law, who we saw. She is also a Gilmore Girl, and that’s the title of the show.
10:27 ...or a Friday night dinner relationship? When you watch the first few episodes of the show, you'll understand the reference.
Emily is a GREAT character. That "mom" is her mother-in-law.
Mother-daughter relationship is very good.
Lorelai + Emily development through the series is heartwarming. ❤
Please do more of these on this show!!!!
You should watch more of the Gilmore Girls. Your comments are on point