Citizen Kane

LORELAI: You know all those crazy people saying those horrible things were directing them at me, not you.
RORY: They were directing them at you because you had me.
LORELAI: No, they were directing them at me because I screwed up their big Citizen Kane plans.

Citizen Kane is a 1941 drama film by Orson Welles, who produced, directed, co-wrote the screenplay, and starred in it; it was his first feature film. The film examines the life of wealthy news publisher Charles Foster Kane (Orson Welles), partly based upon newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst, and other businessmen, as well as Welles’ own life.

Citizen Kane received an enthusiastic response from critics, but had trouble with publicity because William Randolph Hearst ran an aggressive campaign against it, and it made a loss at the box office. It was nominated for nine Academy Awards, but only won Best Writing (Original Screenplay). Revived on television in the 1950s, the film was re-evaluated, and is now considered one of the greatest films ever made. Its comments on the power of the media have only become more relevant with time.

In the film, Kane’s humble family becomes unexpectedly wealthy, and his mother sends him away to live with a stranger so that he can be properly educated. Lorelai might see this as a parallel with Christopher’s parents wanting him to attend Princeton, on his way to becoming a success.