Footnotes to the TV series
(Lorelai walks in the front door carrying shopping bags.)
LORELAI: Rory, I’m back for round two [of their fight]. I got some Silly String in case things get really ugly.
Silly String is a toy consisting of flexible plastic string propelled as liquid from an aerosol can. It was first invented in 1972. Silly String fights are common among children.
Rory, fresh from an unresolved argument with Lane over not telling her that her science partner was Dean, now confronts her mother about getting back with Max without telling her. Lorelai says she was just trying to protect her feelings after her break up with Dean, but Rory does not press her on why she felt the need to share Rory’s private life with her on-again off-again boyfriend.
Instead Rory decides to attack her mother for her lack of commitment and constant breaking up with boyfriends after just a couple of months. It seems out of the blue, but in fact Rory must be very angry with her mother for setting her such a poor example when it comes to maintaining relationships. On some level, she must be angry that she couldn’t say “I love you” to Dean, and at least partly blames her mother for that.
LORELAI: When I was in junior high, I had a boyfriend, Todd something or other. Not a soul mate, but I was crazy about him and he dumped me. I was completely crushed and I could do nothing except lie around and cry and listen to Air Supply, very low point in my life.
Air Supply are an Australian soft rock duo, formed in 1975 and consisting of Graham Russell and Russell Hitchcock. They had a succession of major hits worldwide, including eight Top Ten singles in the US, during the 1980s. They were inducted into the ARIA (Australian Recording Industry Association) Hall of Fame in 2013.
In 1980, Air Supply released their album Lost in Love, which brought them mainstream popularity and was their first to enter the US charts. As it came out just before Lorelai turned twelve, she could have listened to it in junior high. While getting over her boyfriend Todd, the sad break up song All Out of Love may have resonated with her, with its chorus beginning, “I’m all out of love, I’m so lost without you”. The song went to #2 in the US, and is Air Supply’s biggest hit.
LORELAI (to Rory): Okay, you’ve been in this mood for a week now, and while I love the unexpected ups and downs of motherhood, I’ve got to say I’m tired of Goofus and I’d like my Gallant back.
Goofus and Gallant is a children’s comic strip created by Garry Cleveland Myers which has been published in the children’s magazine Highlights for Children since 1946 (it was originally in Children’s Activities, first published in 1940).
Goofus and Gallant are two boys. The comic shows two panels, contrasting the actions of the polite, virtuous Gallant with the rude, selfish Goofus – for example, Goofus will take the last piece of food, while Gallant politely offers the plate around to see if anyone else wants it.
Rory hasn’t really been in this mood “for a week” – it’s only been a few days. For some reason, everyone is instantly concerned about her. The average person can be suicidal for months with nobody even noticing; Rory gets a bit crabby for two or three days and suddenly everyone goes into crisis mode on her behalf.
RORY: I’ll get over it.
LANE: Well, you’re not over it yet.
RORY: Maybe I’d get over it a little quicker if everyone weren’t so busy running around trying to protect me from all the bad scary things in the world.
During her fight with Lane, Rory puts her finger on the great tragedy of her life. Everyone does everything they can to protect her, to mollycoddle her, and to reassure her she’s wonderful, without ever thinking that this could stunt her emotional growth.
Throughout the series, Rory will demonstrate again and again that she could have done with a little toughening up, as she tends to fall apart the second she’s faced with reality.
(Rachel walks into the diner and stares at them. Luke looks up and sees her.)
LUKE: Oh hi.
(Lorelai looks up and sees Rachel.)
LORELAI: Oh hi. Uh, this is not what it looks like.
RACHEL: It looks like you’re dressing him.
LORELAI: Then this is exactly what it looks like.
Rachel has already picked up that Luke has feelings for Lorelai, and has cleverly befriended Lorelai, perhaps partly to keep an eye on her, or to make Luke even more taboo for her. She cannot feel comfortable with Lorelai picking out clothes for Luke to wear, and helping him get dressed, as if she is already his wife.
LUKE: This is how you like your guys, all GQed up, huh?
LORELAI: It’s not GQed up, its just a little less casual.
GQ (originally Gentleman’s Quarterly) is a men’s lifestyle magazine based in New York and founded in 1931. Aimed at single men with disposable income, it concentrates on high-end male fashion.
LUKE: I’m not wearing a black suit with a black shirt.
LORELAI: Regis does.
LUKE: Okay, you’ve won me over now.
Lorelai is referring to media personality Regis Philbin, previously discussed.
(Lorelai gets Luke to try on the clothes she bought for him with his credit card)
LORELAI: I just wanna make sure it all fits. Turn around. (Luke turns around.) Uh huh, uh huh.
MAN AT COUNTER: Hey Fabio, I need the ketchup.
Fabio (born Fabio Lanzoni in 1952) is an Italian-born American model and actor. He has appeared in several commercials, television shows, and movies, and became recognised as a model of the cover of multiple romance novels in the 1980s and ’90s. He was also famous for appearing in “I can’t believe it’s not butter” commercials. He was once known as “the most beautiful man in the cosmos”, and often considered very vain about his appearance (his catchphrase was, “Don’t hate me for being Fabio!”)
No prizes for guessing why Lorelai is so pleased to see Luke turn around …
The man at the counter is Joe (Brian Berke), who is also the pizza delivery guy in Stars Hollow.
After noticing Rory has seemed tired and distracted for a few days, Max says he’s concerned about her. He lets her know that he is sympathetic that she broke up with her boyfriend, and that he is available to talk if she wants to.
All this comes as the most terrible shock to Rory. She learns that her mother and Max got back together weeks ago, and have been talking regularly for at least three weeks – including discussing her personal life. Coming just after finding Lane and Dean studying together and talking about her, this seems like another betrayal – but even worse, because it is her mother.
Max behaves in a fairly inappropriate way here. He means well, but he approaches Rory more as a prospective stepfather than a teacher by wanting to talk about her breaking up with her boyfriend. Rory has really only been in a miserable mood for a few days, and it hasn’t impacted on her schoolwork yet, so there isn’t any need to do this.
Max shouldn’t be discussing her personal life at school, and should have checked with Lorelai before telling Rory that he and her mother are back together. He is being rather presumptuous by taking on a stepfather role at this stage – he and Lorelai haven’t even been on one date together since breaking up months ago!
The Annotated Gilmore Girls 