Year: 2018

“Tomorrow’s our anniversary”

RORY: Max is staying over.
DEAN: Really?
RORY: First time. And to kind of celebrate, he and my mom wanted to go on a double date.
DEAN: But tomorrow’s our anniversary.
RORY: No it’s not, it’s on the twenty-fourth.
DEAN: No, that was our old anniversary. We broke up, and got back together on the sixth. So using the twenty-fourth wouldn’t be an accurate account of how long we’ve been together.

This is the point where we learn Rory’s birth date, as Rory and Dean date their relationship from the day after her birthday, when Dean gave her a bracelet in Rory’s Birthday Parties. According to this scene, that happened on October 24, so Rory’s birthday is October 23.

(That means their anniversary dinner should have been on the 24th day of a month too, January 24, but although it actually happened in March, it doesn’t fit the timeline of events to be March 24.)

In real life, October 23 2000 was a Monday, not a Friday as in Gilmore Girls (so October 24 2000 was a Tuesday, not a Saturday).

We also learn that Rory and Dean were reunited on Friday May 6 2001 – we know it was a Friday, because Rory was at school, and the next day was a weekend. In real life, May 6 2001 was a Sunday. May 6 doesn’t fit the timeline we are given in the show, where Rory and Dean are shown getting back together around mid-May.

As Dean is preparing to celebrate their monthly anniversary on August 6, the next day, it must be August 5 in this scene. It is the same day as the previous scene Rory had with Lorelai (she is wearing the same clothes) which seemed to be a Friday. As Max is coming for the weekend, Friday seems to be correct. In real life, August 5 2001 was a Sunday.

Rory and Dean’s conversation tells us that Max and Lorelai’s wedding is planned for Saturday 20 August 2001 – two weeks and one day away.

(Rory and Dean decide they will celebrate their “anniversary” twice a month, on both the 6th and the 24th.)

Monty Python Movies

RORY: We can watch Holy Grail on tape again.
DEAN: Okay, but I am not talking in an English accent for the rest of the evening.
RORY: No fun. Hey, tomorrow night?
DEAN: Life of Brian?

Rory is referring to the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail, previously discussed. We learn that it is one of the Gilmores’ favourite films, and they have it on home video.

Dean is referring to Monty Python’s Life of Brian, a 1979 British religious satire written by and starring the Monty Python comedy team of Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin, and directed by Jones.

It is about a man named Brian Cohen who happens to be born on the exact same day at the same time as Jesus Christ, and in the stable next door to his, and becomes mistaken for the Messiah. Brian is unable to shake off his unwanted disciples, and eventually has to face a similar punishment to Christ.

Life of Brian was a commercial success, and the highest-grossing British film in the US for 1979, and the #4 film in the UK for the year. The film received excellent reviews, and is considered one of the greatest comedy films of all time.

“Disgusting Cow” Movies of 2001

DEAN: Well, what movies haven’t we seen?
RORY: We haven’t seen just about all of them.
DEAN: Yeah, they all stink this year …
RORY: There are at least five of them featuring someone doing something disgusting with a cow.

I’m not actually sure which five or more movies in the first half of 2001 featuring cows Rory might be thinking of, but here are some candidates.

The romantic comedy Say It Isn’t So came out in March 2001, directed by J.B. Rogers, produced by the Farrelly Brothers, and starring Heather Graham and Chris Klein in the lead roles. In one scene, the protagonist punches a cow, only to get his arm stuck in the animal’s rectum.

The romantic comedy Someone Like You came out in March 2001, directed by Tony Goldwyn and based on the novel Animal Husbandry by Laura Zigman. It stars Ashley Judd and Hugh Jackman in the lead roles, and opens with an experiment being done where a bull is observed servicing a herd of cows. The fact that he will only service an individual cow once is significant to the film’s theme.

The adventure comedy Joe Dirt came out in April 2001, directed by Dennie Gordon, and starring David Spade in the title role. In one scene, Joe thoughtlessly ties a bottle rocket to a cow’s tail , and watches the tail spin out of control as the bottle explodes.

The comedy The Animal came out in June 2001, directed by Luke Greenfield, and starring Rob Schneider in the title role. In the movie, the main character’s life is saved by a mad scientist who replaces his critically injured body parts with ones taken from animals. In one scene, the main character has a dream about cows grazing in a field – which isn’t actually disgusting, but it’s implied to be his dream because he wants to attack them (livestock is attacked as part of the plot).

The comedy Dr. Dolittle 2 came out in June 2001, directed by Steve Carr, and a sequel to the 1998 film Dr. Dolittle (vaguely inspired by the Dr. Dolittle children’s books by British author Hugh Lofting). It stars Eddie Murphy as Dr. Dolittle, a doctor who can talk to animals. During the film, the animals organise a strike as a protest; cows refuse to give milk, and several can be heard shouting “Strike, strike!”. This isn’t particularly disgusting though.

It’s not known whether Rory and Dean saw the “disgusting cow” movies themselves, or whether Rory is basing her opinions on reviews, trailers, or what other people told her about the movies. There is a strong possibility she is exaggerating, as I could only think of two films which actually depict a person doing something to a cow on screen (Say It Isn’t So and Joe Dirt).

It is notable that all the “cow movies” I listed are comedy films which received below-average to extremely poor reviews.

“Maybe you should stay here”

LORELAI: So, maybe you should stay here.
MAX: Here?
LORELAI: Yeah. Instead of driving back and forth all weekend, sleep over. I mean, it’s gonna be your place too, soon enough. Look at it like a trial run.

From this we learn that it has been decided that Max will live with Lorelai and Rory in their house in Stars Hollow after he gets married. This decision seems to have primarily been made because it suits Lorelai – there is no way she is leaving Stars Hollow for a man. (Even though she apparently refused to date men from Stars Hollow so they wouldn’t upset Rory: quite a catch-22).

We also learn that in all the time since they first began dating nine months ago, Max has never spent the night with Lorelai in her house – apart from the night he slept on the sofa while Rory was in Hartford with Richard and Emily, and Lane was sleeping in Rory’s room.

On the night Max gave Lorelai her diamond engagement ring, he came over fairly late to give it to her, as she had already been to dinner at her parents’ place, and had to counsel an upset Rory. Even coming over late to see her, Max was not able to stay the night, but had to drive home to Hartford alone.

Some people might think that Lorelai and Max should have had a “trial run” of their living arrangements much sooner than this once they became engaged, and for longer than a single weekend while Max and Rory are on vacation. Even if things went well, it would hardly be a realistic test of how their lives might work afterwards.

Mensa

LORELAI: You make me smarter.
MAX: Hm, well, I am a teacher …
LORELAI: Take me upstairs and see if you can get me into Mensa.

Mensa International is an organisation open to those with high IQs, scoring in the 98th percentile or higher on a standardised, supervised, intelligence test. It was founded in 1945 by Roland Berrill, an Australian barrister, and Dr Lancelot Ware, a British scientist and lawyer.

VJ Day, New York, 1945

MAX: Wait a minute. I recognize this.
KIRK: Nice photo, huh?
MAX: This is VJ Day, New York, 1945.
KIRK: Right. I include it as an example of the excellence that I aspire to.

The photo is V-J Day in Times Square by Alfred Eisenstaedt, showing an American sailor kissing a woman in a white dress on Victory over Japan Day in New York’s Times Square on August 14, 1945. The photo was published in Life magazine, and is very famous.

Speedos

KIRK: And those are some self-portraits.
LORELAI: Aahh! Kirk, you’re nude!
KIRK: No no, I’m wearing Speedos. They’re kind of flesh coloured.

Speedo is an Australian brand of swimwear, founded in 1914 by Alexander MacRae, and now part of the British Pentland Group; in North America it is manufactured for and marketed by PVH. Due to its success, the name Speedo has become synonymous with racing bathing suits, particularly for men.

(In fact it turns out Kirk was actually naked, but Lorelai and Max agree never to discuss it again).

The Berkshires

LORELAI: I gotta tell you Kirk, these are really good for amateur shots.
KIRK: Thanks. That’s me and my parents on vacation in the Berkshires.

The Berkshires are a highland region in the western part of Connecticut and Massachusetts. More specifically, The Berkshires is often used to refer to the part of the Green Mountains that extends into Massachusetts, while the part that goes into Connecticut is called the Northwest Hills or the Litchfield Hills. Because of this, I suspect Kirk and his parents were in Massachusetts.

The Berkshires is a popular tourist area, with picturesque towns, hiking trails (including part of the famous Appalachian Trail), and waterfalls, as well as numerous cultural and artistic activities.

Nikon

KIRK: Actually, this would be my first official wedding gig. Or photography gig, for that matter. But believe me, I’ve got the eye. And my Nikon is state of the art.
MAX: Oh, I’ve got a Nikon too. It’s an N65 with 3D matrix metering, 35 to 210 zoom. What have you got?
KIRK: It’s a Nikon.

Nikon is a Japanese corporation which makes products including cameras and photography equipment. It was founded in 1917, and changed its name to Nikon in 1988, after its cameras. It is a member of the Mitsubishi group.

The N65 was a 35 mm film SLR autofocus camera which came out in 2001, and was aimed at the lower end of the amateur photography market. In other words, it’s an entry level camera for the average consumer, but Max gives its specifications as if it is something out of the ordinary.