Month: September 2022

“College paraphernalia”

MS. SAMUELS: I’ve seen applications where the student has circled every activity listed. Again, you’re trying too hard there. One can’t be interested in everything.

MR. ROMAINE: They’re the ones who’ve had college paraphernalia on their walls their whole lives.

MS. SAMUELS: Too hungry, it’s a little immature.

Two more blows to Rory – she wanted to circle every activity on the college application except sports – now she finds out it will come across as someone trying too hard. And she’s had Harvard paraphernalia on her bedroom wall since she was about eleven, and wore a Harvard sweatshirt when she was four years old.

Yes, it’s a little immature, and of course Rory’s college dreams are immature. Her dream of going of Harvard was thought up by her teenaged mother, a girl who’d lost her own dreams and was working as a maid and living in a shed to support Rory. Is it any wonder Lorelai wished for Rory to achieve everything she never could? And can you blame Rory for wanting to make her mother proud and happy, knowing the sacrifices she was making for her daughter?

Rory looks increasingly unhappy throughout this scene, as her path to Harvard now looks far from certain. She now has – application anxiety!

“Extracurriculars and volunteer activities”

MR. ROMAINE: If your extracurriculars and volunteer activities are too by-the-book, that says something we don’t like.

MS. SAMUELS: Yes, those activities should have a personality behind them – a focus, a direction.

And here comes the devastating blow to Paris, who now discovers what Chilton really should have explained to her years ago – her volunteering efforts have been too diffuse and various. As explained in an earlier post, she’s done so many different types of volunteer work that there is no focus to them, no pattern to build on that shows what kind of person she is, or what her goals are.

I think Paris should really feel worse than Rory over the advice given so far. Rory has simply had a lame idea for an essay that she hasn’t even started writing yet. She has plenty of time to pick a different topic and work on it. Paris has wasted literally years of her life and probably crippled herself socially doing hours and hours of useless volunteer work that is very unlikely to help her get into Harvard.

“Brain-dead bint in a skirt”

PARIS: Personal anecdote – when I was twelve and I was writing the first of my trial essays in practice for the day I’d write my real essay, I chose Hillary Clinton. Then I realized every brain-dead bint in a skirt would be writing about Hillary, but it was good to clear the pipes.

Bint: British slang, derogatory term for a girl or woman. It dates to the late 19th century, and is borrowed from the Arabic بِنْت‎ (bint, “girl, daughter”). It was adopted by British soldiers to refer to their girlfriends, as the Arabic word is reminiscent of English words for women such as bit, bird, and bitch.

Paris has not only been practising college application essays since she was twelve years old, but has also been a fan of Hillary Clinton since at least the same age. Paris would have been aged twelve in 1996/1997 – at this time, Hillary Clinton had been First Lady of the US since 1993. She took an important role from the very beginning, and was the first First Lady to receive her own office in the West Wing of the White House. She was considered the most openly empowered First Lady since Eleanor Roosevelt.

“Hillary Clinton and her profound influence”

MR. ROMAINE: I’m talking about run of the mill responses, a lack of originality, particularly in the essay category. If I read one more over-adulating piece of prose about Hillary Clinton and her profound influence, my head will explode.

A devastating blow to Rory, who now discovers her winning essay topic is in fact an unoriginal, commonplace idea, which many other girls will choose. Apparently writing an essay about any famous person, or a person you don’t personally know, is a sure-fire loser of an idea. Rory would do better to write an essay about Lorelai – which, for all we know, is what she eventually does.

Princeton University and Ivy League College Consultant

PARIS: My panelists are Jim Romaine, admissions officer at Princeton University, and Ivy League college consultant, Rose Samuels.

Princeton University, previously discussed. Paris’ boyfriend attends Princeton – I don’t know whether that had any bearing on Paris getting their admissions officer on their panel. I wouldn’t put it past Paris, though.

Jim Romaine and Rose Samuels are of course fictional characters, played by Philip Pavel and Karen Bankhead respectively.

In real life, an admissions officer at Princeton University, Stephen LeMenager, had just been removed (in August 2002) after gaining unauthorised access to student’s files on a Yale admissions website the previous April. The investigation and subsequent scandal may have been what put the idea of using Princeton in this episode – they could have had a representative from any Ivy League university, after all.

Ivy League college consultants, also called independent education counsellors, work with students and their parents to decide which schools a student should apply to. They also guide them through the application and essay-writing processes. Top tier college consultants can cost a small fortune, so this is yet another area where being very wealthy can help you on your path to college.

The Beatles at Shea Stadium

PARIS: I was working with the losers in the AV club to project it on a giant video screen. And all Mr. Hunter said was, “Paris, this isn’t The Beatles at Shea Stadium.” Nice anachronism, huh? Like they had video screens in ’63. His references are as topical as his suits.

The Beatles at Shea Stadium, previously discussed.

The Beatles actually performed there in 1965, not 1963. They must have realised that they made a mistake, because on Netflix, there is re-recorded audio correcting the error to 1965 instead.

Charlie Rose

RORY: The panelists are up there. We sit across from them and ask questions. What’s the problem?

PARIS: It’s boring and predictable and done to death. I wanted Charlie Rose.

RORY: To ask the questions?

PARIS: His style. I wanted us sitting at a round table with black backdrops.

Charlie Rose, previously discussed. Apparently Paris is a fan of his show, as well as Lorelai. This now the third time Charlie Rose has been mentioned in Gilmore Girls.

“Fast runner”

[Rory exits the diner and runs to catch her bus as Luke walks over to the table]

LUKE: Fast runner.

DEAN: It’s the coffee.

LUKE: Not your face?

Luke is very resentful of Dean for standing in the way of Jess being with Rory, which is what Luke wants for him. (That may suggest he’s not as thrilled about Jess being with Shane). Here he gets a dig into Dean, implying that Rory should be running away from him. I don’t think he ever really forgave Dean for breaking up with Rory early in their relationship.

Hillary Clinton and C-SPAN

RORY: It’s not due for weeks, and I already have my essay topic picked out … Hillary Clinton … She’s so smart and tough and nobody thought she could win New York but she did and she’s doing amazing, and have you heard her speak?

DEAN: Only when you’ve played me the thousands of hours of C-SPAN footage you taped.

RORY: She’s a great speaker, strong and persuasive, with a wonderful presence, and even those suits of hers are getting better.

Hillary Clinton, previously discussed. We now discover Rory is a complete fangirl of hers.

C-SPAN, Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network. Cable and satellite television network created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a nonprofit public service. It televises many proceedings of the US federal government, as well as other public affairs programs.

Note that Dean has to watch hours of C-SPAN footage taped by Rory, but she wouldn’t watch BattleBots with him until he went to her debutante ball as her escort. Maybe she also pays him back in some way (or she considers just going out with Dean enough of a big favour?).