Footnotes to the TV series
RACHEL: Actually, though very similar to both the Congo and Philadelphia, I was in the Mideast.
The Mideast is an Americanism meaning “The Middle East”. It’s confusing to non-Americans as it sounds like the counterpart to the Midwest states in the central north of America, but there is no Mideast region in the US.
RACHEL: Yup. I’m Rachel.
LUKE: What are you … I mean, I thought you were in the Congo, or Philadelphia, or something.
The Congo can refer to either or both of two countries who border the Congo River in central Africa: the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly known as Zaire), and the Republic of the Congo.
Right in the middle of a festival devoted to love, and lovers coming to find each other, Luke’s ex-girlfriend Rachel (Lisa Ann Hadley) unexpectedly appears on a whim, as if the stars over Stars Hollow were leading her back. It’s really quite a coincidence, as Lorelai only recently found out that Rachel existed, and then here she is.
Rachel suddenly turning up is another falling star on Lorelai’s romantic hopes. Any thought that she could find comfort with Luke is now gone, as his threateningly cool ex-girlfriend is back in his life. Lorelai is running out of options for an easy fix to her woes.
It’s a matter of opinion whether Rachel is “an Elle MacPherson kind of pretty” or not. She certainly looks more like Elle MacPherson than Catherine Zeta-Jones or Michelle Pfeiffer, but to me she’s really more of a “Lorelai Gilmore kind of pretty”.
LUKE: It’s a crazy festival based on a nutty myth about two lunatics, who in all probability did not even exist. And even if they did, probably dropped dead of diphtheria before age 24. The town of Stars Hollow probably got its name from the local dance hall prostitute. Two rich drunk guys made up the story to make it look good on a poster.
This is Luke’s cynical theory about the Founders Firelight Festival. It actually doesn’t seem too implausible, and gives us another possibility: was Stars Hollow founded on a lie? Or has Luke been so hurt by love that he believes it is always a con?
(Diphtheria is an infection caused by air-borne transmission of bacteria, with the main symptoms being a fever, sore, throat, and a cough. It is fatal in 5-10% of cases, and was much more common before vaccines were available).
TAYLOR: No, no, Patty, you’re wrong. They built the fire to throw themselves on it when their families found them.
MISS PATTY: Taylor, you’re crazy! They built the fire so that they could stay warm their first night here.
TAYLOR: Patty, I am the recording secretary for the Stars Hollow City Council. I think I know how my town was founded!
Lighting a bonfire in the town square is the central focus of the Founders Firelight Festival. It seems to stem from a large fire made by the star-lit young lovers whom the town views as the founders – an earthly star to mimic the ones in the night sky.
However, the reason for the fire doesn’t seem to be known for sure. Miss Patty says they lit the fire to stay warm on a cold night, which sounds perfectly reasonable. However, Taylor believes that they lit the fire so that if their families tracked them down, they could throw themselves on it and burn themselves to death rather than be separated again.
The death-by-fire theory doesn’t seem very sensible (there are quicker and less painful ways to kill yourself, for a start), but it is a reminder of the mutual death met by those star-crossed lovers, Romeo and Juliet. It also shows the darker side of love, a fire that can burn and destroy as well as fill you with a warm glow.
It begs the question: does Stars Hollow commemorate a pair of lovers who found each other, and stayed happily together all their lives, or a pair of lovers who found each other, only to kill themselves to make sure they could never be parted again? Miss Patty’s story doesn’t tell us, as it ends with the boy and girl finding each other – what happened after that is never explained.
We probably presume they stayed together, and they and their descendants founded the town (hopefully joined by other like-minded folks at some point, or else the whole town came from the loins of two people, Adam and Eve style).
The alternative is that the town was founded by the grieving friends and family of the lovers, who regretted that they had driven them to suicide, and honoured their memory by founding Stars Hollow (like the Montagues and Capulets coming together after the death of Romeo and Juliet).
Is Stars Hollow a town built on romance and reunion, or grief and guilt? On life and love, or death and darkness? Whether Stars Hollow is magic or tragic seems to be a matter for debate, adding a gloomy lining to the silvery fairy tale of the star-blessed lovers.
LUKE: No, I believe you. If you say there’s no reason for the mood, then there’s no reason for the mood. You’re simply nuts.
LORELAI: Or bipolar. That’s very big nowadays.
Bipolar disorder, once known as manic depression, is a mood disorder where the sufferer goes through periods of severe depression followed by manic periods that might mean feeling abnormally energetic, happy, or irritable. During the manic periods, erratic and impulsive behaviour is often present, as well as an inflated sense of welf worth, and speaking excessively and rapidly.
Although Lorelai probably isn’t bipolar (she’s never diagnosed, doesn’t take medication, and never becomes suicidal or self-harming on screen), it’s interesting that she does seem to have quite a few of the symptoms to some extent. Her mood swings may be due to all the sugar she consumes.
When Lorelai says being bipolar is “very big nowadays” she’s probably referring to those celebrities, such as actress Patty Duke, who were open about their diagnosis, raising awareness and encouraging others to seek help or treatment.
While Lorelai is walking grumpily through the preparations for the Founder’s Firelight Festival, a papier mache star accidentally falls right in front of her, almost hitting her. It’s an apparent sign that the stars above don’t approve of her love-lorn depression which is out of step with the festival and the community, or else they are trying to send her a very strong signal to do something about it. Maybe both.
MICHEL [on phone]: No cherie. I can’t wait either. Very soon. You are? Ohhh. Don’t tease me. I promise all this waiting will be worthwhile. I’ll see you then. Goodbye darling.
Michel seems to use the French feminine form of “darling”, cherie, so his date is with a woman. If it was a man it would have been cheri. However, they sound similar enough to leave some gender ambiguity. I think Michel says cherie, but can’t be 100% sure.
When Lorelai interrupts them kissing, Sookie and Jackson start hurriedly discussing Jackson’s plan to start making his own jams and preserves from his excess produce. Jackson tells Lorelai that he might make his own tomato sauce.
In the US, “tomato sauce” is a tomato puree seasoned with onion, garlic, bell pepper (capsicum), and herbs, which can be bought in a jar or can, or home made. It isn’t the same as the tomato sauce they call ketchup.
SUMMER: So, meet me after biology?
TRISTAN: And if I don’t?
SUMMER: You will.
TRISTAN: Oh, yes I will. Ah. To be young and in love.
PARIS: What a shame Elizabeth Barrett Browning wasn’t here to witness this. She’d put her head through a wall.
Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861) was an English poet, very popular in the Victorian era and a great influence on American poet Emily Dickinson. Her first volume of poetry, Poems, was published in 1840 to immediate success.
Paris may be unfavourably comparing Tristan and Summer’s conversation with Barrett Browning’s famous love poem Sonnet 43 which begins, “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways”. It was published in her 1850 collection Sonnets from the Portuguese.
The Annotated Gilmore Girls 