EMILY: He’s going to join my water aerobics class. LORELAI: What? EMILY: He bought some new swim trunks today. He’s out of control.
Water aerobics, or aquarobics, are aerobics performed in a swimming pool, usually standing upright. It’s a form of resistance and strength training, as well as a cardiac workout – you can work harder without getting overheated. It’s ideal for seniors as a way to exercise safely.
Lorelai earlier said that Emily was keeping her legs trim by holding grudges. Here we discover that Emily actually attends an exercise class to keep fit. (In real life, Kelly Bishop’s shapely legs are from her years of dancing on Broadway).
EMILY: You have to take your father …Tomorrow, for the whole day, just take him. LORELAI: Take him where? EMILY: I don’t care – the zoo, the mall, Rhode Island, just get him out of my house!
Rhode Island is a state in New England, the smallest state in the US. It takes its name from an island in Narragansett Bay, although most of the state is actually on the mainland. There are many beachside towns here, making it a common place for people to come for vacations, and there is a strong maritime culture. It would take about 90 minutes to drive to Rhode Island from Hartford.
The mention of Rhode Island may be a nod to animated sitcom Family Guy, which is set in Rhode Island, and which Daniel Palladino worked on.
RORY: Hey Kirk, there are a couple of little kids over there and they’re, uh, looking at this tape cover that’s kind of mature. You might wanna put that stuff on a higher shelf or something. KIRK: Mature? How mature? RORY: Uh, it’s a half-naked woman just standing there. KIRK: Is she a blonde?
The video that the boys are looking is Showgirls, a 1995 erotic drama directed by Paul Verhoeven and starring Elizabeth Berkley and Kyle MacLachlan (who played Dale Cooper in the 1990-91 David Lynch television series, Twin Peaks, a secret touchstone for Gilmore Girls). Showgirls is a about a street-smart drifter who goes to Las Vegas and climbs the seedy ladder from stripper to showgirl.
It was the first, and so far, only, NC-17 film given wide release in mainstream cinemas. Critically panned, it was a box office bomb, but a success on the home video market, despite being named as one of the worst films ever made. It’s often cited as a guilty pleasure, a camp classic, or a “so bad it’s good” film. It was made into a stage musical in 2013. (Amy Sherman-Palladino commented on the film Glitter, “It was no Showgirls“.) Some critics now believe it is a brilliant satire.
The video is correctly catalogued under Drama by the video store, and Showgirls was cut to an R rating for video store rentals. R rated videos were not kept in a separate section from other films, so Rory comes across as more of a meddlesome prude than a concerned citizen. The cover doesn’t actually show anything very salacious – just a leg and a tiny bit of side boob.
LORELAI: Got it. The worst film festival ever. Cool as Ice, Hudson Hawk, and Electric Boogaloo. RORY: Sold.
Lorelai chooses a triple feature of poorly-received or ill-regarded films.
Cool as Ice, 1991 romantic musical comedy directed by David Kellogg and starring rapper Vanilla Ice in his film debut. The story is about a free-wheeling motorcycling rapper named Johnny who arrives in a small town and meets a student named Kathy (played by Kristin Minter), whose father disapproves of Johnny, but ends up needing his help when Kathy’s brother Tommy is kidnapped. It was a box office failure and received negative reviews. Vanilla Ice won Worst Actor at the Razzies. Kellogg later disowned the movie.
Hudson Hawk, 1991 action comedy film directed by Michael Lehmann and starring Bruce Willis in the title role; Willis also co-wrote the script and the theme song. Willis plays Eddie “Hudson Hawk” Hawkins, a master cat-burglar and safe-cracker trying to save the world from an evil corporation using a machine designed by Leonardo da Vinci. It’s a cartoonish slapstick comedy with surreal humour based on conspiracy theories, secret societies, and historic mysteries. A recurring plot device is Hudson Hawk singing songs with his partner to time and synchronise their exploits. It received harsh reviews, and failed at the box office, but did well on home video, and performed better outside the US. It received Worst Film, Worst Director, and Worst Screenplay at the Razzies. It spawned a video game.
Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo, 1984 dance musical directed by Sam Firstenberg, the sequel to 1984 break dancing movie, Breakin‘. The story is about three dancers who try to save their community recreation centre from being demolished to make way for a shopping mall. The rapper Ice-T plays a role in it. There is a third film in the series, and none of them are connected, except for featuring Ice-T. It had a lacklustre performance at the box-office, and received mostly negative reviews, with a few notable exceptions, such as Roger Ebert. “Electric Boogaloo” has entered the pop culture lexicon to refer to a ridiculous sequel title, or a sequel to an obscure or eclectic film (or other work).
RORY: Ooh, we could do a Ruth Gordon film festival. Harold and Maude, Rosemary’s Baby, and that really great episode of Taxi.
Ruth Gordon Jones (1896-1985), actress, screenwriter, and playwright. She was known for her nasal voice and distinctive personality, and became most successful in later life, being chosen for major screen roles in her 70s and 80s, and winning several awards. She seems to be a favourite of Rory.
Harold and Maude [pictured], 1971 coming-of-age dark comedy/existentialist drama. Directed by Hal Ashby and written by Colin Higgins, it follows the exploits of Harold (played by Bud Cort), a 19-year-old from a wealthy but emotionally cold family who is obsessed with death. He develops a friendship, later a romance, with 79-year-old Maude (Ruth Gordon), a Holocaust survivor who teaches him about living life to the fullest. It initially received mixed reviews, but became a runaway cult favourite, and is now regarded as one of the best comedies, best romances, and greatest films of all time. Colin Higgins adapted the screenplay into a novel, then a stage play.
Rosemary’s Baby, previously discussed. For this film she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, as well as a Golden Globe Award and a Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award.
Taxi, award-winning sitcom which aired from 1978 to 1983, focusing on the lives of the employees of the fictional Sunshine Cab Company in Manhattan. Ruth Gordon made a guest appearance in the 1979 episode Sugar Mama, playing a woman who tries to solicit one of the taxi drivers as a male escort. She won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series.
LORELAI: The three faces of Costner – Bull Durham, Dances with Wolves, The Postman. Tom Petty playing Tom Petty, that great big speech about “Once upon a time there was a thing called mail”. It’ll make you laugh, it’ll make you cry, it’ll make you wanna mail something.
Kevin Costner (born 1955), award-winning actor and filmmaker. The three faces of Costner seem to be the first big success of his career, the greatest success of his career, and what seemed at the time to be the fading of his career with a failed film. In fact, he was to have renewed success with The Open Range in 2003, and received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame that same year, so his comeback was just around the corner.
Bull Durham, 1988 romantic comedy sports film. It’s partly based on writer/director Ron Shelton’s experiences in the baseball minor leagues, and depicts the players and fans of the Durham Bulls from Durham, North Carolina. Kevin Costner plays a veteran catcher brought in to teach a rookie pitcher (played by Tim Robbins) about the game in preparation for moving to the major leagues. It was a commercial and critical success, and was named the #1 sports film ever by Sports Illustrated. It’s also considered one of the best comedies. It helped solidify Costner as an A-list celebrity.
Dances with Wolves, 1990 epic western which stars, and was produced and directed by, Kevin Costner, in his directorial debut. It’s based on the 1988 novel of the same name by Michael Blake, and tells the story of a Union Army Lieutenant who travels to the American frontier to find a military post, and his dealings with a group of Lakota (much of the dialogue is in Lakota with English subtitles). It was a box office hit, and the #4 film of the year. It was also favourably reviewed, and won seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director. It is credited with revitalising the western genre in film.
The Postman, 1997 post-apocalyptic action adventure film, which was also produced and directed by Kevin Costner, who plays the lead role. It is based on the 1985 novel of the same name by David Brin. Set in a neo-western version of a disestablished US in the near future of 2013, an unspecified apocalyptic event has led to war and plagues, leaving a huge impact on human civilisation and erasing most technology. A nomadic drifter finds an old uniform of a US Postal Services mail carrier, and unwittingly inspires hope, becoming a national hero. It failed at the box office and was heavily criticised in reviews.
Thomas “Tom” Petty (1950-2017), singer, songwriter, and musician. He was the lead vocalist and guitarist for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, formed 1976, and was a member of the supergroup The Traveling Wilburys, as well as performing as a solo artist. He sold more than 80 million records worldwide, making him one of the most successful music artists of all time. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002.
He seemingly plays himself as the mayor of Bridge City in The Postman, as Kevin Costner’s character immediately recognises him as a famous person. Tom Petty had a post-apocalyptic themed story in his 1982 song I Got Lucky, and mentioned wanting to have a small part in a futuristic postwar movie. He finally got the chance in this film. [Picture shows Petty as the mayor].
LORELAI: How about a triple feature? Three Days of the Condor, Shoah, and The Jerk? RORY: Uh, Shoah’s like nine and a half hours. LORELAI: But The Jerk is short.
Lorelai chooses three well-regarded films that are completely different from each other in subject and tone, in contrast to triple features in real life, which are usually connected in some way.
Three Days of the Condor, 1975 political thriller directed by Sydney Pollack, based on the 1974 novel Six Days of the Condor by James Grady. Robert Redford plays a bookish CIA analyst working covertly at a historical society who has to outwit those responsible for massacring his colleagues while he was at lunch. It was well reviewed and won several awards. It was made into a television series, 2018-2020.
Shoah, 1985 French documentary about the Holocaust (known as “Shoah” in Hebrew), directed by Claude Lanzmann. Over nine hours long and 11 years in the making, the film presents Lanzmann’s interviews with survivors, witnesses and perpetrators during visits to German Holocaust sites across Poland, including extermination camps. Hailed as a masterpiece, it won several prominent awards. It was released on video in 2000.
The Jerk, 1979 comedy directed by Carl Reiner, and starring Steve Martin in his debut screen role (he also co-wrote the screenplay). It’s a ludicrous, picaresque tale of rags to riches to rags to riches, with Martin playing a naïve white man who is the adopted son of black sharecroppers, standing out for his skin colour and lack of rhythm. It was a box office smash, becoming the #8 film of the year, was praised by critics, and is considered one of the funniest films of all time. It has a running time of 95 minutes.
A poster for this video game is displayed in the window of Stars Hollow Video – the store obviously hires out games as well as movies.
Grand Theft Auto III is a 2001 action-adventure game developed by Rockstar. Set in fictional Liberty City (loosely based on New York City), it follows the adventures of Claude, who becomes embroiled in a world of crime, drugs, gangs, and corruption. The game received critical acclaim, was the best-selling game of 2001, was named Game of the Year, and is considered to be one of the greatest video games ever. It was also controversial for its depiction of sex and violence.
It’s possible that this is a foreshadowing of Rory’s own Grand Theft Yacht, but more likely a comment on freedom of speech.
The Annotated Gilmore Girls 