Category: S2Ep22: I Can’t Get Started

Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm

RORY: I guess the thought of just being nice to people never occurred to you, huh?

PARIS: See, that is exactly what I need from you, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm for the new millennium. Hey, wear some braids tomorrow with bows. I mean, hell, let’s sell it, sister!

Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, a 1903 classic children’s book by Kate Douglas Wiggin. The main character is Rebecca Rowena Randall, an imaginative and charming little girl from a poor family, sent to live with her aunts, Miranda and Jane Sawyer, in the fictional village of Riverboro, Maine. Miranda is stern with Rebecca, while Jane is kindly and finds Rebecca’s lively nature refreshing. However, Aunt Miranda will eventually prove how much she values Rebecca.

Like Rory, Rebecca is a brunette from a small town, and eventually becomes a very good student, especially in English, as well as talented writer.

The book was turned into a stage play, and was made into a film three times, most notably in 1938, starring Shirley Temple. However, Paris seems to be describing the book rather than a film, as the films don’t show Rebecca with the braids and bows of the book, preferring curly-headed heroines.

Connecticut State

PARIS: Harvard loves this kind of crap. Being vice president is just one more thing to put you ahead of the rest of the hundreds of thousands of straight A students who are applying for the same spot you are. Think about it. You say no, then comes the day when the letter from Harvard arrives. They’ve turned you down. Enjoy Connecticut State, sucker.

There isn’t actually a Connecticut State University in real life. There’s a Central Connecticut State University in New Britain (about half an hour from Hartford), an Eastern Connecticut State University in Willimantic (about an hour from Hartford), a Western Connecticut State University in Danbury (about 40 minutes from Washington Depot), and a Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven (where Yale is).

It’s hard to know which of them, if any, Paris could be talking about, as the location of Stars Hollow kept moving about, but I suppose the most likely candidates are Central, which would be closer to Stars Hollow than Chilton, and Southern, which is in the city where Rory ends up attending college. Both of them are considered only average as educational institutions, and easy to get into. Even a Rory who failed to get into Harvard could probably aim higher.

“You look like little birds help you get dressed in the morning”

PARIS: Because people think you’re nice. You’re quiet, you say excuse me, you look like little birds help you get dressed in the morning. People don’t fear you.

A reference to Cinderella, previously discussed. In the 1950s film, Cinderella makes friends with birds and mice to cheer her lonely existence, and the birds are shown helping her get dressed, and even make a ballgown for her, with the help of the mice.

Six months ago, Rory was a friendless loser who couldn’t even get anyone to eat lunch with her, and Chilton was actually disturbed by how unpopular she was. Suddenly, everyone likes her so much that she can help Paris win the election just by existing. What happened?

“Yin to my yang, Joel to my Ethan, Damon to my Affleck”

PARIS: So, I have been racking my brains for weeks trying to figure out exactly who should be my vice presidential candidate, you know? Who would be Yin to my Yang, Joel to my Ethan, Damon to my Affleck, and then suddenly, it hits me – the perfect person … You.

Yin and Yang

An ancient Chinese philosophical concept of harmonising opposites, where Yin is passive and feminine, and Yang is active and masculine, but each force is equal, interdependent, and complementary. Note that Paris designates herself as the active Yang principle!

Joel and Ethan

Joel Coen (born 1954) and Ethan Coen (born 1957), filmmakers. The films of the Coen Brothers span many genres and styles, which they frequently subvert or parody. Their most acclaimed works include Raising Arizona (1987), Fargo (1996), The Big Lebowski (1998), and O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000).

Damon and Afflleck

Matthew “Matt” Damon (born 1970), and Ben Affleck (born Benjamin Affleck-Boldt in 1972), actors and filmmakers. They wrote the screenplay for the 1997 film Good Will Hunting, directed by Gus Van Sant, in which they also starred. They won the Oscar for Best Screenplay. They later played parody versions of themselves in the film in the 2001 comedy film, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, directed by Kevin Smith. [Picture shows Affleck and Damon in Good Will Hunting].

Paris only now chooses Rory as her running mate, with the election mere days away. Shouldn’t she have chosen a vice-presidential candidate ages ago?

“We added the votes up”

Madeline and Louise have been busy polling a cross-section of students to find out if they are voting for Paris. Madeline is quick to say that Louise added the votes up, not her, which Paris approves. Obviously Louise is much better at Math than Madeline. Sometimes it feels as if the show can’t decide whether Madeline or Louise is the “dumb one” out of the two.

It’s bad news for Paris, as the students overwhelmingly say they think Paris is the best candidate, but they won’t vote for her because they don’t like her, and find her scary. Paris immediately decides she needs “nice Rory” to soften her image.

Why do people keep thinking Rory is nice and sweet? She’s currently nursing an injury due to a car accident because she recklessly let the town bad boy drive her car, she just went to see him in New York behind her boyfriend’s back, she thinks it’s okay to steal, treats fat people as entertainment, she can sometimes be mean to her best friend, and let’s not forget that whole “retarded kid” comment. There’s a whole other side to Rory that people just refuse to see. She is, in fact, flawed and human! Not a Disney princess.

The Farrelly Brothers

LOUISE: We talked to people that we should never have even had to stand near.

MADELINE: The hairstyles alone proved the Farrelly brothers are not making this stuff up.

Brothers Peter Farrelly (born 1956) and Bobby Farrelly (born 1968), screenwriters and directors. Their films make frequent use of slapstick and toilet humour, often populated by blunt-spoken, profane working-class characters in small roles.

Their debut film was Dumb and Dumber (1994), in which both lead characters, played by Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels, have spectacularly bad hairstyles. (Carrey later starred in the 2000 Farrelly Brothers’ film Me, Myself and Irene as well).

The Farrelly Brothers have two films in which characters accidentally use semen as hair gel, There’s Something About Mary (1998), and Say It Isn’t So (2001) – previously discussed as one of the potential “disgusting cow” films of that year. Madeline could be referring to either or both of these hair-related things in Farrelly Brothers films.

Randolph

RORY: Go away, Randolph.

Referring to William Randolph Hearst (1863-1951), businessman, newspaper magnate, and politician, previously mentioned. Hearst developed the nation’s largest newspaper chain and media company, Hearst Communications. He was twice elected as a Democrat to the US House of Representatives, but was unsuccessful in his attempts to run for President in 1904, Mayor of New York in 1905 and 1909, and Governor of New York in 1906.

Like Hearst, Paris is the head of the newspaper and a presidential candidate. While running for President, Hearst shamelessly ran newspaper stories in favour of his own candidacy – Rory is suggesting Paris is doing the same thing by trying to influence the article Rory is writing about her speech.

William Randolph Hearst was unsuccessful in his bid for President, which might be a tease from Rory as well.

Sharon Stone/Basic Instinct

PARIS: Just make sure you mention that Schatzi pulling the Sharon Stone/Basic Instinct bit was a cheap attempt to distract the whole student body from my mandatory recycling program.

Basic Instinct, a 1992 neo-noir erotic thriller directed by Paul Verhoeven. It stars Michael Douglas as a San Francisco police detective investigating the brutal murder of a rock star. During the investigation, he becomes involved in a torrid relationship with the prime suspect, a crime novelist who is played by Sharon Stone.

Basic Instinct was the #4 film of 1992. Reviews at the time were mixed, and it garnered controversy for its graphic sexuality and violence, including a rape scene. Gay and bisexual rights activists protested the film, saying it followed a pattern of negative depictions of queer characters in film. It was later recognised for its groundbreaking depiction of sexuality in mainstream cinema and its transgressive nature in the film noir genre. Sharon Stone received praise for her performance.

Paris refers to a notorious scene when Sharon Stone’s character crosses her legs while wearing a short dress without panties during her interrogation, so that her vulva briefly appears on film. Stone and Verhoeven have differing versions of how consensual the filming of it was, but are apparently still on good terms.

John F. Kennedy

PARIS: John F. Kennedy once said, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country. Those eloquent words are just as relevant here in this hall today. What can you, the future of Chilton, of America, of the world, what can you do for your school?

John F. Kennedy, US president, previously discussed. The quote comes from John F. Kennedy’s inaugural address on January 20 1961, inspiring the nation to greater civic participation. The finely-crafted address was one of the shortest ever made, and afterwards, 75% of Americans polled approved of the new president.