Category: S3Ep10: That’ll Do Pig

Marlo Thomas and Tina Louise

FRANCIE: You do not wanna be my enemy, Marlo Thomas.

RORY: I think I do, Tina Louise.

Margaret “Marlo” Thomas (born 1937) [pictured], actress, producer, author, and social activist. She is best known for starring on the sitcom That Girl (1966-1971). She has received three Primetime Emmy Awards, a Daytime Emmy, a Golden Globe, a Peabody Award, a Grammy Award for a children’s album, and has been inducted into the Broadcasting and Cable Hall of Fame. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2014.

Tina Louise (born Tina Blacker in 1934), actress best known for her role playing Hollywood movie star Ginger Grant on the sitcom Gilligan’s Island (1964-67). She won a Golden Globe in 1958 as New Star of the Year for her role in the film God’s Little Acre.

Rory and Francie both identify each other with actresses based on their hair colour.

The Art of War

RORY: You wanna play rough, fine. I’ve read The Art of War.

The Art of War, ancient Chinese military treatise dating from roughly 5th century BC. The work, attributed to the military strategist Sun Tzu (“Master Sun”), is composed of 13 chapters. Each one is devoted to a different set of skills or art related to warfare and how it applies to military strategy and tactics.

The Art of War remains the most influential strategy text in East Asian warfare and has influenced both Far Eastern and Western military thinking, business tactics, legal strategy, politics, sports, lifestyles and beyond.

Gidget and Moondoggie

FRANCIE: Hey, no one is denying Gidget a chance to snag Moondoggie for the clambake, but the rest of us have things to accomplish.

A reference to the film Gidget, previously discussed. In the film, Moondoggie (played by James Darren) was Gidget’s love interest and eventual boyfriend. They didn’t really attend a clambake, but a luau. Presumably Francie thinks a clambake is the closest thing to a luau in New England.

Lobotomy

FRANCIE: Paris wasn’t around. She was off yet again with the mystery man.

RORY: Jealous?

FRANCIE: Of Paris’s lobotomy victim? I think not.

Lobotomy, or leucotomy, a form of neurosurgical treatment for psychiatric or neurological disorder that involves severing connections in the brain’s prefrontal cortex. The surgery causes most of the connections to and from the prefrontal cortex, the anterior part of the frontal lobes of the brain, to be severed.

In the past, this treatment was used for treating psychiatric disorders as a mainstream procedure in some countries. The procedure was controversial from its initial use, in part due to a lack of recognition of the severity and chronicity of severe and enduring psychiatric illnesses, so it was claimed to be an inappropriate treatment.

The use of the procedure increased dramatically from the early 1940s and into the 1950s; by 1951, almost 20,000 lobotomies had been performed in the United States and proportionally more in the United Kingdom. More lobotomies were performed on women than on men: a 1951 study found that nearly 60% of American lobotomy patients were women. From the 1950s onward, lobotomy began to be abandoned as a psychiatric treatment.

Frontal lobe surgery, including lobotomy, is the second most common surgery for epilepsy to this day, and usually done on one side of the brain, unlike lobotomies for psychiatric disorder which were done on both sides of the brain.

“What’s your damage?”

RORY: Francie, so good of you to stop by. I know how busy you are. Gum? [hands her a piece]

FRANCIE: What’s your damage, Gilmore?

A reference to the movie Heathers, previously discussed. In the film, “What is your damage?” was a way to sarcastically ask what sort of mood someone was in. It’s from the 18th century slang “What’s the damage?”, meaning how much does something cost.

There have been several references made to this film in Gilmore Girls to highlight a “mean girl” plot line.

Lorelai Gives Emily Advice

LORELAI: You need to develop a defense mechanism for dealing with Grandma.

EMILY: What are you talking about?

LORELAI: You just need a system, a new mindset.

Faced with Emily’s mounting hysteria at the prospect of Trix seeing Lorelai’s house and workplace, Lorelai gives Emily some advice in dealing with Trix. Instead of feeling hurt and upset by Trix’s criticisms and putdowns, she should find amusement in them – perhaps even encourage them. Lorelai is frank about the fact that it is how she copes with Emily’s criticism and hurtful comments. Although taken aback, Emily does actually take Lorelai’s advice on board, and puts it into practice that very night.

Betty Boop

EMILY: I brought flowers over and can’t find a decent vase. All I could find was a ceramic Betty Boop head.

Betty Boop, an animated cartoon character created by Max Fleischer, featuring in theatrical cartoons during the 1930s. A caricature of a Jazz Age flapper, she is is a teenager who is drawn as both child-like and sophisticated. Fleischer said that he wanted her to be based on singer Helen Kane, although she is often said to resemble Clara Bow. She is regarded as the first animated sex symbol, and some see her as a feminist icon.

The Wadsworth Mansion

FRANCIE: The Wadsworth Mansion has just had a cancellation, which means that we can get it for prom, if we move quickly.

The Wadsworth Mansion at Long Hill Estate is a real historic venue in Middletown, Connecticut, about 16 miles north of Hartford. Built in 1911 for businessman Colonel Clarence Wadsworth, it is now owned by the city of Middletown, and is open to the public. After extensive renovations, it became possible to hire it out in 1999, and today it costs around $5000 for an evening, but catering costs extra (about $100 a head). Rory is concerned about it being too expensive, but it is used as a senior prom venue. Perhaps by schools that didn’t blow their budget on an expensive telescope.