Footnotes to the TV series
POE 1: It was an election year [that Poe was court-martialled].
POE 2: It was not an election year. President Jackson was to serve five more years.
President Andrew Jackson, previously discussed.
He became president in 1829 and was in office until 1837, so in 1831, President Jackson actually had six more years to serve, not five. Both Poes manage to be incorrect this time.
POE 1: I myself attended West Point … I’m embarrassed to say that I was court-martialed in 1832 and forced to leave.
POE 2: Excuse me, but I was expelled from West Point in 1831, not 1832.
The United States Military Academy, also known as West Point, in West Point, New York. The site was originally Fort Clinton; it sits on strategic high ground overlooking the Hudson River. Founded in 1802, it is the oldest of the five American service academies and educates cadets for commissioning as officers into the US Army. The entire central campus is a National Historic Landmark and popular tourist destination.
Edgar Allan Poe entered West Point in 1830, and after deciding to pursue a career as a poet, purposefully got himself court-martialled in 1831 by refusing to attend classes, formations, and classes. The second Poe is correct.
MISS PATTY: When you were six and took my cheerleading class, you wouldn’t even cheer for any other school than Harvard.
The number of classes that Rory took with Miss Patty as a little girl keeps increasing. Ballet, tap dance, baton twirling, and now cheerleading! How did she end up so awkward?
LORELAI: Or complain when he goes back to being Fred Larson, Tampa dentist.
Tampa, a city on the Gulf Coast in Florida with a population of around 380 000. A military centre during the 19th century, today the city’s economy is driven by tourism, health care, finance, insurance, technology, construction, and the maritime industry. Lorelai has something of an obsession with thinking everyone staying at an inn or B&B is a dentist.
RORY: Hope he doesn’t put a curse on us.
Several of Edgar Allan Poe’s stories feature curses, most famously, “The Fall of the House of Usher”.
LORELAI: Where’s the pen you take orders with?
LUKE: I wasn’t anticipating taking orders at the Poe reading.
LORELAI: Hm, there goes your Boy Scout badge.
Boy Scout, previously discussed. Boy Scouts receive merit badges for successfully learning and completing various tasks, such as first aid, cooking, swimming, citizenship, hiking, and so on. These badges are in the form of patches, which can be sewn onto a uniform or a sash.
Lorelai refers to the maxim, “A Boy Scout must always be prepared”. In fact, Luke dropped out of the Boy Scouts very early.
LUKE: Hey, how long is this thing?
LORELAI: He’s got at least five nevermores to go.
“The Raven” has a repeated refrain of, “Quoth the Raven, Nevermore”. Never more means “never again”. It is said eleven times within the poem.
[Dean sees them and waves. Lindsay glances at Rory]
LORELAI: Oh, I think she’s ready to go to the ghetto on you.
Possibly a reference to the 1998 hip-hop song, “The Geto”, by the rapper Scarface, featuring Willie D, Ice Cube, and K.B, from the album, My Homies. One part says, ” … got to go, to the ghetto”. If so, it may be an attempt to make us believe Lorelai’s earlier assertion that she is “into rap”. It sort of ends up seeming a bit racist.
RORY: A second Poe?
LORELAI: It’s like a Poe story in itself.
RORY: The Case of the Two Poes.
LORELAI: The Messrs Poe and Poe.
Many of Edgar Allan Poe’s stories feature rivals or doppelgangers, most notably “William Wilson” (1839), about two boys at the same school with identical names and appearances, yet one believes that the other is quietly working against him in some unspecified manner.
Rory’s imaginary title suggests Edgar Allan Poe’s detective stories, the first ever written, such as “The Murders in the Rue Morgue”.
LORELAI: You’ll get to see the next Meryl Streep all goofy and eighteen and doing crap like, “Hey, name an occupation!” “Plumber!” “Name a farm tool now!” “Tractor!” “Hey, I’m a tractor doing . . . plumbing.”
Mary “Meryl” Streep (born 1949), often described as “the best actress of her generation”, particularly known for her versatility and accent adaptability. She has received numerous accolades throughout her career spanning over four decades, including a record 21 Academy Award nominations, winning three, and a record 32 Golden Globe Award nominations, winning eight.
She was awarded the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2004, Gala Tribute from the Film Society of Lincoln Center in 2008, and Kennedy Center Honor in 2011 for her contribution to American culture. President Barack Obama awarded her the National Medal of Arts in 2010, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2014. In 2003, the French government made her a Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters. She was awarded the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2017.
After receiving her BA from Vassar, Meryl Streep attended the Yale School of Drama, graduating in 1975. She has been mentioned several times as one of Lorelai’s favourite actresses. Lorelai references improv theatre, where actors must improvise a scene on the spot, often considered part of a young actor’s training.
The Annotated Gilmore Girls 