The Copacabana

[Miss Patty’s standing in front of big drums.]
MISS PATTY: I danced on these drums at the Copacabana in 1969.
LORELAI: Wow.
MISS PATTY: Yeah, it was a great act. I wore bananas.

The Copacabana is a famous nightclub in New York City, first opening in 1940 at 10 East 60^th Street; many top entertainers have performed there. The club had a Brazilian decor and Latin-themed orchestra, and their showgirls wore bananas on their heads in the style of Carmen Miranda (who appeared in the 1947 film Copacabana). It seems Miss Patty was one of the famed “Copa Girls”.

The Coffee Cavalry

LORELAI: The money goes to charity. I look cute. Case closed. Oh finally, the coffee cavalry arrives.

Lorelai is referring to the classic trope in Western films where the US Cavalry charges over the hill just in time to save the battling settlers from Indians. It was a favourite in D.W. Griffith films from the early twentieth century.

Lorelai is saying the coffee is arriving just in time to rescue her from the conversation. Apparently when she is wearing a cowboy hat, she thinks in Western cliches.

Harvey Fierstein

PARIS: My mother is having the entire place redone; she wants all evidence of my father out of there [after their divorce]. So unless you want to sit on no furniture, while watching three Harvey Fierstein impersonators rip up the carpet and paint everything a ridiculous shade of white and call it Angel’s Kiss, then we’re going to have to find somebody else’s house to go to.

Harvey Fierstein is a multi Tony Award-winning actor and playwright, best known for his 1982 Torch Song Trilogy, which he both wrote and originally starred in – it went to Broadway and the West End in London before being made into a film.

Fierstein was openly gay at a time when few celebrities were, and his works often centre on LGBT issues. Paris is simply saying that her mother’s decorators are gay, or appear to be so.

The Bangles in Concert

The main event of the episode kicks off when Sookie receives four tickets to see The Bangles in concert that Saturday as a gift from a delighted wedding client named Mr. Birnbaum, and gives them to Lorelai. Sookie says that Lorelai requested them, so perhaps Mr. Birnbaum, who owned a ticket agency, asked Sookie which show she would like to attend, and she asked for The Bangles on behalf of Lorelai.

The Bangles broke up in 1989 and went on hiatus. They drifted back together in 1998, and officially re-formed in 1999 to record a song called Go Get the Girl (written by band members Susanna Hoffs and Debbi Peterson) for the soundtrack to Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me. Susanna Hoffs is married to Jay Roach, the film’s director.

In 2000 The Bangles did a reunion tour, and that same year was inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame. In real life, Lorelai could not have seen The Bangles in concert in February 2001 as they were not touring then, but working on their next album.

Grinch

Lorelai calls Rory “Grinch” after she nags her mother into donating some of her own old clothes to the charity rummage sale that Lorelai is organising.

This is a reference to the 2000 Christmas film How the Grinch Stole Christmas (often just known as The Grinch), directed by Ron Howard and with Jim Carrey in the title role. The film was based on the children’s book of the same name by Dr. Seuss.

In the movie, the grumpy Grinch steals all the gifts from the inhabitants of Whoville in an attempt to ruin their Christmas (it doesn’t work). Lorelai is saying that Rory is “stealing” her outdated clothes for the rummage sale in order to ruin her life.

How the Grinch Stole Christmas came out in November 2000, so Lorelai and Rory could have seen it earlier in the winter. We already know that Jim Carrey is one of Sookie’s favourite actors, so perhaps she recommended it.

The Great Santini

LORELAI: Look, I know that Mrs. Kim and Robert Duvall in The Great Santini share a striking resemblance, but she is Lane’s mom.

The Great Santini is a 1979 drama film written and directed by Lewis John Carlino, based on the novel of the same name by Pat Conroy. The movie is about Lt. Col. Wilbur “Bull” Meechum (Robert Duvall), a pilot known as “The Great Santini” by his fellow Marines. Meechum has a terrifying temper, and is a stern disciplinarian to his teenaged children. The Great Santini failed at the box office, but was well received by critics.

It is notable that Meechum’s children are accustomed to their father’s strict rules, and his sensitive son does everything he can to win his father’s respect and affection. In the same way, Lane never openly rebels against her mother, and submits to Mrs. Kim’s rules. You can tell that Lane really does love her mother very much, even while she chafes against her restrictions.

Anvil

LORELAI: Hey, four menus, a coffee and an anvil please.
LUKE: What’s the anvil for?
LORELAI: For Rune.

Lorelai is referring to a common trope in cartoons where an anvil is dropped on a character’s head with hilarious results. It seems to have first been used in Disney animated films, and was perfected by Warner Bros. in their Looney Toons cartoons. (Possibly not a coincidence that Lorelai sees Rune off with a “Bye, Loon”.

The comedy anvil drop may have its origins in real life. A traditional celebration on the Fourth of July in America was launching an anvil into the air with gunpowder from atop another anvil, then watching it fall onto the other anvil with a thud. Presumably everyone stood well back during this exciting spectacle and hopefully nobody got an anvil on the head.

Beethoven

Todd tells Lane that his favourite movie is Beethoven, and Lane incredulously asks, “The one with the dog?”.

Beethoven is a 1992 family comedy film directed by Brian Levant and written by John Hughes (as Edmond Dantès). It is about the antics of a big friendly St Bernard dog named after the composer Ludwig van Beethoven, and the way he protects the family who have adopted him. The movie received tepid reviews but was enough of a commercial success to spawn numerous sequels and a television series.

Todd describes his favourite scene as the one where a little dog is running around with a cabbage in its mouth. During the movie, Beethoven’s family help him escape from an experimental lab run by an evil vet, and they release all the other dogs who have been held there. As the evil vet’s henchmen chase the dogs through a marketplace, a Golden Retriever puts an entire cabbage in his mouth, and spends the rest of the scene hanging onto it.

It’s one of those blink-and-you’d-miss-it funny background scenes, so this actually provides a glimmer of hope in regard to Todd’s intelligence. He clearly has a keen eye for detail (although Golden Retrievers are not really “little dogs”; maybe he means it in an affectionate way.) In the Gilmore Girls universe, perhaps even the dimmest people have a knowledge of obscure movie trivia!

Mask

SOOKIE: I know. I’m just – Oh, I’m so nervous.
LORELAI: You’re nervous? You don’t have some guy staring at you like he’s Cher and you’re the kid from Mask.

Mask is a 1985 biographical film directed by Peter Bogdanovich. It is based on the life of Roy “Rocky” Dennis (1961-1978), a boy who suffered from craniodiaphyseal dysplasia, an extremely rare disorder commonly known as lionitis. It causes calcium to build up in the skull, disfiguring the facial features and shortening the life expectancy.

Rocky is played by Eric Stoltz, and Cher plays the role of Rocky’s mother, Rusty. Unlike Lorelai’s description of Cher as “staring” at “the kid”, Rusty was a supportive mother who encouraged Rocky to live the life he wanted, and fought for him to receive equal treatment – the exact opposite from what’s she’s getting from Rune. Perhaps she just means that Rune sees himself as physically normal, and Lorelai as abnormal.

Mask was a commercial success and received excellent reviews from critics. It won the Academy Award for Best Makeup.

Attack of the 50 Foot Woman

This is the movie that Rory, Dean, Lane, and Todd go to see on their double date at the Black-White-Read Bookstore.

Attack of the 50 Foot Woman is a 1958 science fiction film directed by Nathan H. Juran (credited as Nathan Hertz), and with Allison Hayes in the title role. It is about a beautiful but rather unstable socialite who increases to a gigantic size after contact with a mysterious alien figure. She uses her new stature to take revenge on her cheating husband.

Made on a very low budget, Attack of the 50 Foot Woman is a technically “bad” sci-fi movie that is fun to watch, and has become a camp classic.

The joke is that they are watching a film about a giant woman while Lorelai is on a double date with Jackson’s cousin Rune, who thinks she is too tall, and acts as if she is freakishly huge.

(A movie date is not really suitable for Lane’s purposes, since she wants to talk to Todd and get to know him better. I’m guessing Lane and Rory chose the cinema as a way to hide from Mrs. Kim – if they went for coffee at the diner or just strolled around town together, there was a higher chance of being spotted. Luckily, Lane only needed a couple of very brief chats with Todd to learn all that she needed to know about him).