Tag: People

“Dressed in a clown suit”

PARIS: I tried to stay home and study myself but I can’t. I don’t know what anything means anymore. I mean, I can’t even read my own handwriting. What does this say? The person who wrote this should be dressed in a clown suit, stuffing bodies under their porch.

Paris is referencing John Wayne Gacy (1942-1994), serial killer and sex offender who assaulted and murdered at least 33 boys and young men. Gacy regularly performed at children’s hospitals and charitable events as “Pogo the Clown” or “Patches the Clown”, personas he had devised. He became known as the “Killer Clown” due to his public services as a clown prior to the discovery of his crimes. He buried most of his victims beneath his house, usually in the crawl space.

His conviction for thirty-three murders (by one individual) then covered the most homicides in US legal history. Gacy was sentenced to death in 1980, and executed by lethal injection in 1994.

Paris talks about her work as if it looks as if it was done by a mental case, but although he pleaded insanity, John Wayne Gacy was deemed to be sane and in complete control of his faculties when he committed his crimes.

(This is yet another mention of clowns on Gilmore Girls).

[Picture shows John Wayne Gacy dressed as a clown].

Ted Nugent

EMILY: Well, we intend to leave here completely different people.

LORELAI: Yes, I’m going to be Ted Nugent.

Theodore “Ted” Nugent (born 1948), songwriter, guitarist and activist. He initially gained fame as the lead guitarist and occasional lead vocalist of The Amboy Dukes, a psychedelic rock/hard rock band, before embarking on a solo career. His biggest hit was the 1977 song Cat Scratch Fever. In later years, Nugent has become known for his outspoken conservative political views and advocacy of hunting and gun ownership rights.

Ted Nugent seems to be someone that Lorelai sees as completely different to herself, politically speaking.

George Washington

EMILY: It was for charity, I had to bid on something. And I certainly didn’t want another portrait of George Washington. I’ve got four in the attic already.

George Washington (1732-1799), soldier, statesmen, and Founding Father who served as the first President of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Commander of the Continental Army he led the Patriot forces to victory during the American Revolutionary War, and presided over the 1797 convention which established the Constitution of the United States, and its federal government. He has been called “the Father of the Nation” for his leadership during the formative days of the country.

His legacy endures as one of the most influential people in American history, and his birthday has been a federal holiday in the US since 1879, celebrated on the third Monday in February. The Washington Monument in Washington DC is an obelisk built in his honour, his face is one of the four presidents carved into Mount Rushmore, while Washington state is the only US state to be named after a president. George Washington appears on the one dollar bill, and appeared on the nation’s first postage stamps in 1847.

George Washington was the husband of First Lady Martha Washington, previously discussed.

Santa Claus

JESS: Actually, I came down the chimney and pulled a Santa Claus.

Jess refers to Santa Claus delivering gifts by coming down the chimney, a common tradition in many European countries. It probably pre-dates Christianity, as in Germanic legend, the Norse god Odin was said to bring gifts down the chimney at Yuletide, and in folklore elves and fairies brought gifts down the chimney to leave on the hearth. The fireside and hearth has been held sacred since ancient times, probably since humans began using fire.

Santa Claus coming down the chimney became part of American tradition upon the publication of the 1823 poem, A Visit from St. Nicholas, by Clement Clarke Moore, which begins, “’Twas the night before Christmas …”. Enormously popular, it had a massive effect on Christmas traditions in the US, many of which can be dated to the publication of the poem.

Jess is quick to counter Lorelai’s suggestion that he broke into their house to steal the bracelet by instead aligning himself with a benevolent figure who actually brings gifts, rather than steals them. Jess does the right thing in returning the bracelet as soon as he can, but gets nothing but grief for it.

EDIT: Edited to change a Jeff to a Jess, thank you to Carol Stamm for help in my battle with autocorrect. Otherwise we’d all be reading about Laurel Gilmore and her daughter Dory, in the little town of Tars Hello.

Donna Karan

MICHEL: No, I believe you thought I was lying. That I did not actually get down on my hands and knees in a brand new Donna Karan suit and crawl around on a floor where people who have stepped in mud and garbage and animal waste have been traipsing all day long.

Donna Karan (born Donna Faske in 1948) is an award-winning fashion designer, creator of the Donna New York and DKNY clothing brands. She is nicknamed “The Queen of Seventh Avenue”. She brought out her first collection in 1985, and launched her line of men’s clothing in 1991. She left her CEO position at Donna Karan in 1997, and in 2015 announced that she would step down as head of the Donna Karan company to focus on her lifestyle brand Urban Zen, established in 2007.

Gretzky

LORELAI: What did you say?
RORY: That I had a rash and that I had to take it off until it healed.
LORELAI: Nice save, Gretzky.

Wayne Gretzky (born 1961), Canadian former ice hockey player and coach. Nicknamed “The Great One”, he is regarded in many quarters as the greatest hockey player of all time. He is the leading goal scorer and point scorer in the US National Hockey League, and upon his retirement in 1999, was immediately inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

In ice hockey, a goaltender is credited with a “save” when they prevent the opposing team from scoring, so Lorelai is comparing Rory’s move to Gretzky’s ability to save goals. Gretzky was actually a centerman, not a goaltender. Lorelai frequently gets sports references a bit wrong.