Christiane Amanpour

HEADMASTER: What are your aspirations?
RORY: I want to go to Harvard and study Journalism and Political Science.
HEADMASTER: On your way to being . . .?
RORY: Christiane Amanpour.

Christiane Amanpour (born 1958) is a multi award-winning British-Iranian journalist and television host. She began working for CNN in 1983 and quickly made a name for herself an a foreign correspondent, covering the Iran-Iraq War and the fall of European communism. During the 1990s, Amanpour reported from the Persian Gulf War and Bosnian War, and in 1992 became CNN’s chief foreign correspondent. She has reported on major crises around the world and had exclusive interviews with world leaders.

This is the first time we learn that Christiane Amanpour is Rory’s inspiration as a journalist – one who she would have grown up watching and admiring. It is Amanpour’s adventurous career travelling the world which seems to especially attract her.

Menéndez

LORELAI: Okay, look, I know you and me are having a thing here and I know you hate me but I need you to be civil, at least through dinner and then on the way home you can pull a Menéndez. Deal?

Lyle and Erik Menéndez (born 1968 and 1970) are two American brothers who were convicted in a high-profile criminal trial in 1994 for the 1989 murder of their wealthy parents José and Kitty, shooting them at their Beverley Hills mansion. The Menéndez brothers claimed that that they had killed their parents after years of sexual and physical abuse, but their defense was ruled inadmissible as evidence by the court. The lavish lifestyles they led after their parents’ deaths made it seem as if the motive was mainly financial. Both men are currently serving life sentences without parole at separate prisons.

Flo-Jo

[Rory starts walking quickly down the street, and Lorelai follows her.]
LORELAI: Oh, you’re gonna have to walk faster than that. You’re gonna have to turn into friggin’ Flo-Jo to get away from me.

Flo-Jo was the name given by the press to American track and field athlete Florence Griffith Joyner (1959-1998), who won gold and silver medals for running at the 1984 and 1988 Olympic Games. She is considered to be the fastest woman of all time.

Drella (Alex Borstein)

Drella is the harpist at the Independence Inn for the first few episodes of the show. She is named after Andy Warhol, oddly enough – he was given the nickname Drella by his friends. The nickname is a combination of Dracula and Cinderella, and perhaps that is meant to be a comment on Drella the harpist: she will go for your throat like Dracula, but sees herself as a poor put-upon servant like Cinderella. There will be many more references to Warhol and his circle during the run of the show.

Macy Gray

LORELAI: Wow, you’re crabby.
RORY: I’m sorry. I lost my Macy Gray CD and I need caffeine.

Macy Gray (born Natalie McIntyre in 1967) is an American R&B singer known for her distinctive raspy voice. The CD which Rory has lost is Gray’s debut album On How Life Is, released in 1999. Her best-selling album to date, it was widely praised by critics.

RuPaul

RORY (responding to Lorelai’s offer of cosmetics): God, RuPaul doesn’t need this much makeup.

RuPaul (born RuPaul Charles in 1960) is an American drag queen. In 1993 he found mainstream success with his dance album Supermodel of the World; several of its singles became hits, and two more albums followed in the 1990s. RuPaul was signed as a model with cosmetics company MAC, released his autobiography in 1995, and got his own talk show in 1996.