High Fidelity

JESS: There’s a record store you should check out. It’s run by this insane freak who’s like a walking encyclopedia for every punk and garage-band record ever made. Catalog numbers . . . it’s crazy. The place is right out of High Fidelity.

High Fidelity, 2000 romantic comedy-drama film directed by Stephen Frears, based on the 1995 British novel of the same name by Nick Hornby, with the film’s action moved from London to Chicago, but otherwise faithful to the book.

The film stars John Cusack as a music-lover named Rob with little understanding of women who owns a record store called Championship Vinyl. He and his employees Dick and Barry (played by Todd Louiso and Jack Black), armed with an encyclopedic knowledge of music, compile “Top 5” lists for every occasion, and openly mock their customers’ tastes. Eventually, Rob is able to produce a mixtape to please his girlfriend, Laura (played by Iben Hjejle).

High Fidelity was a commercial and critical success, receiving praise for its witty dialogue, strong performances and solid soundtrack. It’s been voted one of the best romantic comedies, and one of the greatest films of all time. It was made into a 2020 television series.

It’s interesting that Jess compares the record store he is taking Rory to with one out of a romantic comedy – especially one where a smart but emotionally obtuse young man learns to express his feelings.

EDIT: Thank you to High Fidelity fan Alisa for supplying the correct name of the actress playing Laura.

Hot Dogs

Hot dogs are grilled or steamed sausages served in the split of a partially sliced bun. The sausage used is a wiener (Viennese sausage) or a frankfurter (Frankfurter sausage). In the US hot dogs are often topped with ketchup or mustard, and might be garnished with onions, chilli, or pickles.

The sausages used in hotdogs were imported by Germans, and allegedly, the first hot dogs in the US were sold on the streets of St. Louis, Missouri by an immigrant from Frankfurt called Feuchtwanger in the late 19^th century. A competing origin story is that they were first sold by Charles Feltman at Coney Island, in 1867.

Hot dogs were always a working class street food sold at stands and from carts, closely connected with baseball. They have a particular connection with New York City, but are ubiquitous throughout the US.

Jess takes Rory to a hot dog stand for lunch; it’s where Jess eats every day. Although Jess seems a bit apprehensive that it won’t be “fancy” enough, Rory immediately declares it as “perfect”. Like Luke, Jess has quickly got the idea that a big part of keeping a Gilmore Girl happy is to make sure she’s well-fed! Jess has taken Rory for an iconic New York City lunch.

“A friend to all of us dispossessed”

JESS: [Looks at Rory’s cast.] I like this Emily chick. Friend of yours?

RORY: She’s a friend to all of us dispossessed.

Jess refers to the sticker of Emily the Strange, previously discussed.

Rory refers to both herself and Jess as “dispossessed”, deprived of what they deserve, of their birthright. It’s the first time that Rory hints at any possible resentment that Lorelai removed her from Richard and Emily’s world, the world of wealth and privilege she had been born into.

She is also identifying both Jess and herself as having been literally de-possessed, cast off by one or more parents. Apart from literature, this is the main thing that binds Jess and Rory together. The casual way she says this to Jess suggests that they might have talked about it previously.

And more generally, Rory and Jess are both part of that “dispossessed” generation of the 1990s, the Millennials who would later be jeered at by A Year in the Life. You can see the emo-esque Emily the Strange as one of their unofficial spokespeople.

“I’ve been hurt before”

JESS: Oh, come on, let me see your withering stare.

RORY: It’s dangerous. I could hurt you.

JESS: I’ve been hurt before.

A serious statement masquerading as a joke. Jess truly has been hurt by life, and he’s probably also been hurt by Rory, and her efforts to keep him at bay and continue seeing Dean, even as it became increasingly clear that she didn’t really want him any more. Jess comes this close to saying, “You’ve hurt me before”. Don’t worry Jess – Rory has more emotional pain in store for you!

Note that Jess and Rory walk past a florist’s, a romantic symbol, but it’s selling balloons – condoms can also be used as balloons. The car driving past has a licence plate of INQ 069 – ink + 69, as if writing and sexual attraction is what’s drawing Rory and Jess together. Sex, romance, reading; the holy trinity of Rory and Jess!

(This is the second licence plate ending with 69 I’ve noticed, so it might be a running joke, although last time it could have been highlighting the sexual attraction between Lorelai and Christopher).

“We saw The Bangles here”

JESS: How well do you know Manhattan?

RORY: I’ve been here a few times. We saw The Bangles here.

JESS: When was that, twenty years ago?

The Bangles, previously discussed.

Rory refers to “Concert Interruptus”, when she saw The Bangles on their reunion tour in New York, in February 2001. Jess is polite about it when he knows Rory thinks they’re great, although he can’t possibly think they match his idea of what’s “cool”.

O’Oh

This is the song which plays while Rory and Jess walk through the streets of New York to get a hotdog and then go to the subway. It’s a 1992 song by Yoko Ono, first released on Onobox, a comprehensive 6-disc collection of Yoko Ono’s work from 1968 to 1985. It included 20 previously unreleased songs, of which “O’Oh” is one.

The lyrics are about a couple enjoying the Fourth of July celebrations in Central Park together, so it’s a song about New York. Some of the lyrics are:

I never knew we could be so nice to each other

I never thought we’d be laughing together

I never knew life could be sweet and simple

I never thought that was possible

Not only does the song suit the setting they are in (although it’s May, not July, and a different park), but the lyrics are about how Rory feels about Jess. The surprise of finding that being with him is not only sweet, but simple – you can feel how easily the two of them get along, how effortlessly they laugh together.

Rory finally gets to meet Jess away from Stars Hollow, and he’s not surly, not bitter, not sarcastic – he’s sweet, he’s nice, he’s funny, in a way she never thought possible. She has taken any number of practical, physical, and emotional risks to come to New York to see him, and she gets the softest of landings, as Jess finally opens up to her, now that he’s received unexpected proof of how much Rory cares for him.

There is a real flipside feeling to the choice of song, because when Rory had her sweetest and most romantic experience with Dean (sitting in the car wreck on their anniversary), the song chosen to accompany it was by John Lennon. Now her sweetest and most romantic scene with Jess is accompanied by a Yoko Ono song. (Both songs have Oh in the title, also).

It is as if Jess and Dean are her Yin and Yang – Dean the Yang which complements her, and Jess the Yin which matches her. With Dean, there is an attraction of opposites; with Jess, an attraction of like minds, or twin souls.

Rory Finds Jess

[Jess is reading on a bench as Rory walks up behind him]

RORY: Hi.

JESS: How ya doing?

After all the effort Rory has made to come to New York, apparently on a whim, she seemingly just walks in a side gate of Washington Square Park and finds Jess straight away (Rory is looking pretty fresh for someone who’s been on a bus for hours and just had a long walk). He’s sitting helpfully on a prominent park bench right at the entrance. It is now presumably somewhere between midday and 12.30 pm.

I know Jess was very lucky, phoning Rory when Lorelai was drunk and had the stereo on loudly so they could talk in private, but it’s nothing to Rory’s luck in finding Jess! All she had to go on was that he often hung out in Washington Square Park, and without making any plans to meet at a particular day, place, or time, it looks as if she turns up and Jess is right there. I mean, even if Jess was in the park, it’s ten acres – it could take hours to search for him. And lucky he hadn’t gone to the toilet or to lunch just as she arrived!

It would have been more believable if Rory and Jess had some sort of agreement to meet in New York, but that would have made Rory much more sneaky, treacherous, and selfish. It has to seem completely spontaneous, so that the relationship between Rory and Jess can remain innocent.

None of the scenes in this episode were actually filmed in New York – they were all shot at the Warner Bros lot in California. This scene takes place in New York Park, Burbank. There is no side gate such as the one Rory walks through, and if she approached Washington Square Park straight down Fifth Avenue, she would come to the main entrance, with the famous archway. Needless to say, it doesn’t look like Washington Square Park, and the real park is far more crowded, especially on a sunny spring afternoon around lunchtime.

Christopher’s Gift Basket for Lorelai

Flowers

$25 savings bond

Youth Hostel card

What Color is Your Parachute?, by Richard Nelson Bolles (a classic guide for job-seekers)

The Graduate on DVD, the 1967 film starring Dustin Hoffman

The Portable Nietzsche, by Friedrich Nietzsche, translated by Walter Kauffman

Application to join the army

Disposable camera

Pearl necklace in a velvet box

They are all traditional graduation gifts, and/or joke gifts. The camera actually ends up becoming an essential item. Lorelai never seems to consider how Sherry would feel about her boyfriend sending another woman flowers and jewellery.

Rory’s Fashion Advice

RORY: Take light layers. Wear your turquoise and tan dress that you just got that’s cool and it’ll look good without your gown on, and wear your turquoise vintagey sweater over it because it’ll look great with the dress and it’ll keep you warm if it’s cold in the auditorium.

LORELAI: You are a fashion genius.

RORY: Well, you’ve taught me everything I know.

Rory’s fashion advice to Lorelai is a callback to “Kiss and Tell” in Season 1, when a panicked Rory can’t decide what to wear for her first date with Dean until Lorelai picks out a top for her. Now it is Rory’s turn to help out her mother when she is too keyed up about graduating to select an outfit.

I’m not sure whether we’re meant to think Rory has become a full-blown fashion expert in the past 18 months, or just that either Gilmore girl is capable of getting the odd brain freeze, and needs the other to help out so they can get dressed. The shows seems to be leaning towards the former, because Rory was so stunned at the way her mother could instantly pick the right top.

Also note, Rory Gilmore’s fashion genius advice – wear layers, no headwear over curls. You got that for free.

Jess Phones Rory

Jess phones Rory out of the blue – conveniently it’s at a time that Lorelai is celebrating the end of her exams and too drunk to notice or care, so they are able to talk privately in Rory’s bedroom. And Lorelai is playing loud music in the living room, so there’s no chance of Lorelai overhearing their conversation. Jess has been extraordinarily lucky in the time he chose to phone up!

It’s now two weeks since Jess left Stars Hollow, and he makes contact with Rory, but neither of them know what to say to each other – and Jess soon says he needs to go when he learns that Lorelai is in the house with Rory. (He’s on a payphone on a pavement, so can’t really talk properly anyway). This intriguing yet unsatisfying phone conversation is what propels Rory into one of her rare, yet surprisingly regular, moments of madness.

Notice that when the phone rings, Lorelai jokes that if it’s Mick Jagger to blow a whistle and hang up. She’s earlier said she wanted to keep her children away from Mick Jagger, and suggests using a whistle to deter him – in other words, activating an anti-rape device designed to raise an alarm and gain people’s attention to your plight. Jess is definitely someone Lorelai wants kept away from her kid, and the suggestion of rape seems like a foreshadowing of later events.