Shane, 1954 Western film, directed by George Stevens and based on the 1949 novel of the same name by Jack Shaefer. It stars Alan Ladd as Shane, a mysterious drifter who rides into an isolated Wyoming valley. After protecting the homesteaders with his skilful gun-fighting, Shane rides off again, as mysteriously as he came, with the young boy he befriended desperately crying, “Shane, come back!”.
Shane was the #3 film of 1953, and received rave reviews for its stunning cinematography – it received the Academy Award in this category. It is regarded as not only a classic of its genre, but a masterpiece of cinema itself.
I’m not really sure, but it’s possible that the character of Jess’ girlfriend Shane was named after the pornographic actress and director (born Shannon Hewitt in 1969), who had attained some notoriety in the 1990s. Her Shane’s World video series revolved around taking porn stars to exotic or interesting locations and filming them in a documentary style, likened to “gonzo pornography”. This is just close enough to Jess’ interest in gonzo journalism to be provocative, at least. Note that Shane has a unisex name, like Rory, and like Jess himself.
While Lorelai and Rory are having Friday Night Dinner with Emily, Christopher decides to show up – no doubt encouraged by Emily, who has had a cosy little chat with him over the phone, and tried to make Lorelai get back with him.
Christopher doesn’t actually have any ideas on how to change the situation – he just wants Lorelai (and to a lesser extent, Rory) back in his life. He makes it clear that he wants Lorelai, not Sherry, but isn’t willing to break up with Sherry. In fact, he tells Lorelai he plans to marry her. I feel as if Sherry deserves to know all this before she commits to marriage and motherhood with Christopher!
I’m not completely sure what Christopher hopes to gain by seeing Lorelai – presumably to make friends again, with the hopes of one day persuading Lorelai to become his mistress, bed buddy, or booty call.
PARIS: All right, I’ll push it through … But the next genius who comes up with the brilliant plan to put Elizabeth Arden in the chemistry class can bite my ass.
Elizabeth Arden Inc., major cosmetics, skin care, and fragrance company founded by Canadian-American businesswoman Elizabeth Arden in 1910, first as the Red Door salon on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. The brand has been owned by Revlon since 2016 and is headquartered in Miami, Florida.
I’m not sure why students would ask for Elizabeth Arden in the chemistry class – maybe for the hand cream? Or for perfume, to cover the chemical smell?
PARIS: How are we going to get a professional photographer?
LOUISE: Helmut Newton is my godfather.
PARIS: Okay, sign him up – and tell him to leave the whips and chains at home.
Helmut Newton, born Helmut Neustädter (1920-2004), German-Australian fashion photographer whose black and white photographs were a mainstay of Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, and other magazines. His photos were erotic and stylised, often with fetishistic or sado-masochistic overtones – hence Paris’ instructions not to include whips and chains. Clearly Newton is not really appropriate as a school photographer!
It is interesting to speculate how Helmut Newton became Louise’s godfather. Presumably one or both of her parents have a connection with the fashion world. At this stage of his life, Helmut Newton lived in Monaco, but spent his winters in Los Angeles.
This is the song that Luke sings to Lorelai, in order to tease her about being asked out by Kirk. “Love Is in the Air” is a 1977 disco song by Australian singer John Paul Young, written by George Young and Harry Vanda, and released as the lead single from John Paul Young’s album Love Is in the Air. It went to #3 in Australia, and was a world-wide hit, going to #5 in the UK and #7 in the US, but most popular in Norway, Sweden and South Africa, where it went to #2. It went to #1 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart.
The song was featured in the 1992 Baz Luhrmann film Strictly Ballroom, remixed with a ’90s dance beat. Re-released as a single from the Strictly Ballroom soundtrack, it went to #3 in Australia, and was most popular in New Zealand at #2.
It is a bit surprising that Luke knows this song, and most likely watched Strictly Ballroom, which doesn’t seem like his sort of film. Maybe he went to it with a girlfriend?
FRANCIE: Because talking to Paris is like shopping for a bathing suit in December – frustrating, fruitless, and a complete waste of time. Now, you, you might be the wallflower, but you’re obviously the Meyer Lansky behind this organization.
Meyer Lansky, born Meier Suchowlański (1902-1983), a figure in organised crime instrumental in the development of the National Crime Syndicate, and known as the “Mob’s Accountant”. A member of the Jewish mob, Lansky developed a gambling empire that stretched around the world, had a strong influence with the Italian-American Mafia, and played a large role in the consolidation of the criminal underworld.
Despite nearly 50 years participating in organised crime, Lansky was never found guilty of anything more serious than illegal gambling. He has a legacy of being one of the most financially successful gangsters in American history.
Francie compares Rory to Meyer Lansky, as someone clever and evasive enough to keep her hands clean, and to be the real power behind Paris’ throne. I think the fact that Rory was able to talk her way out of the punishment meted out to the Puffs after the ill-fated initiation ceremony is enough to make Francie think that there is something pretty slippery about her.
RORY: Apparently, maturity is extremely overrated in your universe.
LORELAI: That’s right. The Empress Bobo Belle forbids it.
The Empress Bobo Belle is the fictional ruler of the universe, a character that Lorelai has invented and portrays as evidence of her immaturity.
Bobo is a common name for clowns, while Belle is the French word for “beauty”, possibly to suggest “clownish beauty” for the imaginary empress, and how Lorelai may see herself.
RORY: So, Grandma, Grandpa is traveling again, huh? … Business must be good … That’s great. Isn’t that great, Mom?
LORELAI: A jig is forthcoming.
A lively folk dance associated with Irish and Scottish music and dance, first popular in 16th century Ireland and Britain, quickly adopted in Continental Europe.
“To do a jig”, means that the person is very happy – joyful enough to perform this bouncy dance.
Richard still needs to travel since starting his own insurance company, which is seeming less and less plausible. I’m starting to wonder if the travel thing was a complete scam right from the beginning.
RORY: All I did was think about what you said, that’s all. Then I analyzed the situation.
LORELAI: And then you made a pro and con list.
RORY: You’re mocking me, but yes, I did. And after all of this, I came to the conclusion that I want to make things good with Dean, and he deserves my undivided attention.
After spending the evening with her boyfriend, Rory does some hard thinking alone, and decides that she wants to stick with Dean, and give their relationship the best shot possible. The fact that she had to make a pro and con list doesn’t sound as if she’s exactly carried away with passion by this point.
The question is, would she have reached this decision without Lorelai’s input, knowing she would have earned her mother’s disapproval if she’d chosen to break up with Dean? More importantly, would she have reached this decision if Jess had still been available? My guess is, no, and hell no.
This leaves Rory’s relationship with Dean on a pretty precarious footing.
The viewer is quickly made aware that although Rory hasn’t felt able to write to Jess over the summer, she is hoping to see him at the End of Summer Madness Festival. It is three hours before Dean is due home, and she is apparently planning to make the most of them. She insists on going to the festival in town, even though she’s only just got home from the airport, and changes into a nice dress. Lorelai insists on calling this “changing for Dean”. The Dean who isn’t there.
However, her plans are scuppered when she finally catches a glimpse of Jess – and it turns out that instead of spending the summer pining over her, he’s got a girlfriend (a blonde one, so you just know she’s stupid and awful!). Did he hope that Rory would see them and get the message that Jess Mariano is not some sap you can toy with, then toss aside while you waltz off to Washington for the summer? If so, message received.
Jess is kissing his girlfriend up against a tree, in flagrant view of the whole town. It’s very similar to the way Dean and Rory used to kiss against trees and shelves in the market, which must have been difficult for Jess to witness, so he seems to be getting his own back. Rory is getting a tiny taste of what Jess has been through for the past few months.
Rory and Lorelai almost immediately get into a fight at the festival when Lorelai says it’s lucky she didn’t throw “everything” (ie Dean, he’s everything now) away for Jess. She brushes Rory’s feelings for Jess away as a “little crush”, until Rory tells her mother that she kissed Jess at Sookie’s wedding while there with Dean. Lorelai is indignant on Dean’s behalf, conveniently forgetting that she herself slept with a pregnant woman’s boyfriend at the wedding, and doesn’t really have much high moral ground to stand on.
It is set up in the story, and repeated several times, that Rory went away for the summer, and therefore has had no contact with Jess since the wedding. The trouble is, the wedding wasn’t at the start of summer vacation, Rory still had two or three more weeks of school left. And she didn’t go to Washington for the summer vacation, only for the last six weeks of it. That makes at least eight weeks that she and Jess were in Stars Hollow together and somehow managed not to talk to or even see each other.
It doesn’t seem plausible – Stars Hollow is a small place. Presumably Rory was avoiding Luke’s diner in support of Lorelai, and busy with school, and getting prepared for Washington, but I can’t see how she avoided Jess for six weeks straight unless he was also determinedly avoiding her. If so, suggesting that he was very hurt and confused about being unexpectedly kissed, told to keep quiet about it, and then seeing that Rory and Dean were still together as if nothing had happened.
The Annotated Gilmore Girls 