Gilmore-ism.com - Five Ways Rory Is Like Pippi Longstocking - Comments

It's about Dean not Pippi

TimK — Sun, 14 Jan 2007 01:26:38 -0800

Wow. Thanks, Robinpoppins, for that insightful comment. I took so long to reply to it, because… Well, it just me that long to get my mind around it.

The thing about relationships is, either you make them work or you let them flounder. Rory and Dean didn’t “just not work out.” It failed, because Dean and Rory couldn’t turn their love into action. That’s what Dean did to Lindsay, too, and I really felt sorry for her. So, yeah, in a way maybe Dean wasn’t right for Rory. Dean may not have supported her and may not have challenged her. And I don’t think it’s because he was stupid, because he wasn’t. Rather, it’s sad, because it’s an example of Dean not turning his love into action.

Continuing where you left off: The ironic thing is that while Luke puts Rory on a pedestal, Rory is herself the instigator for all the trouble she gets into. And in those troubled times, Luke is the one who understands and accepts that Rory is at fault. In a more general sense, I see him doing that with April. Too bad he did so at Lorelai’s expense. We’ll have to see what happens there.

-TimK

Rory and Pippi?

Robinpoppins — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 12:36:01 -0800

I’ve never seen Pippi Longstocking (sad, I know. It’s probably something I would get a kick out of). But, I completely understand where Luke was coming from on the Dean issue and would have to agree with him. Yes, Dean is a good guy who made a very dumb and very bad mistake. Yes, Dean generally put his significant others’ wishes above his own. Yes, Dean was an exceptionally sweet guy to Rory, and didn’t deserve the way she treated him sometimes. However, I still do not believe Dean was the right person for Rory, and when it comes to her future, I believe he would’ve kept her from fufilling her full potential.

Rory needs someone who will support her high aspirations for her future. Being someone ambitious as Christiane Amanpour requires someone who is understanding of her work. I don’t think Dean would’ve been that person. He has a bit of a possesive side to him (and rightly so on some occasions, especially when it came to Jess), but that is not something Rory is used to or understands.

I also think Rory needs to be with someone who challenges her, someone who helps her go on these ’adventures.’ Dean was steady, always staying in one place and never moving forward. Toward the beginning of the series, they made him seem smart, because he was able to keep up with Lorelai and Rory’s references, and even shoot back a few of his own. But, later on, he got progressively dumber, and, well, just plain boring. It was obvious that even though Rory knew she had it good with him and he treated her well, she just was not stimulated by their relationship. At least with Jess (and not that I support the way he treated her, but I like the person he has become), he was intellectual, and she was constantly surprised by whatever he would come up with. I also think that Logan is on that same vein (and that’s weird for me to say, because I am probably the last person to say something nice about Logan). He’s also intelligent and spontaneous, and is a constant instigator for Rory’s ’adventures.’ But, I have to agree with you when you said that their relationship will need to be tested, since it still does not seem strong enough to stand the test of time and space.

Based on some of your Rory/Pippi comparisons, they may not be similar. But, Luke has an exceptionally high opinion of Rory, and thinks she has the potential to do anything she sets her mind to, just like he has seen with Lorelai (which is why I think he used the “lift a horse over her head” comment.). I also always thought Luke was a good judge of character, the man who goes by the ’gut feeling’ when it comes to dating. I believe Luke set Rory and Dean up side by side in his head. Rory was at Yale, and also got excepted to two other ivy league schools. She wanted to be a great journalist. She was valedictorian of her prep school. She’s her mother’s daughter, stubborn and unrelenting when she wants to accomplish something. Then, he sees Dean. Dean didn’t go to college. Dean cheated on his wife. Dean didn’t seem to have the same high ambitions for his future. I believe that is what made Luke determine that Dean was just not right for someone like Rory, and would eventually bring her down.

So, that’s my two cents (and boy, I typed a lot more than I thought I would). Thanks for the blog post, I really enjoyed reading the quotes you complied about Rory and how she compares to Pippi. I’ll have to rent the movie now.

Five Ways Rory Is Like Pippi Longstocking

TimK — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 00:47:15 -0800

Pippi Longstocking must really have gotten to Luke. What with Dean and Rory cuddling in the next seat over, and Luke’s imagination running away from him.

But what he comes up with is pretty deep:

Rory is like Pippi… She can have adventures and be free, she’s smart. The whole world’s waiting for her… Pippi is strong and independent. She can lift a horse above her head. And beat up bullies and build a hot-air balloon. She’s unique, like Rory. But I guarantee you, if Pippi had met Dean, there would be no horse, no balloons. He’d drag her down to his level, spend all her gold coins, and poof, like that, all her dreams would be gone.

This got me to thinking. Did Luke have a cool hand? Or was he just bluffing? How is Rory really like Pippi Longstocking?

She is totally low-maintenance.

“Rory is not gonna be a problem. She’s totally low maintenance, you know, like a Honda. You know, they’re just easy, just…” (Episode 102, “The Lorelai’s First Day at Chilton”)

“Oh, Max, Rory is very low maintenance. Kind of like that robot kid in AI, only way less mother-obsessed. Oh my God, that kid was so annoying. I would’ve pushed him out of the car while it was still moving.” (Episode 203, “Red Light on the Wedding Night”)

“No problem. She’s very low maintenance. Just set her up at a table and she’ll be fine.” (Episode 612, “Just Like Gwen & Gavin”)

Okay, that last one was about April, Luke’s daughter. Different story.

Pippi is the ultimate in low-maintenance parenting. I mean, her mother is in heaven, and her father is in the South Seas. She completely takes care of herself. Talk about low maintenance!

Sometimes she has a profound, child-like innocence.

“He has a thing for you.” (Episode 109, “Rory’s Dance”)

“It’s not working out between them. They’re not happy… He tried the best he could, but it didn’t work. It’s over.” (Episode 422, “Raincoats and Recipes”)

“He likes you. Stop being so naive, It’s annoying.” (Episode 510, “But Not as Cute as Pushkin”)

Like Pippi, Rory has a child-like innocence. Even after the robbers tried to make off with her gold, Pippi was still willing to believe their story about being hungry and without food. And she even tried to give them a gold piece. And sat there and puzzled over why they ran away. She was just trying to be nice.

And somehow despite all that, she still manages to protect herself, her friends, and her property.

She can have adventures and be free.

“I got kissed! — And I shoplifted.” (Episode 107, “Kiss and Tell”)

“You know the beginning of Moby Dick, when the narrator says that when
he finds himself growing grim about the mouth and wanted to knock people’s
hats off, he takes to the sea? Well I feel like knocking people’s hats off. [spies a yacht] That one looks good.” (Episode 521, “Blame Booze And Melville”)

Except Pippi never stole a yacht. Or anything as far as I can tell. Which is interesting, because her father’s fortune came from being a pirate on the South Seas. Still, Pippi’s adventures are limited to escaping the baddies, playing practical jokes, and piloting a hot-air balloon.

She’s really smart.

“I’m a failure. I am stupid. I am uniformed and ignorant and— I can’t even think of a second synonym for uninformed. I suck. Thirteen million volumes? I’ve read like, what, three hundred books in my entire life and I’m already sixteen? Do you know how long it would take me to read thirteen million books?” (Episode 204, “The Road Trip to Harvard”)

Of course, Pippi is not a bookworm. But she does seem to…

Okay, who am I fooling? Pippi is not smart. She tries to buy 80 pounds of candy. And the confectioner does her best, but only comes up with 20 pounds. Poor Pippi. And then she asks for a gallon of medicine, for whatever ails her. And the druggist actually sells it to her— Okay. I take that back. At least Pippi’s smarter than most everyone else in town.

She can lift a horse above her head.

“I— I— I love the car… I just— I’m surprised— I didn’t expect— I don’t… I just have to think about it for a minute… Well, saying I love you is a really difficult thing.” (Episode 116, “Star-Crossed Lovers and Other Strangers”)

“I love that you have my eyes and my coffee addiction and my taste in music and movies, but when it comes to love and relationships, I don’t necessarily want you to be like me. I would hate to think that I raised a kid who couldn’t say I love you.” (Episode 120, “P.S. I Lo…”)

“I mean, we’re getting married… Luke table-for-one Danes and Lorelai I’m-sorry-can-I-get-an-industrial-forklift-for-my-emotional-baggage Gilmore are getting married” (Episode 601, “New And Improved Lorelai”)

Yes, Rory can actually lift a horse above her head. Or even an elephant in the room.

I know, Rory’s not exactly like her mother. But she is her mother’s daughter. And I know, she’s been trying to get over her aversion to commitment. She’s opened herself to Logan. But I have a feeling their relationship is going to be tested. And we have to wait and see whether she really has discarded her old emotional baggage.

Is Rory Like Pippi?

A little. Probably not quite in the way Luke imagines.

And Luke is missing something else, too. Dean would not have dragged down Pippi. Dean was a good husband, with one major exception. He allowed himself to be in love with another woman. Other than that, he was great. He worked hard. He gave of his own future for that of his family. Rory may have scolded him for that, but that’s her problem. Or at least, it should have been.

What do you think? Is Rory like Pippi?

Pippi Longstocking
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