#29 Gilmore Girls and Unknown
When I was younger, my brother and I would watch a lot of novellas (Spanish soap operas), tv shows, and read a lot of books together. When they ended I would pull out my journal and we would discuss what we liked and disliked about the ending. In order to help us keep it ingrained in our brains, we could list all the characters and write out the ending. All this was mostly my idea and my doing because I often get very attached to characters and stories. Now I have journals full of book reviews and novella reviews. The journals would tell you a bit about how I relate my life to the media and books I absorb. It has been a while since I have written about books, shows, or movies. Yesterday, I was feeling nostalgic.
After seven long months, I finally finished watching Gilmore Girls. I know I am late on this boat, but I am fully boarded now and I have docked. I mean there is loads to unpack about this series. I am going to choose some things and unfold them here. I will unfold it haphazardly because it is still fresh so bear with me. I believe this show to be multifaceted. The way you can love and hate all the characters is mind boggling. The way the dialogue flows in and out with cultural relevance and its range of humor keeps you hooked in. It all feels relatable without it being relatable. I don't live in a small town. I don't want to live in a small town on the east coast, but there’s parts of Stars Hollow that I crave.
I enjoyed that I did not ever know what direction the show would go. The thing about shows, movies, and books that I personally love is that they can be predictable. Another thing I love is when they are not predictable. It reminds me that everything can not always be planned or paved. There are always factors to consider along the way. In the end, I get to look at this book, movie, or show and see it for what it is. A story. A story created and paved by someone else. I think that is the brilliant thing about writing. It is at the control of the writer how a story, an essay, etc. goes. Nevertheless it is the reader of this writing that perceives it in their own reality. The factors that play into how this reader will perceive include anything from mood, what they ate that day, where they are reading it, what they have read before, who their mum is and all that you can imagine. Absolutely perplexing!
In my opinion, Lorelai and Rory are beautifully complex characters along with all the other characters. They all play a significant piece in the grand scheme of the Gilmore Girls game board. You hated them, but you also loved them. You understood them and then you could not comprehend their decision making. Sometimes I found Lorelai so selfish and self centered I had to stop watching. I found Luke to be too nice and I wanted to scream. All in all, they had their reasons. The way the characters developed gave me a better understanding and appreciation for the choices they made. Imagine a game of chess. Now imagine it as a book, a show, a decision in your life., Each piece moved and each piece sacrificed are purposeful. Some pieces you chose not to move at all. Other pieces you need to move to make space for other possibilities. Most pieces you can only move in certain directions and places.
The outcome of the show was expected, but did not play out how I as the watcher wanted. I wanted to know what Rory would do about Logan. I wanted Rory to find her way back to Jess. #TeamJess. What happened after she completed her first reporter gig with the campaign? (Note: I have not seen Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life and write this as if it does not exist yet). I guess it doesn't matter how I wanted it to end. It does not matter how Amy Sherman Palladino and all the writers wanted it to either. They can't pave and plan the rest of the Gilmore Girls life, Regardless, there seems to be some inkling in me that wants every book or story to be all written out so I know what to expect.
The thing about me is I truly let my media diet (books, music, tv, etc.) influence the way I feel about my own life. I mean I think most do, right? Everyone's diet looks different and in turn portrays differently in each person. What I am trying to say is that sometimes I get frustrated when I don't know what's next and sometimes I love the open ended. The “wide open” as Rory says at thee end of the show. I have read many books where the ending is so open-ended I scream or I write my own ending. I have also loved the absolute uncertainty of what is left for the characters because I think the author knows that too. For example, the book Normal People by Sally Rooney. If you have read this book, then you may know there are mixed reviews and feelings about the ending. (No spoilers, I promise). I mean I get it. After reading such real, alluring, and complex characters, I can't help but feel a bit distressed by the ending. Nonetheless, it was the faultless ending it needed. It was not even “the ending” per say. It was end of what was written.
I think as humans and I speak mostly for myself, we like predictability and patterns. We would like the happy ending. We like everything packaged and tied up in a neat little bow. We prefer to know what’s coming next. As humans, we also know the inevitability of change and the impermanence of life. We are straddling the want for predictability and the inevitability of change. Thus, we can accept that not everything can be set in stone. There are always a million possibilities and choices that will set us in different directions. In spite of everything, this is the direction/path/road you are meant to be in. Easier to say than to accept.
To those who are still reading, I appreciated the ending to Gilmore Girls. I love/hate the characters, but have you thought if your life was a show there would be some lovers and haters of your decisions. They would want you to go a certain direction or make choices that they would think is the better choice. All in all, we can not predict it all. There are only so many things within our control. I feel like I am getting into something big here, but I don't think I have all the words to properly explain it.
In conjunction to watching the end of this show, I am struggling with the open ended and wide open of my life right now. My boyfriend told me something before writing this that stuck with me. Something along the lines of “We can't have it all planned out. I don't know what my future looks like, but I know music is involved” and then “ I am just flowing with it”. I was unsettled by this because how do you not know? Also, how can we know? The answer is we can’t know it all. He has something he knows: music. Everything else is unknown: even me. The problem with going with the flow is you can be a fish that just follows the stream and all the other fish. Conversely, you can go with the flow, but in a kayak you can take the little control you can and steer yourself. Well I am going with the flow. I have flowed into streams and shallow rivers, and fallen through waterfalls. Now I have slowed into wide open water. Anything is possible and that is one thing I know.