3. Money is never a REAL issue.
One of the major backstories in Gilmore Girls is that Lorelai got pregnant at 16, left home, got a job as a maid at a local inn and worked her way up to manager. She didn’t want help from anyone, not even her affluent parents, Emily and Richard Gilmore.
Lorelai built a life for herself and Rory all on her own. But that goes right out the window after the first episode.
In the Pilot, Rory gets into the prestigious Chilton Preparatory School to better her chances of going to Harvard. When Lorelai realizes she can’t afford the tuition, she runs to her parents for a loan. Yes, the same parents she refused to ask for help when she was a broke teenage mother.
Emily and Richard are willing to give her the money, but there’s a catch: she and Rory must come over for weekly Friday dinners. Lorelai agrees.
Now, it’s not all that unusual for people to hit up family members for money in hard times. But how Lorelai and Rory finance their lives is a bit far-fetched, even for TV.
Lorelai’s father gives her a check for $75,000 from an investment he made in her name, which she uses to pay him back for Chilton. Luke gives her $30,000 simply because she asked for it while blubbering on his chest.
Rory’s father, Christopher, inherits a fortune after his grandfather dies and offers to buy many outlandish things (a castle in Ireland, for example). Lorelai refuses the offers. But once again, money is available to her.
And then there’s Rory.
She asks her grandparents for tuition money when Yale denies her financial aid and Lorelai can’t contribute. Logan pays for just about everything, shelling out $75 for her Chinese food and inviting her to live with him rent-free. And she lets Christopher use his recent wealth to cover the rest of her Yale tuition.
Gosh, it must be nice to always have people around who can give you money whenever you need (or don’t need) it – the perks of being a beloved Gilmore Girl.