When I’m feeling sick, going through a rough patch, a breakup or just in need of something to make me smile my go-to pick me up is an episode of the Gilmore Girls.
Snappy dialogue, pop culture references well-written smart female characters.
The last time we saw Rory, she was a Yale graduate, about to go on the campaign bus to cover Barack Obama’s bid for the US presidency. Rory was going places, she was going to be a famous writer and war correspondent. She was going to be Christiane Amanpour. And that was a wrap until…
Netflix picked up the series for a reboot. 10 years has passed in Stars Hollow. What would the amazing Rory Gilmore be doing with her life?
A teacher.
At her old high school.
As much as much as I love teaching and I love the Gilmore Girls, this didn’t seem a good fit. I felt disappointed. Rory could be more, do more.
What had happened in her life to end up back at her old school teaching kids?
As much as I see teaching as a worthy career, several popular teacher tropes are likely to play out.
- Rory’s creative career is cut short by a lack of paying gigs so she’s forced to look for an alternative career and ends up teaching to pay the bills (Pretty much any teacher in popular culture)
- Things start off rocky but eventually, Rory decides she kind of likes the teaching gig (School of Rock, Kindergarten cop)
- A young and eager teacher, Rory battles against the educational hierarchy for the good of her students by doing it ‘her way.’ (Stand and Deliver, Dangerous Minds)
- Rory has trouble with one student who everyone else has given up on. She’s able to see something in this child that nobody else can… (Dead Poets Society, Freedom writers)
- Rory gets discovered and is able to step away from the classroom but with a gut-wrenching ‘do I stay for the kids’ ethical dilemma. (Mona Lisa Smile)
On the other hand, Rory’s love of books and her years of friendship with Paris would make her an excellent teacher hopefully free of the ‘inspirational pep talks’ at the front of the room.
Career choice aside, I’m still looking forward to catching up with the Gilmores when the reboot shows up.
Teaching the Teacher 
I love Gilmore Girls. It is the happiest show I’ve ever watched. I guess I can see Rory becoming a teacher. I can not picture him in another role, really… May be a writer? Yes, it might not be the highest paying job for a YALE graduate but may be the most satisfactory one. I am looking forward to watching the new series and find out how she became a teacher.
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I always pictured her as a writer – she spent so much time on that goal. Editor of the papers, interning that I saw her heading in that direction.
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