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Part of whyGilmore Girlshas endured as a cultural mainstay for the past 20 years is the fact that it’s ripe for the picking when it comes to discourse and debate. The quality of storytelling and the warm and fuzzy small-town vibes have endured, but our perspectives have evolved. As one blogger onMediumso succinctly put it, therapy has ruined the men ofGilmore Girlsfor us. No longer do we recognize Dean Forrester as a nice guy doomed to finish last but as an emotional abuser with as many red flags as the day is long. And, in fact, this is one of the hottest topics in theGilmore Girlsfandom:which of Rory’s boyfriends was bestfor her?
Well, what if the answer was… none of them? In recent years, a growing community of fans have rallied behind an underrated yet well-evidencedGilmore Girlspairing:Rory and Paris. Now, just as a disclaimer, this is a headcanon. It is all in good fun, and even the most diehard Rory/Paris shippers agree that what’s most important about this pair is their friendship. The reality is, though, that many fans who have experiencedcompulsory heterosexualityhave all independently seen themselves in Paris – and that shouldn’t get overlooked or downplayed.
“I am going to make you realize that the real love story at the heart ofGilmore Girlstook place between two tightly-wound, highly-strung, overachieving rivals-turned-roommates who wore matching ties and skirts and engaged in sexually charged fencing sessions. Put aside your dreams of Jess, that human sneeze; let Logan sail away on his yacht of indifference into the sunset: Rory/Paris are endgame.” -Daniel Mallory Ortberg
The Case Against the Gilmore Girl Boyfriends (Not That We Need a Review)
Rory and Paris each had several partners over the course of the show – partners who, at best, serve as a reminder that wealth can’t buy a personality, but it can buy anarchist parties, and at worst, should be sent to jail, point-blank. Now, some fans, in revisiting the show, have accurately pointed out that Rory, too, by the end of the series,was a far cry from the cool, down-to-earth teenagerwe were first introduced to.
This, they have argued, isprecisely why Rory and Logan are the best match. They’re the most well-suited based on who she becomes. Besides, Logan, for the most part, treats her with patience and generosity.He’s a decent boyfriend– especially when compared to the rest. This is a fair argument! But he’s still incredibly hard to root for. He’s an old money bore, and, most crucially in this particular debate, Rory isn’t her best self around him.
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Now, to debunk Paris' boyfriends: Jamie, he-who-shall-not-be-named, and Doyle. Needless to say, Amy Sherman-Palladino did Paris so dirty with this bunch. Jamie, at the very least, was on Paris' level intellectually and was committed to her from the start. He didn’t seem to mind her prickly side and, like Rory, wasn’t baited or triggered by it the way Doyle was. Unlike Rory, however, he was too much of a doormat for Paris. To be fair to him, we didn’t see much of him in the series. It could’ve been that he stuck up for himself more behind the scenes. In any case, though, it’s clear that Paris ultimately just wasn’t that into him. She eventually just wasn’t that into – or just wasn’t meant to be with – any of them, as is evidencedby her divorcefrom Doyle inGilmore Girls: A Year in the Life.
The Case for Pory/Raris/Par-ory?
Rory and Paris have always pushed each other to pursue their dreamsbut have been a soft place to land whenever something hard in one of their personal lives got in the way of these pursuits. They have always understood each other without having to explain themselves. When they fought, they always made it a point to communicate about it in the end and apologize for their mistakes – even Paris, notorious hothead though she was.
Rory couldn’t get away with being her baby voice-having, boundary-testing self around Paris because Paris knew the core of who Rory was. The same was true in reverse; Rory knew Paris had a gooey center behind her hardened facade and was committed to calling it out. These qualities all describe why, at the very least, they make the perfect best friends. But what about all the moments in the show that made queer fans everywhere raise an eyebrow?
Well, there was this moment that has no heterosexual explanation:
There was the time Paris was about to go on her first date with Jamie, and she asked Rory tohide in the closetso he wouldn’t see how cute she was (no way the writers didn’t, at least in hindsight,see this heavy-handed metaphor). There was also their kiss in the spring break episode, which was couched asthis unfeminist attemptby Paris to appeal to the male gaze.
Of course, you could see it as it was written (boring) or look at the whole situation through rainbow-colored glasses (which isn’t even hard). Rory doesn’t react by reiterating to Paris that she’s not into women but says, “You aren’t my type.” When the two of them are reconvening with Madeline and Louise later, they all agree that Rory and Paris wouldn’t make a good couple… except Paris, who snaps, “Why not?”
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Most of all, as this Reddit user points out, there’s a double standard here.
Gilmore Girlswas made in the early 2000s, and this context informs everything – from the fact that we’re supposed to find Jess' weaponized incompetence charming to the fact that we’re supposed to read Paris as purely straight.
Though the series ultimately didn’t go in this direction, fans can still think of the possibilities.Gilmore Girlsis streaming now onNetflix.
