Rethinking my loyalty to "Gilmore Girls"

Confession. I watch "Gilmore Girls" regularly. In fact, I have been watching the re-runs almost everyday while eating dinner. It's very tempting to just plop myself into the couch in front of the TV after a long day and veg out for an hour. And apparently I give in to that temptation almost everyday...

But I have been wondering if I should continue in this pattern. For one, this simply is not the best use of my time. Those hours spent on watching the show could have been used for many other things (reading, cleaning, exercising...) that are much more beneficial. The unproductive use of the hour alone should have stopped me from watching it.

Another reason is that I realized that underneath the innocent, warm and sweet guise of the show is the blatant manifestation of immorality, falsehood, sin. If you have not been following the show, here's a very brief synopsis. Lorelai, a young, witty, attractive single mom, lives with her daughter, Rory, in a small town. Lorelai had Rory out of wedlock when she was only 16. They share an unconventional mother-daughter relationship, as they are each other's best friend. Basically the show revolves around these two characters, their work, school, friends, townspeople, Lorelai's parents, and most of all, their relationships with men.

What kind of message is the show really displaying? For one, it's exalting extremely flawed parenting. Lorelai hardly ever disciplines Rory, because, as she openly admitted once, she's afraid that Rory might get mad and their "friendship" would be damaged. So Rory gets an "aw...it's gonna be okay" after she had sex with Dean, an ex-boyfriend who was married to someone else at the time. Fornication is portrayed as the norm (and it sadly is this day and age). The show paints a self-righteous, ridiculous picture of Christians and God. And yes, you can count on the show to promote feminism. Both Lorelai and Rory initiate relationships with men. Neither of them are domestic (Lorelai doesn't know how to operate most kitchen gadgets for that matter). Oh, and Lorelai proposes marriage to her boyfriend, Luke. The female characters in general are portrayed as strong, independent, assertive, while the men in general as whimpy, clueless and passive.

All those things I mentioned and more, however, are quirks that attract and appeal to its viewers. A fellow seminarian, Owen Strachan , has written a few posts on the weak manhood represented in Hollywood. I agree with his take on that completely. As for the ladies, Hollywood has also painted an obscured picture of womanhood. Without exception (at least, I can't think of one right now) all the leading female characters on TV resemble Lorelai and Rory in many ways. Hollywood "celebrates" women's freedom in choosing their own boyfriends or sexual partners. Lack of homemaking skills is a sign of one's sophistication and an asset towards career success, which is on top of the priority list for most. Marriage and family take a backseat to social life and career pursuit. Sure, those women, like Lorelai and Rory, are feminine. But the femininity they represent is almost the complete opposite of the womanhood that is taught in Scriptures (Owen, by the way, has also written about women's role as homemakers. Check it out.)

Owen asked this question in his post, Men looking stupid--and society rewarding them, "Hollywood has had its say about men. Have you noticed their whispering? Or did you, like me, soak it all in without even noticing?" I want to ask the ladies the same. Have you, like me, soaked it all in without even noticing the immoral, feminist and blasphemous teaching disguised in the shows you watch?

Take a break

I have an OT test tomorrow, and I do need to be studying right now. But I couldn't help but wandered onto some blogs for a study break. And this is what I stumbled across on Discerning Reader. I laughed my head off. Take a look, especially if you're studying.