‘Gilmore Girls’: In Defense of Emily GIlmore
Gilmore Girls fans have a lot of opinions about the show’s characters. Characters like Luke Danes and Babette Dell are almost universally beloved, while others are more divisive. Emily Gilmore is one of the most debated characters on Gilmore Girls. While some fans love her, others hate her. We think she has a lot of good qualities, and we are here to defend the Gilmore matriarch.
Emily Gilmore always wanted what was best for Lorelai and Rory
Emily Gilmore was a woman on a mission to ensure her family succeeded. In many ways, she felt like she had failed Lorelai Gilmore and thought perhaps she could right a wrong through Rory Gilmore. Rory was actually perfect for the job. While she was smart and beautiful, just like her mother, she lacked her independent streak and natural inclination to fight against authority.
Emily eventually ran into issues with Rory, just like she ran into issues with Lorelai. Some Gilmore Girls fans hated that Emily Gilmore was so harsh to the other ladies of the family, but we think she just went about showing her concern the wrong way. In the end, Emily seemed truly committed to ensuring both Lorelai and Rory were OK. She often did that by attaching strings to her help. It wasn’t a great tactic, but it makes sense if you view Emily as someone who was secretly insecure.
Emily Gilmore was actually pretty insecure
Emily might have been harsh and critical, especially of Lorelai Gilmore, but if you look at their interactions, a different picture of Emily Gilmore is revealed. While Emily came across as assertive and self-assured, she was actually rather insecure and didn’t think highly of herself.
On more than one occasion, Emily called herself “shallow” and argued that she hadn’t actually “done” anything with her life. In many ways, she was jealous of her daughter’s independent spirit. Sometimes, we think Emily wasn’t judgemental of Lorelai’s choices at all. Instead, we think she might have been amazed by her strength and a bit angry with herself for not having the same attribute.
Emily had a lot of rather wonderful qualities
While it is easy to get caught up in Emily’s more negative attributes, we wouldn’t want to forget all of her wonderful qualities. Sure, Emily was difficult and a bit dismissive, but she was also an organizational genius who took her responsibilities incredibly seriously. She was a force and could get anything done that she set her mind to.
We would be negligent if we didn’t mention how Emily changed over time. Emily grew a lot during the show’s seven-season run and during Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life. She went from cold, dismissive, and critical to much warmer, funnier, and, in the Netflix revival, softer. Her storyline was the best in the revival, and her growth after such a massive loss should be acknowledged.
