Glimore Girls The Final Episode TV Review

*** Three Ninja Stars

In which Spaceman Jack dissects the Final Gilmore Girls experience into this sociological treatise,
Stars Hollow quaint Idyll or dystopian Nightmare ?

Gilmore Girls (herein after GG) has ended as I suppose it had to do eventually, Rory (Gilmore Girl 2 ) after turning down the marriage proposal of the rich, young and eminently eligible Logan Huntsburger in the penultimate episode has now flown off as a junior reporter to follow the Barak Obama campaign.
Lorelai (Gilmore Girl1) while not walking down the aisle in white with the hard working and mucho masculine Luke, clinched him in the end as she was overwhelmed by his consideration by throwing a massive surprise Bon Voyage party for Rory .
Nice, well nice enough in so far as it’s not actually bad. Some things were left out, basically a deeper analysis of their world. I know that I have a rather bad tendency to treat TV as if it were the real world, but shows like The Gilmore Girls have worked hard to position themselves in a fictional universe that is a close parallel with the actual one. If you get yourself a good "Fiction Filter" I think you can go some way to divining a certain amount of truth about the American condition from them. They don’t tell you exactly who or what the Americans are but they can tell you a little about who they think they are and who they wish to be. Consider this;
At the heart of the GGs’ dynamic was the upper class mother and grandmother Emily Gilmore. This formidable WASP struck a bargain early on with her wayward daughter. Desperate to give the young Rory a chance at the Ivy league education which is the ticket to Elite Status, Lorelai goes to her mother who agrees to pay the bills in return for a cast iron agreement that both junior GGs turn up for Friday night dinners at the senior GG’s palatial home. An excellent example of exchanging financial capital ( hard cash money )for social capital (time with your family )
Rory’s best friend is the delightful Lane Kim (played by Keiko Agena) the daughter of the tough and hard working Mrs. Kim. A Christian Korean migrant who runs an antique store. Rory and Lane grew up together and were at the small public school until the mother’s bargain was struck and at that point their lives and fates diverged. Lane continues as a waitress in Luke’s diner follows her passion for Rock music marries the goofy but kind hearted guitarist Zach gets married and has twins.
Rory leaves the public school goes to the exclusive Chilton Academy and is on the track for the Ivy league big time. Rory turns down the chance of marriage for career.
There we are, social status, family, fertility and economic power in America all played out for you on the small screen.
But were is the justice? were is the meritocracy ? Rory is smart enough for the big league but then so is Lane. Mrs. Kim is hard working and morally upstanding while Mrs. Gilmore is vain and venal. But without the old money and connections behind them the Kims will never get to the upper crust. The GGs are bank rolled by the vested interests but the Kims are not so they will have to stay down at least for a few more generations.
This is America.