Gilmore Girls Hates Art and Men

Maggie watches episode 140, "Knit, People, Knit!"

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Welcome to Gilmore Women: Two journalists discuss everything that’s wrong with every episode of Gilmore Girls & why we still love it.

What’s Wrong With Episode 140, “Knit, People, Knit!”? “Wolf Girl” is a Real Artwork and The 2000s Messaging About Men Has Scarred Us!

The cold open joke of this episode is centered on the idea that Lorelai and Christopher’s wedding gift, “Wolf Girl” an etching by Kiki Smith, is a deranged and hilarious choice that Lorelai cannot even believe. But the fact that Kiki Smith is a real living artist, and “Wolf Girl” a real piece of her art, making it a punchline just feels real bad to me!

I’ll admit, it’s a funny scene, and the timing of Lauren Graham’s line delivery upon seeing the piece, and obviously not expecting it, is perfect. But after learning the piece was real, and reading a bit about Smith herself, I felt like she might actually be someone that Lorelai and Rory would actually like, or at least be interested in?

Here, though, I can’t help but wonder if I’ve been projecting too much of my own contemporary feminism onto Lorelai and Rory all along. So maybe, I wish they would be interested in this work in a way that they just so clearly are not. I’m sure that I too might have, with no context, opened a gift and seeing “Wolf Girl,” been shocked into speechlessness for a moment. Or that perhaps I would have wanted to simply laugh at the concept of a wolf in a dress, or a girl who was part wolf. Or to find it grotesque or strange and in some way, horrific, in its portrayal of a feminine image mashed with one of a fairy tale villain — a betrayal of the strict gender roles to which many of us were shunted in the early 2000s.

But today, I find the piece fascinating, and beautifully strange. Smith is an artist who, in the late 90s, (“Wolf Girl” is from 1999) was exploring themes of fairy tales and childhood. She’s made a career of work that mixes and mashes, using multiple mediums for decades, and is still alive and working today. This, from a profile of her in T the New York Times Style magazine in 2018 really spoke to her aesthetic that I thought might be fascinating to Lorelai: “But Smith’s most enduring contribution may be the scope of her fully realized world, in all its Jungian glory: birds, stars, wolves, imaginary creatures and otherworldly vegetation — along with the humans who wander through. Hers is a liminal, defiantly female place of both shadow and light, where transformation is effortless, if ultimately unsettling. Driven by instinct rather than conscious ambition — it is difficult to think of a contemporary artist as prolific over so many years in so many mediums — she conjures a bestiary of creatures that seem forever on the verge of becoming something else.”

In fact, this feels like such a beautiful and appropriate gift for Lorelai. This is an instance of Emily seeing Lorelai for who she is, instead of trying to fit her into her own likeness. Yes, Richard and Emily like art because art collections are worth money and “all young couples should have their own,” but this particular piece is not at all what they would have bought for themselves. The piece is weird, and cool, and twisted in a way that Lorelai is often drawn toward. And makes me think about Lorelai’s own girlhood, the way she always discusses that time of her life as when she was forced into frilly dresses but hated it, and the way she didn’t feel she fit the life she was born into. 

I’d love this more nuanced perception of the painting to exist in the episode in some way: a question that is asked even subtlely about Lorelai’s own perceptions of gender and belonging perhaps. But alas, GG has never been great at nuance, and now, here we are with our season 7 interlopers writing and directing and running the show and the hopes of deeper character development or even inquiry are basically impossible at this point. As such, it should be unsurprising that the portraits of men and masculinity in this episode are highly problematic, even for this show. Truly, was 2007 actually 1954?

This gray polo shirt over long sleeve gray shirt is apparently Lorelai-approved for this “MAN DATE” in which Christopher’s masculinity must be very carefully measured to make him appealing to Jackson (BUT NOT LIKE THAT)

First off, there’s Christopher, who Lorelai has now decided she must mother, because of course, as her husband, he’s her responsibility now. She seems to think she is not only on the hook to introduce Christopher to the townsfolk of Stars Hollow now that he is her husband, and also to launch an actual PR campaign to make sure they like him. (Because she knows they will not because he is unlikable and has routinely treated her and Rory like crap! But that’s a tangent.) Regardless, Lorelai and Sookie come up with a genius plan to make people like Christopher, which includes getting him to go out for beers with Jackson (a meeting which must be referred to as a *man date* multiple times for comedic effect, because, lol to men hanging out together, for fun! Can you imagine!?!). And for which Christopher apparently is dressed ALL WRONG, because he is wearing a *gasp* button-up black shirt and jeans that are apparently “tight,” according to Lorelai (Editor’s note: the jeans are not tight). Also, he has too much product in his hair!!! She is apparently extremely concerned about the effects these choices will have on Christopher’s ability to make a friend? And she forces him to change his clothes before going out. Sorry but this TikTok just suddenly came into my head and now will not go away. Thank god we have Queer Eye now.

Luke Danes, standing up for all the dads who have been cast aside by the evil moms who want their children to themselves!!!

Then there’s Luke, who apparently now has a story line that implies that the only reason absent fathers exist is because of all the evil, witchy single mothers whose goal in life is to keep their children from their fathers!!!! And I’m sorry, I know family law is a mess, but what I do know is that biological parents who weren’t told about their children but find out about them later do actually have legal rights! And I’m sorry again but what kind of batshit character is Anna Nardini??? She already has basically broken up Luke and Lorelai by gaslighting him into believing that there’s no way April could possibly meet her soon to be stepmother without irreparable emotional damage done to her — essentially breaking them up  — but now she thinks she can just move her child to another state with no input from her child’s other parent? That is simply not how this works. 

ALSO, we know Anna Nardini is a damn caricature of the evil, witchy woman set on ruining men, who doesn’t actually exist, because dear god, who would turn down a nice, respectful, loving, responsible adult human who is willing to take care of your child for multiple days at a time?!?!!? Hello, I am happily married and I would definitely beg someone else to go into a joint custody agreement of some kind so I could have some alone, kid-free time. It’s also nuts that she is moving herself and April permanently across the country to care for her dying mother. It makes no sense to make that a permanent move. There are many other options here. And turning Luke into some kind of men’s rights activist because he is now a father is very uncomfortable! (And oh yeah, the same thing this show did to Jackson? So that’s weird.) 

Of course I’m being mean to you, THAT’S HOW YOU KNOW I LIKE YOU.

Lastly, Marty. Marty is back. But even formerly nice guy Marty is now a big ol’ jerk to Rory! Lorelai helpfully explains this is because Marty is male. And men cannot possibly be nice to a girl who they formerly had romantic feelings for but never got to date because that is awkward!! 

RORY: Good. We're just about ready to party like it's 2002. There's just one thing -- this whole Marty debacle. It's just so annoying to be around him.

LORELAI: Is he still acting all cold and weird?

RORY: Beyond cold and beyond weird.

LORELAI: Well you're a hard one to get over kid you know. He probably just feels bad. When guys feel rejected, they act all cold and weird.

RORY: Yeah but I rejected him, if that's even what happened, years ago. I mean isn't there a statute of limitations for being a jerk?

LORELAI: Well Marty just probably feels awkward. Maybe you should try to be nice.

RORY: He's not exactly being nice to me.

LORELAI: Well, you have to be the bigger person.

RORY: Why doesn't he be the bigger person?

LORELAI: Because you're 11 feet tall and he's a mere mortal.

RORY: I hate being 11 feet tall.

Realistically, Marty probably should be mad at Rory! She did just kind of stop being friends with him and forgot he existed because she was too busy dating Logan and stealing boats and joining the DAR? Maybe she owes him an apology? Instead, we have this narrative that men are mean to girls they like (heard that one before!?!?!!?) and so in order to change this, the onus is on the girl to be *nice*. Then, once you’re nice to him, he’ll make an awkward comment about how you’re so beautiful and then go kiss his girlfriend! GREAT MESSAGING. WE LOVE TO SEE IT. 

Anyway, justice for “Wolf Girl.”

Eight Other Things Wrong With This Episode

• Speaking of men being the worst, Rory feels the need to apologize to Logan for having to carry her stuff while she moves back in with Paris and just, please, can we not? On the other hand, Paris makes Rory sign a contract that includes a clause that Logan (or other “paramours”) owes a percentage of utilities based on how many nights he spends at her place, and when he agrees, Paris says “Attaboy Rockefeller.” And I love it. No notes.

• Did Lucy start college early? She’s turning 21 in the fall of her Senior year! Which I guess is a thing that happens, but made me wonder for a minute if she was a Junior? Why not just make it her 22nd birthday?

• Sookie does the right thing in not meddling in Lorelai’s relationship or telling her she married the wrong guy, when Lorelai gives her the perfect opportunity to do so. But WOW is it so obvious Lorelai does not even like Christopher based on how much she thinks everyone else will definitely not like him!

• The way TJ and Luke were discussing home births and doulas as if they have any say on or knowledge of the matter is very early 20th century male doctors deciding that women couldn’t be OB-GYNs because they weren’t cut out for it! Or, I don’t know, a Supreme Court of mostly men taking away reproductive rights for half the population!?

• Christopher and Jackson go for beers at a bar in Stars Hollow? But once again, it has been stated multiple times there are no bars in Stars Hollow! Also Jackson acts as though he likes sports? Wasn’t Jackson firmly a non-sports guy previously? Who knows! Nothing matters!

• From what I could tell, all of the knitters at the knit-a-thon but one were women. The rest of the men are all just standing around, supporting the women knitters? Weird! Also I don’t think all these knitters need to be winding their own skeins of yarn throughout the entire episode, but I get that it looks cool!

• I guess that Christopher paying for the whole knit-a-thon thus ruining everyone’s fun was kind of a perfect metaphor for him trying and failing to be a hero at every turn. Also though, why was it dark by the time he and Lorelai were walking home? It was only 3 PM when he killed the fun.

• There were definitely not enough crop tops at the 2002 party. And also were they actually supposed to be wearing 2002 outfits? Or just their usual 2007 outfits with UGGs? Had fashion even changed at all by then? And why was Paris in a matching Ann Taylor-esque skirt set for a college dorm room party?

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