With the "Gilmore Girls" revival confirmed by Netflix, I think it is time to revisit why Rory Gilmore is the ultimate life goals.
1. She didn't let boys stop her from being great.
Every time a relationship ended with a boyfriend, Rory went on to do something great. Some of her shining post-breakup moments are when she wrote the best valedictorian speech after being left by her boyfriend with no goodbye and when she went on to be a journalist on Barack Obama's first presidential campaign trail. Greatness at its finest!
2. Her eating habits were those to be admired.
Rory usually had a burger and fries every night, followed by massive amounts of coffee and no plans of working out, and still managed to stay slender. Basically, she had the metabolism we all dream about.
3. She befriended the "mean girl" and actually made a lifelong friend.
Paris Gellar was the ultimate frenemy. She and Rory had their ups and downs, but Rory stood up to Paris when times called for it, lent her a shoulder to cry on when life didn't go her way, and celebrated with her when she got into basically every law school AND medical school she applied to, while Rory got declined from her dream job. #friendshipgoals
4. She did not forget where she came from, no matter how far life took her.
Rory may have gone off to an Ivy League college, but she kept her roots in Stars Hollow. She remained best friends with her childhood friend all throughout the series and came home often to see everyone. She even subscribed to her local newspaper while she was at college. She never forgot that they helped her get to where she was.
5. She saw the potential in relationships.
Rory was an all-around nice person. She dated bad boy Jess and inspired him to write a novel and get his life together. She then moved on to immature, adventurous Logan. She inspired him to become a committed partner and also to live up to his full potential. Most notable was her way of bettering the relationship between Lorelai and her parents; she helped make it so that they actually resembled a fully functional family by the time the series wrapped up.
6. She was well-read and well-versed in pop culture references.
There is even a Rory Gilmore reading challenge inspired in her honor with over 300 books. Rory was always reading or talking about novels she had read. She also had time to watch tons of movies and shows with her mom, picked up on all the pop culture references and spewed them back verbatim.
7. She chose her career over a guy.
When Logan proposed, Rory said no. She did not say no because she didn't love him; she said no because she wanted to focus on herself and establishing her career first. It was an empowering moment for women everywhere.
And her greatest strength of all:
8. She learned from the best: her mom.
Lorelai and Rory had the perfect mother-daughter relationship. They told each other everything, they were best friends first, and they just got each other. Rory had dreamy men, awesome credentials, and perfect hair, but the one aspect about her I envied the most about her was the relationship with her mom.
Rory Gilmore was an inspiration to me as I was growing up, and she still inspires me daily as an adult. If she existed in the real world, I'd like to think we'd be great friends.