I admit to spending some frivolous time this summer, much of it watching episodes of “Gilmore Girls” that I had somehow missed when the show aired or when my sister was given all of the seasons on DVD for her birthday one year. Watching “Gilmore Girls” now that I am about the same age as Rory and her friends during the later seasons gives me a different perspective on their lives. Everybody loves Rory. She is compassionate, humorous, attractive, and she has a super relationship with her mother. On the other hand, there is Paris Geller.
Admittedly, we are not supposed to glorify Paris. We are not supposed to dream of being Paris. We are not even supposed to wish that Paris was our friend. But many of Paris’ personality quirks are precisely what make her so darn admirable.
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1. Paris tells it like it is. She is brutally honest. She says exactly what she is thinking. In fact, she says exactly what we are also thinking but would never have the guts to say. When Paris and her date arrive late to a party, she makes no excuses for her tardiness. Instead, she remarks, “We had to stop and eat first in case the food sucked.” Face it. You have done that. You wouldn’t dare admit it, let alone announce it at the party, but you have done it.
2. Paris could care less what others think about her. Paris’ intelligence and her intense ambition are her trademarks. She can be abrasive, all right, but it doesn’t matter to her one bit that she is viewed in this fashion. In fact, she freely admits that she lacks empathy when she remarks, “Have I ever been mistaken for a patient person?”
3. Paris is motivated to fulfill her dreams. She is a perfectionist. While she tends not to get caught up in the nonsense of relationships, choosing to steadfastly focus on her academics and her work at Yale’s newspaper, she does occasionally let down her guard and behave like a normal college student. In fact, she ensures that anything she attempts is done up to her standards. While on her first official spring break, she remarks, “We’re not trying hard enough. We came here to do spring break, and we are going to do spring break,” of course confirming with a checklist of coming, dancing, drinking, and vomiting.
4. Paris is comfortable being alone. Dating is overrated in Paris’ book. Yes, she dates Jamie for a while, falls head over heels for Professor Asher Fleming until his demise, and finally finds the yin to her yang in Doyle. However, the ideal Friday or Saturday night for Paris? “No men, just lots and lots of Chinese food.”
5. Paris is a feminist who will defend women to the end. She even has the nerve to do so when Chilton’s headmaster shows his old-fashioned, chauvinistic ways. When he assumes that Rory and Paris are “arguing over the same boy,” Paris cannot hold her breath. She wryly remarks, “Sure. We’re girls so we could only be arguing about a boy, right?” and then slings this retort at him, “Sexist, white-haired…”
6. Paris is a loyal friend. Granted, she and Rory have their ups and downs at Chilton and even at Yale after Rory secures the editor position following Paris being ousted. But she takes in Rory when Rory has nowhere to go. She smack-talks Logan after he leaves Rory distraught. And in typical Geller fashion, she dishes out her true feelings about Rory’s departure from Yale. Not surprised about her return to the university, she questions “What are you gonna do without a college degree? Drive a forklift?”
7. Paris lets her freak flag fly. She understands she’s rough around the edges, sometimes socially oppressive, and irrevocably Paris Geller, but she embraces her quirks. When Rory jokes around with her about stealing an interview and explains that she’s just making her crazy, Paris snaps back “Like that’s hard. Feel proud.”
8. Paris is pleased with being out of touch with her generation. Sure, there’s something to be said for being able to mix and mingle with people around your age. But there’s also something to be said for knowing where you fit in and sticking to it. When Paris says, “I should be at a discotheque. Are kids still into that?” we should love her not only for embracing her inner seventies child, but also for naively suggesting that her outdated interests are socially acceptable.
