When it comes to the cinematic universe of Lorelai and Rory Gilmore, there’s a lot to unpack. The fast-paced talking. The confusing, obscure pop-culture references in every single conversation. The complexities of a close mother-daughter relationship.
WATCH: Milo Ventimiglia just crushed our Gilmore Girls dreams
But one thing that still infuriates die-hard fans above all else, is the moment when Rory drops out of Yale, cuts off all ties with Lorelai, and moves in with her grandparents, Richard and Emily Gilmore. It was so out of character… or was it?
It’s my personal belief that Rory’s dramatic shift in general attitude and increased petulance over the later seasons comes down to the moment when she cut herself a sharp little bob in Season 4, Episode 4.
As someone who once had this exact haircut and thinks it looks s’marvellous on other people, I’m not saying the bob is ugly. But I am saying it’s a haircut that ruined her whole entire life for a while there.
And while Lorelai claimed to “love it” – a lie for sure – you can’t deny Rory’s personality took a sharp nosedive off a cliff from this very moment and I think we know the cause. The haircut brought out something sinister in Miss Stars Hollow.
This is how a bad haircut can ruin your life. This is the hill I am willing to die on. So much so I have previously discussed this in-depth via power point presentation to my unfortunate friends. They hated it, I’d never felt more determined.
My sister once asked why I’m so committed to re-watching a show where I hate one of the main characters with such aplomb and the answer is pretty simple.
The early years of Rory are perfectly fine, thank you very much, but unfortunately her little transformation into the worst person you’ve ever met coincides with the moment Lorelai finally – FINALLY – got together with Luke Danes. And I’m not missing that magic just because Rory decided to play it fast and loose at the salon.
But there was such an extreme change in Rory’s persona once she got this haircut that it can’t be ignored.
She was petulant, selfish, rude and many other words that basically mean the same thing. For reference, this is the chop, live in action on Spring Break:
Sure, everything crappy that happened after the chop didn’t happen all at once. Her hair grew and the bratty personality continued to shine through. But, it all began when she became a gal with a bob.
Don’t believe me? Here’s a list of things Rory did after the haircut to end all haircuts:
- Started belittling Paris Geller in a slightly more “I’m cool and you’re not” type of way. Like making snide remarks behind her backs to other students and saying they were not really friends.
- Threw a hissy fit because she didn’t like to study in her dorm, because she has roommates who are also there (because it is a dorm).
- Called a ballerina a hippo in a review for the Yale newspaper. The ballerina sucked but the animal comparisons were uncalled for. So was the mopey “woe is me” thing when said ballerina got mad.
- Had an affair with a married man (Dean Forester) and claimed it wasn’t cheating because she dated him first when she was 16.
- Got mad at her mum for being like “lol no, he is not your Dean.”
- Started setting up her next guy (Logan Huntzberger) while still dating this married guy Dean.
- Became increasingly whiney as she started dating Logan.
- Stopped hanging out with Lane Kim as much.
- Acted like her mother was crazy for hating the Huntzbergers, despite how weird and cult-y they were about their rich family.
- Took an internship with Logan’s dad despite the drama and then threw a tantrum when he was like “hey, maybe you won’t be the best journalist in the world.”
- Quit Yale, moved in with her grandparents and stopped speaking to her mother because she received one piece of negative feedback. Maybe Mitchum Huntzberger was right, bestie, you don’t have what it takes.
- Yelled at her mum for not revealing she was engaged to Luke, even though she was the reason they weren’t speaking.
- Started speaking to her mum again but immediately put all the blame on her grandparents and was like “living in my extravagantly renovated pool house was a nightmare.”
- Convinced Paris to step down as editor of the Yale Daily News, before accepting editor herself (which is fine) but couldn’t see why that was a bit suss.
- Got repeatedly mad at Logan for being a silly frat boy even though that’s what he always was.
- Kissed Jess Mariano while Logan was away on a trip.
- Wrote an article about Logan and his business associates, condemning how rich and snobby they were when she, as Logan pointed out, is also a trust fund kid who went to private school and an Ivy League college on her family fortune.
- Turned down a great job at a local paper because she was convinced she was deserving of the NYT fellowship and acted like there was NO WAY she wasn’t going to get it.
It’s only in the final episodes of Season 7, with her glossy brown waves restored to their natural glory, that Rory starts to behave like her old self again.
We could go into the ways that her self-entitled persona reared its ugly head again in the reunion series, but you get it. The bob changed the course of history.
All this to say, a haircut really can ruin you as a person. And all hatred is directed towards Rory Gilmore, NOT our queen Alexis Bledel.
Related stories
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
