The hit show ‘Gilmore Girls’, centred around the tight, interminable bond between mother and daughter, claimed the hearts of many millennials during the early 2000s and surprisingly has left the same effect on many teenagers of today’s generation.

 

Gilmore Girls draws in a multitude of differing viewers from its plethora of pop-culture and literary references, and the mother-daughter relationship between Lorelai and Rory. The show closely follows the ambitious character of Rory, an aspiring Harvard student and journalist, and the comical character of Lorelai, a young mother tackling relationships, responsibilities, and work. The show’s focus on the unique bond between Lorelai and Rory, derived from Lorelai being a teen mum, is what makes Gilmore Girls so widely loved and adored. Social constructs and stereotypes of young mothers are challenged and reconstructed by the show, making Lorelai appear to be an independent and admirable figure for many mothers watching the show. Similarly, Rory’s passion for reading and literature captures the interest of pre-existing literature fans, whilst simultaneously enlightening others to the world of literature. Such driven yet humorous characters help the show to become more appealing to a variety of different people and ultimately, two consecutive generations of fans.

 

Nearly every largely successful film or show will experience wavering numbers of viewers- there will be times in which an exponential decrease in viewers may be discernible. However, Gilmore Girl fans never seemed to subdue in their passion for the show, as now, even two decades later, the show’s fan base is still ever-growing and not merely reaching its consummation. 

 

One dedicated fan of the show mentions how “We get to see both worlds collide and find their ideologies clash and combine- that is what makes the show so timeless.” Many other fans of the show give similar views: the youth and hope seen in Rory is relatable to the younger viewers of the show, whilst the maternal mannerisms and humour seen within Lorelai’s character provide an adult audience with that sense of relatability also. Arguably, the relatability of each character is significant to the shows consecutive success, however social media playing a big role in the fanbase of the show is very probable too.

 

During lockdown, many teenagers and young adults and teens found themselves growing bored to the new monotony of being stuck inside, ultimately allowing them to allocate more time to leisurely activities such as watching Netflix and using apps like TikTok. Gilmore Girls rose to fame on the app TikTok, where both new and old fans of the show came together to share and reflect on their opinions of the show. TikTok, being targeted primarily at teenagers, managed to spark today’s young people with an interest in the show, ultimately reinstating the legacy Gilmore Girls beholds in yet another generation.