Gilmore Girls is undeniably one of the most popular shows to come out of the WB/CW era. It aired for seven seasons plus a brief Netflix revival series and there is still a possibility of more to come from the series in the future, although it does seem unlikely at the moment. The show gave us one of the most lovable and famous mother/daughter duos in television history with the introduction of best friends and relatives, Lorelai and Rory Gilmore.
But maybe even more memorable than the title characters is the wondrous quirky small town of Stars Hollow. Despite the loving memories we have of the series, some of its jokes and content wouldn't fly if they were written for television today, we're looking at 10 jokes that aged poorly.
Luke doesn't like breastfeeding in public
Watching the season three scene where Luke rants about women breastfeeding at the diner is pretty shocking nowadays. Women have been fighting for the right to breastfeed publically for many years now, but it's particularly a hot button topic in today's society. Luke's ramblings about it are played as a joke. Lorelai mocks him for it but doesn't necessarily defend the woman.
He even says they could go find a "cave or barn" to feed in. It's actually somewhat horrendous how misguided his view is. Women's breasts aren't inherently sexual just by existing. It's pretty surprising the show would throw that in thinking audiences wouldn't find Luke's views offensive.
The Trump jokes
Gilmore Girls wasn't a fan of Trump and there are several jokes in the show that indicate that. One, in particular, occurred in season two during which Sookie and Lorelai are trying to figure out how they can afford the Dragonfly Inn.
Lorelai tells her the place is already owned by someone and Sookie says, "Tell me it's not that [expletive] Donald Trump." That's not the only one as there are also some references to the Trump casinos and The Apprentice. While not every joke is super negative, many Trump supporters might not tolerate those same jokes if they aired today.
Emily commenting on the possibility of Richard's death
This is a really sad example of a joke that aged badly. In the first season of the series, Richard suffers from a heart attack. During his recovery, Emily demands that he doesn't die before she does. Fast-forward years later and Edward Hermann, who played Richard on the series, did indeed pass away before Kelly Bishop, who played Emily Gilmore.
To be fair, Emily's initial comments weren't fully a joke as it was clear Emily was distraught at the idea of losing her husband but still, it is sad to think about. Gilmore Girls honored Hermann's death on the revival series where Richard also passed.
Isn't it supposed to be pink for a girl?
During the season where Lorelai and Rory go to Sherry's baby shower, Lorelai points out that everything is decorated in green despite the fact Sherry is having a baby girl. Lorelai makes a comment about the fact the balloons should be pink since pink is for girls and blue is for boys.
Her description ascribes to the traditional and old-fashioned way of assigning babies a specific color based on gender. Had that same joke aired today, people might have a stronger reaction to Lorelai's preconceived notions of gender when talking about a newborn child. Although to be fair, Sherry doesn't seem to indicate any different, only that green is the new pink.
Lorelai talking to a child about bikini waxes
In the season four episode, "The Hobbit, the Sofa, and Digger Stiles," Lorelai and Sookie take on their first catering gig at a 10-year-old's birthday party. While there, a little girl approaches Lorelai and tells her she's upset because the boys at the party told her that only boy hobbits are allowed to go to Mount Doom.
Instead of being motherly and telling the little girl that's not true and girls can do anything they put their minds to, Lorelai makes a joke about women doing more dangerous things like getting Brazilian bikini waxes. It's a tacky comment to make to a child and she would be looked at differently for saying it had the episode aired today.
Rory's ballet review
Rory's review of the ballerina in the Yale paper is a commonly debated issue among GG fans. But if the episode aired today audiences would be more critical of Rory's decision to write such a scathing review. It hardly counts as constructive criticism given how cruel some of her sentences are.
She even body-shames the poor girl by talking about the "roll around the bra strap." Body shaming is pretty common on Gilmore Girls, even in the revival, so things haven't changed all that much since the series initially aired for the writers. It's disappointing to see content like that on the show.
Both of us, so we don't look funny
In the season five episode, "You Jump, I Jump, Jack," Lorelai tries to persuade Luke into going to dinner at the Gilmore residence so he can officially meet Emily and Richard as her significant other rather than just as Luke the man who runs the diner. Luke is resilient but Lorelai has already agreed.
At one point she says that if he doesn't go they will have to get sex changes, "both of us so we can kiss and not look funny." At the moment, it seems like a minor infraction but if that comment made it to air on the show today, people would be rightfully upset about the homophobic nature of Lorelai's casual remark.
And the redhead has fat thighs!
This is a comment from Rory that is already hotly contested on the internet and it has been years since the episode first aired. Imagine the outcry if someone heard Rory Gilmore saying that about another woman on television now? To make matters worse, Rory says this about a girl that Professor Asher Fleming may be sleeping with, hence cheating on Paris.
Asher, in general, is a creep. He's an old man with a proclivity for dating much younger women, especially his students. If Rory should be directing her anger at anyone it should be Asher. Instead, she makes a gross, body-shaming comment about a girl she knows nothing about.
Several jokes using a certain slur starting with the letter R
Gilmore Girls has several jokes that use the profusely outdated word, "r******d." I'm sure you can guess what I mean. One joke is early on in the series and involves Rory saying she needs to "find a r******d kid and teach him how to play softball." She says this to talk about how she wants to start volunteering more to beef up her resume.
It's not exactly the word you'd want to hear coming out of a future ivy league-school kid. She could even have her admission withdrawn if she said something like that today. It's odd the word was even said back then as it hasn't been a good idea to say it in a long time, and this wasn't the last time the show had a character utter it either.
See you when Hilary's President!
Lorelai says this while on the phone in season five and boy does it sting to think about now! It wasn't necessarily an offensive joke or anything but eerie how much of a different context it takes on when you're rewatching the series now. "See you when Hilary's president," almost feels like the cosmos joking us.
It's kind of like when The Simpsons strangely predicts certain things from the future. If a similar joke aired now it would get a much different reading than it did back then. Positive from some, negative from many, or a sense of dark irony.