Why are some of the most memorable TV shows that we’ve watched on the days we missed school? For me, those shows were “Moesha,” “Charmed,” reruns of “The Nanny” and my favorite, “Gilmore Girls.” My favorite character from the “Gilmore Girls” growing up was Rory. She seemed like a breath of fresh air. She was the girl who would be categorized as the girl-next-door. Her love for books and coffee made her the perfect mood board for the average Tumblr girl. Although, people who love Rory Gilmore let me know how far into the series that they are in because the decisions she makes further down the line regarding her love-life makes me want to rip my hair out.
Growing up makes you realize how much we are all like Rory in a sense when it comes to relationships. No one is born knowing everything. In a sense we are all naive and curious when it comes to dating. A relationship in the beginning may feel exciting at first, and in the end of that relationship that same excitement may now feel chaotic. Now I love a hopeless romantic, but chaotic is what I would call a Rory in love. For example, I remember when Rory was dating Dean, but she had feelings for Jess. She saw Jess kissing another girl and was freaking out inside, meanwhile she was on a date with Dean. Let’s not forget that she realized she still had feelings for Dean after he was married and proceeded to have an affair with him.
How about the time when she turned down Logan’s marriage proposal, but then when you see Rory and Logan again in the series, she is much older and she and Logan are dating, but he is engaged to someone else. It’s no secret that when Rory loves, she is willing to go about it at any means necessary even if her tactics seem unconventional
In the teen romance world Rory is iconic, but her love life mirrors another character in the horror world. This character who at first comes across as a hopeless romantic who loves books, coffee and has an awkward charm that would most likely make him the leading man for a Taylor Swift music video love interest. However, he and Rory possess the same awkward charm that captivates his lovers, but slowly transforms into a sinister obsession. This character is no other than Joe Goldberg from the netflix series “You”.
Like Rory, Joe has a knack for seeing the good in people even if they come across as questionable. Now in most cases he is the questionable character. Just like Rory, Joes has had his fair share of lovers. The most memorable girls were Beck and Love Quinn. Even with knowing who Joe was, fans still had their pick of who they wanted Joe to date. Without leaving too many spoilers, everyone can agree that Beck deserved better.
Beck was like Rory’s Jess from “Gilmore Girls.” They seemed a little wild at first, but they were inherently good. They both encouraged both of the main characters to want to be better. Jess and Beck had a way of bringing both characters back down to earth. However, just like they met people who introduced them to how good they can be, they also met someone who mirrored them. For Rory, this person was Logan. He came back from one of the same high status families as her. Both of their families ran in the same circles, and they both wanted to leave the life that their families had before them and do something different. I think Logan helped introduce Rory to a part of her that she did not always embrace. A more outgoing and confident version of herself. That is why so many fans shipped them together.
However, Love Quinn also showed Joe who he really was. She was sweet at first, but her past still haunted her. She did not feel much love as a child, so when she did love she tried to hold on tightly to it even if she had to wear a mask to hide her crazy. Very much like Joe, she was willing to kill for love. Joe saw himself in Love, but he saw the parts that he was unhappy with. Logan and Love both mirrored parts of Joe and Rory that they hadn’t acknowledged before. They held a mirror up to the characters and showed them things they loved and didn’t love about themselves.
However, as I get older, I wonder if Rory and Joe felt love or possession. By possession meaning, they tend to be very possessive over the people that they love. It is something about their partners moving on that triggers them to try to save the relationships that already seem over. It’s like they can walk away from the relationship, but they cannot handle seeing their partner walk away. I think in a way, both characters were not ready for a relationship.
In Rory’s case, she was growing up. She was just trying to find herself. I don’t think Rory herself knew who she was. As the show progressed, you can tell that she was going through an identity crisis and she kept trying to find herself in the men that she loved. On the flip side, Joe kept changing his identity to fit the perception of the perfect guy tailored to his love interest’s wants. He was willing to change himself to become the perfect guy. Obviously, he went much further than Rory, but that is also the difference between horror and romance.
Horror will obviously push to do more than the slow burn of a romance, but for these reasons alone, Joe Goldberg is definitely the Rory Gilmore of the horror world.