Week 1 Popular Media Review

Having recently watched Gilmore Girls for the first time, one storyline from the show struck me as a perfect example of identity confusion. For those who are unfamiliar, the show focuses on a mother and daughter throughout the latter's journey through high school and college. Rory, the daughter, had dreamed of being a journalist since she was little. As an incredibly smart and ambitious student, she began setting herself up for a career in journalism in high school. She joined the school's student paper. Upon graduating, she decided to attend Yale and worked on their student paper as well, eventually becoming the editor.
During her time at Yale, she took an internship at a local paper. Although she enjoyed the experience, her boss (and her boyfriend's dad!) tells her that she isn't cut out for the field and suggests that she change career paths. Obviously, this was devastating to her. Because of this, Rory recklessly decides to steal a yacht, which results in a great deal of community service. She also decides to drop out of college, at least for a brief period of time, and cuts ties with her mom, who did not support this decision.
In Identity - Youth and Crisis, Erikson points out that the final stage of identity formation in adolescence can lead one to "suffer more deeply than he ever did before or ever will again from a confusion of roles" (p. 163). I think this Gilmore Girls is a prime example. Rory had constructed this identity as a future journalist. This criticism from her boss greatly impacted her self-esteem and her sense of identity. If she's not cut out to be journalist, who even is she then? Because she believed she could no longer follow her desired path, she began exploring a negative identity: dropping out of school and committing a crime. When I first watched this show, I found her behavior incredibly childish and reckless, but after reading Erikson and discussing identity with my classmates I understand why Rory responded the way that she did. To her, this wasn't just a minor setback. This was someone (whose opinion she valued) telling her that she doesn't fit the identity she had crafted.

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