17 Moments From "Gilmore Girls" That Were Actually Pretty Problematic

Yep, this includes stuff from the revival too!

We recently asked members of the BuzzFeed Community to tell us which moments from Gilmore Girls were actually problematic. Here are some of their responses!

1. When Jess tries to pressure Rory into sex and gets annoyed at her for saying no.

The WB

"Jess pushes himself on Rory at a party even though she asks him to wait three times, until she has to physically push him off her to stop him from going even further. And then he reacts in the worst way -– shouting at her because she didn't want to have sex, which makes her leave crying. It's awful."

– Saraes

2. When Lorelai refers to Rory as "the good kid" when she finds out Paris isn't a virgin anymore.

The WB

"When Lorelai said she had ‘the good kid’ after overhearing Paris and Rory talking about Paris losing her virginity to Jamie. It makes me really uncomfortable that she’s slut shaming Paris."

– maryk4b5ab9cff

3. When Rory throws around the "r" word.

The WB

"In season 2 episode 2, Rory talks about how she needs to find a 'retarded kid' to teach softball...UGH! That scene makes me cringe so bad."

– graysonj4f3f2ee80

4. And when she criticises another student's "fat thighs".

The WB

"So. Much. Body shaming. One that sticks out is in the season 4 episode ‘Afterboom', where Rory says to a Professor, that she suspects is flirting with another student (whilst dating Paris), that ‘the redhead has fat thighs.’"

– Sheapom

5. The fact that there's hardly any POC in the show.

The WB

"How about the whole Michel and the Kims being the only POC in the entire town?"

– rosiea4158ca50d

6. When Sookie forces Jackson to get a vasectomy and then when he doesn't get one without telling her, resulting in her getting pregnant.

The CW

"How Sookie forced Jackson to get a vasectomy. That was all kinds of weird. It should be his choice!!! And then he didn't even get the vasectomy, which is even worse!!"

– juveniletomato

7. The many, many homophobic "jokes".

The WB

"There were so many homophobic 'jokes' in the show--from the 'Ms. Van Uppity' comments in the The Festival of Living Art episode to Lorelai kidding with Luke 'I always defended him! I always said, so what if he is!' after he tells her he married Nicole (a woman), to even Gil saying to Zach 'If you were singing about a dude, I'd be out the door faster than you can say 'See ya!'"

– starrybright23

8. When Lorelai makes an "Asia" at home for Rory that mashes together loads of cultures.

The WB

"That episode when Lorelai and Rory go to 'Asia.' There was Hello Kitty, rice paddies, Sandra Oh, and dessert sushi. Seeing my culture conflated into stereotypes and bits was extremely hurtful. And Rory especially should have known better. She reads. She went to Yale. Has she never picked up Said’s Orientalism?"

– estherc42bc14a61

9. When Lorelai and Rory are cruel about random people's bodies while sitting by the pool.

Netflix

"The whole pool scene in the revival was THE WORST. They were terrible, and honestly out of character from the original show."

– heoke

10. When Rory's review of a ballet involves some body-shaming comments about the dancer.

The WB

"Lorelai and Rory’s commentary on the ballerina’s body is disgusting. They eat noting but junk food and do no exercise but are somehow blessed with tiny figures and yet think that it’s okay to judge others for not being born with the metabolism/ genetics of a Gilmore."

– Buttercup1

11. All the stereotyping of Mrs. Kim.

The WB

"The stereotyping of Mrs. Kim due to her race. It’s not only a cliché, but it’s also rude to continue a label put on a certain archetype. Throughout the show, they make Mrs. Kim only eat foods that are associated with her culture, they make her very strict, and lastly make her only allow Lane to marry a fellow Korean. It was very problematic in my opinion!"

– HamiltonandLaurens

12. The whole "slim women who love eating junk food but never gain weight" trope that's used throughout the series.

The WB

"This whole trope of 'I’m a woman, but I still EAT!!! Hahaha' is getting so old. Eating 'unhealthy' food (or any other food, for that matter) isn’t 'quirky.' EVERYONE DOES IT."

– Erin Jacobs via Facebook

13. When Dean tries to pressure Rory into saying "I love you" and was just really possessive in general.

The WB

"He attempted to force an answer out of her and was overly cruel and possessive in many other scenes. I could never understand why anyone was ‘Team Dean’ when he was such an emotionally and verbally abusive person."

– mikareader

14. The entire character of Berta in the revival.

Netflix

"Emily's new maid, Berta, in the revival. Why in the heck would they make a character with a fake, incomprehensible language that vaguely amalgamates all Latin American(?) cultures into one walking stereotype? This plays deeply into Emily's casual racism and poor treatment of her help over the years."

– Jinx Huth via Facebook

15. The unhealthy jealousy both Luke and Christopher show, that's played off as normal.

The WB

"How jealous Luke and Christopher are, and how it's made to seem normal and reasonable. Luke not wanting Lorelai to talk to THE FATHER OF HER CHILD is especially messed up, and Christopher being so jealous of Luke that Lorelai seriously considers cutting contact with one of her oldest friends.

They're meant to be adults and it's so immature as well as really unhealthy."

– eveamandadove

16. When characters were really chilled out about drunk driving.

The WB

"The drunk driving that happened multiple times, especially when Luke was playing golf with Richard and gets really drunk and slurs his speech yet Lorelai just tells him to drink coffee and drive home."

– Sashamcm

17. And when Luke freaks out because a woman is breastfeeding in the coffee shop.

The WB

"There's an episode where both Luke and Jess are freaked out by a woman breastfeeding her baby – to the point where Luke asks Lorelai to ask her to leave! That scene makes me cringe so hard."

– sarahd4176344f4

Submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.

Want to be featured in future posts like this? Make sure to follow the BuzzFeed Community on Facebook and Twitter!