I clicked on this as my wife and I are 5 episodes or so from the end of Season 7 of Gilmore Girls. This is our second viewing. I think you do the series a grave injustice.
Gilmore Girls is an excellent example of America and Americanism 15-20 years ago, and things are NOT much different today.
Gay jokes abound. Those wouldn't make it to air today. Gay marriage came 5 or so years after the show ended. We'll re-watch the 4 episode follow-up miniseries after we finish Season 7. I'm interested to see if the gay jokes have been dropped.
That's about it for the "inclusivity" faux pas that wouldn't be ok today.
For example, I disagree about fat-shaming. Three main characters are obese to morbidly obese (Sookie, Patty, Babette), and NEVER does the subject of their weight come up. Patty even smokes and no one says a word about it.
Stereotypes abound in GG, and that shit hasn't changed at all in the US, except that in 2023 there would have to be an evil Russian somewhere as a recurring character.
What you seem to miss is that the entire show hits the nail on the American head: American life is all about money and manipulation. GG adds generational trauma. Emily and Richard Gilmore are VERY wealthy, classist snobs. They use their money to try to manipulate everyone to live and do things as they want. That attitude is more American than apple fucking pie. The entire basis of the show - Lorelei running away with her baby (Rory) - was because Lorelei couldn't stand the manipulation based on money and class. Emily and Richard are incredibly entitled snobs and want Lorelei and Rory to be the same (Rory does show quite a few tendencies...).
There is a huge issue as well with food and manipulation. Watch the "Friday dinner" scenes and note how Emily constantly uses food as a reward or punishment (manipulation) with everyone, including her husband.
Both Emily and Mrs. Kim are tough and brook no dissent. Then we see when their own mothers/MIL visit that they are both terrified. Particularly in scenes with Emily's mother-in-law, we see that Emily is doing to Lorelei nearly exactly what was done to her - and it is all about money and class. Mrs. Kim is tough as nails until her mom comes to visit. Then Mrs. Kim is terrified and 100% subservient to her own mother. Generational trauma.
It is as also completely understood throughout the series that the VERY wealthy are different and it is accepted that they get to treat everyone like shit. There is a running "gag" that Emily can't keep a maid for more than a week. Some comments (maybe 5 comments in 7 seasons of 22 episodes) are made but NEVER does someone confront Emily and say, "Are you out of your fucking mind? She is a paid employee, not a goddamn slave."
The character Kirk is hilarious but also tragic. At some point, Kirk buys a house and people are stunned. He explains that he's worked 17 jobs and lived with his mother for years to save up. How American is it that it is totally understood that you CAN'T work just one job and make enough to buy a home?
Ironically, Sally Struthers (Babette) got her start on the hit TV show "All in the Family" in the 1970s. Her character was at college with her boyfriend (played by Rob Reiner). They both lived in her parents' house. Archie Bunker (played by Carrol O'Connor) was the father and homeowner. He had a stay-at-home wife. He was a high school graduate. He drove a forklift. In the 70s it was understood that a blue-collar worker could afford a home with a wife and kids. By 2005 no one batted an eyelash at Kirk's situation.
If you made it this far...my wife and I had a hard time making it through the show the first time, because the money+manipulation+generational trauma hit way too close to home for us at that point. We dealt with those issues in our lives and this second viewing is easier because we have some distance to it.
Inclusivity is the current social justice warrior battle. Gilmore Girls doesn't have a hard time with that (IMO). It is all about money and manipulation. Humorous on the surface, but filled with dark trauma in nearly every episode.
