Gilmore Girls Fans Say Paris' Breakdown As Editor-In-Chief Was Insulting
"Gilmore Girls" has a pretty huge, varied, and adorably quirky cast. But if you ask most fans, one character's name usually comes up when you ask about the very best: Paris Geller. Played by Liza Weil, Paris begins the series as the intelligent, acid-tongued antagonist to sweet, smart Rory Gilmore (Alexis Bledel), with the two eventually becoming best friends during their time at Chilton Academy and later rooming together at Yale University.
Paris is singularly focused and driven in all of her pursuits, doggedly and constantly working to be the absolute best in every field — including when she becomes editor of the Yale Daily News. Unfortunately, she's a little too driven when it comes to the newspaper and ends up locking herself in a homemade bunker with a hot plate. Rory ends up replacing her as the editor — because, you know, she's the show's lead character — and some fans think this entire situation is unfair to Paris.
In a Reddit thread about unpopular "Gilmore Girls" opinions, u/annaisilee writes, "Paris' breakdown as editor in chief of the Yale Daily News made no sense. Her emotional breakdown was insulting. She had the experience and drive to make the paper succeed, and while she can be insulting and difficult to work with, she wouldn't let it get in the way of a good paper." Apparently, other fans agreed.
Paris Geller's breakdown was totally out of character
u/ZippityDooDahDay10 agreed with the original poster, saying, "Her bunker with all of the clippings on the walls was a strange nod to Russel [sic] Crowe in A Beautiful Mind when we first see him start to go mad. The parallels are insulting and unfair. Agreed."
Other users noticed that all in all, this is a pretty sloppy way to handle mental health, as Paris is clearly pretty unwell and at a breaking point without any help. When the original poster points out that anyone who builds a bunker complete with a dangerous hot plate in the middle of the room would probably need serious psychiatric help, u/WinkPhish wrote, "Gotta love early 2000s and how they handled the topic of mental health..."
While some Redditors thought that Paris' actions were at least a little realistic, others observed that she had no problem running the high school paper at Chilton, and this should be no different. In any case, Paris Geller is one of the most beloved characters on "Gilmore Girls," so it stands to reason that fans would stick up for her when they feel she's been wronged by the narrative.
If you or someone you know needs help with mental health, please contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741, call the National Alliance on Mental Illness helpline at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264), or visit the National Institute of Mental Health website.