Gilmore Girls: 10 Things About Paris That Haven’t Aged Well

Paris Geller is a favorite Gilmore Girls character and fans praise her wit and ability to see through fake people. Paris navigates Chilton and Yale and loves having Rory by her side, and her dating struggles and lack of a loving family are tragic and at times relatable. But despite the humor and smart quotes that she brings to the show, there are a lot of things about Paris that haven’t aged well.

From the way that Paris treats other people to some of her biggest storylines, many parts of Paris’s arc on Gilmore Girls have aged poorly and feel like a problem today.

10 Paris Steals Rory’s Chilton File

Rory Gilmore makes mistakes at Chilton but Paris makes Rory’s time at the sometimes scary school difficult from the start. As soon as Rory begins getting settled in at her new school, Paris, Madeline Lynn, and Louise Grant steal Rory’s academic file so Paris can see what competition she’s dealing with.

While it makes sense that Paris wants to stay at the top of her class and do well, she has no right to look through Rory’s file, and she should feel much calmer about a new student attending school.

9 Paris Bullies Brad

Paris is so mean to Brad Langford that he finds it difficult to imagine going to Chilton every day. He also talks to a therapist about how she is the person who he is most afraid of.

Paris should never bully someone so badly that they feel terrified to come to school, and this is one of the worst parts of her character. Paris also makes fun of Brad for loving musical theater and taking some time away from school to star in Into The Woods. While Paris has a great sense of humor and fans love her clever lines, this is too mean-spirited.

8 Paris Is A Toxic Yale Daily News Editor

In the season 6 episode “You’ve Been Gilmored,” Paris is told to leave her position as editor of the Yale Daily News, and things get awkward when the staff wants Rory to do the job.

Paris messes up by becoming a toxic, cruel leader who yells at everyone and doesn’t take into account any form of work/life balance. Fans are used to seeing how smart and ambitious Paris is, but she takes her desire to succeed way too far in this storyline.

7 Paris Looks Down On People

There are many ways that Paris gets better on Gilmore Girls, but there are also moments when she says something rude and offensive. One of her quotes from season 1 hasn’t aged well at all.

When Rory is devastated over getting a bad grade on her English test, Paris pokes fun of her and says “A ‘D,’ however, that would be cause for concern” and adds, “A job application at McDonald’s.” It’s not great that Paris looks down on people who work in retail or food services.

6 Paris’s Virginity Loss Storyline Is A Problem

One of the most classic and famous Gilmore Girls moments is when Rory gets into Harvard and Paris doesn’t. Fans will always remember when Paris tells everyone at Chilton that she got rejected and also lost her virginity to Jamie.

Paris decides to have sex with a caring partner, but the show acts like she has done something wrong. Lorelai even says, “I’ve got the good kid” because Rory is still a virgin. This is definitely a problem.

5 Paris’s Surrogacy Clinic Feels Harsh

Many people feel that the way that surrogacy is shown in Gilmore Girls: A Year In The Life isn’t the way that it really works. Paris is proud of running her own business, as she should be, but she has a cold and harsh approach to helping couples find a surrogate.

Paris shows Lorelai and Luke a binder full of potential surrogates without much care or compassion, and her approach is tricky as she acts like some people are better than others.

4 Paris And Asher’s Relationship Is Concerning

When looking back on Paris and Doyle’s Gilmore Girls relationship, they seem really sweet together, but fans don’t love that Paris dates Asher Fleming.

Paris never seems to think that their age gap is an issue and she doesn’t understand why Rory is concerned about their romance. If Paris and Asher were similar ages, then maybe this relationship would work as they are both intelligent and love learning, but it just feels wrong.

3 Paris Doesn’t Try To Fit In At Yale

From the moment that Paris shows up at Yale, she is content to live with Rory and hang out with her and focus on getting high grades. She doesn’t even attempt to fit in, which seems like a bad idea since she’s going to be at college for four whole years.

In high school, Paris can be cold and she sticks to the friends who she has known since forever, but college is a great, brand new opportunity for her to learn more about herself and change in a positive way.

2 Paris Forces Rory To Interview Max

Viewers have debated Max and Lorelai’s imperfect relationship and no matter what fans think about their breakup, there’s no denying that Paris sticks her nose into the situation and makes it worse.

In the season 2 episode “Nick & Nora/Sid & Nancy,” Paris wants Rory to interview Max for the Chilton newspaper The Franklin. She’s totally aware that they feel awkward around each other and thinks that it will be funny to see what happens. This is another thing about Paris that has aged poorly as it’s not cool for Paris to get involved in other people’s business.

1 Paris Makes A Problematic Speech

When she becomes editor of The Yale Daily News, Paris tells the other staff members, “If you need some love, get a hooker. If you’re having a bad day, find a ledge or a way to deal.”

While Paris is explaining that she won’t go easy on them and that they should work hard, it’s problematic to mention jumping off a ledge so casually.

About The Author

Aya Tsintziras
(1730 Articles Published)

Aya Tsintziras is a freelance writer who writes about pop culture and TV. She has a Political Science degree from the University of Toronto and a Masters of Journalism from Ryerson University. She loves coffee, reading, working out, and watching TV. She lives in Toronto with her husband.

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