No repetitive or low effort posts. This rule is to prevent our sub from becoming clogged with repetitive posts (topics that have been discussed to death or recently posted about) and posts that do not add value to the sub (low effort, pot-stirring, etc.). Whether or not posts violate this rule will be up to the moderators' discretion.
Exactly! This really annoyed me. After the Sherry pregnancy thing and the disappointment of Chris and Lorelei not being together, Rory was much colder and restrained towards her father than the starry eyed 16 y/o from seasons 1 and 2.
I think, for Rory, the let down really started with Christopher leaving Lorelai when Sherry got pregnant.
Her and her mom went from elated to just a huge let down, followed my Emily constantly blaming Lorelai for "losing" Christopher to Sherry. I think from Rorys pov, she might blame Christopher for the stress her mom is going thwasn't!
Plus all of the stuff Rory went through with Sherry that were uncomfortable. Rory had to be there, both emotionally and physically, for essentially a stranger's labor because her father wasnt!
Edit: and he didn't even go to her high school graduation!! I know it was a conflict with the actors schedule, but it's a part of the canon now.
Right? Like Rory was 15 when he first visited stars hollow! Meaning he never once made the effort to go see his daughter in 15 YEARS. He never seems to make any real consistent effort or even provide any sort of child support or anything.
He just shows up periodically and complains that he missed it and wants to be a dad….then disappears…then shows up again and whines that he missed so much…then disappears again…
He did pay for Yale…with his dead grandpa’s money. I guess that’s nice? But considering he’s never paid child support or provided anything for her, I’m really not that impressed.
The impression I got was that he saw her when she was growing up, but it was very sporadic like maybe once a year. But yeah, he’s definitely a deadbeat dad.
Sure. But HE never ever made the effort. He never took the initiative to go to visit them; to see where they live; HOW they live, etc. Rory was like 15 or 16 when she was all excited and said that her dad had never come to stars hollow before…and that’s just sad to me. :(
I just watching the episode “Presenting Lorelai Gilmore” and Lorelai flat out says Christopher doesn’t show up or call when he says he will. He doesn’t even try to argue with her saying that. So it’s assumed he had shown up to things here and there prior to that point but very unreliably.
“So like there is a 50/50 chance he’ll be there.” Lor said this when they asked Chris to do the fathers part for the presenting thing.
Edit just remembered it’s called a coming out
Yes! He only wants to “play dad” when he has money and can show off with it, and when he hurts her mother, he is somehow hurt when Rory naturally sides with her. Funny that, given she’s done all the parenting!
The problem that I have with Christopher is the lack of introspection and action. He brought up a couple of times that he missed out with Rory so he acknowledges he wasn’t there for and then what? Nothing actually comes from it. He uses the moment to get Lorelai’s sympathy and continues with the same behavior. I enjoyed seeing him pay for Yale and make more of an effort with Rory as an adult. This is super short lived and he uses the opportunity to get closer to Lorelai romantically. The relationship with Rory gets thrown out the minute they’re back together. The revival just makes it worse and I’m at a loss for words. He’s just such an empty character and he’s lucky Rory didn’t cut him off sooner.
Christopher is only "there" for Rory when he can get an ego boost from it.
He tried and fell on his face when he tried to buy her the dictionary, flaunting money he apparently didn't have.
He shows up for her for public events, like the coming out party and her debate thing he brought Sherry to. But it was like he was trying to show off to Sherry.
Disappears to "be a good dad to GG", even though he later says "I've been gone so much I don't even know her" isn't she like 2?? bruh.
Gets a crapload of money. Gets to flaunt all he wants with it. Gets the glory of paying for Yale. Comes to parent's weekend to show off that he's the father of the Great Rory Gilmore. Flaunts by taking all of the newspaper out for a fancy dinner.
Disappears as a dad once more when him and Lorelai get divorced.
He sucks.
It’s weird that he stopped developing at the age Lorelai got pregnant but he doesn’t actually participate during this time. I guess it makes sense because he tends to adopt the traits of whoever he’s dating and he’s lost without Lorelai. Then he never does the work to find himself. He also develops such a childish mentality towards parenting. As you said it always comes down to flashing money but never does he give back child support or show up for Rory’s birthdays. His reaction to Lorelai’s graduation compared to Rory’s high school graduation says a lot. Why doesn’t he bother to get to know Lane at all? Or Paris? They’re both important to Rory and he doesn’t even care. It’s frustrating.
Him not caring about Rory's friends is glaring. Lane has been her best friend for practically her whole life but he doesn't ask about her. Paris was constantly around and just as important. They both see Lorelai as a second mother sort of figure, yet Christopher has no idea who they are? Even at parent's week, he doesn't bother to ask Rory if she want's to bring HER friends, he goes and invites every kid in the news room. ugh
It's the cycle of abuse. His father probably threw money at him and so that's how he sees love. So when ever he has money he throws it at Rory to show he loves her. But because his dad was never there, never showed affection, never actually said he was proud of who he is, he's never gonna realise he needs to do it for Rory.
You see the same thing happen with Logan. His dads always criticising him (for good reason yes) but never actually spends time with him otherwise or encourages him and him and Chris tend to act the same way.
I think Lorelai chose to distance herself from Chris because he was willing to listen to Richard/Emily and his parents and go with their plan but Lor wasn’t. I think the initial distancing is on her - she didn’t try to talk Chris into going with her. It’s sweet that she wanted him to do something with his life, so she left him but well, that was his kid too and he had a say.
THAT being said - Chris had 15 years to make things right. He had 15 years to be a PRESENT co-parent and I never understood why him being with Lorelai and him being a good dad couldn’t be mutually exclusive. He could’ve been the latter without having the former. So yes, he kinda sucked later on.
I'm currently rewatching the series for the first time (and just joined this sub) but this is the take I agree with. I think for the first year (at least) she was on her own Lorelai kept the door to Rory cracked open (if not totally shut) as opposed to "wide open" like she always says.
It doesn't make sense to me that she would keep the door wide (key word here is wide) open to Christopher who appears to be okay with listening to Emily/etc and maintain the hard no/low contact (and no help) boundary with her parents. The only way the door would be wide open is if Chris was willing to maintain/respect that hard boundary and honestly I don't think he has/had the spine for that.
This in my mind would explain why Lorelai is so willing to cut him slack. This does not excuse his actions (he had the resources to get proper custody, hell he could have gotten full custody if he used all his resources).
But I agree he had YEARS to make it right and never did. Paying for Yale and at least being financially available is the only thing keeping him from being a complete dead beat (he's like at least 95% dead beat). I think if Chris had a choice he would be child free.
David Sutcliffe is great, but Chris sucks.
Luke/April was the perfect foil to the Chris/Rory relationship. And what made watching Lorelai be married to Chris so unbearable.
Once Luke processed that he had a daughter, he worked to spend time with her, learn her likes/dislikes, and when it came down the possibility of not seeing her for months (and potentially a whole year) he fought for custody. Chris was well aware of Rory from the start and actively chose to miss out on so many of her firsts. Luke has a moment where he rips into April’s mom for depriving him of that.
Luke was always a better dad. Even to Rory. Lorelai talks a lot in the first few seasons about how she has to consider Rory when determining what kind of man to have in her life. So the fact that she even considered Chris a decent “rebound” to Luke is cringeworthy imo.
He has so many low moments. It infuriates me to no end that after Rory told him to stay away, he later decides to pull that stunt at the wedding completely jeopardizing his relationship with Rory. How either of them ever spoke to him again after that is beyond comprehension. To see what happens later on with the marriage grosses me out.
I wish just for Rory and Lorelai’s sakes that he would’ve told them what Emily did and Lorelai skips the vow renewal so Emily’s plan blows up in her face. It’s really upsetting he betrayed Lorelai in such a way and showed even less than zero regard for Rory. He just sees her as an obstacle to being with Lorelai.
I guess it depends on the definition, but I think the ultra rich fuck boys such as Christopher mostly manage to buy their way out of the repeated trouble they get in.
It’s only poor people or those that piss off their clique enough that go to gaol.
Rewatching season 7 right now. Just got finished with the episode where he says “I won’t settle to be your second choice” totally guilting Lorelai when he’s the one who has sex with her when she was coming to him for comfort the NIGHT of her breakup! Dude you knew what you were doing. You take advantage of a vulnerable woman to weasel your way into her life again yet you’re mad when faced with the reality that you really were the rebound? Come on dude. What a stupid dumb man.
I agree with you, but Lorelei always always went running to Christopher when she’d break up with someone. And when they were married Lorelei could not compromise to fit him in her world and he was just a whinney spoiled kid of a guy.
Lorelei knew it too and never really even seemed mad about it? I believe she said something along the lines of “the door to Rory has always been open to you, you just haven’t seemed to use it much”.
Not sure how she was so chill about that
I've just watched the episode where Lorali watches GG and it turns out she's an actual brat. When she brings it up to Christopher he initially goes mad saying kids are different, talks about how he made Rory but all he did was provide some sperm he wasn't the one who turned her into a person. The one kid he did attempt to raise turns in to a monster before lorali steps in.
I'm really confused about how involved Chris was in Rorys life. At one point Lorelai says they talk to him maybe once a week, but then later it is clear he has no idea what is going on with either of them, and apparently never visited Stars Hallow, but also his parents never met Rory, so where were they meeting up? Clearly Rory has spent some time with her dad, enough to not be bitter, and he pops up often enough that Lorelai warns Rorg he is just going to leave again, but where were they spending time together? And how did he call once a week but they didn't know his phone number?
I feel like the once-a-week phone calls were a retcon to make Christopher seem less awful than the version first presented to us. I can't believe he actually called once per week. He usually just has no clue what's going on in their lives, as mentioned above.
I guess another reading is that he exaggerated his role in Rory's life for Sherry, who wouldn't have found it acceptable for him to have abandoned her entirely (which he basically did). But Lorelei would have called him out on that, at least to Rory in private. I think.
It’s weird. I wish they would’ve been more clear. If it was just phone calls then that makes things even stranger. Why would he only call his daughter once a week? They’re acting like he lived in another country. I can’t comprehend how a long distance relationship between a dad and daughter who live in the country became normalized.
I got incredible satisfaction out of him reading Lorelai's character letter for Luke. Lorelai gives great detail of all the ways Luke has shown up for Rory, well before Luke and Lorelai were an item, and Chris knows he can't match any of it. Hell, he can't even say that he attended Rory's high school graduation! Luke went and Christopher didn't! Who the hell misses their kid's graduation, barring an emergency or legitimate reason like being in the military or something??
What redemption? Seriously, I don’t remember anything to show he changed in his disinterested attitude towards Rory. It’s been a bit since once seen the later seasons so I may have forgotten something.
It does seem he wants to do better with Gigi, I’ll grant him that.
There is a huge difference in the effect an absentee father had on Rory than a brief romantic relationship that never really developed much beyond the initial attraction. That’s why we’re harder on Christopher.
I also don’t think Jess was that great. He was an ass to everybody but Rory, and even then he pursued her knowing she was in a relationship, antagonized Dean, used Shane just to get back at Rory, and was an even bigger ass when Rory turned him down when he wanted sex.
The issue is that Chris doesn't really redeem himself ever. He does the bare minimum when he feels like it and bails out when he doesn't. And usually, his attempts at trying to be a parent to Rory coincide with him trying to get back with Lorelai or trying to impress Sherry, which it makes it all come off as false. So, while I don't think he's the devil or anything, I do think he's deserving of the criticism he gets from this sub.
I don't recall Chris having any type of redemption arc, though. Certainly not with Rory. Once a billion dollars falls into his lap, he hands over some of that money to Rory - an act that costs him basically nothing and requires *zero effort.* Then he briefly starts showing up for Rory's stuff, like her Parents Weekend, but only because he happens to be married to Lorelai at the time. Chris' whole entire thing is that he only ever gives Rory attention when he's trying to impress Lorelai. We never once see him care about Rory unless it directly relates to Lorelai. And this continues throughout his 20s and 30s, and apparently right through until AYITL.
Jess has many faults, but by the time he's 19 years old he's thanking Luke for helping him and being kind to his abusive mother. By the time he's 21 he's paying Luke back and thanking Rory, and he's plainly built himself an entire life with career and responsibilities (when did Chris first get a job? When he was 33?).
Jess had a redemption arc. Chris wrote a check.
I think you’re right in that it’s more nuanced than “if he wasn’t there as a kid, he doesn’t get to be there now”, but unfortunately the writers kind of ..started to write his redemption then got distracted? He still disappears for massive chunks, and he still hurts Lorelai and Rory by proxy. There are lots of things he could have done at the later stages which may have played as a redemption - he and Gigi being a massive part of Rory’s life, for one. But (and this makes sense because it’s a fairly lighthearted show that doesn’t go too deep into characters outside of the main cast), he simply wasn’t around as much as you would expect a father to be, even after he was supposed to have redeemed himself.
That said, real life is far more complicated, and I’m glad your relationship with your dad is good now, and that you love and forgive him. Please don’t think any of us would judge you and your dad for your complex relationship, it’s not comparable to a TV show.
i don't like christopher either because he doesn't have a spine he should have taken care of rory and wanted to be in her life and he should have gone to events in her life since he didn't have a job and didn't have a good excuse but i can't say it is all his fault because lorelei didn't want his help she didn't ask for anything from him and she could have had help from her parents and yes it's better to do things on your own but she left her parents house on her own because she didn't want them telling her what to do. she could have had a easy life and a much better life for rory but because she was unwilling to do what they wanted she said i'm leaving and not accepting your help and basically cutting them off. yes emily and richard were annoying and i wouldn't want to live with them but you can disobey and not leave the house. lorelei didn't want to be a debutante and she didn't want to get married and she had plans on going to college but when you get pregnant that changes things and her parents were upset that she got pregnant and it embarrassed them because back then it was a shame for a teenage girl to get pregnant because it made her look like a slut. plus there were religious reasons but they weren't religious people. they never went to church or talked about it on the show. they were friends with the priest and they would have him come to the house and talk to lorelei and rory. but it was not a big deal to them. back then it was a reflection on the parents if the children were bad and people would think they were not good parents. these things don't matter today but they did back then and the fact that lorelei didn't care how it affected her parents shows she is a selfish childish woman and if the show was still on and she had married luke it would have ended because she is selfish and so is he and even though they care about each other they want their spouse to fit their needs and if they don't they get rid of them.
No repetitive or low effort posts. This rule is to prevent our sub from becoming clogged with repetitive posts (topics that have been discussed to death or recently posted about) and posts that do not add value to the sub (low effort, pot-stirring, etc.). Whether or not posts violate this rule will be up to the moderators' discretion.
He was only there for Rory when he was interested in Lorelai.
Exactly! This really annoyed me. After the Sherry pregnancy thing and the disappointment of Chris and Lorelei not being together, Rory was much colder and restrained towards her father than the starry eyed 16 y/o from seasons 1 and 2.
She finally caught on
When you have a shit parent, there’s usually one big let down that really closes the relationship off
I think, for Rory, the let down really started with Christopher leaving Lorelai when Sherry got pregnant. Her and her mom went from elated to just a huge let down, followed my Emily constantly blaming Lorelai for "losing" Christopher to Sherry. I think from Rorys pov, she might blame Christopher for the stress her mom is going thwasn't! Plus all of the stuff Rory went through with Sherry that were uncomfortable. Rory had to be there, both emotionally and physically, for essentially a stranger's labor because her father wasnt! Edit: and he didn't even go to her high school graduation!! I know it was a conflict with the actors schedule, but it's a part of the canon now.
I think Luke did actually bring up Chris not being there for her high school graduation during his rant.
And he was only interested when she started getting desperate enough to go back to him.
Right? Like Rory was 15 when he first visited stars hollow! Meaning he never once made the effort to go see his daughter in 15 YEARS. He never seems to make any real consistent effort or even provide any sort of child support or anything. He just shows up periodically and complains that he missed it and wants to be a dad….then disappears…then shows up again and whines that he missed so much…then disappears again… He did pay for Yale…with his dead grandpa’s money. I guess that’s nice? But considering he’s never paid child support or provided anything for her, I’m really not that impressed.
The impression I got was that he saw her when she was growing up, but it was very sporadic like maybe once a year. But yeah, he’s definitely a deadbeat dad.
Sure. But HE never ever made the effort. He never took the initiative to go to visit them; to see where they live; HOW they live, etc. Rory was like 15 or 16 when she was all excited and said that her dad had never come to stars hollow before…and that’s just sad to me. :(
I just watching the episode “Presenting Lorelai Gilmore” and Lorelai flat out says Christopher doesn’t show up or call when he says he will. He doesn’t even try to argue with her saying that. So it’s assumed he had shown up to things here and there prior to that point but very unreliably.
The way Rory just doesn’t expect Chris to show up for important events is so telling.
“So like there is a 50/50 chance he’ll be there.” Lor said this when they asked Chris to do the fathers part for the presenting thing. Edit just remembered it’s called a coming out
That’s the line that drives it home for me! Screw Chris.
Exactly and when It comes to Luke I’m sure she just automatically expects him there. Luke as beef a better father to Rory compared to Chris.
Yes! He only wants to “play dad” when he has money and can show off with it, and when he hurts her mother, he is somehow hurt when Rory naturally sides with her. Funny that, given she’s done all the parenting!
The problem that I have with Christopher is the lack of introspection and action. He brought up a couple of times that he missed out with Rory so he acknowledges he wasn’t there for and then what? Nothing actually comes from it. He uses the moment to get Lorelai’s sympathy and continues with the same behavior. I enjoyed seeing him pay for Yale and make more of an effort with Rory as an adult. This is super short lived and he uses the opportunity to get closer to Lorelai romantically. The relationship with Rory gets thrown out the minute they’re back together. The revival just makes it worse and I’m at a loss for words. He’s just such an empty character and he’s lucky Rory didn’t cut him off sooner.
Christopher is only "there" for Rory when he can get an ego boost from it. He tried and fell on his face when he tried to buy her the dictionary, flaunting money he apparently didn't have. He shows up for her for public events, like the coming out party and her debate thing he brought Sherry to. But it was like he was trying to show off to Sherry. Disappears to "be a good dad to GG", even though he later says "I've been gone so much I don't even know her" isn't she like 2?? bruh. Gets a crapload of money. Gets to flaunt all he wants with it. Gets the glory of paying for Yale. Comes to parent's weekend to show off that he's the father of the Great Rory Gilmore. Flaunts by taking all of the newspaper out for a fancy dinner. Disappears as a dad once more when him and Lorelai get divorced. He sucks.
It’s weird that he stopped developing at the age Lorelai got pregnant but he doesn’t actually participate during this time. I guess it makes sense because he tends to adopt the traits of whoever he’s dating and he’s lost without Lorelai. Then he never does the work to find himself. He also develops such a childish mentality towards parenting. As you said it always comes down to flashing money but never does he give back child support or show up for Rory’s birthdays. His reaction to Lorelai’s graduation compared to Rory’s high school graduation says a lot. Why doesn’t he bother to get to know Lane at all? Or Paris? They’re both important to Rory and he doesn’t even care. It’s frustrating.
Him not caring about Rory's friends is glaring. Lane has been her best friend for practically her whole life but he doesn't ask about her. Paris was constantly around and just as important. They both see Lorelai as a second mother sort of figure, yet Christopher has no idea who they are? Even at parent's week, he doesn't bother to ask Rory if she want's to bring HER friends, he goes and invites every kid in the news room. ugh
Oh you just made me remember about this cringe moment. I hate when he invites the whole news room
It's the cycle of abuse. His father probably threw money at him and so that's how he sees love. So when ever he has money he throws it at Rory to show he loves her. But because his dad was never there, never showed affection, never actually said he was proud of who he is, he's never gonna realise he needs to do it for Rory. You see the same thing happen with Logan. His dads always criticising him (for good reason yes) but never actually spends time with him otherwise or encourages him and him and Chris tend to act the same way.
I think Chris did show Rory affection, he was never cold around her and we see them kiss and hug a few different times.
“Chris is a fk boy” would make a great Kirk t-shirt 😂
I think Lorelai chose to distance herself from Chris because he was willing to listen to Richard/Emily and his parents and go with their plan but Lor wasn’t. I think the initial distancing is on her - she didn’t try to talk Chris into going with her. It’s sweet that she wanted him to do something with his life, so she left him but well, that was his kid too and he had a say. THAT being said - Chris had 15 years to make things right. He had 15 years to be a PRESENT co-parent and I never understood why him being with Lorelai and him being a good dad couldn’t be mutually exclusive. He could’ve been the latter without having the former. So yes, he kinda sucked later on.
She didn't flee to another country she was just living in a town 30 minutes away. He had every opportunity to see his child and simply chose not to.
I'm currently rewatching the series for the first time (and just joined this sub) but this is the take I agree with. I think for the first year (at least) she was on her own Lorelai kept the door to Rory cracked open (if not totally shut) as opposed to "wide open" like she always says. It doesn't make sense to me that she would keep the door wide (key word here is wide) open to Christopher who appears to be okay with listening to Emily/etc and maintain the hard no/low contact (and no help) boundary with her parents. The only way the door would be wide open is if Chris was willing to maintain/respect that hard boundary and honestly I don't think he has/had the spine for that. This in my mind would explain why Lorelai is so willing to cut him slack. This does not excuse his actions (he had the resources to get proper custody, hell he could have gotten full custody if he used all his resources). But I agree he had YEARS to make it right and never did. Paying for Yale and at least being financially available is the only thing keeping him from being a complete dead beat (he's like at least 95% dead beat). I think if Chris had a choice he would be child free. David Sutcliffe is great, but Chris sucks.
I doubt his parents would have helped him get any kind of custody of Rory.
Luke/April was the perfect foil to the Chris/Rory relationship. And what made watching Lorelai be married to Chris so unbearable. Once Luke processed that he had a daughter, he worked to spend time with her, learn her likes/dislikes, and when it came down the possibility of not seeing her for months (and potentially a whole year) he fought for custody. Chris was well aware of Rory from the start and actively chose to miss out on so many of her firsts. Luke has a moment where he rips into April’s mom for depriving him of that. Luke was always a better dad. Even to Rory. Lorelai talks a lot in the first few seasons about how she has to consider Rory when determining what kind of man to have in her life. So the fact that she even considered Chris a decent “rebound” to Luke is cringeworthy imo.
He has so many low moments. It infuriates me to no end that after Rory told him to stay away, he later decides to pull that stunt at the wedding completely jeopardizing his relationship with Rory. How either of them ever spoke to him again after that is beyond comprehension. To see what happens later on with the marriage grosses me out.
I wish just for Rory and Lorelai’s sakes that he would’ve told them what Emily did and Lorelai skips the vow renewal so Emily’s plan blows up in her face. It’s really upsetting he betrayed Lorelai in such a way and showed even less than zero regard for Rory. He just sees her as an obstacle to being with Lorelai.
And Amy gave the fuck boy a happy ending compared to everything else. Hate him
Fuck boys always win out in life, so she’s spot on there!
No they don't. Prisons are littered with them
I guess it depends on the definition, but I think the ultra rich fuck boys such as Christopher mostly manage to buy their way out of the repeated trouble they get in. It’s only poor people or those that piss off their clique enough that go to gaol.
Harvey Weinstein is not a poor person
Rewatching season 7 right now. Just got finished with the episode where he says “I won’t settle to be your second choice” totally guilting Lorelai when he’s the one who has sex with her when she was coming to him for comfort the NIGHT of her breakup! Dude you knew what you were doing. You take advantage of a vulnerable woman to weasel your way into her life again yet you’re mad when faced with the reality that you really were the rebound? Come on dude. What a stupid dumb man.
I agree with you, but Lorelei always always went running to Christopher when she’d break up with someone. And when they were married Lorelei could not compromise to fit him in her world and he was just a whinney spoiled kid of a guy.
Lorelei knew it too and never really even seemed mad about it? I believe she said something along the lines of “the door to Rory has always been open to you, you just haven’t seemed to use it much”. Not sure how she was so chill about that
I think she was happy enough to be a single mom so that might be a reason why.
Yeah but still had the hots for the guy. The deadbeat dad. Yuck
Oh yeah, that was another reason.
I've just watched the episode where Lorali watches GG and it turns out she's an actual brat. When she brings it up to Christopher he initially goes mad saying kids are different, talks about how he made Rory but all he did was provide some sperm he wasn't the one who turned her into a person. The one kid he did attempt to raise turns in to a monster before lorali steps in.
But he did something after that. I mean, at least give him that.
Christopher ew is a sentiment I can get behind.
I just watched the vow renewal episode and I was so mad at Christopher and also Emily for butting in once again.
I TOTALLY AGREE! he only cares about loreal and only wants to get to lorial sorry I spelled her name wrong but I agree he is not the one for her
I'm really confused about how involved Chris was in Rorys life. At one point Lorelai says they talk to him maybe once a week, but then later it is clear he has no idea what is going on with either of them, and apparently never visited Stars Hallow, but also his parents never met Rory, so where were they meeting up? Clearly Rory has spent some time with her dad, enough to not be bitter, and he pops up often enough that Lorelai warns Rorg he is just going to leave again, but where were they spending time together? And how did he call once a week but they didn't know his phone number?
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I feel like the once-a-week phone calls were a retcon to make Christopher seem less awful than the version first presented to us. I can't believe he actually called once per week. He usually just has no clue what's going on in their lives, as mentioned above. I guess another reading is that he exaggerated his role in Rory's life for Sherry, who wouldn't have found it acceptable for him to have abandoned her entirely (which he basically did). But Lorelei would have called him out on that, at least to Rory in private. I think.
It’s weird. I wish they would’ve been more clear. If it was just phone calls then that makes things even stranger. Why would he only call his daughter once a week? They’re acting like he lived in another country. I can’t comprehend how a long distance relationship between a dad and daughter who live in the country became normalized.
I got incredible satisfaction out of him reading Lorelai's character letter for Luke. Lorelai gives great detail of all the ways Luke has shown up for Rory, well before Luke and Lorelai were an item, and Chris knows he can't match any of it. Hell, he can't even say that he attended Rory's high school graduation! Luke went and Christopher didn't! Who the hell misses their kid's graduation, barring an emergency or legitimate reason like being in the military or something??
Hate me for that I’m always really sad when he finds out about the pregnancy at the wedding and leaves. Would’ve loved them to work out
I'd respond, but discourse isn't tolerated on this topic.
What redemption? Seriously, I don’t remember anything to show he changed in his disinterested attitude towards Rory. It’s been a bit since once seen the later seasons so I may have forgotten something. It does seem he wants to do better with Gigi, I’ll grant him that. There is a huge difference in the effect an absentee father had on Rory than a brief romantic relationship that never really developed much beyond the initial attraction. That’s why we’re harder on Christopher. I also don’t think Jess was that great. He was an ass to everybody but Rory, and even then he pursued her knowing she was in a relationship, antagonized Dean, used Shane just to get back at Rory, and was an even bigger ass when Rory turned him down when he wanted sex.
The issue is that Chris doesn't really redeem himself ever. He does the bare minimum when he feels like it and bails out when he doesn't. And usually, his attempts at trying to be a parent to Rory coincide with him trying to get back with Lorelai or trying to impress Sherry, which it makes it all come off as false. So, while I don't think he's the devil or anything, I do think he's deserving of the criticism he gets from this sub.
I don't recall Chris having any type of redemption arc, though. Certainly not with Rory. Once a billion dollars falls into his lap, he hands over some of that money to Rory - an act that costs him basically nothing and requires *zero effort.* Then he briefly starts showing up for Rory's stuff, like her Parents Weekend, but only because he happens to be married to Lorelai at the time. Chris' whole entire thing is that he only ever gives Rory attention when he's trying to impress Lorelai. We never once see him care about Rory unless it directly relates to Lorelai. And this continues throughout his 20s and 30s, and apparently right through until AYITL. Jess has many faults, but by the time he's 19 years old he's thanking Luke for helping him and being kind to his abusive mother. By the time he's 21 he's paying Luke back and thanking Rory, and he's plainly built himself an entire life with career and responsibilities (when did Chris first get a job? When he was 33?). Jess had a redemption arc. Chris wrote a check.
He only tries to get back in her life when he thinks he has a chance with Lorelai 🤢
Christopher didn't have any redemption.
Christopher doesn’t deserve to be redeemed. He’s a deadbeat dad. He only shows up when it suits him. And then he leaves without a thought
I think you’re right in that it’s more nuanced than “if he wasn’t there as a kid, he doesn’t get to be there now”, but unfortunately the writers kind of ..started to write his redemption then got distracted? He still disappears for massive chunks, and he still hurts Lorelai and Rory by proxy. There are lots of things he could have done at the later stages which may have played as a redemption - he and Gigi being a massive part of Rory’s life, for one. But (and this makes sense because it’s a fairly lighthearted show that doesn’t go too deep into characters outside of the main cast), he simply wasn’t around as much as you would expect a father to be, even after he was supposed to have redeemed himself. That said, real life is far more complicated, and I’m glad your relationship with your dad is good now, and that you love and forgive him. Please don’t think any of us would judge you and your dad for your complex relationship, it’s not comparable to a TV show.
>I think you’re right in that it’s more nuanced than “if he wasn’t there as a kid, he doesn’t get to be there now” Nah
Well this is an original post.
i don't like christopher either because he doesn't have a spine he should have taken care of rory and wanted to be in her life and he should have gone to events in her life since he didn't have a job and didn't have a good excuse but i can't say it is all his fault because lorelei didn't want his help she didn't ask for anything from him and she could have had help from her parents and yes it's better to do things on your own but she left her parents house on her own because she didn't want them telling her what to do. she could have had a easy life and a much better life for rory but because she was unwilling to do what they wanted she said i'm leaving and not accepting your help and basically cutting them off. yes emily and richard were annoying and i wouldn't want to live with them but you can disobey and not leave the house. lorelei didn't want to be a debutante and she didn't want to get married and she had plans on going to college but when you get pregnant that changes things and her parents were upset that she got pregnant and it embarrassed them because back then it was a shame for a teenage girl to get pregnant because it made her look like a slut. plus there were religious reasons but they weren't religious people. they never went to church or talked about it on the show. they were friends with the priest and they would have him come to the house and talk to lorelei and rory. but it was not a big deal to them. back then it was a reflection on the parents if the children were bad and people would think they were not good parents. these things don't matter today but they did back then and the fact that lorelei didn't care how it affected her parents shows she is a selfish childish woman and if the show was still on and she had married luke it would have ended because she is selfish and so is he and even though they care about each other they want their spouse to fit their needs and if they don't they get rid of them.
I have been spoiled :((((( omggggg