Comments on: Why Is Rory Clueless About Marty?

By: Wayne Wilcox: An Update

Wayne Wilcox: An Update — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 17:36:50 +0000

[...] Wilcox was the beloved Marty on Gilmore Girls, and since we just finished discussing why Rory was so clueless about Marty, I thought it fitting to see what Wayne has been up [...]

By: Wonder Y

Wonder Y — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 14:03:57 +0000

@Sylvia that’s a good point. While I still believe that Luke was the friend and Christopher was the relationship, it is certainly plausible that it is the other way around. Either way, I think you can safely say that Lorelai has her ladders confused and that is a major reason that her relationships are chronically screwed up.

By: Sylvia

Sylvia — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 06:43:59 +0000

Maybe the ladder theory makes sense for Rory but I beg to differ regarding Lorelai. IMO, she and Luke were meant to be together.
If she screwed up anything, it’s her engagement to Luke by sleeping with Christopher.
I’ve always thought that Lorelai and Lorelai have mistaken what was a relationship for friendship and Lorelai and Christopher have mistaken their friendship for a relationship.

By: Kelly

Kelly — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 00:45:00 +0000

I liked Marty, but I never became too invested in his character because he didn’t had much quality screen time. As for him being with Rory, nah, just can’t picture those two together. They had a friendship relationship, period. Rory was right in choosing Logan, in my opinion. At that time in her life she needed a guy like Logan because he challenged her. Don’t we all need a good challenge when we become too comfortable in our own little bubble.

By: Wonder Y

Wonder Y — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 14:14:11 +0000

Allow me to explain the Ladder Theory more clearly because the relationships of Rory and her contemporaries are a perfect example of the theory in action. The theory says that people are ultimately shallow and when they meet someone of the opposite sex, the person is put on a ladder. The goal is to be with the highest person on the ladder available, even if it means breaking up with the person you’re currently with.

For example:
Rory: Logan > Jess > Dean
Logan: Rory > his sister’s friends and other random chicks
Jess: Rory > other unattainable chicks > Shane
Dean: Rory > Lindsay
Lane: Dave > Zach
Marty: Rory > Lucy
Paris: Professor Fleming > Jamie
Kirk: Lorelai > Lulu

So with this in mind it makes perfect sense that Rory dates Dean, then dumps him for Jess, then Dean marries Lindsay (thinking she is the best option available) then dumps her for Rory (breaking up the marriage). Then Logan comes to his senses and realizes that Rory is at the top of the ladder and Rory dumps Dean for him. It all makes perfect sense.

The difference between guys and girls is that girls have a second ladder for people they just want to be friends with. It doesn’t matter what he does, the guy has no chance if he is stuck on that ladder. Girls make the decision and there is no way for a guy to jump from the friend ladder to the boyfriend ladder. They might try, but they inevitably fail (and usually look stupid in the process). Clearly Marty was assigned to the friend ladder (along with Kirk, Hep Alien band members, etc.) so he had to settle for the next best option available, Lucy.

By the way, Lorelai’s story also follow the Ladder Theory pretty convincingly. Chris is above Max, Jason, and a bunch of other losers on the ladder but Luke is actually at the top of the friend ladder, above Jackson, Kirk, and assorted others. Then because she is psycho (or, as they say, tragic) she goes against her own rule and sleeps with Luke, screwing up her friendship.

Do you think the Ladder Theory is real or crap? If you do think it is crap, how come GG follows it to the letter?

By: Suzi Higginbotham

Suzi Higginbotham — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 09:21:55 +0000

Hi All
Im with Sylvia about Marty shareing more of Rory’s values. He seemed like a bit of a ‘Luke’ Charactor to me (though not as sexy) not exactly a fire starter but decent, hones, hard working and there for people.

It seams to me that Marty and Dean are from Loralai’s world where as Logan is from Richard and Emilys, which unfortuntly seems to be the world that Rory wants to move into. Perhaps it is just a case of the grass is always greener, maybe if she had been brought up in her grand parents world the simpler life would have held a charm and appeal?

Please dont hate me for this as I think Amy SP is a goddess and a genious. However I cant help but wonder if there is not a little too much stero typing going on here. All of the rich charactors – the grandparents, the huntsburgers, paris etc are mean. All of the poorer charactors (basically the whole of stars hollow and marty) are kind and loyal? Surely there would be some cross over.

Suzi x

By: mcityrk

mcityrk — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 06:07:05 +0000

Alas, poor Marty, I knew him well [with apologies to the Bard who treated poor old Yorick much better than the GG writers ever treated Marty]. That Rory never saw Marty as more than a good friend was unfortunate but understandable. Their first meetings when Marty was first quietly isolated in the hall and then passed out in the hall did not make a first impression that screams out “boyfriend material”. That Marty recovered to the point of attracting her attention, even as friends, was miraculous and he knew it. This only occurred because Marty turned out to be a novelty for Rory, a nice intelligent guy with a compatible sense of humor who was her own age and not obviously on the hunt. In a lot of ways he was the brother she never had and a terrific buffer in their first year of Yale to balance out the craziness associated with having heavy class-loads and dealing with Paris as a roommate.

The real question is Marty’s continuing immobility in not at least hinting about his ever increasing interest in Rory. Probably comes down to the inexperienced shy guy not wanting to do something stupid that would jeopardize the best friendship he made all year. He erroneously assumed that he would have more time for his feelings to become obvious ignoring the fact that other more aggressive guys would be interested in Rory and she might in turn return their interest [Dean and then Logan]. Thus, his window of opportunity was much shorter than he expected and in the end he had no choice but to speak his mind since he had nothing to lose. By then he already knew that he had lost his best friend. However then he could then face himself, learn from the mistake, and try to do better the next time a romantic opportunity occured.

By: Jessica King

Jessica King — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 01:07:42 +0000

Well Marty is allright and he not good for Rory.I hate it Lucy keep said boyfriend without say Marty’s name in 7 season that so annoying.

By: JJ

JJ — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 00:48:00 +0000

I agree with him being annoying in season 7!
At first I guess I thought he was sweet, but I am definitely all about Jess.
They by far had the best chemistry. They had so much in common and Jess knew all of rory’s potential and supporeted her even in later seasons.
I think he was the *one* lol.

By: Julia

Julia — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 22:56:54 +0000

I don’t know why Rory didn’t go for him. Even I had a crush on Marty! I pretty much hated him in every episode of season 7, though, because of his uber-annoying relationship. “BOYFRIEND!” Kill me now!!