Cutie pie! š¤
Iām so excited for this weekās pop culture reference.
You probably already know how much I love Andy Warhol, so to go through Gilmore girls looking for references of him was just delightful to me.
Feels full circle, you know? Gilmore girls X Andy Warholā¦ Wrapping everything I love most, together with a bow š
So here we go!
Every reference to the king of pop art in Gilmore girls:
1
āAndy Warhol did it all the timeā
Remember in season 3, episode 14, Swan Song, when Rory asks Jess to come to dinner at her grandparentsā house?
RORY: But I already kind of agreed.
JESS: Aw, man.
RORY: So I'm kinda jammed here.
JESS: Does she know what I look like?
RORY: I don't think so.
JESS: Perfect. Find someone who vaguely resembles me. Take him. Just don't kiss him goodnight.
RORY: That's not going to work.
JESS: Andy Warhol did it all the time.
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Andy used to get a lot of party invitations and would sometimes send a double of himself to those parties, so he could āattend them all.ā
Edie Sedgwick was one of those doubles for a while. He said she was āa prettier version of himselfā, once they had the same haircut and hair color.
She would even talk for him during interviews. He would answer the questions privately to her, in her ear and sheād tell what he said out loud for the audience and interviewer.
Crazy, hein? š
Heād play with that shy persona, but it was mostly so people would talk about him, I think.
I mean, he was shy, but not that much.
It was all part of an act.
So Jess is simply referencing the idea of sending someone who vaguely looks like you to an event you donāt want to (or canāt) attend.
2
Laneās t-shirt
In season 4, episode 14, The Incredible Sinking Lorelais, Lane wears a t-shirt representing Andyā¦ twice!
Indeed, the square with 4 images, identical in every point except for the colours, is an hommage to Andy Warholās repetitive silk-screen printing, like his Marilyn:
And the second way Laneās t-shirt is an Andy Warhol t-shirt is that the monkey is clearly supposed to represent Andy, by the hair (or actually the wig) heās wearing.
3
Brillo Pads
In the same episode, Rory tells Lane she has to leave the Yale dorm because the roommates are not down with her being there anymore.
RORY: We used to talk about living together. Remember, when we were little?
LANE: I know.
RORY: It was going to be a house made of cheese.
LANE: We had much debate about that. It was down to chocolate, cheese, or Brillo pads.
RORY: Why Brillo pads?
LANE: I think they just made us laugh.
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It might have nothing to do with Andy Warhol, but Iād like to think it does, since Lane is wearing the t-shirt when she mentions it š
See, one of Andy Warholās most famous art work isā¦
Brillo Pads boxes!
Iām not super familiar with the brand; I only know it in regards to Andy Warhol, so I might be biased šš¤·āāļø
4
Drella
Drella is the name of the harpist in season 1. We see her in a few different episode, playing the harp at the Inn and sheās played by Alex Borstein.
Drella as a name, and I was very surprised to learn that, specifically comes from the nickname that was given to Andy Warhol by one of his friends.
Itās a combination of Dracula and Cinderella, which is a great metaphor for both Andy and Drella the harpist, but for different reasons.
My interpretation would be:
Andy used to have people working for him at the Factory for free (to enjoy the cool crowd or prestige or for a place to stay). Thatās a little vampirish of him! But, otherwise, heād be acting shy, humble & quiet, kinda like poor Cinderella.
As for Drella, the vampire part would be her bluntness and lack of empathy towards people. Considering her complaints though, she still sees herself as a poor sort of servant like Cinderella.
Maybe thatās analyzing too much. Maybe Amy Sherman-Paladino just wanted to plug the name Drella somewhere, as an hommage to Andy š¤·āāļø
5
And then thereās all the references to Andyās worldā¦
Knowing Laneās obsession for Nico, Iād say maybe ASP is also a Velvet Undergroun/Nico fan.
And if you say Velvet Underground, you say Andy Warhol as well (he was their manager for a while, and the person who brought in Nico).
That would explain all the references to the German singer and maybe even the previous Drella referenceā¦
Indeed, Lou Reed and John Cale from the Velvet Underground made a whole album about Andy after his death in 87, called Songs for Drella.
Otherwise, you hear Lane mention Nico here:
"I want you rest assured that I remain me. I mean, Nico-obsessed, Exene wannabe with forty Korean bibles under her bed. I just bounce a little more.
(season 2, episode 11, Secrets and Loans, when Lane is cheerleader)
And here:
Hey, you know who Iāve really gotten into lately? The Velvet Underground. Oh and Nico ā sheās amazing. Depressing scary German chick.
(season 1, episode 12, Double Date)
And here:
In season 2, episode 1, Sadie Sadie, Lane listens to Iāll Be YourĀ Mirror by Velvet Underground in her closet.
And also here:
Korea is bootleg heaven. I totally scored in Seoul. Elvis Costello at the Marquee in 1978. A barely coherent Nico doing Doors songs in 1974, and even more barely coherent, Iggy Pop doing David Bowie songs naked in 1981.
(season 2, episode 4, The Road Trip to Harvard)
And here, when she feels gloomyā¦ she mentions Lou Reed:
Now Iām a Lou Reed gloomy.
(season 1, episode 19, Emily in Wonderland)
There might be more Iām forgetting, but you get the gist š It keeps coming back!
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So there you have it, Cutie pie.
Every Andy Warhol references I could think of!
I hope you enjoyed it. Let me know what you think.
Talk soon, š
Ari
P.S. This weekās brand new episode of the podcast is aboutā¦ well, you guessed itā¦
Andy Warhol! š
If youāre interested to know more, listen here: