Life Lessons From The Gilmore Girls, Graphed

We were the generation raised by Lorelai Gilmore — that is, raised by TV, pop culture references, and coffee. Like Rory, we looked to Lorelai and the citizens of Stars Hollow to guide us through our awkward adolescence. At the end of each Gilmore Girls episode, we were left with potent lessons, and so we compiled a helpful pie chart to help you decipher what they were. What were the recurring messages and held ideas that we got from Gilmore Girls ?

Well, for starters, the show was unique in that it reflected an era in which marriage was not the be-all end-all of every relationship. Lorelai was largely a single mother for most of the series, who went through not one but two aborted engagements, and was never presented as less of a woman because of it.

In addition, neither Rory nor Lorelai ended up with their first loves — and that was also seen as A-OK. Sometimes your first relationship crashes and burns, sometimes it takes you a while to find the right man for you, and sometimes you just plain don't need a man at all. Especially not when you have a presidential campaign to help out with. Gilmore Girls subverted the common belief that you only had one true love, and we were all made better for it.

But the truly best parts of the show pointed to strong mother daughter bonds, and to coffee being the only thing that matters. Because duh. Add all of this together, plus some message about upper-class high society being either terrible or wonderful, depending on what day of the week it is, and you had the ingredients for your average episode of Gilmore Girls.

Gilmore Girls: It's not a show, it's a lifestyle and a religion. Check out the graph below.

Image: WB; Caroline Wurtzel/Bustle