The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Arts
Wednesday, October 27, 2021 — 5

It’s hard to pin down where I 

nurtured my love for art because 
it’s as though it has been in my 
blood since I was born. I grew 
up hearing “We’ll be back late 
tonight, it’s opening night at the 
gallery,” and the endless phone 
calls my father would get from 
international clients in languages 

I couldn’t comprehend at the time. 
Many of the things my parents did 
made no sense to me, but they 
felt like premonitions of what my 
future held; they felt right. 

My parents were the foundation 

of that passion, but the turning 
point became learning about 
Peggy Guggenheim — one of the 
most fascinating women to have 
walked this earth, in my humble 
opinion. 

I discovered her spontaneously 

when wandering around Venice, in 
the summer before my freshman 
year of college. When I walked 
into 
the 
Peggy 
Guggenheim 

Collection, I instantly recognized 
a Picasso painting to my right, in 
front of me a hanging Calder, to 
my left a Magritte. In the far back 
I could see a Jean Arp, a Pollock 
and a Dalí … it seemed that every 
important modernist artist was 
there, present, in the room. 

She had lived within those 

walls, and every work in sight 
had been hers. Before I left 
the 
museum, 
I 
bought 
her 

autobiography 
“Out 
of 
This 

Century: Confessions of an Art 
Addict” and embarked on a 
journey of becoming someone I 
never knew I could be. And though 
I discovered her rather late, life 
ever since has been a bit more 
exciting — as though she could 
make all dull things shine, and all 
far dreams seem attainable.

Guggenheim was born into 

the wealthy New York City 
Guggenheim family, destined for 
a life of ostentatious riches and 

pretentious people. Her father 
died in the Titanic tragedy in 1912; 
she was left with her mother and 
her two sisters, Hazel and Benita. 
Death and dissociation became 
the pillars of her youth, and she 
was always regarded as the “black 
sheep” of the Guggenheims. 

She 
married 
the 
writer 

Laurence Vail and had two 
children: Sindbad and Pegeen. 
Their problematic marriage led 
to an unfair divorce in which her 
kids were separated — Sindbad 
went away with Laurence, and 
she kept Pegeen. In her memoir, 
she mentions having felt like she 
had nothing in common with 
Sinbad other than their physical 
resemblance. Pegeen, on the other 
hand, was the “love of her life” — 
they were close and adored each 
other, but no matter how hard 
she tried, Guggenheim felt she 
didn’t know how to be a mother to 
Pegeen.

They led awfully similar lives, 

so much so that it was Pegeen’s 
own problematic marriage that led 
her to suicide at age 41. Wrecked 

motherhoods didn’t cease either. 
Peggy’s sister Benita died in 
childbirth, and both of Hazel’s 
sons “fell off” of the Surrey Hotel 
rooftop — speculation has it that 
she dropped them because she’d 
rather them dead than with their 
father, with whom she was in the 
middle of a divorce. Tragedy after 
tragedy. Kafkaesque, almost. 

Actually, it was thanks to her 

own mother’s death and the 
$450,000 fortune left to her 
name that she could open her first 
gallery, “Guggenheim Jeune,” in 
London in 1938. With the war, she 
was forced to leave London and 
move to New York City. In 1939, 
artists were desperate to sell art, 
and at one point, Guggenheim 
was buying one painting a day 
for ridiculously low prices — in 
her memoir, she recalls having 
bought a Dalí while in bed. In 
addition to buying, she also urged 
artists to leave Europe and move 
to the United States. In 1942, she 
opened her second gallery, “Art 
of this Century,” and with this 
opening, Guggenheim came to be 
the bridge between European and 
American art, between surrealism 
and abstract expressionism. The 
link between masterminds like 
Picasso, Miró and Giacometti 
and Paul Klee, Mark Rothko 
and Clyfford Still, her newfound 
jewels. She saw herself as “the 
midwife” of the American avant-
garde, having given many of the 
big names of modern art their first 
solo exhibition. 

Perhaps her most incredible 

work as a matron was the 
discovery of Jackson Pollock, who 
was working as a maintenance 
man in his uncle’s museum, the 
Solomon R. Guggenheim of New 
York (then the Museum of Non-
Objective Painting), at the time 
of their first encounter. She saw 
potential and invested, as she 
had done previously with several 
other artists. She “made him.” 
Guggenheim 
commissioned 

Pollock to create a mural that 
would go on the outside wall of 
her house in the city; to this day 
it’s the artist’s largest work. 

With fall in full swing, I thought 

it was appropriate to return to one 
of my favorite seasonal hobbies: 
rewatching “Gilmore Girls” for 
the millionth time. I can’t help 
it. I first saw the entire series in 
high school, and I immediately 
fell in love with it. Even though I 
now know every single thing that 
happens, there’s something about 
the small-town aesthetics and 
quirky characters that keeps me 
coming back. It’s the after-school 
special in my house: My mom, 
sisters and I go straight from the 
car to the couch, make a big bowl 
of popcorn and turn on our next 
episode.

But something changed during 

this latest rewatch. Maybe it’s 
because I’m a little older now, or 

maybe it’s because I’m watching 
the show with my own mom, but 
either way I have come to a very 
sad conclusion: Lorelai Gilmore 
kind of sucks.

I know what you’re thinking. 

How can a show’s main character 
be so bad? Let me just say that I still 
like the character. Lauren Graham 
is a great actress, and Lorelai 
still has plenty of endearing 
qualities. But it’s her flaws that 
make her unbearable at times 
(spoilers abound). Whether it’s 
her relationships with her family, 
friends or romantic partners, 
Lorelai is not the greatest. 

She doesn’t like that Rory 

has a better relationship with 
Richard and Emily than she 
does. (S1 E1, E3; S3 E8, E9)

Much of the conflict set up 

in the show surrounds Lorelai’s 
rocky 
relationship 
with 
her 

parents. When she gets pregnant 

at sixteen, she runs away from 
Richard 
and 
Emily’s 
elitist 

lifestyle to raise her daughter, 
Rory, herself. The only reason she 
goes back is to ask for money to 
cover Rory’s high school tuition 
— where the show begins. Emily, 
Lorelai’s mother, only agrees to 
loan her the money in exchange 
for regular contact with her and 
Rory. Lorelai’s dislike of the idea 
stems from her pride, which 
unfortunately sets a precedent for 
much of her behavior throughout 
the show.

Given that she had to make 

a new life for herself, it makes 
sense that she wants Rory to have 
more opportunities … unless they 
involve the elitist lifestyle of her 
parents. Anytime she sees Rory 
getting drawn to the lifestyle she 
herself detested, it results in some 
sort of petty fight. Richard and 
Emily are by no means perfect, but 

they just don’t want to see their 
daughter leave again. What Rory 
wants to do with her life should be 
her own decision, and to her credit, 
Lorelai does admit this eventually. 
But watching the constant back 
and forth between Lorelai and her 
parents gets exhausting over the 
show’s seven-season run.

She’s a terrible friend to 

Sookie. (S4 E14; S6 E4)

Lorelai and Sookie spend the 

show’s first few seasons dreaming 
of opening an inn together. When 
they finally achieve that dream 
and Sookie misses an important 
meeting, Lorelai chews her out 
over not pulling her weight. 
Opening any new business is 
stressful, but so is having a 
newborn baby — and Sookie just 
had her first. She feels really bad 
about missing the meeting but is 
clearly exhausted, and instead 
of being understanding, Lorelai 

implies that Sookie should be 
focusing more on the inn since it’s 
more important. We never see her 
apologize, and it isn’t brought up 
again.

A couple of seasons later, 

Lorelai 
epitomizes 
the 
one-

sidedness of their friendship even 
more. Sookie asks Lorelai and 
Rory to be the godmothers to her 
children in an attempt to resolve a 
tiff between the mother-daughter 
pair. But instead, Lorelai causes a 
fight in the middle of the baptism. 
She and Rory are literally holding 
the babies while they argue. It’s 
completely disrespectful to Sookie 
and her entire family. I’m amazed 
that Sookie excuses so much of her 
behavior.

She treats Rory more like a 

friend than a daughter. (S5 E1)

Since Lorelai gave birth to 

Rory at such a young age, they 
have grown up together and are 
understandably a lot closer than 
other mothers and daughters. 
But whenever they fight, Lorelai 
continuously cuts Rory out instead 
of disciplining her or at least 
having a mature conversation. 
Lorelai only pulls the “mom card” 
in special circumstances, usually 
when she doesn’t want to talk 
about something. Rory screwed 
up big time when she slept with 
a married man (pun intended). 
But when she doesn’t want to 
talk about it, Lorelai freezes her 
out, stooping to the petty level of 
her 19-year-old. This is just one 
example of Lorelai initially being 

the voice of reason, but behaving 
poorly when things don’t go her 
way.

She doesn’t respect Rory’s 

boyfriends. (S2 E5; S2 E19; S5 
E19, E20)

Okay, Jess didn’t leave the best 

first impression. But keep in mind 
that when he first meets Lorelai, 
he’s just moved to their town, 
Stars Hollow, against his will. Add 
that to the fact that he comes from 
a troubled family, and his reaction 
makes a little more sense. But even 
after Rory asks Lorelai to give 
him the benefit of the doubt, she 
doesn’t put in that much effort. 
And whenever something goes 
wrong when Rory and Jess are 
both at fault, Lorelai immediately 
blames Jess and even Luke, her 
friend and Jess’s uncle, for pushing 
them together. 

Her next boyfriend, Logan 

Huntzberger, treats Rory much 
better than Jess, but Lorelai takes 
a long time to warm up to him as 
well. His family runs in the same 
circles as Richard and Emily, 
and 
the 
other 
Huntzbergers 

don’t treat Rory well at all. This 
perfectly explains why Lorelai 
acts cold around Logan at first, 
even though he’s a good match 
for Rory and their relationship 
is relatively stable for the rest of 
the series. Looping Logan in with 
the rest of his family isn’t fair, 
which Lorelai of all people should 
understand.

Stacey’s Mom has got it goin’ 

on — or at least, the animated 
moms of Pixar do. Since the 1995 
premiere of “Toy Story,” the 
world’s first animated film made 
using computer technology, Pixar 
has become a household name. 
The studio is best known for its 
animated children’s films, from 
“Finding Nemo” to their most 
recent release, “Luca.” The name 
Pixar has long been synonymous 
with childhood — and now?

Pixar’s 
“The 
Incredibles”: 

Children recall the slapstick humor 
of Mr. Incredible; parents fondly 
note the hidden, wry comedy that 
made the film a multi-generational 
hit. For others, it’s the firm, round 
backside 
of 
Mrs. 
Incredible’s 

peachy-keen cheeks; the tight 
elastic of a super-suit that clings 
like saran-wrap around her wide, 
womanly hips; the perkiness of 
a bum, the audacity of an ass, 
the perfection of a pear figure — 
aged by 40 years like a bottle of 
something fine. That’s right, Mrs. 
Incredible is a MILF. Sorry, not 
sorry. 

Shocking, I know. Some readers 

may even be turning away in thinly 
veiled disgust. How dare we sour 
the sanctity of a Pixar film with 
softcore erotica written in fervent 
devotion 
to 
Mrs. 
Incredible’s 

poppin’ figure? We dare in the spirit 
of journalistic integrity, a devotion 
to seeking the truth. Because 
we aren’t the first to call Mrs. 
Incredible a MILF — that dubious 
glory belongs to the Internet and 
the horny little shits who live there. 

The 
MILFs: 
Who, 
What, 

Where

But first, what exactly is a MILF? 

As Urban Dictionary describes it, a 
MILF is a “Mom I’d Like to Fuck, 
or Mature I’d Like to Fuck.” MILFs 
usually apply to “hot moms,” but 
the term is liberally applied to any 
woman above the age of thirty. 
The MILF obsession is no niche 
Internet kink found in the recesses 
of Reddit but an ever-growing 

phenomenon found across adult 
films, platforms like Instagram 
and even dating apps. According to 
a 2016 survey by the adult website 
GameLink.com, “interest in MILF 
porn has risen 83%” between 2012 
and 2016. This trend has continued 
to grow in prevalence since.

Many consider the 1999 cult 

classic film “American Pie” to 
have launched the modern MILF 
obsession. The raunchy comedy 
follows a group of teenage boys 

competing to lose their virginity 
by their high school prom. In the 
film, actress Jennifer Coolidge 
(“White Lotus”) has sex with 
her son’s friend — the true MILF 
fantasy. However, it is important 
to offer credit where credit is due 
to 1965 classic “The Graduate,” 
where actor Dustin Hoffman 
(“Rain Man”) is seduced by a 
beautiful, neglected housewife: 
Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft, 
“The Miracle Worker”). In 2003, 
Fountains 
of 
Wayne 
released 

their iconic hit “Stacy’s Mom,” a 
serenade to Stacy’s (supposedly) 
hot mom. As adult film star Tanya 
Tate remarked in a 2014 interview 
with Thrillist, “there are plenty 
of guys out there who really had 
crushes on their Mom’s friends (as 
teenagers).”

In fact, the target age group for 

MILF content on adult websites is 
between the ages of 18 and 25; this 
age range lands neatly between 
the naivety of adolescence and 
the “wisdom” of adulthood. It 
also correlates with the widely 
accepted peak period of horniness.

The classic MILF lover is a 

not-yet man who washes his 
sheets 
every 
three 
months 

(optimistically), shotguns Natty 
Lights and advertises “MILFs 
only, seriously” on his dating 
profile. He believes women his 
age are “crazy,” “clingy” and far 
too sexually inexperienced to 
possibly please him. He longs for 
an older woman who promises a 
brief, scalding affair of “no crap,” 
who will usher him into manhood 

through the power of her perky, 
never sagging triple-Ds and lust 
for a barely-pubescent, skinny, 
frat pledge’s medium-firm abs. It 
is this dazzling specimen of raw 
masculinity that drives the MILF-
ication of Pixar moms. 

The Evolution of the Pixar 

MILF and Evolving Beauty 
Standards

Pixar 
MILFs 
walk 
a 
fine 

line between the celebration of 
motherhood and pandering to 
societal beauty trends. On one 
hand, moms can be and are hot. 
Our critique of MILF culture is in 
no way a rejection of hot moms. 
Moms deserve to embrace their 
femininity 
and 
womanhood, 

to embrace themselves, to be a 
woman as well as a mom. On 
the other hand, in consideration 
of evolving beauty trends over 
the last twenty years, there is an 
undeniable parallel between the 
developing animation of Pixar 
moms to emphasize curves and 
contemporary beauty standards.

Peggy Guggenheim: Motherhood in all 

its facets

Lorelai Gilmore kind of sucks, and it’s time we talk about it

Pixar moms: A deconstruction of 

MILF culture

Design by Samuel Turner

CECILIA DURAN

Daily Arts Writer

HANNAH CARAPELLOTTI

Daily Arts Contributor

EMMY SNYDER & 

MADELEINE VIRGINIA 

GANNON

Daily Arts Writers

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David M. Dennison 
Collegiate Professor 
of Physics

QUESTS AND 
DISCOVERIES 
AT THE ENERGY 
FRONTIER

Thursday, November 4, 2021 | 4:00 p.m. | Weiser Hall, 10th Floor

LSA COLLEGIATE LECTURE

A public lecture and reception; you may attend in person or virtually. 
For more information, including the Zoom link, visit events.umich.
edu/event/84263 or call 734.615.6667.

JIANMING 
QIAN

In Greece

Intrepid
Women
Travelers

Tuesday, November 2, 2021 | 4:00 p.m. | Michigan League Hussey Room

MARY NORRIS 

An American writer and former copy editor for The New Yorker. 

Author of Between You and Me:Confessions of a Comma Queen 

and Greek to Me.

GERALD F. ELSE LECTURE IN THE HUMANITIES

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