I have a very unpopular opinion about Chris.

I have seen the show countless times. My perspective has only slightly shifted on this through all my rewatches and even after reading all the sub’s intense opinions about this. I know I am in the minority because of the sheer amount of hate he gets, but I am going to say it. (warning, this may be a long post!)

I really like Christopher’s character. People say he’s one dimensional, simply a plot device to create conflict, and even hate his guts, but I disagree. Let me share my perspective on this character:

Christopher is a product of the way he was raised, just like Lorelei. He was raised in a controlling, cold, high-society household, and while he mirrored Lorelei’s rebellious response in his upbringing, I think he absorbed his parents’ ideals more than Lorelei did her own. Chris’s only example of a father’s responsibility was taken from his own father’s narrative - that a father’s role is to provide for his family. We see Straub as a cold, unloving man who was absent and disagreeable with his child because in his mind, his fatherly duties were not to bond with or “love” a child. This is an extremely outdated ideal, yes, but it was the one demonstrated in Christopher’s family.

I think this is why we only see Christopher showing up in the Gilmore Girls’ lives when he perceives himself as being financially stable. He thinks this is what it means to be a father, to be able to provide for his family. We already know he has an incredibly flawed concept of these ideas, as seen in the episode when he first appears and he thinks marrying Lorelei and living together is what being a family is. He always brings up his newfound financial stability when he returns to the Gilmore Girls’ lives. The first time he has a company; the second, he has a job. The third, he has an inheritance. I believe in his mind, being able to provide for his family is intrinsically tied to being a good parent and for Chris - it is all or nothing.

While he did absorb Straub’s financial ideals about fatherhood, we still see that he has a terrible relationship with his father. I think this is the part where Chris does try to diverge from his fathers’ ideals and “break the cycle” so to speak. Chris was always quite warm and loving with Rory when he was actually there. Most of his negative memories of his father arose from the way his father treated him rather than the fact that he was not around much. In this way, Chris did try to be a better father than his own.

Much of the negative perception of Christopher is based on speculation. The audience knows certain key facts - eg. that Chris did not visit Stars Hollow until Rory was 16. However, we are left in the dark about how often they still actually saw each other; and they did seem to have some kind of relationship in that first episode where he shows up. The first time we see Chris, he seems to be undergoing a new phase in his life - for the first time he says he wants to be a real part of Rory’s life. When he starts dating Sherry, we see him engaging with Rory and lots of people think that it is simply because he is trying to paint himself in a positive light for Sherry. However, this is speculation as it could also be related to his newfound financial stability as I outlined earlier. I am also just speculating, but it is still just as valid a claim as the ones others have come to.

I am not trying to blame Lorelei in any way for Chris’s absence - this is completely on him. However, there are times when he tries to be more active in Rory’s life and Lorelei pushes back against it purely because she doesn’t want the dynamic to change. Such as, when Chris invites Rory to come stay for the holidays, and Lorelei keeps it from her. People have said that Lorelei may have played a part in his disconnected relationship with Rory. I am not going to get into this much, but I will just say - we do see that Lorelei has trouble letting anyone into the life she’s created with Rory through her failed engagement with Max, which was IMO was mostly about Lorelei’s unwillingness to let another person into the family dynamic and reconstruct a life wherein it would not just be her and Rory.

We do see him have a turbulent relationship with Rory throughout the show, and he is a deeply flawed character. However, despite all the criticism and hate toward his character, after all this time I still cannot find in myself a single shred of hate for him. The most prevalent emotion I feel for him is sadness - there is a part of me that wishes he could have reconciled his relationship with Rory and be an active part of her life. I think he has had a mixed up life beginning with a teen pregnancy and subsequently flush with mistakes and regret, but I do not believe his motivations were malicious. I also do not believe it’s always just been about Lorelei - he obviously harbours immense regret for missing out on Rory’s childhood. My point toward this is that even when he was with Lorelei, we still see in the episode “Parents Day” that he is facing internal conflict with his missing out on her childhood. I still think he is a poor father, and his judgement is always flawed. But I do not hate him - and rather I quite like the depth in his character.

I have so much more to say on this but for the sake of length I will finish it here. I do not hope to change anyone’s mind - everyone is entitled to their own opinions. I only hope to add a contrasting perspective on the #1 most hated character in Gilmore Girls history so that someone may appreciate the show in a new light the next time they watch it.

Please be respectful if you do choose to comment - my perspective is not meant to be an attack on anyone else’s opinion or personal values. Thank you for reading ! :)

EDIT: People who read my whole post, thought about it meaningfully and left a comment that was kind and thoughtful, thank you!