User:Le anna15/Luke Danes

Introduction
Lucas “Luke” Danes is a fictional character from Warner Brother’s Television series "Gilmore Girls" portrayed by Scott Patterson. On October 5, 2000, Danes appears for the first time in the series and is present in almost every episode until the series finale on May 15, 2007. He filmed a total of 153 episodes and was part of the franchise’s mini-series "A Year in the Life" that was filmed in 2016 and featured four one-hour length episodes.

Background
Danes is the proprietor, head chef and owner of a diner named “Lukes”. He has lived in Stars Hollows, Connecticut throughout the entirety of his life. He attended Stars Hollow High School and was notoriously known for his position on the track team, one that went to the State Finals and won twice.

His father's hardware store, previously known as “William’s Hardware”, was passed on to him after his father's passed away and was soon transformed into a friendly and all-welcoming diner. Luke moved into an upstairs office space, previously owned by his father, and converted it into his own small apartment. He lived there alone throughout the majority of his life although family members such as his nephew Jess Mariano lived with him for a short period of time.

Despite the amiability of the restaurant and his father's reputation as a very involved citizen, Luke has resisted, to the best of his capabilities, to participate in any sort of town event and neighborhood meeting. As time passed and his relationship with his neighbors grew fonder, Danes’s love for his small town slowly but surely shined through as he realized the importance of implementing himself into his hometown’s community. His expressive animosity fades away as he implied that he had no intention of leaving Stars Hollow and, in fact, also refused to franchise his business when it was offered to him by Richard Gilmore.

Storylines
Luke’s overall storyline revolves around his relationship with the show’s protagonist Lorelai Gilmore. Lorelai and her daughter Rory Gilmore have made it their tradition to go to Lukes every morning for their daily cup of coffee. Therefore Luke and Lorelai’s paths cross on a regular basis as their small conversations quickly turn into intense feelings of friendship, companionship and, eventually, love. Their relationship is hinted at early on in the series but does not actually develop until much later in the show. In the meanwhile, Luke pursues two separate relationships with, the most notable one being with Nicole Lahey, with whom he quickly gets married to but soon gets a divorce with. Although he was not always single, he nonetheless often demonstrated his real feelings toward Lorelai as he made sure to comfort her when her dad was in the hospital and tediously helped her with organizing Rory’s 16-year-old birthday party. After numerous failed relationships, life milestones and arguments, the two officially begin their relationship as partners.

Luke and Lorelai’s relationship became more and more strained as he began to deal with the reality that he had a daughter, April, who he had never known about until she showed up unannounced at his diner requesting a paternal DNA test for a science project. April’s mother, Anna Nardini, never mentioned a daughter to Luke and therefore kept her a secret for 12 years; this event caused a whirlwind of turmoil, confusion and regret in Luke’s mind as he came to accept his new role as a father. He chose to keep his life as a father apart from Lorelai and thus involuntarily distanced himself from his relationship causing her to make the difficult choice of walking away.

Lorelai admitted to sleeping with her ex Christopher, who is also Rory’s biological father, during her small time apart from Luke which led to their complete separation. With time, a reconciliation occurs as the two became both single and remember the laughs, memories and passion that pushed them both to pursue a relationship in the first place. The series ends with a kiss between Lorelai and Luke that signified the beginning of a new era where the two were finally together again.

Development
Luke is known for his judgmental eye-rolling, sarcastic comments and grumpy attitude, especially throughout the first few seasons. His bluntness is not the result of a mean personality but rather his way of expressing how highly he thinks of himself and of those who he cares about. In fact, his straightforward personality did not keep him away from helping his community out and always being ready to lend a hand when the need comes. Although he undoubtedly preferred an independent lifestyle, his wants never stopped him from taking in his reckless nephew Jess when he found himself hopeless with no one to lean on. Living with Jess meant adapting to a new lifestyle, one filled with drama, intense fights and ongoing disputes. Nevertheless, he did it because it was the right thing to do.

As he grows into a more empathetic and community-focused neighbor, Luke proved his loyalty to his town by organizing events and participating in town meetings on a regular basis. In particular, he worked days on organizing a detailed and emotional goodbye party for Rory when she graduated from University and was ready to jump into her new life as a full-fledged journalist.

Reception
Luke Danes is notoriously known for his grumpy but compassionate personality that won millions of hearts throughout the years. Online, his persona, is admired for his overall character development; in fact, platforms such as Elle have published articles devoted to him like “17 Times Luke From 'Gilmore Girls' Was A Flawless Human Being”. A piece in which Luke is praised for making Lorelai a Santa Burger, being a father figure for Rory, making thoughtful gifts and always being there for his community.

Years after the series was aired, Patterson stated that he often felt objectified as Luke in several episodes that overly sexualized his persona. He stated that “It is infuriating to be treated that way — it is infuriating — because you’re being treated like an object. It’s disturbing, and it’s disgusting, and I had to endure that through that entire scene and many takes. It was all about the butt, the butt, the butt, the butt. When we weren’t filming, we were sitting down — people were still talking about the butt, the butt, the butt. It was the most disturbing time I have ever spent on that set, and I couldn’t wait for that day to be over." This quote and interview sparked a collection of deep analysis that begun to question how the character must have felt throughout the filming of the show and how Luke was truly being treated.