‘Friends’ is a show very loved by all - parents, teens, writers on the Odyssey alike. It seemed to be one of the most popular shows of the 90s-early 2000s and it still seems to remain as such. People like the show for various reasons: it’s a hilarious escape, it’s heartwarming, or because they identify with one of the quirky pals of the gang.
No matter what the reason, one thing remains the same. People LOVE that show. If you don’t believe me, go look at all of the Odyssey articles or Buzzfeed quizzes about it. But, does everyone love it as much as we think?
‘Friends’ only very recently came to Netflix in the UK and apparently, there has been an uproar of people not liking the way the show handled sensitive topics, but people in the US became aware of it because of a viral tweet. On January 11, 2018, LBC (or otherwise known as Leading Britain Conversation) made a tweet regarding the show.
They said, “Millennials watching 'Friends' for the first time on Netflix say the show is sexist, homophobic and transphobic. How have our values changed over the last 15 years?#DarrenOnLBC.” If you want to check it and the replies out, you can do so here.
This tweet caused the Twittersphere to blow up with people from both sides of the argument getting heated. For the people who agree with the millennials who think the show is unfit for today’s times, they have used situations from the show like Ross not hiring a nanny just because he’s a male, Rachel hiring an assistant just to date him, Chandler’s gay jokes, and Monica’s fat jokes as a way of saying that it is offensive and should frankly be taken off of Netflix. People on the other end of the fight have been saying that the other side should “just shut up and quit getting offended.”
I think, to an extent, the latter side is correct.
Are some of the jokes outdated and not as politically correct as they could have been? Yes. Are they still just jokes? Yes. When it comes down to it, ultimately ‘Friends’ was created to be entertainment for people, and the show writers back then had no way of knowing people would get offended at their jokes in 2018 because back when the show was created, that wasn’t how people thought.
So there is no reason to cause a riot and call for the show’s removal. Whether you hate the show or love it, just appreciate it for what it is - a show. That's all it is.
