Rachel Green from "Friends" is probably one of the most iconic television characters from the nineties, and with good reason. She's comedic, fashion-forward, beautiful, but most of all, she's relatable. Rachel Green was the only character in Friends that could appeal to young women who were growing up. She taught us how to let go of the hand that feeds us, how to pick ourselves up off the ground, how to maintain a stable relationship with trust and respect and what to do when that can go awry, and how to follow our dreams.
Rachel started off in the show running away from a wedding that would've given her everything that she had wanted, which was money and stability for the rest of her life. That in itself is already teaching a huge lesson in the first ten minutes of the show. She runs away from everything that she wanted in search of life, in search of something new, in search of what she knew she was missing out on, and in that search she found a life she could probably never imagine for herself. Also aside from running away from that engagement, she told her father, who was the one that funded all of her habits so far, that she no longer needed his money. Whether she realized what that meant or not, she did it. She stopped being a hand-fed trust funded adult and became a real human being who had to work for what they got, which is one of the most real messages you can send to an audience.
Later on in the story, Rachel has to step up to the plate and make money for herself to get herself up and going, so she gets a job waitressing and serving coffee. As a waitress myself, I know that it feels like it's not worth it most of the time, and the money can be good, but not great. With that being said, it's definitely something that can teach you basic skills, and I think Rachel knew that, too. I think she knew that she had to start from somewhere, and that for the time being, it would do. She stopped being a trophy and decided to make something of herself, even if that something was a waitress at the local coffee joint. Growing up and getting a job is definitely hard, especially when you've never had a job before.
Most importantly, Rachel taught young people everywhere about what love feels like when you find it, and then when you lose it. It can be intoxicating and so mind-blowing, like you don't know what you could do without it. She taught me that it's blissful, but when you lose it, it's one of the most painful things you can ever endure. With all that being said, she also taught us all how to come back from that and not let it control you. She rose up, she worked on herself, she became a stronger and more wholesome person after one thing that turned her world upside down. If that isn't something to admire about something as simple as a television character, I don't know what is.
Rachel, thank you for teaching me the fundamentals of being young, naive, terrified and simultaneously strong at the same time.
