05 April,2023 08:17 AM IST | Mumbai | Devanshi Doshi
Ross’ son with his barbie doll
In the TV sitcom, Friends, Ross Geller explains âunagi' as the state of total awareness. Ironically, according to Gen Z, the show ends up missing that point. A recent comment by its cast member Jennifer Aniston, who played Rachel Green, claimed that a whole generation of kids find the sitcom offensive.
Her reaction caused a furore on the Internet across many standpoints. In a woke culture, youngsters openly resent brazen homophobia, sexism, fat-phobia and the lack of inclusivity and diversity on the show. The fact that the show is problematic and offensive is unquestionable. A few Mumbai-based Gen-Zers share their take on this comment.
I was offended by Monica's fat-shaming because it hit close to home. Her friends teased her about that phase. Her OCD, a result of the insecurity of her losing control, was mocked at. These insecurities continued to exist even after she lost weight. The lesbian wedding was huge, but there were homophobic jokes across that episode. When Chandler's father was introduced as a transwoman, they didn't address her as âher', which was problematic. When I first watched the show, I wasn't too aware of the LGBTQiA+ community. Despite such problems, Friends was ahead of its time and is my favourite.
The show lacks diversity. You will find pretty white characters with the ideal body type. There is also a lot of systematic homophobia. Take Ross, for example, whose wife comes out to him as a lesbian. Their son is raised by two women, his ex-wife and her current partner. Ross loses it over his five-year-old son playing with a doll. He convinces himself that because the boy is being raised by women, he is being forced to play with a Barbie doll and not âmanly toys'. Chandler's character is entirely based on homophobia; he feels humiliated by his father's lifestyle. As a result, he mistreats his father and gets offended every time he is called âgay'.
It is important to call the show out for its problems. I agree that there was a complete lack of diversity. Apart from one African-American character of Ross' girlfriend in the latter part of the show, there is zero representation of diverse races. But you also have to consider the generation it was made in, and the information they had access to when it was made. There was limited Internet access back then, which also meant that the creators were not as informed as we are today.
The Americans were aware of the LQBTQiA+ community, but that didn't necessarily mean that everyone had begun to accept them. If today's generation finds the show offensive, the next generation will find the romanticisation of mental health by Gen Z just as offensive. Every generation has its views of what is acceptable and what isn't. Such shows were made for the people of that generation.
I have watched the show over 15 times. During the lockdown, it was my escape room. There were a few objectionable scenes but I never paid attention to them. If the show was to be made today, it would be very different. I have always looked at its positive aspects. For example, in one scene Monica says, "Welcome to the real world. It sucks. You're gonna love it." Ross had three failed marriages before he turned 30. But his friends were always by his side and he accepted it eventually. The show taught me that it's okay for your life to fall apart, and make mistakes. We can find happiness in small things. Another example is Rachel. She lived off her father's money and her only goal was to get married until she met friends who pushed her to become independent. She struggled to make it big. This taught me that sometimes, though not always, you have to do things you don't want to. You have to keep going. Honestly, I find the entire show really funny.
