“Friends” is kind of a puzzle to me. I used
to be a huge fan back in the day when it was still on the air. Now that I’m not
as much of an idiot as I was when I was 16, my appreciation of the show has
changed. Suddenly I’ve been able to notice how poor the acting is, how
mechanical and artificial most of the jokes and plotlines are (remember Joey
accidentally proposing to Rachel? Lol writing), etc.
What’s weird is that I just can’t really
say that it sucks, because I enjoy it too much. “Friends” is
on Mexico ’s WB channel on repeat all the goddamn time, and if I find it’s on,
I just can’t bring myself to watch anything else. So yeah, despite the fact that I
really do notice how terrible it can sometimes be, I watch “Friends” all the
time—more so now than I did before when I was an actual fan. A lot of the jokes
make me laugh no matter how many times I see the episodes, and that’s many.
But no matter how much I laugh, there are
some things that bother me endlessly, and it mainly pertains to the cast of
characters. It’s amazing how terribly written the cast of “Friends” is. These
guys are not only awful people, they are sort of awful friends with each
other. I think this is a pretty funny discrepancy, considering the main idea of
the fucking show is to give us the life of a cool group of totally white people
being fun with each other.
Watching the show and thinking that my
generation grew up watching it, the great mystery of why today’s youth is
hat-on-knee retarded when it comes to social situations is resolved. These six
dickheads only taught us how to be dickheads and glamorized being a dickhead to
your friends, family, the opposite sex and just about everyone. Worse still,
this stupid show is to blame for making people think that bullying is okay as
long as it’s to your friends—it’s a bonding experience!
Your friend hates her degrading job that
forces her to dress up in a humiliating costume and dance every time a costumer
plays a particular song? What would a real friend do? Why, go visit her and
make her dance like a monkey all night, because that’s what cool people do when
a friend needs comfort and space.
You know someone who really likes and
admires your group of friends? Well, don’t ever let her in and avoid the hell
out of her, because she has an annoying voice. In fact, make fun of her every
chance you get, just do it behind her back and with the other friends she
admires. Again, this would be uncool to do to someone, but she has an annoying voice!
Yeah, I enjoy watching this show because it makes me laugh, but I fucking hate what it represents and what it does to society. Let me break down the cast of the main characters to illustrate how they work on paper.
Joey Tribbiani
What
“Friends” wants you to think: Joey is a ladies man
who knows every trick in the sexual book. He can and will hit on anything with
breasts, and then move on to his next conquest. Though not the brightest bulb in
the house, Joey has a very big heart and will do anything for his friends.
What
Joey really is: the single most one-dimensional main
character in a medium to long-running series ever. Like every sitcom except
“How I Met Your Mother”, “Friends” was good at avoiding character growth like
its poison, but it’s unbelievable how Joey stayed the exact same person from
season 1 to season 10. Not only is he a shameless Italian-American stereotype,
this guy is also a misogynistic prick. What sucks is that he has seven sisters (because stereotypes are
fun) and three very close female friends, none of whom ever call him out for
being a giant fucking douchebag. In fact, that shit is celebrated. I mean,
sure, Barney Stinson also glamorizes misogyny but at least he is called out on
being a dickhead (and Barney is an actual fully-formed character who grows;
also hilarious). Joey is king of douchebags and women in the show and in
reality eat that shit up.
Just how flat is this guy? What do we even
know about him? Asinine as though some are, all the other cast has had some
plotlines about their past, childhood, etc. Joey has absolutely nothing in the entire show. I can’t
believe a character this cardboard made it through ten seasons and stayed
cardboard—it’s almost commendable.
And they thought he’d be good as a
protagonist outside an ensemble. Adorbs.
Joey’s
Best: Uh . . . I’m not sure. I’ll come back to this
one.
Joey’s
Worst: His painfully forced love story with Rachel.
That schmaltzy “Cujo” scene was and still is painful to watch.
What
“Friends” wants you to think: Chandler is the resident goofball. He’s socially awkward and fills the gaps
of this gracelessness with jokes no one appreciates but him. However, for all this
awkwardness, he is intelligent and noble.
What
Chandler really is: Pretty much
the only actual character in the
entire cast of “Friends”. He is the one who is closest to having dimension, and
really the only one who saw growth in the show’s run, going from a totally
clueless boob to a responsible father and husband. He is also played by the
only actor in the cast who really has a grasp on comedic timing and happens to
have by far the best lines. Yeah, it took about three seasons for the writers
to turn him into more than the goofball with hit-or-miss sarcasm, but Matthew
Perry made it work.
There isn’t much wrong about Chandler . He’s also
the only character in “Friends” with an interesting childhood that is
consistent with the character (unlike Phoebe). He has the best dynamics with
the entire cast (well, except Rachel with whom he rarely had any plotlines) and
is part of my single favorite scene in the show. There seemed to be a point
somewhere in season 4 when the writers actually realized the potential he had
as a character, and exploited it by giving him some of the show’s only potent
dramatic moments. He’s the heart in an otherwise heartless show. I love the
scene when he convinces Monica to tell Erica the truth about the adoption
agency’s “priest and doctor” mistake, and then Erica to let them adopt her kid
anyway. Motherfucker’s got the heart of a lion.
Ross Geller
What
“Friends” wants you to think: Ross is the
intellectual and scholar of the group, a protagonist of sorts whose love story
with Rachel is the heart of the series.
What
Ross really is: an interesting choice that was
ultimately ruined. In a cast of children, it was very much appreciated that
they added a mature, down-to-earth character from the get go.
Ross, however, was almost ruined by a
couple of things. First, he represents everything that sucks about sitcoms:
glorifying stupidity and shunning intellect. This is something every sitcom
ever, even “How I Met Your Mother” is guilty of. Why do they insist on making
it cool to hate learning? Why does every single character try to humiliate Ross
every time he acts intelligent or mature? He wants to use lottery money in
intelligent ways? Make fun of him. He wants to share knowledge? Make fun of
him.
I will always hate sitcoms for spreading
this backwards mentality. I have a lot to say about just how much TV affects
our behavior even if we don’t admit it, but that will be for another post. For
now, again: fuck “Friends” and sitcoms for making intelligence a bad thing.
Fuck your insecurities; learning is all right.
Another thing that ruined Ross is that
David Schwimmer is the worst comedic actor of the bunch (Edit: this isn't true; Matt LeBlanc is the weakest; I just saw the "leather pants" scene and the way Ross cries is fucking hysterical). He had the artificial
“90’s” acting going for him (for reference, look in episode 03X10, how he
delivers the line “Shielding your face
and shrieking like a girl...is not a backhand.” and how he just recycles
that outdated delivery for the rest of the show), but the instant the jokes
become less about slapstick dialogue and more about performance, he lost it. It
also really irks me how awkward he looks when he’s on-screen but not delivering
any dialogue; he doesn’t know where to look. Don’t get me started with his
extreme overacting in the 9th and 10th seasons.
Still, at least Ross is a good guy, unlike
half the rest of the cast. I still like him. His relationship with Monica might
be the best one in the cast—it’s complex, realistic and other than having him
apparently give her her first kiss, not creepy. I also have to give to him that
he pulled off some pretty great dramatic acting in the scene when he breaks up
with Rachel. That whole bit was powerful and realistic. And remember the
videotape when he gets ready to take Rachel to prom, but then is blown off?
Ouch. Great job. Great acting.
Ross’
Best: other than the scene with Chandler I
mentioned above, Ross has some great dialogue and is part of some of the
funniest scenes. “As a romancer of the elderly!” and “Unagi” to name a few.
Ross’
Worst: His annoying goddamn extreme overacting in
the last two seasons. “I’m fiiiine!” rustles my every jimmy. Also Marcel. Good thing they got rid of that stupid and shallow device, and later made fun of it.
Rachel Green
What
“Friends” wants you to think: Rachel is a spoiled
brat who grows to be an independent woman. She’s beautiful, classy and has a
fantastic sense of style.
What
Rachel really is: the second biggest bitch on the
planet. I hate Rachel so much. If the show was anything close to realistic, she
wouldn’t have any friends and would die alone in a crackhouse. What’s worse, is
that she is responsible for spreading another really fucked up
mentality about what’s cool and not cool in society. Just thinking about that
scene when she really wants to bone Ross, but Ross decides that he shouldn’t
take advantage of her because she’s too vulnerable after her father’s heart
attack boils my fucking piss.
Who the fuck allowed that script to be
shot? Who thought “Hey, wouldn’t it be great to have Rachel actively humiliate
Ross for not sexually taking advantage of her? We’ll have her call him gay!
We’ll even suggest that taking advantage of emotionally vulnerable women is
‘hot’.” What’s worse is that they also did this with Rachel’s sister Jill, whom
Ross also chooses not to take advantage of, resulting in her calling him gay.
What misogynistic prick is writing the Green sisters and why are women
everywhere seeing them as role models?
Oh right—they’re hot and fashionable.
Seriously, this bitch can go to hell. I
don’t even want to get started on her trying to stop Ross’ wedding with Emily
on a whim. Dr. House was right—she is a terrible person and doesn’t deserve
happiness. There is only one bitch worse than this one, and we’ll talk about
her later.
On the positive side, I do like Jennifer
Aniston, because she manages to make a fundamentally shitty character likeable
at times. She also saw some growth, even if only in the first season when she
emancipated from daddy’s money. Too bad it stopped there and stalled for
several seasons until she became a mother, which was some very well handled
character growth.
Rachel’s
Best: “I had a traumatic swing incident when I was
little.” Sure, that scene was funny because of Ross’ dialogue (“I wonder who
will play you in the movie.”) but it kills me.
Rachel’s
Worst: There’s a lot, but read above. Whoever wrote
that episode is a dick.
Monica Geller
What
“Friends” wants you to think: Ross’ younger sister
is an extremely talented chef and Rachel’s childhood friend who, having grown
up overweight, is new to being popular with the opposite sex. She is feisty and
lots of fun, and a moral compass of sorts for the group.
What
Monica really is: the second best character after Chandler . Like her
husband, her childhood experiences and traumas shaped who she became in a
consistent and realistic way. She’s great because she has a very well defined
personality that’s also more complex than the rest of the cast’s. Sure, she
didn’t really change much throughout the series, but she’s the only one that
started out as a solid character.
My only problem that although I love
Courtney Cox everywhere I see her and she only got hotter with every season
(until she recently-ish had some weird surgery that ruined her face for me),
she can sometimes slip her comedic performance, just like Schwimmer though far
less often. She has some recurring lines like “I know!” that she kinda lost a
handle on, and can sound awkward.
Again, her relationship with Ross is great,
and I really like how they handled “fat Monica”. In a show that’s shallow and
apparently hates women, it’s pretty cool to see them handle an overweight
character with a lot of care. Yeah, they make some crude jokes about it, but in
general they don’t treat being overweight as some sort of horrible deformity
like a lot of other shows and movies do. The “parallel universe” episode when
she’s still fat and hooks up with Chandler was pretty amazing.
I thought I’d have more negative stuff to
say about Monica but apparently she’s pretty great. Good to see there’s at
least one female character in the cast who isn’t a piece of shit. Hell, she's the only one who walked away unscathed from the whole "dance at the diner" fiasco.
Monica’s
best: I love it when she spazes out with Ross. “The
routine” is classic. By herself, I loved the bit when Phoebe asks “What is more
important, friends or money?” and Monica impulsively yells “Money!”
Monica’s
worst: Nothing. Monica is always amazing. Though
that whole bit when she wanted to lie to Erica to get her baby was weird and
out of character; I blame the writers.
Phoebe Buffay
What
“Friends” wants you to think: Phoebe is a free spirit who
overcame a terrible childhood and isn’t afraid to speak her mind. She is
unpredictable, selfless, delightfully weird and has a very strong set of
values.
What
Phoebe really is: the worst character in the cast.
Other than the honest and likeable aura Lisa Wilcox Kudrow (Edit: what an odd slip) puts to the performance,
there is nothing good about Phoebe once you get to the bottom of things. She
has nothing going for her, and is by far the worst written character in the
show. It just irks me how they keep making a whole spiel about her horrible
childhood—when she lived in the streets, mugged people for sustenance, endured
her mother’s suicide, lost track of her family including a twin sister—only to
have her be an absolutely perfect functional adult. I’m sorry but that
inconsistency can only fly in grade z television. They never even make a point
about her overcoming her childhood, it’s kind of a running joke.
Just like Rachel, she’s a selfish bitch,
and unlike Rachel, Phoebe doesn’t have many redeeming qualities. Phoebe’s “thing” is
being random. She will do or say things that make no sense and that makes her
an original and free-thinking sweetheart. Except, well, for one that is a
terrible trait to base a character on, because a person’s “random” phase happens
when you’re 15, not 27. Writers seemed to catch up on that and got rid of the
whole random thing about three or four seasons in. Then she was just the
reformed hippie with some really
weird plotlines. The only thing consistent about Phoebe is that she hates Chandler for some reason, and that's funny for some reason.
What really sucks about Phoebe is that the
one thing she had going for her, her unbreakable values, are all bullshit.
Every time she makes a stand for something, be it hating Pottery Barn,
disowning her former best friend, hating big massage companies, wanting to give
her wedding money to charity, being faithful to her boyfriend, or anything she
puts her foot down for, she ends up taking it back in the end. She has no real
values at all, which strip her character to just a one-dimensional bitch. The
one exception was breaking up with Mike for not wanting to get married, but
much like the bird-shooting cop she dated, it seemed more a device to get rid
of a character, if only temporarily.
There’s something I do like about Phoebe:
she’s a wild card as far as her sanity and intelligence goes. You never quite
know if she’s an idiot or just very smart and thinks everyone else is an idiot.
You never quite know if she’s out of her rocker, or completely sane. This
dynamic is what makes her fun and the only reason she’s tolerable as a member
of the main cast. To be fair, she did have some sparks of heart from time to
time, and that made her more likeable.
However, I wanted to strangle her with her
own intestines during that scene when she introduces Monica to whom Phoebe
believes is Monica’s soulmate even when
she’s with Chandler . This whole “puppeteer” thing sucks because there are so many douchebags without a social identity who will try to emulate that in real life. A character like
Phoebe is only acceptable in TV; if you’re anything like her in real life, you
can go eat shit.
Phoebe’s
best: her having trouble giving away her brother’s
babies. That was heart-wrenching. I also always laugh at the “Lying about Sweden ”
bit.
Phoebe’s
worst: Hard to say. I really did wanted to kill her
with the “soulmate” thing.
Whoo. Well. This was all to illustrate my
perspective: “Friends” only works because the cast has such great chemistry. If
this wasn’t the case, the show would crash and burn immediately; the cast of
characters is, on paper, dysfunctional and one dimensional for the most part.
Which is a nice way of saying it sucks ass. And not only does it suck, it's just a terrible role model for people to have.
Of course I can’t say I hate “Friends”.
Like I said, I watch it all the time, and it makes me laugh often. I just think
this inconsistency is interesting—how can a show be so good and so bad at the
same time? It’s interesting.
The show wouldn't have succeeded without the Chandler and Monica characters. Phoebe and Joey could have just been lifted right out of the cast, and nothing would have been missing. Ross and Chandler were besties, Rachel and Monica were besties, and Ross and Monica were siblings. Joey and Phoebe were completely random and had no substantial connection to the group. I never understood why they were in the group. There's no way in real life the Joey and Phoebe characters would have survived in that group of friends.
ReplyDeleteYou're absolutely right. They even tried to fix this by connecting Phoebe and Ross' pasts in the most unlikely (albeit funny) way possible.
DeleteI totally disagree with you, personally I believe that the whole cast is absolutely brilliant and without one member the whole show would be corrupt and odd. Phoebe is NOT a 'ultra bitch' infact she is the complete opposite. There is a few episodes in which she shows her love and affection towards her friends; for example she spent one episode trying to find a selfless good deed, she also has her brothers children because they are unable to. There is also a whole episode devoted to Phoebe finding her dad and step brother. I rest my case. Fuck you! Whoever wrote this, go to hell.
DeleteI remember how she spent one episode trying to find a selfless good deed, but do you remember WHY she wanted to do that? To prove Joey wrong, the bitch. I must be missing something, but her trying to find her dad and step brother isn't a testament to her goodness at all. It's just something she does.
DeleteI actually also wrote about her brother's babies, which is kinda weird, but sweet and eventually very sad.
I know Phoebe was trying to prove Joey wrong however has Phoebe ever failed to be a good friend, maybe once or twice but don't we all? Your blog is TOTALLY wrong and i don't think you've looked at all the characters enough to come to the conclusions you have.
DeleteWhen has Ross' life ever been 'boring' and when has Joey ever been the same through out the WHOLE series? NEVER the answer is NEVER.
I think, wait I KNOW you are SO wrong my friend, SO wrong.
I understand your point about Rachel because personally i think she was never a really supportive friend. BUT Phoebe well let me just tell you, she was AWSOME.
:) as you cant tell I am quite passionate about friends and don't let my
comments upset or affect u, im just letting of some steam! :)
I agree completely
DeleteI just wanted to re-read this and I wanted to comment about how true the Joey thing is. Yesterday I was trying to identify his MBTI type and he's the only character I couldn't pinpoint a single personality type to. I'm still frustrated. Literally almost nothing matched with him.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this interesting and funny read. Even though I don't agree with you on some things you are mostly right about the things you say. One thing I would like to add about Phoebe: Remember when she wanted to get married in town hall and give all her money to charity? And then in the end she didn't do it. Again.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteYeah, her values are mostly crap, which sucks because that's basically the entire character (as painted).
I'd like there to be a sitcom that implements a character who has a fascinating backstory of how he was likely picked on when he was younger, got sick of everyone's shit, started working out and putting on some mass, and ultimately grows up to criticize and crush various forms of media. Granted, this gentleman will be intelligent and have a talent for expressing his views with the evident skills of a learned writer, but he's too busy having his head stuck up the proverbial ass of his pretentious ego to enjoy something thoroughly. This character would be likable, though. People would enjoy seeing a smart and talented character, a writer, perhaps. He would be attentive to detail (or at least seemingly so) and unafraid to voice his opinion, which is an admirable trait for any character whether fictitious or not. He expresses himself with the confidence that he's done his research, and people love that. People love that confident, infallible air that this character radiates. But then they start to see through the shit-matted wool he's pulled over their eyes. He's smart, he's an effective communicator, he's passionate about a lot of things! Passionate, yet loathing. For the most part this character will be a good person at the core, but his constant disdain for everything he loves becomes confusing to the viewer. His values are lost among the sea of crap this guy spews forth, thus painting a character that appears to me as a mostly fibrous being, brown from head to toe. This sucks because this guy is probably a really good character at the core when he isn't being presented to the audience as anything other than a giant turd.
ReplyDeleteAll-righty, R-Bro! Thanks for the observations!
DeleteDoes this intriguing character also have a passive aggressive friend who resents him for absolutely no reason? Sounds like he would have.
DeleteMeh, it's a 90's sitcom. I doubt they were thinking about character development as much as they were about selling their show. Gotta admit that the characters do work well together to make for a funny-ass show with tons of situational irony.
ReplyDeleteYeah, they are mean to each other at times, but they love each other enough to not take it too seriously and not get too butthurt (unless it's something drastic). Not gonna lie, if I had a very close friend who had Monica's Moondance diner job, I would probably do the same. Friends play pranks and do fucked up shit to each other, it's nothing personal 😜
And HEY MISTER! You totally misinterpret the Feebs! I always just saw her as very naive and absent-minded, which gives her the childish nature. I don't think she was really meant to be a mega bitch or a manipulator, just eccentric and childish. Granted, all the characters do really good things and really fucked up things, which speaks true to every human in existence. And plus I've seen enough Seinfeld to know that there are MUCH douchier New York-based characters.
Peace out!
Monica was literally crying to Rachel a few scenes earlier, telling her how much that job humilliated her. Crying.
DeleteThat's the kind of thing you do to your worst enemy if you're a particularly mean bully, not your friends.
Maybe I'm just evil, lol!
DeleteI agree with ALMOST all of this, ESPECIALLY Pheobe, I can't stand her and currently am writing a blog entry devoted to my hatred for her, Ross, and the only one I disagree with you on, Monica. Monica is my second most hated character. How can you find someone who is beyond annoying and way too OCD for anyone's good, actually any bit of interesting or funny? If I ever met anyone like her in real life, they'd be written off in a blink of an eye. Her incessant nagging and voice volume alone could be a good reason to want her gone, but add her need to win at everything with an intensity that makes you want to rip your hair out, "I KNOW", the extreme hypocrisy, and her constant need to meddle in other's business to the point of revealing surprises and secrets, all make me want to beat her with the stupid shells she puts in her hair in Barbados. Monica geller is the most annoying character, and second worst character behind Pheobe. But seriously I abhor Pheobe, and want to punch her every time she says "Regina Phalange", which I don't even think she knows what phalanges are, or sings any song she writes, but above all that stupid effing smelly cat song. Pheobe ruined Friends.
ReplyDeleteYAAAAAAAAAAAS god bless you. I can't STAAAAAAND monica. She makes me want to fucking pull my hair out!
DeleteThank God! I hate Phoebe, Monica and Chandler.
DeleteI absolutely LOATHE Monica's guts. I HATE HER A LOT!!! How annoying, meddling, obsessive and just unbearable she is! I would literally go insane if I knew someone like her. And maybe I am one of the few people who believes this but she kinda ruined the best, wisecracking, sarcastic and above all, AWESOME character of the show - Chandler. He was much funnier before and say what you will but I just couldn't stand them.
DeleteSorry if I accidentally commented more than once. But basically I agree that Monica and Chandler rule. Although I love Rachel and Phoebe. And I hate Ross.
ReplyDeletePlease don't say bitch. It's insulting to women. But anyway, I agree about Joey. And Chandler and Monica. But I disagree with the other three. I absolutely hate Ross. He's an awful boyfriend to Rachel and isn't a good guy - sure, he's a ""good guy"" but only because he thinks he should get something out of it. Ross needs to leave.
ReplyDeleteYes; from a person that insist so much in how abjectly sexist this series can be sometimes, calling a woman 'bitch' for not having much of a growth or 'ultra bitch' for not ultimately sticking to her fundamental values is kind of hypocrite.
DeleteCalm down!
ReplyDeleteIt's a comedy show, not a reality show. Of course they made their characters act like dicks and childish. All comedy shows have those moments.
I basically only agree about Rachel but I love Jennifer Aniston, so it's hard for me to hate Rachel. I think if they wrote Rachel is a little better, it would have been fine. But I love he during Seasons 6 and 7, she was less bitchy.
Have you seen Family Guy? Peter is a great character, yet he is a dick to everyone he knows. That's just how Comedy works.
I don't mind characters being shitty people (I love both "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" and "Seinfeld"), as long as the show is aware of it. "Friends" isn't deliberately about shitty people; they just accidentally wrote shitty people.
DeleteSo basically you don't get that the show wasn't ACTUALLY making fun of Ross' intelligence, it just became a comedy relief motif (case in point: see David where there was no comic relief). Similarly, HIMYM wasn't ACTUALLY making fun of Ted's intelligence, it just became a comedy relief motif. Conveniently, you don't even mention that the very same show (Friends) also very consistently makes fun of Joey's stupidity (contradicting your claim that the show glorifies stupidity). But hey, cherry-picking is fun. You just don't seem to understand that the juxtaposition of academic intelligence with poor social intelligence happens to be, generally speaking, fucking hilarious. I mean, the entire premise of The Big Bang Theory is basically what I just outlined. Is TBBT also trying to "make it cool to hate learning?" You're more dense than Joey.
ReplyDeleteBut then again, your entire misguided analysis was pretty much discredited when you misspelled Courteney Cox's name. You'd figure after 200+ times seeing her name in the credits, you'd know how to spell it. But I guess you really are as dumb as Joey.
Oh brother, don't give me that Joey bullshit. Joey doesn't come off as a bigger goofball than Ross - and he's supposed to be more moronic than Ross! Joey is written like a cool lady's man even though he's a woman-objectifying Gary-Stu whom NOBODY bothers to called out on despite his chauvinistic pig-like behavior. EVERYBODY called out on Ross for his geekiness and his scientific knowledge!
DeleteAnyone too dumb to see it was seinfeld repackaged for a younger crowd deserves death.
ReplyDeleteI just wrote an entire essay but DAMN YOU INTERNET CONNECTION!
ReplyDeleteAnyway, i wanted to share my opinion about this thing. I kind of get what you mean. I don't completely agree with you but i can make sense of it to some extent. I agree with your opinion of Joey, Ross, Chandler, even Pheobe and Rachel to some extent. What i don't agree with is the bit on Monica. Maaaaaaaaaaaaan, that woman drives me INSANE. She is portrayed as a woman who's caring and supportive and who really cares about her relationships and friendships with the people who are in her life but i don't know why, i just don't see it that way. She is loud as hell, she can be so bossy, so selfish and so controlling.
Some of the things that she said or did that pissed me off:
1) "What's more important? Friends or money?" "MONEEEEEY"
2) "Your wedding day is so much more important than some stupid kid" when Pheobe was considering giving her wedding money away to charity.
3) The WAY she talks to people when she is in a goddamn competition where she aaaalways HAS to win
4) She actually considered lying to Erica to get the baby. I am so glad Chandler stepped in.
Remember the time phoebe exploded when Monica kept rushing her during her rehearsal dinner speech? Yea, i don't blame phoebe for that at all. She doesn't bother fixing her mistakes either.
In general, i like the show but i don't like how they handle arguments between their characters. They scream for a while and then somehow they just brush it off. Some of the things they say to each other can be very destructive. In real life, if fights happened the way the characters handled it, friendships would break! Again i'm bringing Monica into this but if somebody behaved like Monica around me, i would THROW that person out of my life. Otherwise, it's a really great show. Some episodes make my tummy hurt from laughing like a mad person. So, just like you, i love the show but i see holes and flaws in it.
THANK YOU! Monica is the worst character for me for all the reasons you mentioned above. On top of that, Courtney Cox got worse and worse in her acting. Around Season 8 onwards, she was just yelling her dialogues all the time as if it was theater.
DeleteThing is though, its a sitcom, not Mad Men. The characters don't need to have depth or make complete sense. It is about making people laugh and making them feel good.
ReplyDeleteI'll admit I was always turned off by the ideas of intelligence being stupid and Joey being a nice guy. In real life Joey would be what we call a fuck boy. Though I still think he is funny anyway
I love all the Friends characters! I agree Monica and Chandler are the best, but Rachel and Joey are a close second. All the characters are likeable, apart from Ross. You talk rubbish.
ReplyDeleteThanks for writing this! Glad to see there are plenty of people out there who love watching Friends even after seeing all the inconsistencies and shallowness in characters.
ReplyDeleteCalm down its just your opinion and please dont use offensive words. Phoebe,Chandler and Joey were the only reason I watched rhe show. Yeah I know Phoebe was the worst character but kudos to Lisa Kudrow, she was the best actress among the six and her acting was the reason I lovd Phoebe. As for Joey, he was certainly not a likable character, the way he treated women was offensive, but he was the friendliest character and he certainly had great chemistry and screen times with each of the rests and his love for food and somewhat 'dim' character was fun to watch. As for Chandler Bing, I can't say more .. 'FRIENDS' wouldn't be 'FRIENDS' without him. I didn't like or hate Ross, I was a fan of him during the early seasons but later he became the most boring character. Rachel is by far the most overrated sitcom character. I don't know how Jen got so much recognitions (probably more than all the other five combined) when her job in the show was to change her dress for every scene and show us her fashion scene(which was overrated too) I still don't know how she could afford all those dresses? And her infamous 'The Rachel' So overrated!!! For Monica Geller, Oh God! she is the most annoying in the group and I hated her the most. Courteney is an amazing actress and she made the character work. Sometime I think she is underrated for not receiving much recognitions like her co stars.
ReplyDeleteCharacter wise I would ran- Chandler Bing>Joey Tribbiani>Phoebe Buffay>Ross Geller>Rachel Green>Monica Geller>Janice Tiltman ( just kidding, lol)..
Acting wise- Lisa Kudrow> Matthew Perry> Courteney Cox>Jennifer Aniston>Matt LeBlanc>David Schwimmer
Chandler is the only character I like. Yeah he has his neurosis, but they aren't overbearing. The other 5 are a mess.
ReplyDelete-Ross is a condescending douche most of the time until he really recognized how insignificant he is after hearing about all of the people Charlie has dated and then being a witness to Charlie cheating on him and dumping him.
-Joey is an idiot. I think this analysis gives great insight to the real Joey. https://postscriptproductions.net/2015/06/30/friends-analysis-joey-tribbianis-soulmate-is-lydia/
-Rachel is a self-absorbed drama queen. In the early seasons Ross is basically her toy because she knew he was obsessed with her and she liked the attention. The number of his relationships that she sabotaged is what makes her character extremely vile. How she remained friends with Monica and Chandler is beyond me when you consider how much both of them cared about Ross and how she treated Ross.
-Monica is an overbearing control freak most of the time. It's almost like the group used her as their caretaker. The worst thing she did was nearly dump Chandler because Richard showed back up and proposed to marry her. This per se isn't bad, but it is how quick she was willing to get rid of Chandler based on how serious the relationship was at this point.
-Phoebe is literally crazy. People like to view her as the fun spunky eccentric of the group. In reality, she has a few screws loose from a very rough childhood.
The worst thing Phoebe did was in Barbados. She knew David was going to propose, and she seemed excited about it until Mike showed up out of nowhere. Once he showed up, she dumped David. Mugging Ross when they were both teens is also pretty bad.
I love this. Chandler has a few screws loose due to many childhood issues that pop up throughout the show. Monica deals with hers by elimination of trigger factors in her life, which is almost a perfect match, considering the fact that she takes on the heavy-duty role of a decision maker. Phoebe is a mystery dysfunctional child that never learned the much needed adequacy of society due to her circumstances. Rachel acts out after being pressured into a load of power over her decisions in adulthood, as dictated by her 50s character father and discouraged mother. Ross is an isolated in-his-own-world subdued intellectual, who, after lusting for a childhood crush, self raticates his actions towards Rachel, moves forward with confidence and arrogance. Joey... He is actually a well me as being but never regarded id driven character, who tries to gain respect in a machismo directed culture, surrounded by 7(!) Women, who in turn take up most of his parents attention; Try surviving in those predicaments. Overall the show is well written and Sparks the curiosity of many generations and backgrounds of character development, to simply stamp it with a mild analysis dilutes the the whole purpose of entertainment. But thank you for this inspiring input on why today's society is so quick to jump to conclusions...
DeleteDude like whosoever you are..it's a damn show..it's for a fucking entertainment ,no ones asks you or anyone to judge it . You one scumbag had to write shit and call yourself an ex-fan? Good God,save yourself before some curse hits upon you!
ReplyDelete. . . did you just threaten to put a curse on me over my analysis of "Friends"?
DeleteBecause if you do make it one of the cool ones. Werewolf, or something like that.
Definitely the best comment.
DeleteI just can't get one thing. In the beginning of the show I though that Monica Geller was an interesting character and I was eager to see her development. I liked how Courteney Cox played this role and it had to become a much more interesting character than any of them. But in the 2nd season something has changed and from the 3rd season there's no more the Monica who was in the 1st season.
ReplyDeleteI can't understand what propelled the writers to cast away this character. And why was it overshadowed by Rachel?
I didn't read the comments, maybe someone mentioned it already, but this complete breakdown of their supportive and loving friendships and onset of one-dimensional characters happened from Season 5 and on. In the first four seasons they were all much more supportive of each other, had far greater depth of character and therefore were a lot more lovable and funnier! Once Ross started screaming in every scene and Monica started bossing Chandler around like a shrill bitch (and Chandler, of course, having become a hopeless drunk in real life, and losing his comedic instincts), it all started rolling downhill...
ReplyDeleteThank you! I finally found someone who agrees with me. Chandler wasn't the same after season 4, when he got involved with that shrill, bossy, obsessive, and downright fucking annoying bitch.
DeleteI didn't read the comments, maybe someone mentioned it already, but this complete breakdown of their supportive and loving friendships and onset of one-dimensional characters happened from Season 5 and on. In the first four seasons they were all much more supportive of each other, had far greater depth of character and therefore were a lot more lovable and funnier! Once Ross started screaming in every scene and Monica started bossing Chandler around like a shrill bitch (and Chandler, of course, having become a hopeless drunk in real life, and losing his comedic instincts), it all started rolling downhill...
ReplyDelete...hat-on-knee retarded?? Please explain this meaningless expression, because I'm really anxious to learn such things before I'm too old and unwatchable, or just simply acceptant of the observation that I was born to watch you too!!
ReplyDeletewoah.....so much hate. You should try watching Indian drama serials then :"D
ReplyDeleteIf you find no faults to how horrible Monica became after being married... nah not even trusting to read any more. "COOL!" Sure, when you have 0 chill and manipulate your friends and husband... ver cool!
ReplyDeleteOk you are so wrong in so many ways. First of all it is a sitcom so character development and stuff like that does not matter as much as making people laugh. Second the acting and the writing is great. It is BY FAR the funniest sitcom ever. Third, they make fun of joeys stupidity WAY more than Ross's intelligence; the show does not make fun of learning. They make fun of Ross more for liking puzzles and dinosaurs then for having a phd.
ReplyDeleteAnd this is my breakdown of the characters.
Monica- stubborn, mean, controlling bitch. She's not funny and she's the only character I don't like
Phoebe- not at all a bitch way better person then Monica. She's fucking hilarious and growing up on the streets is exactly why she's the crazy, weird, hilarious person she is.
Rachel- kind of a bitch but that's what makes her so funny. Overall she's a good person
Ross- annoying but sometimes funny. I don't think he's boring but his relationship with Monica is weird
Joey- yeah he's dumb and sleeps with lots of women but he's very sweet to his friends and also fucking hilarious
Chandler- best character in tv history ever
He so funny and awkward and sarcastic and has the best one liners of all time
Rachel Green is a sociopath
ReplyDelete