Here are 5 ways in which F.R.I.E.N.D.S left an impression on our lives
Today, Friends: The Reunion, was aired which received alot of love all over the world. However some fail to understand why this sitcom holds such significance and why the audience has been extremely emotional with the show. Let us go delve deep into the lessons it gave its fans. The way it has impacted our approach about certain topics and why the 10 seasons of the most loved show on television is still relevant in 2021. Have a look to understand better:
1. Two women get married
Remember it was 1996 and not 2021 and a lesbian couple was a “BIG DEAL”, yet the show portrayed Carol and Susan’s relation. It wasn’t preachy, however, many a time in the show their relation was the butt of jokes. Though the couple’s wedding scene lasted 60 seconds and they didn’t kiss, but the “ahead-of-its-time” notion needs acknowledgement.
“When I was first writing about the revival of the show in 2014, 2015, everybody was talking about the homophobia,” Kelsey Miller, the “I’ll Be There For You” writer said.
‘The one with the lesbian wedding was definitely a ground-breaking episode,” she said. “Newt Gingrich’s sibling actually plays the officiant, which is kind of crazy if you think about Newt Gingrich in the 1990s on this topic.”
Just because people found F.R.I.E.N.D.S relatable, they accepted all it showed. So in some way, the show taught people to be more “gender-tolerant”.
2. The whole concept of ‘family’
The thing most fans love about F.R.I.E.N.D.S is that nothing is perfect. It’s about when you walk out of the home to ‘make it big in life, just to find it all absolutely messed up. The Gellers’ are biased towards their son, making Monica develop an inferiority complex. Relatable isn’t it? Chandler’s dad ran away with a man. Today, he’s earning a handsome amount of money, but still is “hopeless and awkward and desperate for love”. Joey is mentally a kid with a huge bunch of sisters. Phoebe’s story of abandonment and stepfamily is utterly complicated. Rachel just has her family to pay her balls. The message is of acceptance and non-glorification of reality.
3. Parenthood
Monica wanted to be a mother since she could remember, Rachel never even considered the prospect and Phoebe, well who’d even thought of ‘renting her uterus’. But as it turned out, it all turned upside down. Though most of the twists were to keep the audience hooked to the show, it also expanded people’s outlook towards various ways to “have kids”.
4. The whole concept of “WE WERE ON A BREAK!”
Believe me or not, before television’s most loved couple “went on a break”, no such conception even existed. Either you were into someone or not, but you didn’t necessarily keep bumping into the same person again and again. And then conceive his baby. However, people had such relations before, but the show gave a name to it. And we are thankful.
5. The HOPE
If somebody binges the entire ten seasons of the show, one is left feeling hopeful. The ‘Big fat goalie’ turns into a gorgeous looking, ambitious chef. The lonely kid develops a certain sarcasm and a high-paying job. The two people who never even had one complete relation, get their “happily ever after”. Phoebe with her complicated past gets someone who loves her for being so ”wonderfully weird”. The show underlines that even though you are having one rough day, month or even a year, there are good things in store for you.
