'Friends' - the most offensive show on Netflix?

Bluebird

Bluebird

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Black Thorn
I noticed this article a while ago, and found it quite... interesting. Seemingly on Tumblr and the like, as new generations are exposed to the show after popping up on Netflix, a lot are accusing it of outdated attitudes. The worst accusation is that it's very homophobic.

What do you think?

I think it's a real stretch to be offended. I mean, the show had a lesbian wedding in the early years and Ross being uncomfortable was the joke, not being gay.
 
I don't believe that Ross is homophobic, it's just that he loved Carol and his pride was hurt when she left him for a woman, it's not a progressive response but it's realistic that Ross would be offended and apprehensive towards the couple at first. Plus, it was funny. I'm proud of friends for including a homosexual couple in 1994.
I do think that the male-nanny joke hasn't aged well at all, Ross was blatantly sexist with that one and it wasn't incredibly funny.
 
Been awhile since I've watched the show. A lot of the what the article is talking about can be put down to it being a 90s show and being a sitcom. Sitcoms are so short of time and are so much about getting to the joke. So being progressive or subtle are not high on its list of agendas.

The lack of non-White characters in Friends is probably a worse offence considering its set in New York.
 
The new generation gets offended by everything. The show is dated, it was set in the 90s, a lot of what was okay back then isn't nowadays. However, Friends was progressive in different ways: showing a lesbian wedding in 1995! Not to mention, Ross walking his ex-wife down the aisle. As for Ross's attitude towards his ex-wife and her partner... DUH! She cheated on him with someone else and broke off the marriage. Of course, he'll be pissed off.
 
Most offensive? I'm pretty sure it's only the "most" offensive this week.

Anyway, I was reminded of this:

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It has its bad moments but by no means that bad. if you don't watch it with a 'millennial-tumblr' lens, it's fine (with some exceptions aside). Jokes are tasteless sometimes, but not really offensive. Ross is definitely the worst out of all, though. and the Fat Monica thing goes on for a bit too long.
 
sosa lola said:
The new generation gets offended by everything.
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Truer words have never been spoken. It’s like people feel a joke made in 1998 is directed at them now.

I don’t see any problems with Friends that are different than any other show, nor any problems of offensiveness that are worth writing an article about.
 
Oh for God's sake! I'm a card-carrying, left-of-centre snowflake who's fully cognisant of the hegemony implicit in racial, sexual, gender and class oppression and all I can think to say is - I can't be arsed to read the article and people need to get over themselves. The 90s weren't prehistoric. We could "read against the grain" and see omissions even then.
 
I saw that doing the rounds. I honestly suspect it's just lazy click bait journalism. I bet 1 or 2 people commented on social media and then someone thought they'd stir the pot with an article.

I never rated Friends that highly but it's not offensive. The occasional questionable attitude might be expressed by a character but that's nearly always balanced by another character with an opposing view. That's just life, not everything is a political broadcast.
 
I went to see The Last Unicorn when it came out in the theaters in 1982 and loved it because, well, unicorns and princesses, and I was a girl. My friend was annoyed because the unicorn was passive and kind of mopes around throughout most of the movie while her friends are working desperately to help her and she doesn't really do anything until the end.

I just watched the movie again and now I see it from her point of view. I think after you watch shows where women are empowered you start to notice when they're being damseled in other places. I don't think it's just the next generation. The generation that grew up with it can start to see it too if they experience a show or movie that challenges that point of view.
 
I mean, sure in 2018 we can find things about shows that were on during the 90's and 00's that are insensitive, but at the time it wasn't considered that way; and think that context is important. Rather than be outraged by Friends, it's nice to look back and see how far we've come. I don't think there is a huge issue liking older shows that are problematic, if you are able to understand what about them is problematic.

If Friends was set today, we wouldn't have seen them implying some being is gay as an insult, the fat shaming of Monica, the trans=gay debacle that was Chandler's father....
 
Skanky Vamp
Skanky Vamp
But I think it goes hand in hand. I think percentage is probably the same. Just now there is an outlet to express yourself... for good or bad.
brinkster130 said:
we can find things about shows that were on during the 90's and 00's that are insensitive, but at the time it wasn't considered that way;
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I disagree. I think it was considered offensive (to some) but there was not the outlet nor the means for people to express their displeasure over it back then. Today if you are offended you can express your opinion via social media which makes it seem like today's culture is more sensitive towards matters when that's not the case- they are simply more vocal.
 
brinkster130
brinkster130
True. But don't you think a greater number of people are more aware of potentially harmful stereotypes than they once were?
Spanky said:
I disagree. I think it was considered offensive (to some) but there was not the outlet nor the means for people to express their displeasure over it back then. Today if you are offended you can express your opinion via social media which makes it seem like today's culture is more sensitive towards matters when that's not the case- they are simply more vocal.
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Good point. But I still think that as a whole society is a bit more sensitive than they once were. Than again there's many more people in the world now, and probably the media driving them on is a factor too.
 
But people got offended all the time back then. The Christian Right found the gay agenda everywhere. Offhand I just recall teletubbies but there was even some cereal brand some called gay. I read The Satanic Panic (just one of the reasons I cringe at the "believe everyone who makes an accusation" as "believe the children" in the 80s did a lot of harm to innocents, including children themselves, and there was also the "recovered memory" delusion/scam), and damn, Tipper Gore was morbidly fascinating (I also read Raising PG Kids in an X-Rated Society ). I recall when I was a child that this happened, and it was reported on the news as a thing that had the neighbors up in arms (I recall it because it was the only time my parents bought pepsi and had me, age 7, struggle to read "sex" and laughed as if it was the most hilarious thing when I did while I was baffled by the whole thing). Offended people were easy to hear from. Politically correct was a thing as well, but not like today (and used to be treated as a big joke).

These days it's different people offended over different things. I think conservatives have found out that their harping on ridiculous stuff did them more harm than good and now restrain themselves and allow a PC culture to do their side more harm than good (Bill Maher talks on that a lot), though maybe it's just that most of conservatives throwing ridiculous hissies is getting overlooked because of the current hissies in vogue for the last few years.
 
Yes I'd have to agree on the belief that Friends is one of the most offensive shows on Netflix now. The show features a group of friends who are continually talking to each other, often airing their problems to each other, many people have found problems with the material then as now.
But the show had to talk of problems and importantly make those problems very humorous.
 
thrasherpix said:
read The Satanic Panic
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The satanic panic was big! It was yuge! and contrary to what was shown in shows like Stranger Things, parents FEARED dungeons and dragons too. They had all those parental warnings about it, and TV movies about the dangers of playing it. It wasn't as innocuous as showed today. It was considered a path to the darkside.
 
Smelly cat was the worst thing to come out of that show. I watched it when it aired (and would not waste my time on a rewatch) and that song did the rounds within RL (non muso) friends groups more than I could stand.

I dont really understand the current love/hate of all things 90's. It wasnt that great. The major difference is social media, and when you disconnect from that, the world becomes simple again. Not quite as simple, but simpler.
 
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