Sick of New Year’s resolutions you cannot keep? Have no fear, for starting Jan. 1, 2015, all 10 seasons and 236 episodes of Friends will be there for you on Netflix. Something tells me that finishing every episode will seem like a doable goal.
The appeal of a show like “Friends” is that it is reliably funny and indulges the imagination in trivial concerns of the characters. In that, it offers an escape from the trials of everyday life, as shown by the 17 percent increase in ratings following 9/11. In addition, it brought modern vernacular to TV, and had the right faces in the right age group representing it. What is even better is that the characters had charisma that was equally as charming onscreen as it was off. In fact, the main cast allegedly negotiated salaries together as a united front to prevent any hierarchy.
Therefore, in celebration of 20 years of “Friends,” I have compiled a list of its legacy to our generation.
It’s solidified the Ross and Rachel. Ross and Rachel grants us the permission to discover and talk about romantic ambiguity. While romantic ambiguity always existed, watching deeply likable characters go through the tumultuous relationship and “going on breaks” grants us the ability to talk about gray areas without demonizing one side or the other.
It has introduced phrases into our everyday vernacular. Whether it’s Joey’s “How you doin’?” or Chandler’s “Can this be any less” whatever or Phoebe’s smelly cat medley, the vocabulary of “Friends” has crept into our vocabularies.
It has helped make coffee shops cool. Why get a Frappuccino at McDonald’s or an Irish coffee at a pub when you can indulge in this intellectual, hip image of someone who has “their coffee place?”
It has made the Rachel haircut cool, as women copied it all around America. Created by Jennifer Aniston’s hairstylist, Chris McMillan, (admittedly when he was high) the haircut was hated by Aniston herself. However, even in 2010, surveys indicated that the haircut is the most popular among British women.
The series has built the idea that all you need is a good group of friends. In a society where the nuclear family is dissolving and unconventional family patterns are emerging, the show helped build the idea in our collective consciousness that, we too, can create a family through our friends.
It led to the creation of “How I Met Your Mother.” In other words, it is another show about young, attractive professionals in Manhattan, living in apartments that they would never be able to realistically afford and going through the maze that is modern dating. Barney replaces Joey as the lovable playboy, and Ted replaces Ross as the hopeful romantic “nice guy” who never seems to find love at the right time. This plays on comfortable storylines of poor timing, gray areas in relationships and angst towards careers in a society that values capitalism more than it values you.
It explored second-wave feminism unashamedly. Rachel even yells, “Ooh. I’m a man. Ooh. I have a penis. Ooh. I have to win money to observe my power over women.” Rachel transforms from a girl who lives off of daddy’s credit card to a woman who lives on her own merit. Rachel fights for her maternity leave. Rachel lives as a single mother and is never portrayed shamefully for her sexuality.
So sit back and enjoy your (un)healthy dose of “Friends.”
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Follow Justina Huang on Twitter: @huanderwoman
