It’s been almost 20 years since the last episode of Friends aired.
During this time, the show has seen a resurgence of popularity thanks to streaming sites like Netflix. It even has its own reunion show coming out eventually!
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But that’s not to say that it’s been an entirely smooth ride since 2004. With times a-changing, we also have these 10+ moments on Friends that didn’t age well.
I promise. WE LOVE *FRIENDS* IN THIS HOUSE!!!
But just because a show can make you die of laughter, that doesn’t mean it’s perfect! And that’s okay too!
The show was a product of its time, and it’s good that people can be critical and still enjoy it!
1. The lack of diversity.
It certainly doesn’t bode well for the show that the entire cast was white.
Even the show’s co-creator, Marta Kauffman, has tearful regrets about this. “I wish I knew then what I know today,” she said, according to Page Six .
She’s not the only *Friends* member to have thoughts on this.
David Schwimmer, who played Ross Geller, even told The Guardian that he made a “conscious push” for more diversity on the show.
“I was well aware of the lack of diversity and I campaigned for years to have Ross date women of color,” he said.
2. The incest moments.
Sadly, there were a few of them. The first was when Ross is attracted to his cousin Cassie and EVEN tries to make a move on her.
How would this ever be okay?!
Then, there is the fact that Monica and Ross are strangely close for siblings.
They talk about sex with each other and Monica wanted to watch the sex tape between Rachel and Ross.
But nothing was weirder than when it’s later discovered that Ross was Monica’s first kiss. Um, WTF?!
3. There were a lot of stereotypes.
Each of the characters fit the mold of a negative stereotype or two.
Monica was the type A clean freak, Joey was the Italian womanizer, and Phoebe was the quirky hippie.
That’s not all. Rachel was the spoiled daddy’s girl, while Ross was the huge nerd who struggled with women.
While each of their characters developed past these characteristics in some way, they mainly stuck to their original stereotypes.
4. The sexual assault towards Phoebe.
Sexual assault is never okay. And yet, in “The One With The Dozen Lasagnas,” it was shown and handled poorly.
Basically, when Phoebe was massaging Rachel’s boyfriend Paolo, a laughing track was used when he made an inappropriate move on her.
5. The sexism.
The episode where Freddie Prinze Jr. plays the nanny? Ugh.
Ross’s character was so uncomfortable with having a male nanny that he said a lot of sexist things. He even got him fired!
On that note, Ross’s character was at the center of a lot of sexist comments.
In “The One With The Metaphorical Tunnel,” Ross has a hard time accepting that his son, Ben, likes to play with Barbie dolls.
He even tries to get him to play with a more “masculine” toy.
6. When Rachel convinced Ross’s girlfriend (played by Christine Taylor) to shave her head.
Madeleine Albright once said, “There is a special place in hell for women who don’t support other women.”
In other words, Rachel really crossed the line with this move.
7. The transphobia towards Chandler’s dad.
Chandler being ashamed of his father’s sexuality was a punchline from start to finish.
This made his dad’s character seem more like something to laugh at rather than being a real human being with thoughts and feelings.
8. When Chandler pretended to be someone else to sleep with a woman.
Thanks to social media, it’s very unlikely that something like this would happen today.
But that still doesn’t make this moment right. You should never deceive someone just to get what you want.
9. The huge age gap between Monica and Richard (played by Tom Selleck).
While we’ll take seeing Tom Selleck on our screen any day, the 21-year age gap between this romance was just a little too weird.
If he was unknown to Monica beforehand, maybe this would be okay.
But the show took things to an inappropriate level when they added in Richard’s backstory: he was an old family friend who watched Monica grow up.
As if that wasn’t enough, he was her eye doctor growing up and was her father’s best friend.
10. Everyone fat-shaming Monica.
We’re so lucky to live in an age with bodies of all sizes are becoming more and more accepted.
But back in Friends , Monica being overweight was portrayed as being the worst time in her life.
The other characters would often make fun of her former weight.
For instance, in “The One With The Prom Video,” Joey said, “Some girl ate Monica!”
Chandler also made a comment about a lot of cameras being on her and adding weight.
11. All the homophobia in the show
While the tweet points out Chandler again, it definitely happens with more than one character on the show. It can definitely make for some uncomfortable viewing.
Looking back, it definitely has not aged well.
12. Joey’s disregard for women’s feelings.
Sure, he was a good friend, but to a lot of other women, he never called them back, tricked them, lied to them, and cheated on them.
Many fans don’t think that makes him a likeable character.
