Current Events > Here's Your Reminder That 'Friends' Was Really, Really Homophobic

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YourLovelyTina
04/13/21 9:40:36 PM
#1:


https://www.out.com/television/2019/10/01/heres-your-reminder-friends-was-really-really-homophobic

The male characters on Friends showed a noted discomfort and disdain toward LGBTQ+ people during its 10 seasons from Chandlers aversion to his transgender parent (played by Kathleen Turner, still slaying the role) to a particular episode in which Ross (David Schwimmer) insists his male nanny must be gay.

In perhaps the most on-the-nose depiction of its tendency toward gay panic for cheap laughs, Joey and Ross freak out in the seventh season of Friends after they accidentally fall asleep together on the couch. What happened? Ross screams, before insisting: We fell asleep that is all. The apparently traumatic cuddle is so integral to the episodes arc that the installment is literally called The One With The Nap Partners.

To its credit, Friends did air a lesbian wedding, between Carol (Jane Sibbett) and Susan (Jessica Hecht), but it primarily served to underscore how uncomfortable Ross was with his ex-wifes new relationship.

I can't help but notice that most of the examples involve Ross, who was always kind of a douchebag...

Also, I've always been of the notion that Joey and Chandler were totally banging each other in secret.

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#2
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Dakimakura
04/13/21 9:43:45 PM
#3:


So was everything else.

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Gobstoppers12
04/13/21 9:45:31 PM
#4:


Okay.

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YourLovelyTina
04/13/21 9:45:42 PM
#5:




tell me these two weren't doing it

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ArchNemo
04/13/21 9:47:02 PM
#6:


This is such a weird take to me because generally the comedy from these situations comes from the fact that the characters ARE overreacting (like the napping thing) it's the opposite of implying there's anything wrong with it.

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Kisai
04/13/21 9:47:12 PM
#7:


In perhaps the most on-the-nose depiction of its tendency toward gay panic for cheap laughs, Joey and Ross freak out in the seventh season of Friends after they accidentally fall asleep together on the couch. What happened? Ross screams, before insisting: We fell asleep that is all. The apparently traumatic cuddle is so integral to the episodes arc that the installment is literally called The One With The Nap Partners.

Cancel Planes, Trains, and Automobiles.

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Gobstoppers12
04/13/21 9:50:56 PM
#9:


YourLovelyTina posted...
tell me these two weren't doing it
They weren't doing it.

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BLAKUboy
04/13/21 9:52:05 PM
#10:


I remember them only freaking out when they were caught napping together, they even had some light pillow talk before they realized they weren't alone.
The show was actually pretty progressive for the '90s, which was an overall incredibly awful decade for LGBTQ both in media and reality.

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SevenTenths
04/13/21 9:54:48 PM
#11:


YourLovelyTina posted...


tell me these two weren't doing it

YourLovelyTina posted...
In perhaps the most on-the-nose depiction of its tendency toward gay panic for cheap laughs, Joey and Ross freak out in the seventh season of Friends after they accidentally fall asleep together on the couch. What happened? Ross screams, before insisting: We fell asleep that is all. The apparently traumatic cuddle is so integral to the episodes arc that the installment is literally called The One With The Nap Partners.

Seems pretty contradictory post

I don't think anyone is going to claim the 90s were a great time for lbgt in media, but friends did better than many. Not that it was perfect of course.

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Hayame Zero
04/13/21 9:54:56 PM
#12:


The creation of Chandler was so interesting. He was intentionally written to be a gay character, and they played with the idea of having him come out and be the first recurring gay character on TV. But when they fell back on it, they kept the jokes about it. The co-creator (who was also gay) specifically told the writers "write it gay and play it straight".

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PMarth2002
04/13/21 9:55:30 PM
#13:


I'm aware of it, but the show's still funny.

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kbelfisBACK
04/13/21 9:56:57 PM
#14:


friends has never once made me laugh

Even when I was a kid, pre fake woke belf, I didn't think that shit was funny.
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What_
04/13/21 9:56:58 PM
#15:


I can go back and watch a million 90s shows and find this

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PatrickMahomes
04/13/21 9:57:11 PM
#16:


HIMYM's early seasons had a bunch of gay jokes too but it's mostly this:

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]



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white barret
04/13/21 9:58:09 PM
#17:


Lol classic woke topic

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Hayame Zero
04/13/21 9:59:16 PM
#18:


What_ posted...
I can go back and watch a million 90s shows and find this
I'm watching Seinfeld, and there's some objectionable stuff. Not so much homophobic stuff (even though they clearly were in the "not that there's anything wrong with that" episode, but they were supposed to be homophobic), but the one where they check out a 15-year-old's cleavage is the only one that's actually made me uncomfortable.

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Dakimakura
04/13/21 10:00:00 PM
#19:


Hayame Zero posted...
I'm watching Seinfeld, and there's some objectionable stuff. Not so much homophobic stuff (even though they clearly were in the "not that there's anything wrong with that" episode, but they were supposed to be homophobic), but the one where they check out a 15-year-old's cleavage is the only one that's actually made me uncomfortable.

"Not that there is anything wrong with that" might be the most progressive thing from the 90's.

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LostForest
04/13/21 10:03:38 PM
#21:


YourLovelyTina posted...
In perhaps the most on-the-nose depiction of its tendency toward gay panic for cheap laughs, Joey and Ross freak out in the seventh season of Friends after they accidentally fall asleep together on the couch. What happened? Ross screams, before insisting: We fell asleep that is all. The apparently traumatic cuddle is so integral to the episodes arc that the installment is literally called The One With The Nap Partners

I don't understand the problem with this. And I don't even like Friends lol. That show sucked.

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bevan306
04/13/21 10:03:50 PM
#22:


as a kid I saw an episode of becker with a transgender character, I remember it being pretty progressive for the time

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Hayame Zero
04/13/21 10:05:21 PM
#23:


Dakimakura posted...
"Not that there is anything wrong with that" might be the most progressive thing from the 90's.
Yeah, it won a GLAAD award I think. Jerry and George were insecure about people thinking they were gay, but the joke of them saying "not that there's anything wrong with" constantly wasn't just explicitly saying that to the audience, but also that they do think there's something wrong with that by saying it within the show to the characters. It's kind of brilliant.

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AlisLandale
04/13/21 10:07:26 PM
#24:


Captain_Qwark posted...
"Thing from [past year] doesn't have societal values of [current year], you should be upset!"

Its a Netflix psyop to devalue the brand so they can get the rights back

;P

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Darmik
04/13/21 10:09:10 PM
#25:


Hayame Zero posted...
The creation of Chandler was so interesting. He was intentionally written to be a gay character, and they played with the idea of having him come out and be the first recurring gay character on TV. But when they fell back on it, they kept the jokes about it. The co-creator (who was also gay) specifically told the writers "write it gay and play it straight".

Geez I wonder what would have happened if he came out of the closet halfway through the show.

I wonder if the reaction to Ellen's show convinced them it was a bad idea.

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Hayame Zero
04/13/21 10:12:26 PM
#26:


Darmik posted...
Geez I wonder what would have happened if he came out of the closet halfway through the show.

I wonder if the reaction to Ellen's show convinced them it was a bad idea.
Coincidentally, the original name of the show was Friends Like Us, but they changed it because there was another sitcom in development called These Friends of Mine...which was later renamed Ellen.

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Veggeta X
04/13/21 10:18:06 PM
#27:


@CyricZ Remember when you asked me how hard were people actually trying to demonize Friends? Here's your topic, buddy.

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CyricZ
04/13/21 10:28:49 PM
#28:


Cry.

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joe40001
04/13/21 10:29:51 PM
#29:


Oh shut up

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Frizzurd
04/14/21 2:25:50 AM
#30:


I even like The Big Bang Theory more than Friends.

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hockeybub89
04/14/21 2:33:01 AM
#32:


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Blade_Trinity
04/14/21 3:32:15 AM
#33:


white barret posted...
Lol classic woke topic


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UnfairRepresent
04/14/21 3:36:03 AM
#34:


Wait till you see the Married with Children episode where Gay Homer simpson turns up and Al prefers him to Peggy

Meanwhile Gay Homer's husbad steals peggy

Literally the last line of the episode is "He's a homo!"

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jumi
04/14/21 6:01:11 AM
#35:


UnfairRepresent posted...
Wait till you see the Married with Children episode where Gay Homer simpson turns up and Al prefers him to Peggy

Meanwhile Gay Homer's husbad steals peggy

Literally the last line of the episode is "He's a homo!"

Al was a dumbass anyway. Peggy was fine af.

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pistachio12
04/14/21 6:30:50 AM
#36:


YourLovelyTina posted...


tell me these two weren't doing it

Yeah this is problematic.

You're saying two straight men can't show emotion to each other like that unless they're secretly gay. Maybe we should encourage showing affection to all those around us and not reinforce the belief that love cannot exist between straight friends.
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LincolnDuncan
04/14/21 7:17:11 AM
#37:


Kisai posted...
Cancel Planes, Trains, and Automobiles.

His hand was just between some pillows!

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Veggeta X
04/14/21 7:19:31 AM
#38:


CyricZ posted...
Cry.
Such integrity.

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Antifar
04/14/21 7:29:26 AM
#40:


Yeah, I watch a lot of Frasier, which is from that same era, and it's very similar in this way. The whole character of Gil Chesterton, for example

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AlisLandale
04/14/21 7:37:27 AM
#41:


Antifar posted...
Yeah, I watch a lot of Frasier, which is from that same era, and it's very similar in this way. The whole character of Gil Chesterton, for example

To be fair, the joke with Gil is that hes out to everyone except himself. >_>

Other gay episodes like the one with Patrick Stewart or the old man who falls for Marty are usually a bit better about the issue.

...usually. <_<

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gatorsPENSbucs
04/14/21 7:40:13 AM
#42:


Those are some awful examples and is just nothing but reaching for something to be mad at.

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CyricZ
04/14/21 7:57:53 AM
#43:


Veggeta X posted...
Such integrity.
I'm just befuddled how you think this is a gotcha.

Did it not occur to you that, instead of hanging onto this for weeks, you could have easily found this article yourself, since it's from 2019? You could have had your moment then. It turns up 4th on Google search.

The whole point of me challenging you to find that was for you to actually read some of the critique that was posted, and not just living in your head where everyone's sooo unfairly against the show you like.

Like honestly, who spends their time going to bat for "Neurotic White People in NYC with Impossible Living Conditions" the TV Show?

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KiwiTerraRizing
04/14/21 7:59:37 AM
#44:


Im gonna need more than 3 examples from a 10 season show

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RaulJenkins
04/14/21 8:00:49 AM
#45:


Get the time machine ready

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CloudThunder
04/14/21 8:06:19 AM
#46:


ok.
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DoubleDare
04/14/21 8:12:23 AM
#47:


I'm in my Mid 30s, I'm always going to enjoy the stuff I watched back then regardless of what society deems not acceptable anymore.

With that said, I never watched Friends cause it just didn't look that funny.
Seinfeld was wayyy superior.

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Doom_Art
04/14/21 8:26:36 AM
#48:


In the two main instances they mentioned in that article, the show goes out of its way to show that both characters are in the wrong.

Chandler's homophobia stems from his traumatic experience with his parents divorce, which was caused by his father's hidden homosexuality. The show makes it pretty clear that the way he acts is rooted in that and isn't healthy.

Every character in the show pretty much calls Ross an irrational dick for having a problem with the male nanny too.

Bonus: Absolutely nothing wrong or homophobic about Ross and Joey falling asleep together cuddling and being freaked out by it.

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MSCMC
04/14/21 8:29:01 AM
#49:


YourLovelyTina posted...
In perhaps the most on-the-nose depiction of its tendency toward gay panic for cheap laughs, Joey and Ross freak out in the seventh season of Friends after they accidentally fall asleep together on the couch. What happened? Ross screams, before insisting: We fell asleep that is all. The apparently traumatic cuddle is so integral to the episodes arc that the installment is literally called The One With The Nap Partners.
sounds like they're making fun of insecure straight guys tbh but of course that's how i perceive in 2021 not in the 90s

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zado19
04/14/21 8:44:33 AM
#50:


Hayame Zero posted...
I'm watching Seinfeld, and there's some objectionable stuff. Not so much homophobic stuff (even though they clearly were in the "not that there's anything wrong with that" episode, but they were supposed to be homophobic), but the one where they check out a 15-year-old's cleavage is the only one that's actually made me uncomfortable.
You should try watching that episode, but with your brain turned ON. That is one of their best episodes.... there is plenty of questionable stuff in that show for todays standards, but this isnt one of them. Watch a random episode of Seinfeld and look at the extras, or the random guest characters that show up, then do the same with Friends, and see what you notice...
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Hayame Zero
04/14/21 11:01:32 AM
#51:


zado19 posted...
You should try watching that episode, but with your brain turned ON. That is one of their best episodes.... there is plenty of questionable stuff in that show for todays standards, but this isnt one of them. Watch a random episode of Seinfeld and look at the extras, or the random guest characters that show up, then do the same with Friends, and see what you notice...
It is a good episode, but that doesn't mean it isn't questionable. Jerry telling Ellaine that glancing at cleavage is just natural and uncontrollable with men is one thing, but literally saying a girl's age doesn't factor into it when the character was 15 isn't a great look (especially knowing Jerry Seinfeld dated an underaged girl when he was in his 30s.)

He even nudges George to check her out when she bends down.

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