Golden oldie: Friends is teens favourite show

Friends is one of the best loved sitcoms of all time. After its recent release on Netflix, a new generation has fallen in love with the show.

However, not everyone is a fan of the show — in fact, some have labelled it as simply offensive.

Launched in 1994, the series follows Monica, Chandler, Rachel, Ross, Phoebe and Joey, as they navigate early adulthood in New York City. They are all white, straight and well off. But this has fuelled claims of a lack of diversity.

Then there are the jokes. In the very first episode, Ross’s marriage has broken down because his wife is a lesbian — a recurring source of humour. For journalist Rebecca Reid this amounts to “staggering” homophobia.

Furthermore, jokes about Chandler’s transgender father, Charles (or Helena), have led to accusations of transphobia. And Monica is repeatedly teased for being overweight — one Twitter user claiming that this is fat-shaming.

But some think this criticism has gone too far. Hugo Rifkind has called the outcry “desperation to see a flaw in anything.”

Controversy like this has a long history. William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice has been called “profoundly anti-Semitic” due to its portrayal of Shylock, a Jewish moneylender.

Is it wrong to watch Friends?

Friends no more

Of course not, some say. It is a product of its time and a great way to judge how society has changed. Furthermore, the squeamish homophobia of Ross or Joey’s juvenile sexism is played to make the characters themselves look ridiculous, helping to undermine similar prejudices that still persist in society.

It should be avoided, others respond. Life tends to imitate art. And a show that gleefully makes fun of gay, transgender and overweight people is hardly going to send out positive messages.