It’s one thing to be young, single, and carefree in the city and drawn to a show that purports to be a reflection of your life, or, at least, some fantasy of how you’d like your life to be. It’s quite another to be drawn to a show that’s a reflection, or a fantasy, of what life used to be like for a bunch of carefree 20-somethings 20 years ago. Because if the allure of the show is, on a basic level, all about wish-fulfillment, well, what exactly is the wish that’s currently being fulfilled?I was 21 when the show started. I recall sitting in the common room at GW University when I first saw ads for Friends:
Anywho, that promo is sooooo Generation X, Snarky, ironic, irreverent, unsure of itself. The whole spot is a parody of edgy cologne and perfume commercials. We learned it in the 80's.
Look, when your raised by people who can't shut up about their youth and take it all way too seriously, 1980's MTV makes perfect sense.
I liked Friends for the first few years. No one had ever really made a show about Generation X, and I think it had something to say. After the whole Ross and Rachel drama I thought Friends got pretty stupid. My wife stuck with the show right through the end.
Just writing that sentence took me back to 1996 (why was a wearing jean shorts?).
Young people today love Friends. To each there own. My generation was obsessed with The Brady Bunch. I know people who've seen every episode a hundred times, have read all the books, etc etc. It was a little perfect world in a time of high divorce, kidnappings and looming Armageddon.
Look, a bunch of young people sitting around, no phones, no downloads, no Tinder, no Snapchat, etc etc. No online social pressure whatsoever. It's a nice, safe little fantasy world. And remember, that's Rudy Giuliani's Manhattan, so no muggers or bums either. Take a ride through the city lately?
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