Video: Was ‘Friends’ Homophobic?

Here at Flavorpill, we’ve often made the argument that Friends was not a good show, despite its popularity. But was it also homophobic? A Vimeo user who goes by the handle WayDownEast thinks so, and has made a 50-minute compilation of the sitcom’s most questionable moments, from the running gag about Joey and Chandler living together (and hugging) to the constant jokes about Ross’s lesbian ex-wife, Carol. Looking back, it’s amazing that so much of show’s humor revolved around homoeroticism and/or LGBT stereotypes — although, to be fair, it’s difficult to argue that Friends was intentionally homophobic when it also weathered a great deal of controversy over an episode where Carol marries her partner, and many of the clips included never cross the fine line between equal-opportunity humor and bigotry. Watch the video after the jump and let us know whether you think the show was truly homophobic or simply suffered from lazy writing in the comments.


[via Dangerous Minds]

Filed Under:

Post comment as twitter logo facebook logo
Sort: Newest | Oldest

The writing on Friends was not only lazy, but they also ripped off countless other shows. The most ridiulously obvious was the episode where Monica and then later Joey? Maybe? had the turkey on their head. This was a blatant rip off of Mr. Bean.

I can't believe that such a ridiculous article has been written. Why on earth people would try and search for reasons to be offended in a light hearted comedy programme like Friends is just beyond my understanding. I don't know how long it took for this woman to create this compilation video, but I think maybe her time could have been better spent doing, oh I don't know, ANYTHING. If you have no sense of humour, then it would be wise to simply ignore the comedy genre altogether.

It definitely doesn't seem like the show was intentionally going after stereotypes or anything like that. In a situation where two male friends are living together, it's pretty easy to go for jokes centered on homosexuality and the same goes for a situation where a man loses his wife to another woman. The show set itself up for situations where it was easy to make jokes that could be considered homophobic, but I don't think it ever actually was. As you said, I'm sure it's just an example of laziness from the writers as opposed to the show actually being homophobic. It was easy, not inflammatory.

There have been and still are countless shows which feature negative portrayals of GLBTs. Much of the time the gags are in jest, and issues which are much more controversial and potentially offensive are evidently exploited for humour. In regards to Friends specifically, the gags which feature are no worse than any other shows which have aired over the years. Comedy is rarely politically correct, and Friends is no exception.