Jennifer Aniston has spoken out about the controversy surrounding the iconic TV show Friends.
She says there’s a whole generation that now finds the show offensive.
The television series Friends, which starred Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer, Matthew Perry, and Matt LeBlanc, followed six friends as they navigated love and life in New York for ten seasons from 1994 to 2004.
While it was a hit at the time, in recent years, some have called out the show for being a little problematic.
Co-creator and executive producer Marta Kauffman spoke on the sitcom’s long-standing criticism for its lack of diversity during the ATX TV Festival back in 2021.
“It was, to a certain extent, a product of the time period and of my own ignorance,” Kauffman said. “There were Black shows and there were white shows. There weren’t a lot of shows that were interracial. I wish I knew then what I knew today. I would have made very different decisions. We’ve always encouraged people of diversity in our company, but I didn’t do enough.”
And now, Jennifer Aniston has entered the debate about cancel culture and how the show has aged.
“There’s a whole generation of people, kids, who are now going back to episodes of Friends and find them offensive,” she said to AFP.
“There were things that were never intentional and others… well, we should have thought it through – but I don’t think there was a sensitivity like there is now.”
“Now, it’s a little tricky because you have to be very careful, which makes it really hard for comedians, because the beauty of comedy is that we make fun of ourselves, make fun of life.”
“You could joke about a bigot and have a laugh – that was hysterical. And it was about educating people on how ridiculous people were,” she said. “And now we’re not allowed to do that. Everybody needs funny! The world needs humour!”
“We can’t take ourselves too seriously. Especially in the United States. Everyone is far too divided,” she concluded.
And it seems people have a lot to say about the issue…
“No old sitcom ever truly ages well. The Honeymooners and I Love Lucy had husbands who threatened physical violence on their wives (and actually spanked them); often the women were stay-at-home wives and moms lacking credibility and respect. I just saw an episode of Cheers where Rebecca pretended to be dating Sam because the new owner was sexually harassing her and asking her to marry him ffs. They shouldn’t be taken as anything more than a product of their time and put into perspective,” wrote one fan.
“Nothing offensive at all but what is TRULY offensive is this generation of crybabies who honestly believe the world should stop if they get offended or have hurt feelings by something. Truth Time: NO ONE CARES IF YOUR FEELINGS ARE HURT OR YOU ARE OFFENDED. Grow up.” added another.
What do you think, has the show aged well, or does it need to be canceled?
