'Friends' producer doesn’t regret all-white cast

[ThisGuyTony 23,649]

*When asked if casting "all-white, heteronormative" actors for the main roles was a conscious choice, Bright (an executive producer and director for the show) explained that it wasn't intentional, but that the chemistry of the cast spoke for itself.[/quote]

[FameMonster01 6,667]

Everyone was perfectly casted 

[Helxig 39,552]

It was the f.ucking 90's jesus christ 

These conversations about inclusivity and diversity didn't even start happening in the mainstream until the 2010's

[ChicaSkas 21,081]

It was years before anyone was conscious enough to make it more inclusive. It's like rewriting Gone With The Wind to be culturally normative now ,---- it's a product of it's time and we can't retro engineer it to be pleasing to all now. 

[ChicaSkas 21,081]

3 minutes ago, FameMonster01 said:

Everyone was perfectly casted 

I've never seen an episode until last night but I'll take your word for it. The theme song was everywhere when I was growing up though. 

[vinster13 3,545]

That shows seems like a snooze fest tbh

[Serial Chiller 8,044]

I mean wasn't there an all-black cast sitcom with very similar premises called "Living Single" way before Friends? 

I guess somebody gotta make it palatable to the ... ahem... suburban folks. 

[Galagala 4,443]

Let FRIENDS have their moment. Not this dumb "political examination" again...

[GagaSine 7,464]

Honestly I always hated this show, but this seems like a weird question to ask. 

[Chromatography 9,533]

i mean, white heteronormative friend groups exist. what even is this question/complaint 

[River 91,020]

Of course they could do better, but you had the time to complain 27 years ago.... and you missed it.

[littlepotter 72,871]

Girl..

[Oriane 18,987]

The problem wasn't that the main cast was white, that was credible. It's more that there were not many POC secondary characters or even small characters, extras, people in the background etc, which is not so realistic.

[LastNight 4,116]

I don't really understand the point of asking these questions all this time later. It happened and whatever they say won't change things, and whichever way he answers will be taken badly. Should a show about 20-somethings living in NYC have been more diverse? Yeah of course, but it's too easy to look back from our current perspective and point that out - instead, it can be used as a lesson to be conscious of these things moving forward on new shows.

Looking back at past oversights and having the distance and perspective to see how something like racial bias played a role in the casting of a show like Friends is how popular culture is able to change. It's only in the last year that awareness of this type of thing has really grabbed hold of the mainstream consciousness in a major way. It doesn't mean it was right to only cast white people back then, but it's also unfair to hold it to our new standard. Particularly when millions of people are only really just beginning to unpack systemic racism and how deeply ingrained in our society it is, to the point where it didn't even cross the creators mind at the time that the cast was all white, let alone that that might be problematic. It's not right that so many of us are only waking up to this now, but it's also the reality - this is where we're at, let's do better going forward.

It's why I'm glad they didn't talk about some of the jokes and gags that haven't aged well during the reunion episode. Saying "it was the 90s!" isn't an excuse at all, but it's also not an irrelevant point - everything is the product of it's current social and cultural context, including what we're making and watching now.

[BleepBloop 10,191]

this is SO random