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

[Franch Toast 25,293]

49 minutes ago, Starlit said:

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, The Famous Jett-Jackson, The Proud Family, Smart Guy, Kenan and Kel,  The Steve Harvey Show, Sister Sister, Family Matters, Whats Happening!!, The Jamie Fox Show, Hangin' With Mr Cooper, Diff'rent Strokes, Roc, The Wayans Bros, Moesha, 227, The Bernie Mac Show, Everybody Hates Chris, Julia, Girlfiends, Goodtimes, The Cosby Kids, The Jeffersons, Living Single, Sandord and Son, Martin, A Different World, The Cosby Show, One on One, The Parkers... the list of all black sitcoms is truly endless, and many of these shows existed way before Friends. 

Unfortunately many “woke” SJWs are too young to remember a time when we weren’t as integrated. Black people had their shows, white people had theirs. It made sense culturally and no, not just to pander to “suburban folk.” You can’t generalise an entire race of people like that. For instance, I know many kids who related to Phoebe’s story of homelessness and her relationship with her mother. Why shouldn’t that 90s kid be represented just because they’re white? Their race doesn’t make them suburban. This is reductive virtue-signalling. 

Times were very different back then. White people wouldn’t have identified with those black sit coms and vice versa, and no, not because they wouldn’t be able to relate to the impoverished and victimised black community, but because they simply wouldn’t have understood the humour and cultural references! 

I’m so tired of people acting righteous simply because they were born in a time of cultural enlightenment. 200 years ago you very well may have been a racist and I wouldn’t blame you for it. I would blame the public brainwashing and subconscious programming. 

I'm white, and some of my favorite shows when I was young were Cosby, A Different World (I so wanted to be Denise), 227, The Jeffersons, Fresh Prince, Family Matters, Different Strokes, etc. (I watched a lot of them in syndication.) 

12 minutes ago, gypsy101 said:

1 weird thing I noticed in the reunion is there were several gays that were like "omg i loved this show it made me feel at home" when there were literally no gay characters on the show whatsoever, in NYC in the 90s which was as ridiculous as there being almost no ethnically diverse people.

i loved the show personally but yeah it was super non-diverse. the casting of the main 6 was genius though, they ate those chatacters tbh

Susan and Carol say hi, and wasn't Chandler's dad gay? 

But I agree, it felt inauthentic not to at least have more POC in the backdrop; same with Sex and the City. 

[Jose P 23,341]

17 minutes ago, gypsy101 said:

1 weird thing I noticed in the reunion is there were several gays that were like "omg i loved this show it made me feel at home" when there were literally no gay characters on the show whatsoever, in NYC in the 90s which was as ridiculous as there being almost no ethnically diverse people.

i loved the show personally but yeah it was super non-diverse. the casting of the main 6 was genius though, they ate those chatacters tbh

Wasn’t there literally a whole ass episode dedicated to a lesbian wedding? Not only that, but it was actually represented in a good way, not as a joke. It’s true that several jokes on the show didn’t age well but for the most part it was pretty progressive for its time.

[lilboyblue 2,112]

8 minutes ago, gypsy101 said:

1 weird thing I noticed in the reunion is there were several gays that were like "omg i loved this show it made me feel at home" when there were literally no gay characters on the show whatsoever, in NYC in the 90s which was as ridiculous as there being almost no ethnically diverse people.

i loved the show personally but yeah it was super non-diverse. the casting of the main 6 was genius though, they ate those chatacters tbh

Wasn't Carol gay?

But anyway, I guess that's a testament also to the chemistry of the ensemble and the writing of the show, and how universal the stories were. I related to those testimonials in the reunion because as a non-white gay man, I have always found comfort in the show. I may not have seen someone looking like me physically on-screen, but I saw myself and my friends in every one of those characters.

[Justin Drew Bieber 25,317]

I agree about the cast being perfect, but someone saying “I don’t regret casting only whites” feels off putting in 2021

[JusKeepBreathin 19,311]

5 hours ago, Helxig said:

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

Wrong, Fox took on giving black sitcoms a home. Living Single and Martin were both opposite Friends at some point. 

My problem with Friends is this

5 hours ago, Oriane said:

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.

It was NY and they never showed one black, latino or asian person even in the background. 

[Agunimon 20,414]

1 hour ago, Starlit said:

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, The Famous Jett-Jackson, The Proud Family, Smart Guy, Kenan and Kel,  The Steve Harvey Show, Sister Sister, Family Matters, Whats Happening!!, The Jamie Fox Show, Hangin' With Mr Cooper, Diff'rent Strokes, Roc, The Wayans Bros, Moesha, 227, The Bernie Mac Show, Everybody Hates Chris, Julia, Girlfiends, Goodtimes, The Cosby Kids, The Jeffersons, Living Single, Sandord and Son, Martin, A Different World, The Cosby Show, One on One, The Parkers... the list of all black sitcoms is truly endless, and many of these shows existed way before Friends. 

Unfortunately many “woke” SJWs are too young to remember a time when we weren’t as integrated. Black people had their shows, white people had theirs. It made sense culturally and no, not just to pander to “suburban folk.” You can’t generalise an entire race of people like that. For instance, I know many kids who related to Phoebe’s story of homelessness and her relationship with her mother. Why shouldn’t that 90s kid be represented just because they’re white? Their race doesn’t make them suburban. This is reductive virtue-signalling. 

Times were very different back then. White people wouldn’t have identified with those black sit coms and vice versa, and no, not because they wouldn’t be able to relate to the impoverished and victimised black community, but because they simply wouldn’t have understood the humour and cultural references! 

I’m so tired of people acting righteous simply because they were born in a time of cultural enlightenment. 200 years ago you very well may have been a racist and I wouldn’t blame you for it. I would blame the public brainwashing and subconscious programming. 

So true.

Underlined are classics.

Dunno why someone LMAO'd this.

[Chromatican 4,046]

The people using “the 90s” as an excuse seem so tone deaf. Aisha Tyler, one of the few black actresses who appeared on F•R•I•E•N•D•S didn’t exactly have glowing words about her experience and it’s been an open secret that the concept was “borrowed” from Living Single’s premise. Not to mention writers from F•R•I•E•N•D•S have been sued for sexual harassment.

[gypsy101 5,423]

1 hour ago, Jose P said:

Wasn’t there literally a whole ass episode dedicated to a lesbian wedding? Not only that, but it was actually represented in a good way, not as a joke. It’s true that several jokes on the show didn’t age well but for the most part it was pretty progressive for its time.

…aside from Carol Bunch and her wife there were no gays. their treatment of the lesbian characters in general wasn’t great.

it’s been a decade since i sat down and watched the show i’m not gonna lie so they slipped my mind lol

1 hour ago, Franch Toast said:

Susan and Carol say hi, and wasn't Chandler's dad gay? 

But I agree, it felt inauthentic not to at least have more POC in the backdrop; same with Sex and the City. 

what they did with Chandler’s dad was a hot damn mess, like was he supposed to be a trans woman? the character was played by a woman (the legendary Kathleen Turner) so that whole thing was very strange 

[Chromatican 4,046]

1 minute ago, gypsy101 said:

…aside from Carol Bunch and her wife there were no gays. their treatment of the lesbian characters in general wasn’t great.

it’s been a decade since i sat down and watched the show i’m not gonna lie so they slipped my mind lol

what they did with Chandler’s dad was a hot damn mess, like was he supposed to be a trans woman? the character was played by a woman (the legendary Kathleen Turner) so that whole thing was very strange 

I’ve been reading retrospectives on the show lately and watching clips, and it is NOT progressive in the least. Even The Nanny, Golden Girls and Roseanne tackled gay topics better than F•R•I•E•N•D•S. 

[Franch Toast 25,293]

5 minutes ago, gypsy101 said:

…aside from Carol Bunch and her wife there were no gays. their treatment of the lesbian characters in general wasn’t great.

it’s been a decade since i sat down and watched the show i’m not gonna lie so they slipped my mind lol

what they did with Chandler’s dad was a hot damn mess, like was he supposed to be a trans woman? the character was played by a woman (the legendary Kathleen Turner) so that whole thing was very strange 

I agree that Chandler's dad was a mess. I have no idea whether he was supposed to be a transwoman. It was bizarre indeed. 

And I didn't mention Carol and Susan because I thought they were proof of great representation, but I didn't want to forget them. 

[Benji 20,113]

I wonder if journalists and woke commentators realise they push your average person far more to the right by making every damn thing about race, sexuality and gender all the time.  Labelling everything enjoyable as problematic makes people stop caring for their cause completely.

[Chromatican 4,046]

Just now, Benji said:

I wonder if journalists and woke commentators realise they push your average person far more to the right by making every damn thing about race, sexuality and gender all the time.  Labelling everything enjoyable as problematic makes people stop caring for their cause completely.

If critiquing a corny 90s sitcom is going to turn you to the alt right you’re too far gone to begin with. 

[Benji 20,113]

Just now, Chromatican said:

If critiquing a corny 90s sitcom is going to turn you to the alt right you’re too far gone to begin with. 

No, not the “alt right” its not that extreme.  There’s a huge spectrum between woke and alt right, saying anyone who doesn’t care about race in a 90’s sitcom belongs to the alt right is exactly what pushes people right lmaooo

[KORG 4,756]

Casting based on merit rather than filling a STUPID quota? Shock.

[Chromatican 4,046]

28 minutes ago, KORG said:

Casting based on merit rather than filling a STUPID quota? Shock.

Jennifer Aniston being hired on merit? I have to laugh.