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

[Starlit 68]

1 hour ago, 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.

Sadly people fail to see this wasn’t a thought-provoking question about culture. This was a preppy journalist with no integrity virtu-signalling to a “woke” audience to score points. People are being played constantly and they buy into it. 

[Gaga2645 2,027]

this forum is still so whitewashed and gross 

[Bolkins 4,000]

Honestly I don’t think anyone gave a **** back then. Someone else mentioned it but there were so many hilarious black sitcoms back then, and black comedy in the 90s/00s was probably the greatest period ever for live comedy and film. To assume people were butt hurt that Friends wasn’t being representative is like ignoring all other amazing things that came out of that time from POC, and also that Friends was superior in some way. People are so dumb these days it’s annoying af. 

Also, the gays got will and grace eventually. 

[Ivy 11,183]

If she was to say she has regrets on the casting it would be like saying she would get rid of one of the actors they chose so I can see she will not want to be saying this during a celebration with the main cast.. 

[monsterdino 31,855]

10 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

what's the point of this comment lmfao 

[PunkTheFunk 122,452]

The show is simply a product of its time. As it says in the article, the show would look a lot different if it was made today and that's what matters.

[TEANUS 11,461]

Don’t y’all understand how so many of these “conversations” (aka ‘who has the “better” micro aggressions’) are just pointless roundabout pissing contests? There’s so many valuable and important conversations  going on today regarding Israel and Palestine, actual modern Black issues, the LGBTQ+ community, international humanity crimes, etc., and instead people choose to argue over whether old shows and books are “woke” enough to meet today’s PC standards. Shame on the journalist for asking this (basically, were any of the characters/ actors disposable enough for the sake of meeting an invisible criteria set two decades later?) while the cast and crew should just be celebrating being involved with such an iconic show 

[Zeth 917]

1 minute ago, TEANUS said:

Don’t y’all understand how so many of these “conversations” (aka ‘who has the “better” micro aggressions’) are just pointless roundabout pissing contests? There’s so many valuable and important conversations  going on today regarding Israel and Palestine, actual modern Black issues, the LGBTQ+ community, international humanity crimes, etc., and instead people choose to argue over whether old shows and books are “woke” enough to meet today’s PC standards. Shame on the journalist for asking this (basically, were any of the characters/ actors disposable enough for the sake of meeting an invisible criteria set two decades later?) while the cast and crew should just be celebrating being involved with such an iconic show 

Yeah, I feel like it was so inappropriate to bring up a question like that to the producer on what is a time of celebration for the show. The constant desire of some to force a view of the world in a racial lens at every single moment is redundant and does nothing for anyone. 

[Chromatica Island 8,491]

This "woke" stuff needs to end already, there are actual serious race issues out in the real world and it needs to stop, not in some '90's sitcom

[Bio 23,538]

This thread should be closed. The amount of microagressions in this thread is far too much. And I know people will not get cold waffles.

[FrederickSpears 2,029]

He isn't wrong. The cast was MAGIC and cast perfectly. Not everything needs to be about race.

[lilboyblue 2,331]

9 hours ago, Justin Drew Bieber said:

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

That was not a direct quote from the creators. That was just how the article was written. In fact:

Both agreed that the pilot episode would be unrecognizable if it were written today, with Bright noting that the "racial makeup" of the cast would most likely be very different.

"So much would change, but to get them to behave realistically within this time, there would be a lot that would change about them," he added. "And the racial makeup of them would change because of that. If we did Friends today, no, I don't imagine they would probably end up being an all-white cast."

Kauffman simply said: "You couldn't write that pilot today. You couldn't do it. They'd all be sitting on their phones."

[InstantDejavu 571]

Imagine a black pheobe, an asian Joey, a lesbian monica and rachel, ...

Sigh. The hit show that got away.

[RenegAde 16,846]

10 hours 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.

People are much more than their sexuality . People don't have to be of the same sexual orientation or even the same race for you to be able to identify with them. Same thing for fictional characters 

[Flawless 2,092]

It's a shame that in a Gaga forum we have so many poor discussions about race, gender, and another important issues. really a shame