From Classic to Crass-ic: Iconic Friends Episode That Didn't Age Well At All
The world is constantly changing. And so is society. No wonder there's such a thing as the generation gap.
From everyday misunderstanding to re-evaluation of art and pop-culture, societal change is all around and makes us see things differently from what we saw them, say, twenty years ago.
This may well be the case for the classic sitcom Friends.
While it still retains its overall popularity, there are features that don't stand a chance with modern society. In episode 11 of season 10 there was a moment when Ross stormed into Monica's apartment to tell her that Chandler had kissed Rachel many years ago at a college party.
His problem was that he had had his first kiss with Rachel that night too. As the conversation between Ross, Monica, and Chandler progressed, it turned out to be unconsciously sleeping in a pile of clothes Monica whom Ross had kissed back then.
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While it presented a comic situation of an accidental incestuous kiss between a brother and a sister, it was unethical for a different reason. Ross hadn't had anybody's consent to kiss them. He had unsolicitedly kissed a sleeping person who later funnily enough turned out to be his sister.
Moreover, as Monica said, it had been her first kiss ever of which Ross had robbed her. This simply won't pass by modern standards.
"Can we please talk about how weird and creepy that whole thing is? Not the obvious part about how Ross kissed his sister, but the part about how he was under the impression that he was kissing Rachel, while she was passed out drunk? And treats it like it's this super special cherished memory?" wrote Redditor cungryhunt.
Sure, it was a sitcom moment, but nonetheless, it was a breach of Monica's and potentially Rachel's rights. Morals change and today that scene wouldn't be as welcome, raising many questions about consent, sexual harassment, personal dignity, and so on. The show's fans agree that it definitely wasn't the best moment for Ross. But they also say that Friends made fun of similar occasions many times. For instance, in one episode Joey and Ross were dying to leave Monica for Janine's party where there supposedly were drunken women.
Anyway, there's no escaping that unpleasant moment. Even feeling a bit uptight about the whole situation, we can't help smiling at the comicality of that classic Friends moment.