Jennifer Aniston: ‘Friends’ Is Offensive To Younger Generation
Jennifer Aniston shockingly admits that Friends doesn’t hold up in 2023. While promoting her new movie Murder Mystery 2, Aniston admitted that things that were received as funny during the iconic sitcom’s run in the late ’90s/early 2000s aren’t seen as funny now.
Per People, Aniston, 54, said, “There’s a whole generation of people, kids, who are now going back to episodes of Friends and find them offensive. 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.”
The actress said things have “evolved” in the comedy world and in movies, so there is a shorter list of what can be joked about in recent years. Aniston added, “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.”
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Aniston said that in previous comedies, “you could joke about a bigot” and audiences would “have a laugh” at how “ridiculous people were” and find it “hysterical.” Now, “we’re not allowed to do that,” she explained.
On Twitter, folks begged to differ. One person wrote, “Friends is literally the most milquetoast comedy that’s now the go to personality of every boring person on a dating app so what is she talking about?” While another said, “the only thing offensive about this wack a–s show is that it’s not funny.”
Another sarcastically said, “So true! When Phoebe sings ‘smelly cat’ I immediately turn my tv off and start sobbing, my feelings so hurt by how edgy those lines are.” Meanwhile, one person wrote, “I just want to double-check my notes. This was the series where they spent a whole episode about Joey being unable to learn even one word of French, right? Look, I love Friends. Grew up with it. It receives its fair share of criticism, but a whole generation hating it? Naw.”
I just want to double-check my notes. This was the series where they spent a whole episode about Joey being unable to learn even one word of French, right?
— Courtney Lanning (@CourtneyMovies) March 29, 2023
Look, I love Friends. Grew up with it. It receives its fair share of criticism, but a whole generation hating it? Naw.
One person said, “I don’t think I’ve ever willingly watched an episode of Friends. And that’s not because it’s offensive it’s because it’s a boring and unseasoned version Living Single.” While another person thought that “people are more offended that there are like 3 people of color in the entire ten seasons.”
“Celebrities of all kinds need to stop pretending that a small group of people being mad at them on Twitter for brief periods of time is some kind of systemic disadvantage that prevents them from doing what they want. They earn tens of millions every year in Friends residuals,” slammed another.
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