Friends Flashcards
who was friends produced by?
warner brothers tv
where has friends been distributed?
NBC, Comedy Central, Channel 4, Netflix
When was the pilot released?
in america it was realeased in 1994 and in the uk 1995
what is the general representation?
Friends is reflective of America in the 90s. The characters have a carefree attitude which is reflective of a pre-9/11 society
how is masculinity represented?
representation of masculinity is less traditionalism reflects ‘the new man’ also known as the metrosexual man which developed in 1994 - a man who is more in touch with their emotions and care about their appearance
what class is reflected?
Friends is only reflective of middle-class America as all the characters are from the same social class
how is rachel represented as a woman?
Rachel can be seen as the stereotypical female as she is attractive and can be seen to be financially reliant on men in the first episode e.g. her father and her husband to-be
how is monica represented as a woman?
monica can be seen as a stereotype in some ways as she seems maternal and cares for the others like ross and rachel in pilot.
How is phoebe represented as a woman?
phoebe can be seen as a stereotype of a hippie during the 90s period as she is interested in spiritual practices and dresses in a quirky way. she does not suit the stereotype of a woman as she doesn’t seem to care about her appearance and she doesn’t rely men to be happy
how is Joey represented as a man?
stereotypical man as he is shown to be hyper masculine through the choice of his costume including a black leather jacket and he is interested in women and impressing women. this could be an intertextual ref to Grease as reflected by his choice of clothing and his slick personality
how is Ross represented as a man?
he can be seen as a metrosexual man as he is very in touch with his emotions for example where he describes that he is hurt after his wife has moved out
how is Chandler represented as a man?
can also be seen as a metrosexual man as he engages with women in the narrative as easily as the man and shows an interest in others emotions
how does friends fit the common conventions of its sitcom genre?
it is all set in one location e.g. New York, Monica’s Flat.
the characters remain the same throughout the whole series.
The episodes remain short 22-24 minutes
What are some common things of American sitcoms?
they have a team of writers, season of 24 episodes, high budgets
