Saturday, May 17, 2003
The one about Friends.
There are so many things about Friends that doesn't make sense. Such as: what happened to Phoebe's brother, his wife and the triplets to whom Phoebe gave birth?
How did Rachel manage to become so fit so quickly after having a child?
Where is Ross' son Ben?
And on it goes.
Monica and Rachel are too thin.
Phoebe never gets to keep a man - is that because she's not as thin as the other two?
Chandler is cute but shouldn't emote too much...too much of a stretch?
Yes, I know it's not real and that the characters do not exist and that the point of the show is to present young, attractive people having, well, fun. But still.
And what is the deal with the name? Did they think that people would appreciate the plainness of it? That we would think that it is great and unpretentious? Now, 'Six Feet Under' is a good name. It indicates the subject matter but not in an obvious way.
Anyway, I love Friends. I enjoy it so much that I watch it EVERY week. Plus reruns, if possible. I don't know exactly what the appeal is, except that it has to do with the young, attractive people having fun. It is amazing that a show which basically repeats its story-lines year after year (Ross getting married, the girls being pursued by men and subsequently dumping them) can keep my attention. I guess by now reality has imposed itself on the show and the viewer's knowledge of the actors' private lives is intertwined with the action of the show, so when Monica and Chandler are trying for a baby, the viewer ponders the latest rumours from Courtney Cox Arquette's life: is she or isn't she? And then there is the Brad Pitt-connection: he's so fit and she's married to him and she's so pretty and I wonder what they do in their spare time? I think that what is so nice about Friends is that is it really, really reassuring. They do everything together. They are more family than family. Even though the characters have disagreements, they never stop being friends. They never loose touch or start hating each other. Even when they break up with each other they can still joke about it.
In Friends there is no real pain.
The reason for all this is that the Divine Ms Maj and I are going to see a play starring Matthew Perry later today. After having spend the autumn revelling in the deeper emotions of Shakespeare and Chekhov, I thought David Mamet would be appropriate. Sexual Perversity in Chicago. I remember the 80'ies film with Rob Lowe and Demi Moore, which I liked, mainly because of Elizabeth Perkins, although it didn't strike me as being particularly profound. Actually, it was probably a kind of Friends on the big screen. I do feel a bit cynical towards the cast, but I guess they're used to it - it kind of comes with the territory when you make x million pounds per episode. (I don't remember how many it is but I'm sure it could buy me several houses, not to mention special edition Mac lipsticks.)
It's probably a good thing that there won't be any more episodes. I may have to go cold turkey, but it sure beats getting in and out of rehab over and over again. And if everything else fails, I'm sure that the cast will turn up in endless West End performances, trying to prove themselves. So far only Lisa Kudrow has managed to impress me sufficiently, but Rock Star was kind of sweet and I've still got to see The Good Girl. Next year: Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer emoting teenage-angst in This is Our Youth?
There are so many things about Friends that doesn't make sense. Such as: what happened to Phoebe's brother, his wife and the triplets to whom Phoebe gave birth?
How did Rachel manage to become so fit so quickly after having a child?
Where is Ross' son Ben?
And on it goes.
Monica and Rachel are too thin.
Phoebe never gets to keep a man - is that because she's not as thin as the other two?
Chandler is cute but shouldn't emote too much...too much of a stretch?
Yes, I know it's not real and that the characters do not exist and that the point of the show is to present young, attractive people having, well, fun. But still.
And what is the deal with the name? Did they think that people would appreciate the plainness of it? That we would think that it is great and unpretentious? Now, 'Six Feet Under' is a good name. It indicates the subject matter but not in an obvious way.
Anyway, I love Friends. I enjoy it so much that I watch it EVERY week. Plus reruns, if possible. I don't know exactly what the appeal is, except that it has to do with the young, attractive people having fun. It is amazing that a show which basically repeats its story-lines year after year (Ross getting married, the girls being pursued by men and subsequently dumping them) can keep my attention. I guess by now reality has imposed itself on the show and the viewer's knowledge of the actors' private lives is intertwined with the action of the show, so when Monica and Chandler are trying for a baby, the viewer ponders the latest rumours from Courtney Cox Arquette's life: is she or isn't she? And then there is the Brad Pitt-connection: he's so fit and she's married to him and she's so pretty and I wonder what they do in their spare time? I think that what is so nice about Friends is that is it really, really reassuring. They do everything together. They are more family than family. Even though the characters have disagreements, they never stop being friends. They never loose touch or start hating each other. Even when they break up with each other they can still joke about it.
In Friends there is no real pain.
The reason for all this is that the Divine Ms Maj and I are going to see a play starring Matthew Perry later today. After having spend the autumn revelling in the deeper emotions of Shakespeare and Chekhov, I thought David Mamet would be appropriate. Sexual Perversity in Chicago. I remember the 80'ies film with Rob Lowe and Demi Moore, which I liked, mainly because of Elizabeth Perkins, although it didn't strike me as being particularly profound. Actually, it was probably a kind of Friends on the big screen. I do feel a bit cynical towards the cast, but I guess they're used to it - it kind of comes with the territory when you make x million pounds per episode. (I don't remember how many it is but I'm sure it could buy me several houses, not to mention special edition Mac lipsticks.)
It's probably a good thing that there won't be any more episodes. I may have to go cold turkey, but it sure beats getting in and out of rehab over and over again. And if everything else fails, I'm sure that the cast will turn up in endless West End performances, trying to prove themselves. So far only Lisa Kudrow has managed to impress me sufficiently, but Rock Star was kind of sweet and I've still got to see The Good Girl. Next year: Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer emoting teenage-angst in This is Our Youth?
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