F.R.I.E.N.D.S

Recently I saw a meme in which it was mentioned the reason why we like certain series better than others being, it may reflect on the thing that we love but lack. My favorite of all time being FRIENDS, couldn’t help but ponder a bit on that meme. If I remember right, I’ve been watching that series from around 1999, if not early. By the early 2000’s when I moved to Bangalore, the DVDs of entire seasons of Friends became a matter of pride possession amongst my acquaintances. It became an ice breaker and immediate conversation topic while meeting new people and quickly became the defacto topic of discussion, in every chat stream, if there was a dearth of one. I used to think, after FRIENDS I would never feel interested enough to follow any other series and this space is evident to how badly that went. But despite watching so many series, I always come back to this one. It made me wonder why I am so smitten with this! And like me why so many people who started watching this series at the same time as me or bit earlier are still in awe? There are several controversies that are being mentioned about this series in this politically correct world, where in the lack of representation of colored people, the not so implicit comments about taboo topics etc. But it never occurred as any hinderance in enjoying the series for what it was. Jennifer Aniston’s Rachel might’ve been the first on screen crush for many people. If you analyze that character today, it will look shallow, shady, and selfish and best. But the fact that, she charmed people across 10 seasons is worth noting. Same goes for Ross who would now be considered as clingy, needy, and almost a loser in some episodes. Joey may come out as someone leeching on his room mate and Phoebe would be the dubious of them all with no clue as to how she manages to eke out a living!! Monica and Chandler would probably the top contenders for couple with no matching personality and yet when the proposal scene happened, you can hear the in-studio audience break the pattern with claps and whistles. As a series, it didn’t just grow on the audience, but a generation of audience also grew along with them. It came in at the most opportune time with globalization opening new markets and avenues for English Series, DVD’s (pirated or otherwise) being easily available (Infact, I remember the mad hunt I took to buy the gold disc set of this series. That I never managed to buy one is a sad story). Certain people, events, situations are all blessed with timing and this series probably ticked most of the right boxes when it got launched. With the world opening inwards and India looking outward, right from the hair styles to the dressing styles of the characters became a generational fad. The notion of guys and gals staying together as friends in an apartment of their own had a sense of freedom and autonomy and independence to take their own decisions was all romanticized and people got sold onto that notion like never before. The fact that it might’ve given a culture shock to many apart, FRIENDS literally set the base for English drama series as a market in India. Agreed that there were some other super hit series at the same time as Sienfeld or even Two and Half men for that matter. But the onscreen casting of the characters had quickly grown into the audience psyche. It came as a sad shock to see the cast in their reunion episode that got aired couple of years back. Looking at how badly they had all aged, it was a sad yet stark reminder of reality called time and how much we’ve all travelled since the curtains came down on this series. I often see this series and infact had my own running version in this very space for a while. I knew most of the dialogues by heart and used to ace the trivia and quizzes conducted on this series. The reason why I revisited this series so many times despite being able to recite all the jokes along with the timing was not just for the fun elements but for the memories it brought along. I might’ve missed making several friends and lost touch with many in real time over the decades. But this one is available right on top of a click and when the title songs says “I will be there for you..’cause you are there for me too” ..Well. It’s true.