Is it just me or has anyone else noticed the homosexual jokes that have been popping up on Friends as of late?
Three weeks ago the joke “Dude, you kissed a guy!” was uttered several times. A week ago a subplot involved two of the guys taking a nap together. Last night there was a joke of “we aren’t going into the library to make out.”
Strangely, all of these incidents involved Ross. I don’t know what to make of that. There was also a part a few weeks ago about Rachel claiming her assistant was gay so she could have him.
I enjoy Friends and I’m certainly not a prude. I just didn’t get the humor they were reaching for trying to make fun of gays. The only thing it did for me was show just how much of a lily white universe the Friends live in, trying to pander to their supposedly lily white audience.
Well, they’ve marketed and targeted the show at that audience and it’s made them very very wealthy. Why screw with a format that coninues to working for them? Besides, I don’t think any of their comments have been derrogatory to date. Have they?
I’m with you on the “lily-white” part. has there EVER been a black character on that show? IIRC, Ross once dated an Asian girl, but that was as close to the true makeup of the population of NY the producers dared come, I guess.
As for the gay thing…I think the point is to satirize the attitudes towards or about gays that straight people have, especially heterosexual men. As a hetero man myself, I get it and think it’s funny. What I found FAR more objectionable though, was the Ross characters casual acceptance of his wife’s homosexual adultery. Gay or straight, adultery is adultery. If that had been my wife, no WAY would I let her have custody of our son. And with proof of adultery, I wouldn’t have to.
Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t think these jokes were mean spirited. Perhaps “homophobia” is a tad too harsh a word for the jokes in the show. They’re just jokes, and I doubt that most gays would be offended by them. I just didn’t think they were funny. When the same types of jokes pop up week after week after week, I have to wonder why.
I did see the first 5 minutes of Just Shoot Me. That’s the longest I ever watch of that show before I’ve figured out everything that’s going to happen in the show. I then turn it off and have 25 minutes to read before ER. Combine that with the 30 minutes of reading time I get for Cursed, and I can finish quite a bit during “Must See TV.”
Anyway, I certainly don’t think Friends writers hate gays. Far from it. I’ve just discovered that a lot of their jokes on the subject aren’t all that funny. Maybe gays are just an easy group to make fun of.
Adultery is one of the factors traditionally considered both in divorce and where custody is contested. I’m not going to research it, but I think the rationale is that it’s not in the best interests of the child to be raised in an immoral environment. I’m not agreeing with this, but I can see a point in arguing that it’s not in the best interests of the child to be raised in an atmosphere where it is considered acceptable to cheat on you loved ones.
As for homophobia – One of my greatest desires from when I was a kid was to see the Harlem Globetrotters. I finally did when I was about 25 :D. Man, it seemed every joke they made was homophobic. Very disappointing.
Sua
To go with what SuaSponte said, if one partner in a divorce proceeding can PROVE the other was unfaithful, the unfaithful spouse can lose their right to any kind of financial recompense, among other things. The details depend on the state and the judge, but that’s the way it goes generally. This applies to both men and women. Remember that Jim Carrey movie “Liar Liar”? His client in that movie had cheated on her husband and stood to lose everything, because he husband had a tape of her doing it.
Child custody is also affected in a similar manner.
I forgot to add that I think this is a GOOD thing, no matter who cheated. If the guy cheated, soak him for alimony. If the woman cheated, leave her out in the cold. It’s poetic justice.
