After two decades since going off the air, Jennifer Aniston is mentioning how a new generation of viewers are finding Friends offensive. The 1990s sitcom was one of Aniston’s breakout roles, starring as Rachel Greene, a rich woman who finds out what it’s like to live as a normal 20-something in New York City.
When questioned about the show’s brand of humour, Aniston talked about being aware of the pushback from certain watchers, telling Associated Press (via Yahoo!), “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”.
Since its initial run, some of the jokes aired on the show have come under fire for having homophobic undercurrents to them. Aniston also mentioned the changes in what’s funny in the modern age, continuing, “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”.
Despite some pushback from fans, Friends has had a healthy shelf life, eventually having a successful reunion special back in 2021.
As for Aniston, she would prefer that people use comedy to come together, saying, “Everybody needs funny! The world needs humor! We can’t take ourselves too seriously. Especially in the United States. Everyone is far too divided”.
