‘Friends’: Was Ross Geller Really That Bad?
Friends fans have spent years debating the merit of each character on the series. Ross Geller, portrayed by David Schwimmer, was once a favorite among fans. His behavior later in the series turned most of his fans against him, though. While Ross absolutely had some problematic behaviors, does he really deserve all of the hate he gets?
Ross is ranked the least favorite friend
Since Friends went off the air in 2004, several polls have been taken to find out which character was the fan favorite and which character was the absolute worst. While a few polls have found Monica Geller to be the least liked of the Friends cast, several also cite Ross as the character that fans absolutely could do without.
Buzzfeed points out that Ross was pushy, couldn’t respect other people’s boundaries, and often let his insecurities dictate his behavior. Some of his worst offenses were against his romantic partners, but he was pretty pushy with his platonic friendships, too. While all of that is true, was Ross really that bad?
Reddit fans point out that he had some good qualities, too
Sure, Ross had moments where he was horrible, but he also had moments where he was a great pal. In fact, it can be argued that Ross is the most polarizing Friends character because he could be both really good and really bad.
Ross’ attitude toward gender roles, for example, was incredibly problematic. The fact that he was willing to walk his ex-wife down the aisle to marry her partner, Susan Bunch, was one of the best scenes in the entire series, argues one Reddit user.
Yes, Ross’ sleeping with someone immediately after breaking up with Rachel was awful, but he also gave up his chance to be on TV to help her get ready. All in all, Ross may have had some disturbing thoughts, but he came through for his pals often.
In the end, Ross wasn’t any worse than his pals
In the end, Ross wasn’t really any worse than the people he spent his time with. If you look closely, all six friends did some truly awful things to each other. Joey and Chandler, for example, were best friends. They both betrayed each other more than once, though. Joey was a real jerk when he took a job at Joey’s company. Chandler scammed on Joey’s girlfriend.
Rachel and Monica were terrible friends to each other, too. Rachel tried to steal Monica’s thunder the night she got engaged, and Monica befriended Ross’s girlfriend when she knew how Rachel felt about the whole thing. Each character, if you think about it, was inherently flawed and awful in some ways.
