‘Friends’: Why Women Would Loathe Ross Gellar If the Show Aired Now
With Friends celebrating 25 years as a major part of our pop culture, it pays to remember it was a show of its time and has some things likely to offend a few viewers today. You’ll find some negative comments from viewers on social media who look at the show as being a little too ’90s hip and not having foresight on what could rub people the wrong way in the future.
Most of the diehard fans say these negative aspects are too few to worry about and the whole of the series is still relevant about relationships. Besides, the cast chemistry was true electricity caught in one time and place.
The biggest beef women fans have now are the male characters. Out of the three, which one would truly be an outcast? We think Ross Geller would have trouble being an acceptable character in 2019 based on more than a few annoying traits.
Would a 2019 Rachel really accept Ross as a boyfriend?
Let’s all step back and look at that decade-long Ross/Rachel relationship in hindsight. Even though it’s considered one of the greatest will they/won’t they relationships in the history of TV sitcoms, it has its share of problems not many 21st century women would put up with in reality.
Some would say the writing in those days was primarily from a male perspective where a woman would willingly put up with the worst traits of a man just for the sake of getting married and having kids. We hate to think of Rachel that way, and yet this was how she was in accepting Ross and his terrible foibles.
You’ll find more than a few TV analysts today who think Ross was one of the worst characters in TV history. One of his most grating attributes was how controlling he was of Rachel in not letting her date other guys without feeling burning envy. It’s not lost on fans Ross just thought of Rachel as a sex object…or at least in the beginning.
Any women astute to our culture would be able to see right through this and eliminate Ross from their lives. In the world of 1990s sitcoms, this was apparent leftovers of what women had to capitulate to for prior decades.
Ross would even dictate Rachel’s wardrobe at times
The writing team from Friends would likely argue creating despicable characters is necessary to create great comedic situations. If you turn your brain off and not acknowledge the real world of the last decade, the situations between Ross and Rachel still look funny.
When you see the episodes where he got away with saying certain things to her without repercussions, it’s still painful to watch through the comedic filter. Remember when Ross would even dictate what Rachel should wear to make herself look appealing to him?
This is just the beginning of other Ross quirks no modern woman would ever consider in a boyfriend. In the end, it still makes fans wonder if Ross and Rachel stayed together after they married considering guys like this usually never change.
Did Ross maybe mature into middle-age?
Take a minute and look back at the entire picture of Ross and you’ll see a mess of a 20-something man. Not only was he homophobic, he also dated women much younger than he was.
Plus, he had the audacity to not divorce Rachel when they accidentally got married while drunk in Las Vegas. Add to this the horrific list he put together compiling Rachel’s worst personality traits.
At least he managed to mature enough by the final episode to realize he was truly in love with Rachel. Why she ultimately gave up her dream job to return and marry Ross will be a mystery to those who question the worth of the show’s directions.
Nevertheless, fans like to create their own internal fan-fiction and imagine Rachel and Ross are still married now. Aniston gave two different answers recently on her new Instagram account saying Rachel and Ross are probably “on a break.”
At another point, however, she said they were still together.
Much like the show, both answers were probably right. Far too many relationships are probably still like that in real life, despite 40-something maturity.
