Does Bringing Back Nostalgic Sitcoms Ruin Them?
Twitter Deems FRIENDS Homophobic!
Oh, boy. This is not a story I ever cared to sell to you all, but I’ve been seeing one particular article run like wild fire on my personal social media. We’ve seen a plethora of shows and films have reboots over the last few years since everyone loves nostalgia or are simply out of ideas that will sell and be marketable. I won’t go into the logistics on my take of Hollywood’s funding, but I am here to tell you about the new age of social media that is turning some of your favorite shows into garbage.
There have been many successful rebooted franchises. Some that immediately come to mind are Jurassic World, Will & Grace, and Full House. But, then you have others that completely tank: Bewitched, Ghost Busters, and the impending disaster that is about to be Roseanne, simply because of her extreme support for the Trump Administration. Hell, even audiences are throwing tomatoes at comedian Dave Chappelle for his jokes on the Transgender community. Sometimes, the past is meant to stay in the past. You won’t find any streaming service showcasing older cartoons like Tom & Jerry for their entirely uncomfortable racism. Again, perhaps we should leave these in the decade where they will sit on a pedestal. Yet…
According to NME, the latest in a long line of keyboard warriors battling nostalgic shows are the new viewers of NBC’s iconic sitcom, FRIENDS. Ahh, I was a little bit too young when this show was airing. I believe I was about seven or eight-years-old when the finale came around, so I definitely wasn’t watching a show with real people having hypothetical problems against the Rugrats or All That. Alas, I have caught a few episodes throughout the years thanks to my best girlfriend’s DVD collection and having next to nothing to occupy myself while hanging out in her college dorm. In particular, new viewers are outraged at five, white people (I guess Matt LeBlanc’s character, Joey, is 1/16 Portuguese which counts him as a minority) are privileged to discriminate against other races, but especially the LGBTQ community: Such as character Chandler’s fears of being a gay man topped with the character Ross’ ex-wife becoming a lesbian. Check out a few tweets below:
Alright, I understand the frustration. Yes, there was – and still is – extreme homophobia in society. However, from my understanding, the 90s is when we finally began to see actual LGBTQ characters on screen…and slowly, these often flamboyant characters, would eventually sway networks to host some of our favorite series in Queer As Folk and The L Word.
Should we be so harsh to criticize series from the past on their homophobic writing or move on to praise the series that we currently have which are dominating in not only ratings, but approval from the LGBTQ community?
Clearly, none of these so
Clearly, none of these so-called critics have ever watched Mel Brooks' Blazing Saddles!