Friends is one of the most-watched sitcoms ever. It aired from 1994 to 2004, and it quickly became a cultural staple on television. Even today, people of all ages watch this show as a comforting activity. However, the audience is aware that a lot of Friends jokes have become incredibly problematic.
Just like many sitcoms that aired in the '90s and the 2000s, Friends loved to make homophobic, sexist, and inappropriate sexual jokes that audiences now find truly uncomfortable. This has managed to decrease the popularity of this show since each day people find it less and less funny.
This article contains mentions of homophobia, transphobia, sexual assualt, and suicide.
10 Susan & Carol Being The Butt Of The Jokes
From the beginning of the show, one of the common gags is the fact that Ross's wife left him for another woman, as if this is emasculating for him. While Susan and Carol are represented as having a strong, healthy relationship, the show ruins their representation with these common jokes.
It's safe to say these jokes wouldn't fly as of 2023 since they're completely homophobic. Fortunately, the audience knows better now and doesn't find this humor funny. LGBTQ+ representation has become a must in television and not only the object of easy jokes.
9 Chandler's "Feminine" Attributes Being Laughed At
Chandler is one of the most beloved characters in sitcoms. While he's a great character, a lot of the jokes in the show revolve around the fact that he's not a stereotypical manly person. Chandler often takes baths, listens to romantic music, and he's very sensitive, all supposedly "feminine" attributes.
The other characters in Friends, especially Ross and Joey, often make fun of Chandler for this. These types of jokes today are considered not only repetitive and predictable, but they're also really offensive. Making fun of a man for being feminine is homophobic, transphobic, and misogynistic all at once.
8 Whenever The Boys Are Made Fun Of For Acting Like Boyfriends
One common trope in 2000s television is making fun of two male characters for acting like a couple, and Friends isn't an exception. Ross, Joey, and Chandler are often caught in situations that are supposedly funny because they're too intimate for two men.
For example, a famous joke about Ross and Joey is that, in one episode, this duo like to take naps together. Throughout the episode, the two of them come to terms with this fact, but in the end, the rest of the group finds them sleeping together and judges them, which makes the live audience laugh. Right now, people know better than to laugh at two men having a nice friendship dynamic.
7 Phoebe's Past Shouldn't Have Been A Constant Joke
One of the funniest characters on television for her quirky comments, Phoebe's jokes sometimes revolve around the fact that she had a complicated childhood. Phoebe's mother took her own life, and Phoebe was even homeless at some point. Whenever she comments on this, the audience is supposed to laugh at how "out of place" her comments are.
However, audiences today are more empathetic, and they don't accept taking a tragedy in a character's life as a joke. While there are plenty of nice jokes involving Phoebe, such as her song "Smelly Cat," the ones about her traumatic past aged very poorly.
6 Joey Being Molested By His Family's Tailor
In "The One with Ross's New Girlfriend," Chandler visits Joey's family tailor, only to find out that he has some unusual methods to measure his clients. Basically, the tailor touches Chandler inappropriately, but Joey insists that this is normal and that's how his tailor has worked for him all his life.
The joke here seems to imply that Joey has been sexually assaulted for years by this man. Because Joey is a man, the audience of the '90s wouldn't take this situation seriously. However, modern viewers know that this situation isn't funny and could even be very triggering.
5 The Jokes Around Chandler's Transgender Parent
One of the running gags in the show is the fact that Chandler was raised by a narcissistic mother and a transexual parent. While both issues are extremely controversial now, the transphobic jokes surrounding Helena Handbasket are the most offensive ones.
Not only is this character a terrible representation of a transgender woman because it's never clear to the audience if she's transgender or not, but on top of that, the show makes constant jokes surrounding this character. They especially love to question Chandler's masculinity based on Helena's gender expression.
4 Gags About Joey Having Sex Way Too Young With Older Women
One of the worst tropes in sitcoms was that a man was considered a "winner" if they managed to have sex with older women when they were in their teen years. Since Joey is considered a playboy in Friends, it makes sense that they would make weird jokes about him having sex when he was younger.
For example, the show implies that Joey had sex with his school teachers, so he would get good grades, establishes that he was unhooking bras when he was nine and that he lost his virginity when he was 13. All of these are supposed to be hilarious anecdotes when in reality, they point to something really dark and definitely not funny.
3 Making Fun Of Monica Because She Used To Be Fat
Audiences now are aware of the dangers of fat-shaming, especially women. However, in previous decades, sitcoms thought there was nothing funnier than a fat person. In Friends, Monica is the object of many jokes regarding her weight when she was younger.
There are many gags surrounding the fact that Ross had to eat faster because Monica would eat all the food. In the flashbacks, they make Monica the butt of the jokes, especially since they agree that she didn't have any sexual appeal back then.
2 Ross Insisting On Ben Playing With Masculine Toys
Ross is one of the most controversial characters in television because of his rampant sexism throughout Friends. In the episode "The One with the Metaphorical Tunnel," Ross's storyline revolves around the fact that he feels insecure about Ben playing with a Barbie. Ross tries for Ben to play with GI Joes and dinosaurs, but the toddler still prefers the Barbie, to Ross's dismay.
At the end of the episode, Ross is scolded by Carol and Susan for exposing his son to such toxic masculinity, which could have led to a more positive message. However, in the end, they show a reel of moments where Ross is wearing a dress and having a tea party when he was a kid, which is supposed to be incredibly funny. These sexist and homophobic jokes are definitely not allowed anymore.
1 The Incest Joke About Monica & Ross Accidentally Kissing
In "The One Where the Stripper Cries," when Ross and Chandler go to a high school reunion, they reminisce about their younger years. Chandler then confesses to Ross that he kissed Rachel, but Ross thinks that's impossible because he kissed Rachel that night.
When the duo talks with Rachel and Monica about this, it turns out that Ross accidentally kissed Monica while she was sleeping, believing she was Rachel under a pile of clothes. This joke is problematic in many ways: incest, lack of consent, and fatphobia. Certainly, Friends didn't leave anything behind when it came to offensive and problematic jokes.