Jennifer Aniston Says Comedy Has Changed & Some Today Find ‘Friends’ Offensive: “I Don’t Think There Was A Sensitivity Like There Is Now”

Deadline ^ | Tom Tapp

[nickcarraway]

Jennifer Aniston spoke recently about the state of comedy and what’s considered funny – and what’s not – on the occasion of the debut of her new Netflix comedy Murder Mystery 2 with Adam Sandler.

“Comedy has evolved, movies have evolved,” the former Friends star told French news agency AFP.

“Now 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,” she said, before getting specific.

In years past, “you could joke about a bigot and have a laugh — that was hysterical. And it was about educating people on how ridiculous people were,” said Aniston. “And now we’re not allowed to do that.”

In fact, that’s not even considered funny anymore to many people, she says.

“There’s a whole generation of people, kids, who are now going back to episodes of Friends and find them offensive.

Friends has long been skewered for its all-white cast and the fantasy scenario of six twentysomethings being able to afford Manhattan apartments.

Show co-creator Marta Kauffman spoke out last year on the lack of diversity both in front of and behind the camera and her part in it.

“It was after what happened to George Floyd that I began to wrestle with my having bought into systemic racism in ways I was never aware of,” said Kauffman. “That was really the moment that I began to examine the ways I had participated. I knew then I needed to course-correct.”

As a result, she pledged, “I want to make sure from now on in every production I do that I am conscious in hiring people of color and actively pursue young writers of color. I want to know I will act differently from now on.”

On the show’s 25th anniversary, Out looked at both its enduring appeal and reminded readers that “Friends is still really, really homophobic.”

Some examples:

The male characters “showed a noted discomfort and disdain toward LGBTQ+ people,” according to Out. Specifically, the publication cited Chandler’s aversion to his transgender parent (played by Kathleen Turner) and an episode in which Ross “insists his male nanny must be gay.”

Out observes that “nearly anytime LGBTQ+ people are brought up through the show, it’s played for laughs” — whether it’s the running joke that people think Chandler is gay or a bit where Joey convinces an acting student with whom he is competing for a role that the character should be played “homosexually.”

The publication also calls out a tendency on Friends to trade on “gay panic for cheap laughs.” One example cited: Joey and Ross freak out after accidentally falling asleep together on the couch. “What happened?” Ross screams, before insisting, “We fell asleep — that is all.”

Aniston said about the show’s blind spots, “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.”

The actress then made a plea for more comedies, even given new sensitivities.

“Everybody needs funny! The world needs humor! We can’t take ourselves too seriously,” she said.

[dsrtsage]

How I met your mother was approximately one hundred and eleventy billion times funnier than friends

[38special]

That show wasn’t funny then and it’s not funny now either.

[Secret Agent Man]

Thats coming.

[Secret Agent Man]

Yup. Giant bugs and cannibals.

[griffin]

TTIUWP

I mean MORE Pictures.

[dfwgator]

Doo-doo-doo, za-da-do-do-wow!
There's a place called the rainforest that truly sucks ass
Let's knock it all down and get rid of it fast
You say "save the rainforest", but what do you know?
You've never been to the rainforest before!
Getting Gay with Kids is here
To tell you things you might not like to hear
You only fight these causes 'cos caring sells
All you activists can go ____ yourselves.

Someday if we work hard boys and girls..
There'll be no more rainforests left in the entire world
(world!)
Getting Gay with Kids is here
To spread the word, and bring you cheer
Getting Gay with Kids is here
Let's knock down the rainforest, whaddaya say?
It's totally gay
It's totally gay!

[Third Person]

nipple sensitivity?

[redshawk]

Aniston donated to Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign and took part in a fundraiser for Hillary Clinton during her 2016 presidential campaign.[151][152][153] She endorsed Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election.[154]

[thesligoduffyflynns]

.....so says the multi- millionairess herself

[Secret Agent Man]

Yeah that was a good episode.

[Cowgirl of Justice]

‘Sensitivity’....????

Did she mean ‘pu$$ified’?????

So many weak, broken, genetically wasted and pathetic people. No WAY could they even begin to support themselves or even think of how to gain the skills to survive on their own.

[dfwgator]

Another great line...

[driving through San Jose, Costa Rica]

Eric Cartman : Oh my God, it smells like ass out here.

Miss Stevens : All right, that does it. Eric Cartman, you respect other cultures this instant.

Eric Cartman : I wasn’t saying anything about their culture, I was just saying their city smells like ass.

Miss Stevens : You may think that making fun of third-world countries is funny but let me...

Eric Cartman : I don’t think it’s funny. This place is overcrowded, smelly and poor. That’s not funny, that sucks.

(That was the episode that made me a lifelong Matt and Trey fan.)

[griffin]

[RushIsMyTeddyBear]

All thanks to you and your ilk, Jennifer.

[heartwood]

Never watched it. Better all one race, than token representatives.

I bet there are all black or nearly so sitcoms now. That’s different.

[ClearCase_guy]

I bet there are all black or nearly so sitcoms now. That’s different.

IIRC, the TV show "The Jeffersons" had a nearly all-black cast. There was one white guy married to a black woman. He was there so that the rest of the cast could laugh at the stupid white guy as he did stupid white guy things.

But it's OK to mock white people. They're not cool.

[dfwgator]

There was one white guy married to a black woman. He was there so that the rest of the cast could laugh at the stupid white guy as he did stupid white guy things.

George would call them "Zebra".

[nickcarraway]

Does anyone actually base their vote on what she says/does?

[nickcarraway]

IIRC, the TV show "The Jeffersons" had a nearly all-black cast. There was one white guy married to a black woman. He was there so that the rest of the cast could laugh at the stupid white guy as he did stupid white guy things.

There was also a U.S. translator who lived in the building that was white that George would be mean to, but who was always nice to him.

I'll say this Jeffersons and Sanford and Son where light years funnier than Norman Lear's other shows.

[nickcarraway]

I hadn't seen Jeffersons since the 80s, but in 2021 I was working around that house, and it was on one of those old TV show networks, so I left in on for a while. It was summer so the windows were open.

Well, I didn't know that they had unbleeped n-words on that show, and I was hoping the neighbors weren't walking by then.