Last July, Marta Kauffman, one of the creators of “Friends,” admitted the lack of diversity that the ’90s series suffered during its ten seasons. Despite the influence she has had (and continues to have today thanks to streaming platforms), “Friends” has received criticism due to the fact that the series ages regularly: homophobic, fatphobic or transphobic jokes. But what came under criticism was the lack of black characters during its ten-year airing.
Although this is not new. By May 2020, Lisa Kudrow, who played Phoebe, had already acknowledged that the series suffered from a severe lack of diversity. The actress predicted that, if the series were to be repeated, it wouldn’t be “an all white cast”. However, in a recent interview with The Daily Beast, Kudrow defended this predominance of white characters, or at least made sense of it. The actress stated that the creators, David Crane and Kauffman herself, “they shouldn’t have” telling stories about blacks from their own experience.
“I feel like it was a series created by two people who went to Brandeis and then wrote about their lives in college.”Kudrow noted. “And, especially in the series, when you’re going to do a character-based comedy, write down what you know. They didn’t have to write stories about the experiences of a black person “. In addition, the actress added it “At the time, the big problem I encountered was seeing where the learning was.”.
Correct and move on
For his part, Kauffman stated in an interview with the Los Angeles Times that “fault admitted and accepted”even though he made it clear that it wasn’t easy. “It’s painful to look in the mirror”He continued. “I am ashamed that I was no longer aware 25 years ago”. His intention from now on is to change and move on.
In his words: “I want to make sure that, from now on, in all my productions, I’ll make a conscious effort to hire people of color and look for young black writers.. I want to know that from now on I will act differently. And then I’ll feel that weight lifted by me. “.
Source: E Cartelera
