Analysis Of Friends (1994) And Comparison With Topper (1954)

Choose a series and situate it within its specific historical, socio-cultural, and industrial contexts. Your analysis will involve examining the series you have selected in relation to the social, cultural, and/or political issues of the era in which it was produced and received.  Consider the ways in which the series is shaped by and responds to specific tensions, debates, politics, sentiments etc. of the period. You may also choose to focus on a particular issue (e.g. the representation of gender, race, class, sexuality etc.). You may write on a TV series from past decades or you may choose to write on a more contemporary series. Your thesis should be supported through a detailed analysis of the series, examining both the formal and thematic elements of the program.

Analysis of Women Characters

This essay will discuss about an American Sitcom series called Friends, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994 to May 6, 2004. Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions produced the series in association with Warner Bros. Television (IMDb, 2018). The essay will tell about social, cultural and political issues in the era this show was broadcasted in with respect to its presentations in the show. Topics such as analysis of woman characters of the show, how they depict a general picturisation of woman at that time, other areas such as perceptions and conditions according to gender, sexuality, race, class, ethnicity etc. as shown in the series will be discussed. In addition, how comedy was used as a weapon to criticise social or political issues, depiction of family in the show according to the time, quality of broadcast and content, Trans media storytelling and audience interactivity and comparison with its spin-off called Joey will be discussed. This essay will also compare Friends with Topper, which is an American fantasy sitcom based on the film Topper from 1937, which was based on two novels Topper, and Topper Takes a Trip by Thorne Smith. The series was aired on CBS from October 9, 1953 to July 15, 1955 (IMDb, Topper, 2018). The comparison will be drawn based on the differences in all the categories mentioned above. Both these series does have a time gap of almost 49 years and thus displays transition in all the aspects such as cultural, social etc. throughout this time in America.

The TV series Friends is based in Manhattan and is about a group of 6 friends who struggle a lot in their personal and professional life but always find the comic side in every situation and have each other’s back no matter what. The main characters of the series are Rachel, Monica, Phoebe, Chandler, Ross and Joey (IMDb, Friends, 2018). At the time of the broadcast of this show America had already become modern and a lot of social reformation was taking place such as acceptance of homosexuality, understanding co-parenting, normalising single motherhood , infertility and child adoption.

The television series Topper is based in New York and in contrast is about a bank executive Cosmo Topper and his hilarious life journey along with three ghosts. The ghosts were a handsome couple George and Marion Kerby and their dog Neil who were the previous owner of the house that the Topper family bought after the Kerby family dies while skiing when they went for a vacation (IMDb, Topper, 2018).

Women were achieving a high amount of professional success in all fields at that time (’Neil, Hopkins, & Bilimoria, 2008) and that is depicted well in the series through the female characters in the series Rachel, Monica and Phoebe though acquiring different professions they all were showcased as professionally ambitious woman.

 The character of Rachel showcased transition from being a daughter of a rich dad, not having to work at all to working as a waitress and a fashion consultant (Fard, 2016). Phoebe was shown to become a financially independent masseuse after being disowned by parents and living on the streets and also her love for music was a very funny attribute of the script. Monica was shown to transition from a chef to a head chef due to her career determination also the scenario of her living far away from marriage post marriage and prioritising career shows the development of women professionally at that times.

Depiction of Social Class

On the other hand, when it comes to Topper no professional independence or determination is seen as such. Women at those times were mostly housewives and did not participate in earning money or competing with men in professional fields (Gourley, 2008). Toppers wife Henrietta was a housewife but Henrietta was shown to be an ambitious woman and indulged in writing and art and also tried to get her work published and Topper always helped and supported her which shows women equality and work opportunity was not totally deprived at that time.

All Characters of friends were of different social and financial background and their coming together allows us to compare and tells us that at that time class was no longer a weapon to be used to attain respect and success and how equality was welcomed and generalised. Not a lot of variety in class and financial background was seen in Topper the only other class other than the upper middleclass the Toppers were the house cleaners’ and cooks. Friends is still criticised for lacking when it comes to racial diversity in the characters and as there was no character of colour in the show but only a few supporting characters (Chidester, 2008). When it comes to Topper no character of colour was seen at all and the topic of racial diversity or equality did not arise in that date. The general American public was still very biased against the people of colour.

When friends was streamed homosexuality was recently decriminalised and thus the story teller added elements in the show to bring normality to this controversial topic and generate public acceptance the wedding of carol and Susan was the first incident to showcase about it and it became a big hype at that time (Melcher, 2017). Chandler’s father was shown to be a transgender in the show and Chandlers jokes and negativity towards him somewhere created a hypocrite atmosphere when it came to sexuality. Any part in the Topper had nothing to do with homosexuality and it was a criminal offence at that time in America and the general society believed it to be unnatural and offensive (Osmond, 2015).

The divorce rate in America in 1995 which is when friends started to stream, was quite high due to reasons such as cultural and moral changes in the perception of marriage, difficulty in adjustability due to rise in women empowerment etc. (Statista, 2018) it is also seen that most of the divorce cases were filed by women.

 In addition, as Homosexuality was just legalised in 1994 married people actually having different sexual orientation came out and accepted their sexuality leading to breaking of their pre-existing marriage (Nicol & Smith, 2008). Ross’s divorce in just the beginning of the show and Rachel escaping her own wedding displays this scenario very well. Rosses continues divorces were a subject of comedy for sure but it was highly symbolic to the divorces taking place at that time. Topper shows a very positive storyline when it comes to marriage the relationships of both the couples was sweet and sour just as a marriage is supposed to be. Divorce was a controversial issue in the 1954 America and was not as common it was only about 24% in 1954 (Dunn, 2011).

Representation of Gender and Sexuality

Rachel’s mother showcasing dissatisfaction in her marriage, Phoebe’s parents disowning her, Rachel choosing single motherhood over getting married. All of these highlighted how broken families were no strangers in the American society ( Ruggles & Kennedy, 2014). Though this shows had extravagant details because they were fictional they did share a same idea, which is no stranger to the society. Depiction of a conservative upper middleclass family was done in the series Topper, a housewife a working husband maids etc. like any other family with the similar financial accommodation in the 1950s . The only thing unnatural in this family were the ghosts, as the show progresses Toppers relationship with them gets stronger and they become his extended family.

The quality of content in friends matched the standards’ of the time. Audience of the show could easily relate to the characters on a personal level, which resulted in its huge popularity. Some people loved the show and found no flaw in their content highly debated issues such as disrespecting women due to infertility, society frowning upon single motherhood, surrogacy etc. were showcased beautifully and left a positive impact on the audience. The rest of the audience thought some of its parts to be controversial such as gay marriage, Monica being fat shamed, Ross calling the make Nanny gay, inadequate number of characters of people of colour, Ross getting upset on Ben for playing with a doll etc. were some bits frowned upon (Kaplan, 2018).

Topper was a fantasy sitcom, which got huge appreciation in its time because of the playful witty comedy in its script and the excellent acting abilities of the cast. The show changed the perception of associating ghost with only horror and added comedy instead making its unique and interesting. It is a light-hearted comedy and does not cover a lot of social issues but till date remains to live as one of the greatest classics (Rothman, 2017).

Technological development had caught quite a fast pace until friends was broadcasted. High quality modern cameras, high budget in making of the set, access to latest computers and other editing tools, genuine lighting etc. all contributed to its perfect quality. The absence of adequate technological development in the 1950s can easily be seen in the picturisation of Topper. It was broadcasted in black and white like anything else on the television in the 1950s because colour picture tube for televisions was not yet invented. The use of special effects in the television series seem to be very low in quality, and was noticeably manmade and unreal.

There was many Trans media story telling of friends, because of the love and criticism it received from the audience television shows interacted with the team a lot to know about the story or anything about them that has relation to the show as well. The cast of friends became extremely popular, due to which they are until date seen on the television to give interviews to hosts about questions related to friends. In reality shows such as The Ellen Show (DeGeneres, 2008), the Jimmy Kimmel show, The Oprah Winfrey Show etc. the cast of friends reunited and refreshed the on and off screen memories of friends which allowed the caste to interact with viewers. Not a lot of really television shows were broadcasted when topper was screened and thus no direct interaction with any cast member was possible. The promotion of the show was done with the help of only commercials.    

Depiction of Marriage and Divorce

  Joey is an American sitcom and a spin-off of Friends starring Matt LeBlanc playing again his role as Joey Tribbiani from friends. It premiered on NBC, on September 9, 2004. It was cancelled by NBC due to poor ratings on May 15, 2006(IMDb, Joey, 2018). This series is entirely about the new life of Joey, who has moved to Hollywood, strongly determined to become an established actor. After reuniting with his sister Gina who is a strong and sexy hairdresser, Joey moves in with her son, graduate student Michael who is extremely intelligent and literally a rocket scientist. While Joey sharpens his IQ with the help of Michel and in turn helps Michel to pick girls. This show unlike friends focuses solely on Joey’s life and all the other characters are absent. Joeys charming, childlike and funny character (Chidester, 2008) however remains the same in the show and because it was just made after Friends, it shows no other social or cultural difference.

Conclusion

This essay concludes that Friends is an epic and classic television series that shows a true reflection the early 2000s American society consisting women empowerment, economic development, acceptance of sexuality, acceptance of any unnatural method of becoming parents, abolishment of class differentiation etc. Topper was a light-hearted Television series and did not throw a lot of light on the aspects it sure showed how the 1950s American society was. These two series help us compare these times with each other as well as each of them with the present to show us a well-informed picture of any change of development in the American society. This essay also concludes that the spinoff of Friends called Joey mainly focussed on the life of Joey unlike Friends, which focussed on all six of them.

References

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Melcher, K. (2017). The One About Gender and Sexuality: An examination of the television series Friends. Retrieved November 24, 2018, from Oakland University Libraries: https://our.oakland.edu/handle/10323/4530

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