{"id":24588,"date":"2021-05-27T14:23:10","date_gmt":"2021-05-27T14:23:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/?post_type=articles&p=24588"},"modified":"2021-05-27T14:50:57","modified_gmt":"2021-05-27T14:50:57","slug":"friends-reunion-review","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/friends-reunion-review\/","title":{"rendered":"The \u2018Friends\u2019 Reunion Is For Friends of \u2018Friends\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The
The cast of ‘Friends’ (Photo: Terence Patrick\/HBO)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I remember hearing years ago about some study that found, on average, people thought they had much richer, more active social lives than they actually did. Part of the reason for this, as I recall, was that the part of our brains that\u2019s activated or stimulated by social interactions seems to also be activated and stimulated by TV shows. When asked about their social lives, people claimed to have lots of friends who they saw all the time. But when they were asked to account for how they actually spent their time in a given week, it turned out that they mostly just stayed home and watched Friends<\/em><\/a>. Or that\u2019s how I remember it anyway.<\/p>\n

At the time, I was horrified by this thought. The idea of television as a substitute for genuine social interaction seemed somehow Orwellian, or Atwoodian. Or WALL-E-<\/em>ian. But now, with nearly two decades of socializing under my belt, as well as hours upon hours spent watching really significant prestige TV, I\u2019ve grown to appreciate the appeal of a show that\u2019s just a good hang, the kind of thing you put on while you\u2019re making dinner or folding laundry.<\/p>\n

This, of course, has always been the secret sauce behind Friends<\/em>. Since it debuted on Netflix in 2015, there have been a billion think pieces about the show\u2019s popularity with Millennials and Gen Z. Why<\/a>, all of media seemed to be asking collectively, does the most progressive generation in American history, with some of the best television ever made at their fingertips at all times, seem to want to watch reruns of a 20-something-year-old sitcom about super basic 20-somethings in a whitewashed New York on an endless loop? And the answer, from what I\u2019ve read, is pretty simple: it\u2019s because the show is entertaining, unchallenging, comforting. As Slate\u2019s Willa Paskin put it<\/a> a few years ago, \u201cwatching Friends<\/em> turns you into<\/em> a friend.\u201d<\/p>\n

HBO Max\u2019s much touted Friends: The Reunion<\/em><\/a> is for those friends of Friends<\/em>. The nearly two-hour special reunites all six cast members\u2014Jennifer Aniston<\/a>, David Schwimmer, Courteney Cox, Matt LeBlanc, Lisa Kudrow, and Matthew Perry\u2014to tour a recreation of the show\u2019s sets, revisit favorite episodes and field questions from fans. There are also a few special guest appearances that HBO has requested critics not reveal; some of them you can probably guess, others are fun, but seemingly random surprises. There are testimonials from fans, including celebrities, from all over the world about the impact the show has had on them. There are tears. The vibe is extremely sentimental. But then, what walk down memory lane isn\u2019t?<\/p>\n

I was never particularly invested in Friends<\/em>. I watched the entire series the year before its headline-making departure from Netflix. I mean, I say \u201cwatched\u201d but it was, in truth, a passive viewing experience. I think whole seasons must have autoplayed while I was in bed with various hangovers. The show left me with two lasting sensations: irritation and pleasure. The irritation stemmed from all the ways in which Friends<\/em> has aged poorly<\/a>\u2014the heterosexism, the transphobia, the whiteness. Like, how are six supposed New Yorkers so, so<\/em> provincial?<\/p>\n

On the other hand, Friends <\/em>is just\u2026really<\/em> funny.<\/p>\n

Similarly, I was of two minds while watching the reunion special. The cast remains as charming as ever, and it is undeniably pleasant to sort of bask in the glow of these seemingly nice people enjoying each other\u2019s company. Yet, there\u2019s something a little maudlin about Friends: The Reunion<\/em>. The cynic in me kept wondering how much of this sentimentality was a performance? These are, after all, actors, all of whom, you have to assume, have been paid handsomely <\/em>for their participation, all of whom are aware of what Friends<\/em> fans want from them. Most of all, I kept wondering whether this<\/em> show really deserves this kind of unquestioning veneration.<\/p>\n

Watching Friends: The Reunion<\/em> with the intention to review it, I couldn\u2019t shake the acute anxiety that whatever I had to say about it, I would probably end up yucking someone\u2019s yum. That\u2019s not a great concern for a critic to have. But when something is so finely geared toward an audience that has been clamoring for it for so many years, it\u2019s hard to find fault in it. I mean, the faults are there. No one on the special seems interested in reconsidering Friends<\/em>\u2019s whiteness, its straightness, etc. Others<\/a> have pointed out that the special neglects to address the 2004 sexual harassment lawsuit<\/a> brought against the show\u2019s writers room, or Matthew Perry\u2019s struggles with addiction<\/a> during its 10-year run.<\/p>\n

But then, that\u2019s not what Friends<\/em> fans want. They want an unchallenging, entertaining, feel-good experience. In that respect, Friends: The Reunion<\/em> does its job. It does what it was designed to do.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29097,"featured_media":24589,"template":"","format":"standard","categories":[38,16],"yoast_head":"\nThe \u2018Friends\u2019 Reunion Is For Friends of \u2018Friends\u2019<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Watching 'Friends: The Reunion' with the intention to review it, I couldn\u2019t shake the acute anxiety that whatever I had to say about it, I would probably end up yucking someone\u2019s yum.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/friends-reunion-review\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The \u2018Friends\u2019 Reunion Is For Friends of \u2018Friends\u2019\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Watching 'Friends: The 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