The producers Marta Kauffman and David Crane have become popular as well as the actors of Friends, which many of us love to watch, which is the reason why many people around the world start sitcoms.
Marta Kauffman, one of the producers recently, apologized to all fans for a criticism frequently expressed by current Friends fans during an interview. Let’s find out what the reason is.
‘I wasn’t that careful back then, I’m sorry’
Released from 1994 to 2004, Friends starred Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matthew Perry, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer. As you know, these characters are all white and heterosexual. Fans today have also been criticizing the lack of variety in the series for a long time.
The diversity here means that the characters in the series are also black, Asian, homosexual or transgender. “It’s not easy to admit guilt. It’s painful to look at yourself in the mirror. I’m ashamed and apologetic for not being better aware 25 years ago,” says Kauffman.
Kauffman, who created Friends with David Crane, stated that he started to understand systematic racism in the USA better after the murder of George Floyd and thus the criticism about the series. This motivated him to donate $4 million to Brandeis University in Boston, from which he graduated, to establish a endowed chapter in the school’s African and African-American studies department.
David Schwimmer, who plays Ross in 2020, stated in an interview that Friends was filmed at a time when the world was not so sensitive about diversity.
Schwimmer, who played Ross for 10 seasons, said, “Maybe it’s meant to be an all-black Friends or an all-Asian Friends. But I was well aware of the lack of diversity and campaigned for years to get Ross to date women of color. One of my first girlfriends on the show is Asian. “She was an American woman and then I dated African-American women. It was a very deliberate push on my part,” she says.
What do you think about the diversity criticisms of the series and the statements of Marta Kauffman and David Schwimmer? Please do not forget to share your thoughts with us in the comments.
19613
