The Rachel Green depicter on the comedy series points out the 'tricky' sensitivity of comedy in recent years, which didn't exist when she starred on the popular show from 1994 to 2004.
- Mar 30, 2023
AceShowbiz - Jennifer Aniston weighed in on how comedy has evolved now. The "Friends" alum pointed out the "tricky" sensitivity of comedy in recent years, which didn't exist when she starred on the popular series from 1994 to 2004.
"Comedy has evolved, movies have evolved," the actress told AFP via Yahoo News. "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."
"The Morning Show" star added, "[In the 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. And now we're not allowed to do that."
"There's a whole generation of people, kids, who are now going back to episodes of 'Friends' and find them offensive," Jennifer continued. "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."
Concluding her opinion, she criticized people who can't take jokes. "Everybody needs funny! The world needs humor! We can't take ourselves too seriously. Especially in the United States. Everyone is far too divided," she stressed.
In recent years, people have been calling out "Friends" for its lack of diversity as all six main characters on the show were white. Additionally, it rarely brought actors of colors in prominent roles across its 10 seasons. Lauren Tom, Gabrielle Union, Mark Consuelos and Craig Robinson appeared on the show in small supporting roles, while Aisha Tyler, the most prominent actor of color featured on the series, only starred in 9 out of 236 episodes.
Star Lisa Kudrow previously made headlines after she said if the show ever returned or got rebooted "it would not be an all-white cast." The actress, who played Phoebe Buffay on the hit series, explained that "Friends" creators David Crane and Marta Kauffman had "no business" telling stories about people of color given their own backgrounds.
"Well, I feel like it was a show created by two people who went to Brandeis and wrote about their lives after college," she elaborated. "And for shows especially, when it's going to be a comedy that's character-driven, you write what you know. They have no business writing stories about the experiences of being a person of color."
