Friends "The One with the Sonogram" 1x2 Reaction
Added 2021-08-25 03:51:02 +0000 UTC
https://www.dropbox.com/s/209yrylo111j3cm/Friends%201X2.m4v?dl=0
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1i4sBrDo6X2qAjrsQCbUr21AfgcqcrF_b/view?usp=sharing
https://u.pcloud.link/publink/show?code=XZMSRlXZqJ8GiQQ1icmCpRmphlLOw47mIYPX
Comments
As a bisexual woman, I was very much on Ross' side here. Nothing again at Susan, but Ross and Carol are recently divorced and on pretty good terms (all things considered), I would definitely be using his last name, or at least incorporating it.
Aparna
2022-10-29 19:19:30 +0000 UTCone of the mistakes friends makes is treating monica's trauma like a punchline, her storylines about her childhood are played for laughs.
emily ღ
2021-08-29 05:53:31 +0000 UTCOverall Ross is a pretty great older brother, but there were times, and this is one of them, where I also thought why didn't you ever stand up for your little sister? You just let her sit there and take that abuse, and I imagine she had a miserable childhood living in his shadow and with her weight problem. Her parents really are the worst in this show when it comes to outright neglect and mistreatment of their child, and their obvious favoritism of their firstborn. And that also is probably the reason Monica suffers from a lot of the hang-ups that she has, such as the need to have people like her and approve of her so much and her always needing to win and come in first place because she never did with her parents. That's some real deep emotional trauma that's never really talked about.
Kalah Dolman
2021-08-28 15:41:53 +0000 UTCI absolutely agree that Ross should have parental rights to his child. It's just a tricky situation in general and the handling of it in 1994 can feel a bit like it's making it about Carol and Susan both being women and not the infidelity, which is why it hasn't aged perfectly. It could have been far worse and was actually a huge step forward for representation in primetime. A couple of us also may be commenting in part out of seeing another reactor react in a really 1994 way to the situation that reminded us how easily the comedy could validate some thoughtless and outdated viewpoints in even some modern viewers.
Jojo77
2021-08-26 00:58:59 +0000 UTCI am actually kind of on Ross’s side on this. He and Susan are recently divorced, recently enough that they conceived a child together, and Susan is the person she had an affair with. Honestly Susan is a co-parent, and if they all agree she’s a mom that’s great, but Ross wasn’t a sperm donor. Susan is an extra in this situation. And I know the laws back then we’re awful when it came to same sex couples but it doesn’t mean that carol and Susan should be treating this like it’s their child and if Ross wants he can be involved, while deciding names etc without him.
Erin
2021-08-25 23:12:17 +0000 UTCI felt like clapping after that. Very well said. It IS an incredibly tricky situation though, for a show that's 90s/early 00s, I did like how they handled the Susan situation (no real spoilers lol). Hard for shows to be super inclusive at that point in time so it was still nice that there was a Susan at all.
Nyssa Rawther 🍉
2021-08-25 06:27:48 +0000 UTCThe Carol pregnancy is a sticky situation, and one that might not have aged well in the comedic sense. I think (but could be corrected by those who have experienced such situations at the time) that the answer from a modern lens is that Susan should be looked at as Carol's wife. At a time when gay marriage was not even open for discussion in much of the country/world, they are clearly in a committed relationship and intend to be the primary co-parents. It could be argued that in a world where Susan is going to be a primary parent to a child she will have no legal rights over (no option to marry Carol and also adoption by or within gay couples was often protested as well) having her name in there may be one of the few ways she can feel legitimate as one of the child's mothers. But this was 1994, so at that time, Ross, to many viewers, seemed perfectly justified in being offended at her inclusion even if it wasn't totally fair to the legitimacy of Carol and Susan's relationship. That's not to deny him his parental rights, but his defensiveness does seem a little wrapped up in the fact that Susan is a woman in hindsight. I do commend you for your understanding that it is a nuanced and tricky situation. I recently saw another reaction to this episode where the reactor got very defensive on Ross's part and actually expressed some very backwards views about the importance of a father in a way that was horribly tone deaf to the legitimacy of single parents and alternately gendered family dynamics. You obviously understand that same sex parents or single parents can make healthy and great families. Your Modern Family reactions come to mind as further proof that. So I just wanted to acknowledge and appreciate your handling of a delicate subject matter. In being open about your feeling that you don't feel totally justified in taking a stance about a situation you've likely never dealt with you showed your empathy and evolved thought processes. Saying I don't know is sometimes the best way to respect people whose viewpoints you can't fully understand from your own experience, so good work there. Wow this ended up as a super long comment. Sorry to those scrolling.
Jojo77
2021-08-25 05:59:10 +0000 UTCFun fact on the Phoebe's twin thing. Lisa Kudrow was actually a regular supporting character on the show Mad About You playing a ditzy waitress named Ursula. When they were casting Friends they were having a hard time finding an actress for the Phoebe role, but the NBC folks all thought that Lisa would be perfect. She ended up being cast in this show. There then became an in joke wherein all of the NBC shows that aired on the same night were in the same universe. There was a gimmick night where there was a city wide blackout featured on all of the shows, Friends, Seinfeld, Mad About You, and a fourth that escapes me (maybe Caroline in the City?) In the same vein, Phoebe and Ursula both exist in the same TV New York, and so we do meet Ursula on occasion and there's even a cold open in which a couple of the characters from Mad About You come into Central Perk and mistake Phoebe for the clueless waitress at their local restaurant (confirmed when the flaky character doesn't seem to recognize them).
Jojo77
2021-08-25 05:28:39 +0000 UTCalso i want to add, at the time, remember, carol and susan could not marry. so even though they're just dating right now in the show, that's really all that was allowed for them at that time.
emily ღ
2021-08-25 05:02:19 +0000 UTCone of the magical things about friends is how relatable and how genuine it feels even with the sitcom cheesiness and outdated things here and there. there's a genuineness to it that is something fans have always held on to and come back to all these years later. it's really lovely.
emily ღ
2021-08-25 04:58:21 +0000 UTC
