6 Characters From F.R.I.E.N.D.S And The Darker Side Of Their Lives

They’re such an important part of our lives that it’s just not possible to accept they’re not real. Although a sitcom, the characters sketched in F.R.I.E.N.D.S had many dimensions, just as a real human would have, and these human qualities make them all the more relatable.

However, there are sides to the life of these legendary characters which would have broken the spirits of many of us had we gone through it. There’s a lot to learn from this 90s television series as we look deep into the lives of the characters.

1. Chandler Bing – used humor as a defense mechanism

Chandler Bing, the king of sarcasm who wears the wits in his sleeves has seen a lot more than average. It’s hard to say if he was joking when he said his first cigarette after nap time at the age of nine reminded him of the good old times. Age nine indeed was a crucial time for the Chang Chang man for that was the year his parents announced divorce on the Thanksgiving Table.

With a cross-dressing father and an erotic novel writer for a mother, Bing’s childhood can be accounted for his neurotic behavior. However, his sense of humor, which he used as a defense mechanism, helped him out throughout, even when he learned he could never be a father.

 

2. Monica Geller/Bing – struggled constantly for approval

Monica’s childhood was very typical of a second-born sibling. She grew up looking at the disapproval in the eyes her mother who preferred her elder brother, Ross over her. This could very well be the catalyst to low self-esteem, leading to depression and obesity which Monica suffered from throughout her childhood and teens.

It’s interesting to see how when Monica grows up, although she loses her weight, becomes extremely competitive and showed every sign of control issues and obsessive compulsive disorder. Also, the tendency of going out of the way to please people in her adulthood suggested her fear of being less likable, which arose from the lack of approval she received as a child.

 

3. Joey Tribbiani – struggled as aspiring artist for years

One look at Joey’s life and you’d say there’s nothing wrong about it. However, Joey’s life was far from perfect. The man had no savings, his career prospects were bleak and he depended on his buddy, Chandler for funds most of the time.

He probably put on the face of a dimwit, simpleton who is not affected by anything other than food or women in order to show the world that his failing career and constant rejections did not bother him. However, anyone who has struggled for years to become an artist without funds and connections would know how difficult life can be.

 

4. Phoebe Buffay – mugged people in the streets for a living

The effervesce of Phoebes is hard to find in a person who has grown up to hardships as severe as hers. Her father abandoned her and the woman she called her mother committed suicide. Her sister was not particularly kind to her and the only family she was left with was her step-brother, Frank. This was probably the reason why Phoebe agreed to surrogate Frank’s triplets.

Phoebe had grown up in the streets, had seen the worst of New York City, resorted to mugging for food and money and would use the traumatic childhood as a ploy to get things done out of sympathy from others.

 

5. Ross Geller – divorced thrice before turning 30

Ross Geller had it easy as a child. Pampered and preferred over his sibling, Ross was not toughened up for the real world. He was overtly sensitive, often a sucker in relationships and it all started when the love of his life, his wife, with whom he had fathered a child, fell in love with another woman.

It’s interesting how the comedy had veiled the anguish of heartbreaks that Ross went through on many occasions. He was under 30 and was already divorced thrice and he was a paleontologist, for Christ’s stake, not a rock star.

 

6. Rachel Green – struggled for a sense of self-worth

Rachel was a rich brat who had never seen the tough side of life. However, she did manage to turn out a little different from her sisters and wanted to carve her own path out. So, Rachel Green left her fiance at the altar and ran away from her wedding, from her house and all the riches she was so used to.

This was when Rachel found herself doing odd jobs as a waitress at Central Perk, failing miserably at her job, living off Monica – a remarkable contrast to how she had grown up. She was too beautiful to be taken seriously, and things happened easily for her in school and college. It was the struggle to earn respect, be heard and be self-made that can be more difficult than it seems.

They all had something to get over.

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