A minor Friends carp
Like an estimated 51.1 million Americans, I watch and mostly enjoyed the Friends finale last night. It was much better than Seinfeld‘s finale, though that’s a low bar to set. I am glad that Matt LeBlanc will have his own show in the fall — truth be told, Joey was always my favorite (though as ...
Like an estimated 51.1 million Americans, I watch and mostly enjoyed the Friends finale last night. It was much better than Seinfeld's finale, though that's a low bar to set. I am glad that Matt LeBlanc will have his own show in the fall -- truth be told, Joey was always my favorite (though as an academic, I did appreciate how adeptly the writers skewered Ross' academic pretensions). One minor complaint, however -- during the episode, Monica explains that they've named the twins Erika (after the birth mother) and Jack, after Monica's father. Which is great, except for the fact that Monica Geller is Jewish. Jews (well, Ashkenazi Jews at least) do not name their children after living relatives. Now Friends, like many shows (Mad About You) was always skittish about discussing religion, even though three of the show's characters (Ross, Monica, Rachel) were Jewish. They inevitably celebrated Christmas, for example. Which is fine -- there are certainly Jews who do this. However, there was no need for the show to have a Jewish character do something that even a non-practicing Jew would never even have considered. The show's creators, David Crane and Marta Kaufman, are both graduates of Brandeis. They should have known better.
Like an estimated 51.1 million Americans, I watch and mostly enjoyed the Friends finale last night. It was much better than Seinfeld‘s finale, though that’s a low bar to set. I am glad that Matt LeBlanc will have his own show in the fall — truth be told, Joey was always my favorite (though as an academic, I did appreciate how adeptly the writers skewered Ross’ academic pretensions). One minor complaint, however — during the episode, Monica explains that they’ve named the twins Erika (after the birth mother) and Jack, after Monica’s father. Which is great, except for the fact that Monica Geller is Jewish. Jews (well, Ashkenazi Jews at least) do not name their children after living relatives. Now Friends, like many shows (Mad About You) was always skittish about discussing religion, even though three of the show’s characters (Ross, Monica, Rachel) were Jewish. They inevitably celebrated Christmas, for example. Which is fine — there are certainly Jews who do this. However, there was no need for the show to have a Jewish character do something that even a non-practicing Jew would never even have considered. The show’s creators, David Crane and Marta Kaufman, are both graduates of Brandeis. They should have known better.
Daniel W. Drezner is a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast. Twitter: @dandrezner
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