Legendary sitcoms from the 90s are still beloved by the boomers, but newer generations are having trouble understanding what's funny about sexism, racism, and homophobia.
Before you start calling my generation "snowflakes," which is fine, but apparently boomers aren't fans of the snow, let's see what went wrong with Seinfeld and Friends.
"The Nazi Soup" (actual episode title), the "Indian giver" joke, making fun of Japanese men, staring at teenager's breasts, this is just a small portion of lousy taste Seinfeld left us with. But, similarly to Friends, what's even worse than insulting jokes, is the lack of diversity.
It's incredible (and not in the right way) that all the older shows are full of only white people, and while no one cared what men looked like, women had to be supermodels. So, the whole generation missed the fact that not all Americans are white, and not all ladies looked like Cindy Crawford.
When it comes to homophobia, even implying that a man is a guy was an insult. And remember Chandler's dad? Or Ross's ex-wife's wedding? Or Ross dating a black woman, only to make her the evilest Friends character?
It's not as if there weren't some fantastic, genuinely funny tv shows. Sex and The City lacked diversity, but at least there was no homophobia. And women weren't labeled as sluts, which was kind of refreshing. Will and Grace aged the best since the show is about gay men and their neurotic friends, which is something we see on a daily basis.
Comedy can't change the world, but it can open up your eyes. What's even more confusing is that original Beverly Hills spoke about eating disorders, racism, homophobia before other shows started. BH was a naïve teen show with lots of flaws, but some topics remain universal truths, and that's why it got two chances for revival.
Speaking of an eating disorder, fat-shaming Monica was one of the lowest points in Friends history. Turning a size 14 character into a safe size 2, in a year, wasn't an improvement. It was an eating disorder. The whole Geller family is full of unsettling moments, like when we discovered that Monica and Ross made out… Not funny. It's called incest.
And what about Ross and his stalking? If Rachel were a man, she'd be on that plane to Paris, never looking back on the creep. Her sisters were right: he was disgusting, but hey, older people told us they are "couple goals", so who are we to judge?
As a fan of Ricky Gervais, I don't believe in always being politically correct. It takes away from real conversations. But this isn't about what he said or she said. It's about actions, and they were rather horrible.
With all that being said, I tried watching Seinfeld more than once. Never laughed; it was torture. The level of misogyny is too much for my millennial snowflake heart. I did watch Freaks and Geeks, My So-Called Life, great shows, but got only one season.
Simple solutions: give us Golden Girls, Only Fools and Horses, and stop forcing us to watch outdated, mind-numbing, soul-crushing "comedy" shows. Can't we just cancel them, literally: no reruns? If boomers want to watch their shows, let them pay. For the sake of humanity!
