Friends Co-Creator Speaks Out About Transphobia In The Series

gamerant.com:

It's a given that many classic pieces of media like Friends haven't particularly aged well in terms of representation and humor. That isn't necessarily the fault of those old favorites, of course. They're simply products of their respective times. However, it's still helpful to look back at them from an analytical perspective, even if it might hurt a little.

One such instance involves the beloved '90s sitcom Friends, which many would already argue has aged like fine milk. Still, fans still look back on it with fondness, and the show's enduring popularity still inspires the occasional retrospective from viewers looking at it from a modern lens. One particular aspect of the series that hasn't exactly stood the test of time is its handling of certain social issues, specifically a certain transgender character.

This Underrated Sitcom Deserves More Recognition Than Friends

Friends co-creator Marta Kauffman recently spoke via The Conversation on the BBC World Service about the character of Helena Bing, the sole transgender character on the show and parent of Matthew Perry's Chandler Bing. At the time, Helena was basically treated as a joke character, and Kauffman wished to address how poorly she was portrayed. «We kept referring to her [Chandler's transgender parent] as 'Chandler’s father,' even though Chandler's father was trans,» Kauffman explained. «Pronouns were not yet something that I understood. So we didn't refer to that character as 'she.' That was a mistake.»

Helena was played by cis actress Kathleen Turner, who discussed the role herself in 2019, saying, «Of course, I wouldn't do it [today] because there would be real people able to do [the part].» It seems they both have a bit of regret for how things played out back