Why So Many Friends Fans Hate Ross Geller
It’s not uncommon to hear Friends viewers mention how much they dislike Ross, and there are a lot of reasons behind that. Since its final episode in 2004, Friends has continued to occupy a place in pop culture, despite starting to show its age in many regards. One source of much of the show’s outdated humor is in the self-proclaimed “nice guy” Ross Gellar who, viewed through a more modern lens, is often neither funny nor nice.
Running for 10 seasons spanning an entire decade, Friends was one of the most wildly popular shows of the late 1990s. That popularity has never quite died away, with Friends joining the ranks of other classic American comedy shows like Frasier and Seinfeld for being instantly recognizable. Unfortunately, while a lot of the humor in Friends is timeless, there’s no shortage of jokes which have aged rather poorly. Some prominent examples are the near-constant barrage of heteronormativity and gender roles, the running joke about fatphobia and body shaming which was Monica's entire backstory, and much of the humor in Ross’s character.
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Ross is a perfect example of a self-proclaimed “nice guy”. Incredibly self-absorbed, relentlessly disrespectful to others, and insistent that he must always get his own way, there are many reasons why he rubs some viewers up the wrong way. In fact, Ross’s storylines in Friends are seemingly the origin of phrases like “friend zone” and “not all men”, which have since been weaponized online by some men who share the same kind of entitlement issues that Ross has. Ross’ storylines in the show often revolve around this core characterization, with him often becoming manipulative in order to get what he wants. In many ways, his behavior is a
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