I have mixed feelings on seasons six and seven, like when theyāre good theyāre really good but when theyāre bad itās almost infuriating, and one of the worst consistent threads throughout six and seven is easily the treatment of Rachelās character. Like, Iām sure we all know that BMW isnāt always the best at writing women, but itās exemplified so much in how Rachel is sexualized and objectifiedā how the crowd hoots and hollers when she wrestles the boys or has a food fight with them or walks out in a shower robe, how her physical appearance like her height and hair are focused on so god damn much, how the male characters go goo-goo eyed for her and how Chet (a man over twice her age) makes creepy comments about her mostly unchallenged, how sheās treated as an object for Jack and Eric to fight over to the point that Shawn helps Eric realize that he wants to beat Jack more than he wants to āwinā Rachel, etc.ā itās just difficult to watch sometimes. And itās sad because we get so many bits and pieces of intrigue with her. Rachel is smart, sheās observant, sheās hard-working, and sheās kind, but she also wants to be liked so bad and is so hard on herself when anything goes wrong. She still canāt get over a mistake she made as a child (destroying her bunny), she fails to throw a good dinner party and is so distraught about it, she assumes she killed her boyfriendās dad by giving him a slice of cake to be nice to him, she feels like an outsider among her only friends and she honestly kind of is just by virtue of being the newest one in (even though that doesnāt make her any less important). At the same time, she wants to be liked for who she actually is, and reaches a breaking point when she truly isnāt being respected, whether it be in the form of a silly fight with her roommates or blowing up at her ex and moving out. So much of Rachelās life has centered around men as well, from her ex to Jack and Eric, and it would be so nice to see her come more into her own with Topanga and Angela instead of just feeling like their third wheel friend (which kind of happens? but not really tbh). Sheās helpful, and awkward, and tries to be funny but goes too far, and sheās impulsive and knows when to stand up for herself but also needs to meticulously plan how to make others like her and will put off the standing up if she can, and she just wants to be loved and included and a good person but itās just so hard because sheās not used to having security and sheās also 20 and in college and itās just so hard to do anything let alone make close friends at that age. I think every day about what Rachel couldāve been if it werenāt for her being Eric and Jackās rope in a stupid game of tug-of-war for 80% of the time she was on screen. I think about how she and Shawn wouldāve interacted after he left the apartment so she could move in, I think about her and Angela discussing what itās like to be the new girl on the block to this group of childhood friends and relatives, I think about learning more about Rachelās past and her hobbies and her major, I think about her and Jack and Eric going on silly adventures and her maybe being as stupid for them as they are for her, I think about her not quite fitting in with the girls nor the boys, and it just drives me crazy when I remember what she couldāve been and who she is to me versus everyone else. I think she shouldāve been allowed to be more unhinged than she already was, the narrative is so mean to her and for what (the what: misogyny)
