10 Seasons, 238 Episodes, 800 Cast Members, and 1 Black Woman
The title I gave this blog post was intended to give a snapshot of one of the most iconic and popular sitcoms of all-time: Friends. I grew up watching the show with my parents and sister religiously, sitting down to watch the new episodes as a family every week (TiVo and DVR weren’t around yet) and even playing the DVDs of past seasons while my mom would do work around the house. Needless today, it was always on. What I never realized as a young, white, female was the serious lack of diversity on the show. I identified easily with these characters because well, they looked like me. As I re-watch the show now, I cannot help but focus on the fact that there is an all-white cast despite being set in New York City, one of the more diverse areas in the US.
The snapshot I gave in the title refers to information I found on IMDb. In the 800 cast members listed, there are only two characters that are both black, appear in more than one episode, and have speaking lines. One of the characters, played by Aisha Tyler, appears in nine episodes and plays a major role in the story arch but is the only black female to ever appear in Friends and have a speaking role. The other, played by Phill Lewis, appears in three episodes but has a relatively small role. However, neither of these characters appeared until the ninth season, when the show had almost run its course. That means the show went about 200 episodes without showing a single black character. There may have been black characters as extras, but Friends is ultimately a very unrealistic depiction of what life in New York City is really like.
The one character, Charlie Wheeler, portrayed by Aisha Taylor was, at the very least, not a stereotypical representation of a black woman. She was well educated, witty, friendly, and even engaged in a biracial relationship. Robin Boylorn expresses a desire to see more of these types of characters on television in her article on race and television. She notes, “It is important that Black women are given alternatives to stereotypes, on TV and in real life, without having their authenticity questioned. I want to be a woman who ‘‘makes sense’’ outside of stereotypes. I am tired of my non-stereotypical behavior being interpreted as ‘‘acting white,’’ which translates to being civilized or friendly or educated…”. While Friends did a poor job of showing diversity, the show at least didn’t promote negative stereotypes, especially for black women. Symbolic annihilation obviously isn’t a good thing however, and isn’t in any way an acceptable substitute for showing stereotypes.
Boylorn, R. M. (2008). As Seen On TV: An Autoethnographic Reflection on Race and Reality Television. Critical Studies in Media Communication, 25(4), 413–433.
