A place for all my fandom fixations

Millennials are fighting back just by surviving in a job market where the minimum wage doesn’t cover the living cost. Millennials are awesome at “killing” the diamond, golfing and napkins industries. Millennials are using the internet to make sure things that corporations want to keep in the dark are exposed. They’re open LGBTQIA-friendly business, they’re supporting each other with online donations so everyone can survive this shitty economy.

And the Gen Z kids? The Gen Z kids are rad. I remember a post about something like the millennials making a collective promise to never become a disenchanted generation that only criticizes the next one and I want to point out that this “millennials vs gen z” trend is trying to do exactly that: split us apart. Prevent millennials from being the older siblings that teach the younger siblings to throw a good punch and turn them into the annoyed adult complaining about “those kids” on their lawn. We are the two groups that grew in a connected world of information. We are two very unique generations.

It also ignores the mental toll that poverty takes like maybe your home made veggie filled recipe isn’t crazy expensive but it also involves prep time and cooking time and organization in terms of fresh food that a lotta poor people can’t manage.

Not to mention if you can only afford to get to the store once every couple weeks via bus or cab then you can’t keep fresh veg on deck.

Okay so here’s the thing. 

I felt “the thing” with Joey and Rachel even before he fell in love with her in Season 8 (Season 8 right? I believe that was the season). I felt it so much, wanted it so much, you have no idea. They were so cute as roommates, and best friends, and they got along so well. He supported her so much. Then he confessed his love to her and she didn’t reciprocate and I was devastated, albeit not surprised. 

Then he was there for her throughout her entire pregnancy and it was beautiful and he was so comfortable in who he was as a person and so sure in his love for her (even when he had never loved ANYONE ELSE EVER) and it was just so sweet and adorable and UGH everything.

rewatching a lot of friends and diving into the Rachel/Joey tags always brings up one big issue for me

Rachel’s development and mental health

Because let’s be honest: the one thing we see with her over and over again is that she doesn’t really have control over her life, her choices etc. Not only because of the narrative shoehorning her into random situations which is off enough, but because of her background. Her family—especially her father—bossed her around a lot and took all the choices from her, which continued to be the narrative of her life until she took the initiative for the first time by running away from her wedding.

The entire first season (and part of the following ones) for Rachel was about her growing out of that helplessness and doing things on her own. But we still got glimpses of a girl who had never been taught to make her own choices. There is almost an entire episode dedicated to Monica, Phoebe and Rachel arguing over whether Rachel is a push-over, closing with the fact that, yeah she kind of is. Other episodes have her actively begging Monica to make choices for her because she doesn’t really know how to make (good) choices.

And knowing that makes Ross as her end-game SUCH a big red flag for me, because his entire persona is trying to control people in general but especially his girlfriends. And Rachel more than the others even. If we acknowledge the writers, I can only flip them off bc I have no words. If we don’t and pretend these are real people, hell, I can’t even blame Rachel for feeling drawn to that, because it’s what she knows, it’s what she is used to, that is comforting in a way, and it makes things easier. Easier than trying every day to break out of that habit and learn to be her own person throughout her adult life. 

On the other hand, we got Joey, who supported her. When he was asked for advice he helped her find a solution, occasionally stepped in to fight her battles and protect her, but as a person in general, and especially as Rachel’s friend/partner etc, he does not actually try to control her. He made her experience some new things, try things out herself, invited her to live in his world where you can drop pasta on the ground without anyone being mad at you, live a comfortable life etc. He let her bounce ideas off him but did not tell her what she has to do, unless it was a moral conflict of “you have to tell him the uncomfortable thing” they all preach from time to time. 

Plus, come on. When Rachel got pregnant, Joey stepped up instantly, proposed, ready to step in as father and husband, then beat himself up for falling for a friend who was with another friend, told Ross he could punch him and that he wouldn’t act on it because it’s not his place. He was ready to step back.

Meanwhile, Ross learned he was going to have a child, told Rachel off for going on a date once, but then instantly hopped into a date himself.

Like, there is such a huge shift in mentality from the 90’s to now because Ross and Rachel were suppose to be THE couple to emulate when in reality, Monica and Chandler were goals and Joey and Rachel were absoultely perfect for each other even though the writers and the actors apparently all hated the idea of Joey and Rachel and it made them uncomfortable. They were 'never supposed to be together’, 'sometimes you fall for the wrong person/someone you’re not supposed to be with.’

This photo always cheers me up a bit. It’s a front-page article from 1955 about Christine Jorgensen, one of the first women to have sex-reassignment surgery.

Since the text is a bit small and I couldn’t find a larger copy, here’s what the small blurb says:

A World of a Difference

George W. Jorgensen, Jr., son of a Bronx carpenter, served in the Army for two years and was given honorable discharge in 1946. Now George is no more. After six operations, Jorgensen’s sex has been changed and today she is a striking woman, working as a photographer in Denmark. Parents were informed of the big change in a letter Christine (that’s her new name) sent to them recently.

Marks and Rec: Misc #2048