This friend knows everything that’s going on with everyone and cannot WAIT to tell you about it via text, Facebook, gChat or sky writing. Note: In some friend groups, this might be literally every person.
This type of friend was basically born old. She can’t help but want to take care of everyone around her, whether she’s sweet about it or resorts to some tough love. She’s the only one of your friends you can count on to always carry tissues, Band-aids, eye drops, and these viejita-ass candies.
This girl can out-dance (and possibly out-drink) everyone around her, loves to shout “woo!” at high volume and doesn’t leave a party without becoming best friends with the DJ. She’s the one you invite when you just want to focus on having the time of your life, even if it means being half-dead behind your sunglasses at brunch the next morning.
You know how Thalia often played the young, innocent girl? That’s this friend. She sees the best in everyone and is probably a big fan of those motivational quotes you see on Instagram and Pinterest. She’s the best, even though you want to shake her by the shoulders every time she says chisme “isn’t nice.” Girl, who cares?!
The only thing you’re scared of when you’re around this friend is having to possibly bail her out of jail. She’s tough and takes no B.S. from anyone. If you’re close enough, you know that deep down, she’s just as big a softie as anyone. Just don’t mention it or she’ll glare you to death.
This friend grew up believing she was awkward (and, well, was probably right about that). Suddenly, she blossomed into a total smart, gorgeous, fun person… who is still, let’s face it, una niñita de mami y papi.
This girl knows EVERYTHING there is to know about every fandom she’s part of, can cosplay like a champion and is basically the coolest geek you’ll ever know. You might not totally ~get~ all her interests, but her enthusiasm and joy for the things she loves are pretty fantastic.
Vanessa Bryant continues to shows us what true resilience looks like. On Tuesday, the widow of Kobe Bryant took to her Instagram account to post a picture with Ciara and Russel Wilson’s baby, Win Wilson.
In the adorable picture, Bryant affectionately rests her head against the 2-month-old’s head. Win also looks comfortable, his face snuggled against Bryant’s shoulder.
Bryant captioned the post: “Sweet Baby. Win” along with a heart emoji. She tagged her friend Ciara as well as Ciara’s husband, Russel Wilson.
Credit: vanessabryant/Instagram
Ciara responded with a lovely note of her own, saying, “The sweetest. We love you Auntie V.” Vanessa Bryant and Ciara have recently let the public into their friendship, sharing candid pictures of them hanging out together, their children in tow.
In August, around Kobe’s birthday, Vanessa posted a picture to her Instagram account of her and her daughters, three-year-old and one-year-old Bianka and Capri. In the photo, all of them are huddled close, smiling smiling with Ciara. Bryant was similarly affectionate in her praise for Ciara then, writing: “It takes a village. Thank you to all my loving family, amazing friends and wonderful fans for your love and support. One day at a time.”
Credit: vanessabryant/Instagram
Shortly after, Ciara posted the same photo to her own Instagram account where she wrote a touching tribute to her good friend, whom she calls “Mamba Queen”.
“Seeing you and the girls smile makes my heart smile,” she gushed. “You’re the toughest mama I know. Seeing you put one foot forward each day is admirable. It ain’t easy, but if I know one thing, Mamba Queen’s capable of it all. Love you.”
The recent much-needed facetime with loved ones is probably especially important right now for Bryant, who is embroiled in some unpleasant personal turmoil behind the scenes.
Not only has her mother been making the media rounds, accusing Vanessa of kicking her out of her home, but she recently sued the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department for sharing unauthorized photos of the helicopter crash that killed Kobe and Gianna Bryant in January.
The latter case inspired a recently-passed California law that Governor Gavin Newsome just signed into action that “makes it a crime for first responders to take unauthorized photos of deceased people at the scene of an accident or crime.”
We’re glad to see that Vanessa Bryant has a strong support system around her. If anyone needs it, it is her.
“Friends” is loved by everyone. You’d be lying if you said you’ve never spent an entire day on the sofa, binge-watching the 90s comedy. But it’s safe to say that some of the jokes, punchlines, and themes of the show wouldn’t have been very well received in 2020 —aka some of the show’s storylines have been regarded as more than a little problematic. Here are some examples.
“Friends” originally aired in the 90s —but with Netflix reviving the craze for the show a few years ago, millennial viewers noticed a few insensitive punchlines.
I was a uni student in the 90s so looked forward to rewatching Friends on Netflix over New Year. But I agree – the ‘fat Monica’ and ‘gay Chandler’ ‘jokes’ feel very out of place now. And was Joey *always* that bit creepy? Disappointing.
The show was on air since 1994 and up until 2004. But since “Friends “started streaming on Netflix just a few years ago, modern day fans have found issues with the way the show depicts and handles some issues —like its lack of diversity for instance, or its depiction of women and LGBT people.
Pretty much everything about “Fat Monica,” for example.
This is nice,,, So much better than those "perma offended" types. Monica's fat suit is SO insensitive to fat people,, Joey is SO sexist,,, Where are all the black people? Etc etc ???? https://t.co/aKUERYm3uK
The whole ‘Fat Monica’ storyline fed into the media’s perpetuated image of overweight individuals as punchlines and nothing more. She only became a “worthy” character after she lost the weight, or at least that’s how the show made it seem.
Exhibit B. The treatment of Chandler’s trans dad.
If yall think for one second that we’re gonna pay a monthly fee to watch Chandler on his anti gay bullshit in 2020, think the hell again https://t.co/NANOAwBxqd
Chandler’s homophobia and jokes about his transgender parent were awful. While the addition of a proud gay character in a show during the 90s was a huge step forward in television, they totally misrepresented the community. The show conflated transgender people and drag queens. In trying to expose and dismantle some prejudices, they also perpetuated others.
The objectification of women by the male characters
Lmaooo joey was a man child who saw women as objects from season 1 to 10 so i wouldnt call him 2nd best N HE DIDNT DESERVE TO END UP W RACHEL EITHER https://t.co/j9nUesLIcL
There’s a Thanksgiving episode where Ross and Joey are trying to leave so they can go and meet Joey’s good looking roommate and her dancing friends. And just like this one, there are many other episodes in which “the boys” spend the whole show trying to think up ways to trick women into sleeping with them —in this particular episode, Joey literally calls the women “objects” —and I’m triggered.
Joey’s sexism usually went unchecked—and he was downright creepy a lot of times.
Joey’s roommate search is forever elite. Female, Non smoker, Non ugly.
Most of Joey’s scenes revolved around women —and a lot of them are problematic. Sure, he had his good and sweet moments, but it’s super problematic that he can’t remember who he’s slept with, or how he makes his roommates make breakfast for his conquest and then dump them for him. His roommate’s search was also awful: “Female, non-smoker, non-ugly.” —Seriously?
The constant examples of fragile masculinity.
Today on Friends: Joey "is turning into a woman" because he began developing artistic interests and expressing his emotions in a healthy way. And this is definitely terrible.
The male characters frequently had to make a HUGE issue out of their fragile masculinity. Here’s an example for you: In the episode where Chandler moves in with Monica, she has him making cedar sachets with old pantyhose. Chandler asks to leave to go do “guy stuff.” He then finds Joey learning to knit and Ross applying face powder to try and minimize the contrast of his overly bleached teeth. He leaves in disgust. Later, after pointing out all the feminine touches Joey’s new female roommate has applied to the old apartment, Chandler points out that Joey is turning into a woman. “Why would you say that? That’s just mean,” asks Joey. “Now I’ve upset you? What did I say?” replies Chandler. “It’s not what you said. It’s the way you said it… Oh, my God! I’m a woman!” exclaims Joey in disgust —*ALL THE EYEROLLS*
Ross has been one of the most criticized characters.
The character of Ross has seen a lot of criticism, for his dismissal of the importance of consent, his possessiveness over women, the casual anti-gay comments and more.
Even the show creators have admitted to feeling uncomfortable with some scenes.
The creators spoke about their regrets at Tribeca Film Festival’s “Friends” 25th anniversary. When asked by the audience if there were storylines that they regret, Kauffman had a couple of examples ready: “the one when Phoebe starts dating her sister Ursula’s stalker, played by David Arquette (“we did a lot of rewriting on that to make it work”).” “It’s much harder for me to enjoy the good moments when there are moments in it where I’m going, ‘Oh my God, we let that happen? We did that,'” she explained.
Meanwhile, co-creator, David Crane, admitted he doesn’t remember a lot of specific scenes and jokes after working on 10 seasons 15-25 years ago, said that when he does stumble upon an episode, he’ll occasionally wonder, “Wow, really? We went with that?” “There are some that are better than others,” he said.
In a recent interview with the Guardian, “Friends” star David Schwimmer who played Ross, said he”doesn’t care” about the backlash, because he believes it comes from the show being taken out of the context of its time.
When asked about the backlash that the show went through after its Netflix renaissance, the actor said; “I don’t care.” A few articles and several Twitter threads suggested that the show’s jokes hadn’t aged well, like Chandler worrying about seeming gay, or jokes about Monica’s weight. “The truth is also that show was groundbreaking in its time for the way in which it handled so casually sex, protected sex, gay marriage, and relationships. The pilot of the show was my character’s wife left him for a woman and there was a gay wedding, of my ex and her wife, that I attended.”
“Friends” is a product of the pre-“woke” era when it comes to race, too.
“Maybe there should be an all-black Friends or an all-Asian Friends,” Schwimmer says. “But I was well aware of the lack of diversity and I campaigned for years to have Ross date women of color. One of the first girlfriends I had on the show was an Asian American woman, and later I dated African American women. That was a very conscious push on my part.
