As probably everyone knows, Matthew Perry, one of the six “Friends” actors, died a few weeks ago very suddenly. This one hit particularly hard, and I’ve been thinking a lot about how Gen Xers were actually going through the stuff the Friends were going through while it was airing. I am 5-10 years younger than most of these actors (I was in college when Friends debuted), but still, many Gen Xers were their age at the time. I know Friends still resonates with Millennials and even Gen Z, but I still think Gen Xers have a specific connection with the show. Like these characters, Gen Xers are not digital natives. We didn’t grow up with cell phones and the internet - those technologies started expanding during our young adulthood. The Friends use landline phones! They have answering machines! They can go directly to the gate at the airport to meet their people (like Rachel does in the season 1 finale, only to find out Ross came home from China with a girlfriend). Those things are integral to the storylines of the show, and they basically no longer exist. Yet we Gen Xers (and older generations) remember experiencing them. I think that gives us a special, unique connection to “Friends."
Matthew Perry, revisiting Friends, and a poll
Matthew Perry, revisiting Friends, and a poll
Matthew Perry, revisiting Friends, and a poll
As probably everyone knows, Matthew Perry, one of the six “Friends” actors, died a few weeks ago very suddenly. This one hit particularly hard, and I’ve been thinking a lot about how Gen Xers were actually going through the stuff the Friends were going through while it was airing. I am 5-10 years younger than most of these actors (I was in college when Friends debuted), but still, many Gen Xers were their age at the time. I know Friends still resonates with Millennials and even Gen Z, but I still think Gen Xers have a specific connection with the show. Like these characters, Gen Xers are not digital natives. We didn’t grow up with cell phones and the internet - those technologies started expanding during our young adulthood. The Friends use landline phones! They have answering machines! They can go directly to the gate at the airport to meet their people (like Rachel does in the season 1 finale, only to find out Ross came home from China with a girlfriend). Those things are integral to the storylines of the show, and they basically no longer exist. Yet we Gen Xers (and older generations) remember experiencing them. I think that gives us a special, unique connection to “Friends."