I love Friends, and by that I mean I know every episode by heart and can pretty much reference every single line. I grew up watching Friends with my family. I laughed at every lame joke made by the incomparable Chandler Bing and cried whenever there was a sad Ross/Rachel moment. Friends is not just a funny and brilliant sitcom that got stronger with each season, but it teaches us life lessons. The characters didn't change like most TV shows, these characters developed.
Let's get to it:
1. Rachel Green
There is no right time to start a new life and become a new person. Rachel turned her life around completely when she ran away from her wedding to live by herself, without her dad's money, for the first time. She started as a waitress and found no shame in discovering her talents one step at a time. When she gave out resumes to fashion employers, her only credential was 'Coffeehouse Waitress'. By the last episode of season 10 however, both New York-based Ralph Lauren and Paris-based Louis Vuitton were fighting over her. She taught me to never give up and that the person you were before does not have to be the person you will be.
At season 9, she was pregnant out of wedlock, and she handled that with such strength, poise, and above all, humor. She knew she was capable of raising that child, with our without the help of Ross. She was prepared to love that baby, even if she was unprepared for everything else. She was confident with herself. She knew what she could and couldn't do, and directed her life towards the direction she knew was best for her.
2. Phoebe Buffay
Let the past make you better, not bitter. Phoebe didn't have real parents. Her stepfather went to prison, her stepmother shot herself and she didn't go to school because she didn't have the money. Yet, she waltzes through life with such positive energy that it astounds me to this day. She is unapologetically quirky and innocent in the best way. She knows herself and doesn't let her colors be taken away from her.
Most importantly, she is a woman who embraces her sexuality, and that fact was never questioned nor brought up in the entire show. She sleeps with men, but yet, we don't see her as a 'slut'. Because the viewers realize that Phoebe is a great person, regardless of her sexual history. She has a book of men she's slept with and doesn't have a care in the world about what people think of her. People say she sucks at singing? Who cares. People say she's a terrible artist? Whatever. She does whatever her heart feels is right, and follows her intuition always. She doesn't take criticism except from herself. She knows her limitations and pushes through them anyway.
3. Monica GellerLove is complicated, but it's real. Monica had a rough dating history, but one in particular, Richard, who meant the world to her. For many seasons, Richard was the love of her life, and regardless of their age difference or the fact that it's Monica's father's best friend, she still stuck by him. Love knows no bounds. She wears her heart on her sleeve and gives a piece of herself to every man, without complaint. Because she knows that the right man will come one day. And he did.
Monica is an excellent chef, and she will prove you otherwise if you ever doubt her abilities. Like Rachel, she started from the bottom at a crappy restaurant chain. But she knew that she would make it one day. Somehow. Even though she's erratic and oftentimes annoying, she's always willing to help others out. She has a short temper and is definitely the most selfish out of the girls, but when it comes to the well-being of her loved ones, she will put them first. Always. When the time comes, Monica is the most dependent friend, albeit the most irritating.
4. Ross Geller
Do what you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life. Ross is a brilliant archeologist whose job has been the butt of the series joke since season 1. He drags his unwilling friends to speeches and museums with pride, because his love for dinosaurs is akin to a 5 year-old who just watched Jurassic Park. His innate passion for archaeology never left and grew stronger with each passing day. He found something that he loved, and he never looked back, regardless of how people teased him about it
He makes mistakes, and he owns up to it. When he cheated on Rachel, he apologized and knew the full scope of his mistake. He was a man who loved and lost, but never stopped loving. Like his sister Monica, he wears his heart on his sleeve, leading him to three failed marriages. He takes life by the throat and do what makes him happy. Although he's dangerously impulsive, he has a kind soul. He admits to every mistake and tries to move on and learn from it.
5. Joey Tribbiani
Life is a journey, not a destination. As a failed actor, I've always felt bad for Joey. He deserved his big break, and even though he did (albeit briefly), he never gave up. He went from audition to audition and for 10 seasons, never once gave up on his career, no matter the state of his bank account. He took up different jobs like as a museum guide or a cab driver, but never once did he lose sight of his passion. He knows life won't give you what you want on a silver platter.
Joey dates different women each week. He puts himself out there, and even though it seems like he treats women like objects of desire, he does have a big heart, as evident by the number of times women have broken his heart. He's always in search for The One but disguises it as mere manly one night stands. He, just like anyone else, believes in love. Yet he's the only single one left in the group by season 10. He teaches us that we don't need to be paired up like Noah's Ark to be happy. Being alone and loving yourself is good enough. Finding someone shouldn't be confined to an age range, and it shouldn't be the main thing in life either. For Joey, as long as he's doing what he loves and he has food in his stomach, he's a happy camper.
6. Chandler Bing
Everyone has issues, but you gotta embrace them. Like Phoebe, Chandler had a rough and confusing past. This resulted in many coping mechanisms like humor and the need to make himself look better than those around him. But the thing is, he knows all his flaws. He can pick them apart one by one, and he understands that no one is perfect, including him. He understands himself better than anyone else, and I think out of all the characters, Chandler is the most vulnerable. When he's sad, he'll explain himself and trace it back to the route of it. He always justifies himself, but never apologizes for being who he is.
Chandler's the only one with a sudden career shift mid-series. From being a Statistical Analyst and doing Data Reconfiguration to an art director in an advertising agency. Similar to Rachel, he realized that only he has the power to turn his life around, and he damn well will. He started as an unpaid intern in the agency and endured shame throughout the beginning of his career, but he knew that's where he belonged, and he won't let a couple of 20 year-olds mock him into quitting. He knows that there is no end date to grow and find yourself. A 30 year-old can still be lost in life, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.
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