THE FUN ENTRY in Book Seven: Reconstruction 2020

Yes, I’m writing a lot today. But after yesterday, I was so abysmally distraught over the sheer URGH of everything I was running into that I didn’t even have it in me to write the fun, silly, of no importance entry yesterday that I had wanted to write. So here it is.

The other day in the shower I was considering something that I had read about the television show FRIENDS. Many people were saying that you could NEVER do a show like that now. And I thought… that’s rather silly. Friends and Coupling and How I Met Your Mother and.... television programs that capture “your twenties and thirties” as you try to bridge the gap between being a child and an adult is RIPE for television scripts and series. You could still do those shows today with some changes.

So I started considering. The big change that really needed to be pushed on ALL of the shows I just mentioned is racial diversity. You’re telling me that in New York (two shows) the White Folk never hang out with Asians, Latinx, Blacks, Middle Easterners… just a big ol white people group? Same with London… I mean, I get that Coupling was to be semiautobiographical but you’re saying there aren’t even any mixed race friend groups in London?? Anyway, I placed my mind firmly on the very first episode of Friends: The One Where Monica Gets a Roommate alternatively called simply The Pilot. Using that episode and the relationship structures established there (and through various other Season 1 reveals) how would I go about casting an ethnically diverse FRIENDS

At the outset, we have to take Rachel as the main character. In script development, if you MUST select a main character in an ensemble case, always look to the character that creates change. In FRIENDS, Ross/Monica/Chandler/Phoebe/Joey are all together and friends and the through line of their lives is pretty static as we meet them. RACHEL is the character who suddenly bursts onto the scene. I suppose you could argue Ross is the main character as he is going through a divorce with his pregnant ex-wife coming out as a lesbian… but even all of that is explored through reveals and not with the sudden dramatic on screen action.

So, RACHEL as “start” or “main” is first: She must be white, Jewish, or Asian. If White, keep her WASPy; if Jewish, needs to come from a wealthy family (keep the Dr. Green thing); if Asian, Chinese is better but could be any Asian.

This is important, if perhaps judgmental, because Rachel must be a woman who has been rather spoiled her whole life only to be cut off from the family after jilting her fiance at the alter. From RACHEL, we go to MONICA. Since Rachel’s best friend in High School and future roomie is the next closest relationship to RACHEL.

MONICA must be black or Latinx. An individual whose racial “standing” would be considered easier to prejudicially exclude by Rachel’s family. As this sets the initial conflict between the two as “Why wasn’t I invited to your wedding?” When (the script reason) is that Monica couldn’t be at Rachel’s wedding so Rachel would have someone to come to and set everything in motion. BUT… this gives a bit of a script in-universe reason as well; that could and should be explored in future scripts. ALSO I like the idea of a Black Woman or Latinx Woman going through the culinary arc. Could be done one of two ways… Monica is a brilliant gourmet chef that could STUN in Paris, but New York Chefs only hire her to do “ethnic food”… or you could reverse it… that she is brilliant at Cajun Cooking or Chilean Gourmet or something but she only gets hired to do the Assistant to the Assistant Chef in Italian Restaurants or that kind of work.

As MONICA has a sibling on the show; the next to be cast is ROSS. ROSS should of course be whichever Monica is (Latinx or Black). Yes because of family; but also because it creates a few interesting script discussions and a few important representation elements. Because if RACHEL didn’t invite MONICA to the wedding due to prejudice and family racial animosity… that can be/would be an important arc to investigate and deal with as ROSS and RACHEL begin to reconnect and sparks start. Also, white Ross was a wimpy, whiny guy dealing with his wife leaving him to be a lesbian. Imagine culturally, a Black man or a Latinx man going through that. Struggling with the cultural expectations of masculinity, “being a man” and all of that. THEN twist it for representation. Show this guy going out of his way to be supportive, be a dad… he’s open about his feelings (ie: worried about his masculinity, etc) but still puts in the effort to be a good dad. AND keep Ross as a Dr. in a PhD field. Give some good representation of educated POC.

ROSS’ next closest relationship is with CHANDLER as they were college roommates. I have spent a lot of thought on CHANDLER and I have to say… I don’t see any strong reason to make CHANDLER any race more than another. Quite honestly, I would probably leave CHANDLER’s “racial description” totally blank and just encourage the Casting Director to hire “high energy, sarcastic, witty, funny” and whoever fit that description best that worked best with the group- that’s who you hire.

Of course, CHANDLER’s closest relationship then would be JOEY. And I really really want JOEY to be “East Indian/Pakistani”. Really really. And I’ll tell you why… I want his arc to go one of two ways. They are vastly different so I’ll put them down as options.
OPTION A: This is my favorite. This is the East Indian/Pakistani route. JOEY was an up and coming Bollywood actor who was poised to do great work. But his Bollywood agent convinced him that it was better to go to America and try for regular TV work, so he came to NY expecting that he’d just “make it” but hasn’t yet. So there is your JOEY acting arc but with a little more meat and character to it.
OPTION B: I don’t like this one as much because it STARTS on a stereotype. This would be Middle Eastern JOEY. JOEY was a successful med student in his home country until civil war struck and he was one of the lucky few to get asylum. But as a Middle Eastern young man with Asylum… he couldn’t get into any Med Schools to finish his education. So he’s forced to do odd jobs (waiter, cab driver, shop clerk, etc.) Until (as a possibility) say a Casting Director for Days of Our Lives (or something) starts having a medical emergency in JOEY’s cab. JOEY saves the person’s life and is thanked by being brought onto the show as Dr. Drake Romoray for a few pop in episodes. The character takes off and JOEY devotes himself to being an actor full-time.

Finally: Phoebe. I always found Phoebe to be an outlier character. Almost the “audience stand in” in some ways? Like… even the Phoebe-centered arcs mostly seemed half-assed. Thus the character could honestly be played by ANY race… but I would kind of like to see it played by a disabled light skinned black musician. Use the PHOEBE character as a way of discussing colorism, feminism, ableism, and expression of art through the perspectives of intersectionality. SO… there you have it. My ultimate cast wish would be:

RACHEL: Chinese Woman, attractive, affluent, early 20s
MONICA: Black Woman, underestimated by talented chef, early 20s
ROSS: Black Man, professional but going through marital issues, mid to late 20s
CHANDLER: Any Race Man, high energy, sarcastic, witty, funny, mid to late 20s
JOEY: East Indian, attractive, cocky but starting to learn humility, early 20s
PHOEBE: Disabled Light Skinned Black Woman, musically gifted, semi-activist, late 20s