Eduqas

Representation of New York City

How is New York city represented in Friends? Read the descriptions at the bottom of the screen and drag them to the appropriate column.


Contemporary Representations

Both

Older Representations: Friends

A place of adventure Fast-paced A place of diversity Crime A place of independence A place of opportunity Slow-paced

Not in Friends

As we move to the contemporary representation of the city it is good to consider how more contemporary sitcoms and television programmes represent New York City. Modern Sitcoms like Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, 30 Rock and Brooklyn Nine Nine represent New York city in a variety of ways. Kimmy in UKS rejects her chance to go back to her hometown in Indiana to go on a personal adventure. The body language, facial expressions and effects of the wind in Kimmy’s hair all connote the freedom she feels as soon as the other mole women drove off. She embarks on a very fast-paced discovery of not only the city – but also the changes to society while she has been in the bunker. 30 Rock represents New York as the epicentre of opportunity, with fast paced change with regards to the film and TV industry. Liz Lemon is surrounded by diverse people from different ethnicities, backgrounds and ages. Brooklyn Nine-Nine shows the criminal side of New York in a humorous way, but paints the city as a centre of crime, drugs and fraud. Jake Peralta has to deal with criminals from all backgrounds and ages, again depicting the multi-cultural representation of the city.

Friends

Friends represents New York City as the place of opportunity for the characters that live there. Each character is on their own particular journey of independence. The friends are introduced in a very slow-paced way, relaxing calmly in the café retelling stories. The representation of their way of life in New York suggests that they are enjoying life and feeling very relaxed with their free-time. Their lives seem to contradict the audience's expectations of New York being the busy, manic hustle bustle of tourism, business and shopping. The arrival of Rachel into the group represents her desire for independence and opportunity away from the lifestyle she had been building for herself. The characters, despite their own struggles and challenges, do not discourage her from this journey and start building supportive relationships.

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