“It was clearly a mistake”
The creator of ‘Friends’ Marta Kauffman expressed her regret for the gender confusion of a transgender character on the sitcom.
Executive producer Marta Kauffman said she believed the portrayal of Chandler Bing’s transgender father was a “mistake” in a recent interview with The Conversation on the BBC.
“We kept referring to her as ‘Chandler’s dad’, even though she was trans. Pronouns were still something she didn’t understand. So we don’t refer to that character as ‘her’. That was a clear mistake,” Kauffman shared, referencing some of the best “Friends” episodes.
Kauffman also added that building a diverse and inclusive workplace is important to her, saying, “I really like creating an environment where we have a happy set and a happy team.”
“It is very important to me that we are in a safe place, a tolerant place, where there is no yelling. I fired a guy on the spot for making a joke about a trans cameraman. That just can’t happen.”
Kauffman has faced criticism for the lack of diversity on the show and on other series like ‘Friends’ to watch on loop and says he’s learned from past mistakes and agreed that blacks were underrepresented on the show.
“‘Friends’ has been criticized in various ways. The biggest one is that we didn’t have enough representation of black people,” he said.
“And over the course of the last few years I got to the point where I can say, sadly, yes, I am guilty of that. And I will never make that mistake again. It was clearly part of the systemic racism in our business. I wasn’t aware of that, which makes me feel stupid.”
“That was a very valid and extremely difficult criticism that still…excites me,” he continued.
“If I had known then what I know now, I would have changed certain things. But I didn’t know them and since then I’ve learned them“Just like we’ve learned lessons from ‘Friends.’
Kathleen Turnerwho played Chandler’s transgender mother on the sitcom, also previously addressed criticism of the show, admitting: “I don’t think it has aged well. It was a 30-minute sitcom. It became a phenomenon, but no one ever took it seriously as a social comment.”
Source: Fotogramas
Camila Luna is a writer at Gossipify, where she covers the latest movies and television series. With a passion for all things entertainment, Camila brings her unique perspective to her writing and offers readers an inside look at the industry. Camila is a graduate from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a degree in English and is also a avid movie watcher.
