Prime-Time and Homosexuality

Anyone who ever watched prime-time television in the 90s knows of the sitcom spectacular that drew in millions. “Friends” was one of the most-watched TV shows of all time and reigned for a solid ten years. The show focuses on six young adults living and working in the Big Apple. The webs woven between the three female, three male characters- webs of sex, love, money, family, tension, conflict, and relationships- were ever-evolving and ever-engrossing to the avidly watching public of the wildly popular sitcom. Over its ten years, the show touched on every pertinent social topic there is, one of them of course being the sometimes-taboo homosexuality.
The main plot line that comes to mind at the word homosexuality is the story of Ross (one of the main six characters) and his first wife, Carol. The first season starts off with Ross slowly coming to the realization that his new wife is exhibiting some ‘gay tendencies’. Eventually, the news is broken to poor Ross that his wife has only after their marriage come to the realization that she is, in fact, gay and therefore not attracted to him but to other women. The hilarity of this story persists throughout the entire duration of the show, frequently being brought up by other characters to poke fun at Ross and often as a source of conflict between him and Carol, who became pregnant with his child before realizing that she was a lesbian.
Another related plot line is one of the chief ways that the other characters poke fun at Chandler (a chief character on the same level as Ross): his ‘quality’. At the beginning of the show’s run, before the awkward and corny Chandler dates and eventually marry Ross’s sister, Monica, people will sometimes comment on this certain vague ‘quality’ that Chandler has about him. The ‘quality’ leads many people (mostly women) to assume that he’s gay. The eight episode of the first season (The One Where Nana Dies Twice) centers around this elusive quality of his and his frustration with it. He comes to realize just how common this assumption about his sexuality is and frantically searches for an answer, an explanation as to what this ‘quality’ specifically is in a desperate attempt to suppress it. Chandler is, in fact, heterosexual, but this never-quite-identified portion of his personality leads many to assume the opposite.
In both of these plot lines- and specifically in episode eight, season one- homosexuality is not presented in a negative fashion. It isn’t something to be feared or revolted by or deemed ‘wrong’. The only way the show approaches this controversial topic is with a light heart and a joking manner. In no way is homosexuality being made fun of, only the misconceived sexuality is the big joke. While Friends could certainly have incorporated many more gay characters and plot lines into it’s ten-year run, it handled the few encounters the protagonists did actually have very well.