Friends is a good example of the Presentist narrative that Rushkoff discusses in the first chapter, “narrative collapse”, in Present Shock. Friends does not truly have the traditional narrative that Rushkoff explains in the text, “there is plot-there are many plots- but there is no overarching story, no end. There are so many plots, in fact, that an ending tying everything up seems inconceivable, even beside the point” (Rushkoff 34). I recently started watching the show from the beginning, so I can relate quite easily with the point that Rushkoff makes. First of all, beginning with season one episode one of Friends, the storyline starts off in medias res. At least at the start, you don’t know who this group of ridiculous friends are and you don’t really know how they even came about to be friends in the first place. There is a point to this. The show was not made to make people ponder life or want to keep hitting “next episode” on netflix. Rather, its purpose is to entertain with a hysterical group of dorky friends when someone wishes to be amused. The “middle” of the TV series goes against Rushkoff’s traditional sense of a story arc because each friend has their own lives away from their time together in the “Central Perk” coffee shop below their apartment. Each friend has a job, dates, other friends, and other life events that do not always connect with one another. I can’t really speak of the end, since I am only on season 4, but if it’s anything like How I Met Your Mother, it will be horrible, make me cry, and leave a bunch of questions unanswered.
Nearly every episode of Friends is the same dang thing every time, yet some how the lively show has me totally hooked. However ,as hard as it is for me to admit it, there is no real point to the story line or the characters within it. Rather, it is the atmosphere created by both of those things that appeals to the viewers (no, it is not a hit tv show just because of Jennifer Aniston’s tendency to look like a total goddess). This atmosphere is created as one watches various episodes of the show, it is not given to you in bits rather than all at one, creating less depth to the show. Rushkoff says that the result of this rather flat tactic is that “Narrativity is replaced by something more like putting together a puzzle by making connections and recognizing patterns” (Rushkoff 34). This puzzling technique replaces the linear storytelling. There is no mystery or other phenomena to be solved or resolved in Friends.
The show is not concerned of what will happen in the future, but rather with what is happening right at a particular moment. Rushkoff notes that there have been stories that are anticlimactic but still considered a traditional narrative. He says the difference is that the character would “always have the next day” to become wiser (Rushkoff 32) whereas in presentist narratives, time sped up and ruined that. The characters in Friends end up facing the same present shock as the creators of the television show because they just wake up in a random situation and have to figure out what is going on.
Rushkoff talks about the “CNN effect” and how it draws an immediate response from what he calls “always-on news”. I think that this can be drawn into his ideas of the narrative collapse within television shows and particularly, Friends. The show aims to get a quick and simple response from the people watching at home. As many of you know, the creators made the show to be comedic. So, the goal is not to make someone contemplate what next big thing will happen in the episodes to come, but rather to make them laugh and move on to the next episode.
Rushkoff, Douglas. Present Shock: When Everything Happens Now. New York: Penguin, 2013. Print.
Ashlyn, I enjoyed the way you related the plot of Friends to Narrative Collapse. The first time I watched Friends was a random episode in the middle of the series for a drama report on the actors. I was worried that I would not be able to complete this prompt because I had never watched Friends before. However, I had already finished my character analysis 5 minutes into the episode. I had already gotten the gist of what the show is about because of Rushkoff's theory that there is no mystery or other phenomena to be solved or resolved in Friends.
ReplyDeleteI like your point about the CNN effect and how comedies, in general really, aim for an immediate response from the audience and don't really want the viewers to think about the show and what's happening. A lot of television shows follow the same path you discussed in the beginning of your post. Someone could potentially watch the episodes, at least a few of them, and be able to understand what's going on because there isn't an overreaching plot. This is true for reality shows, as well, because each episode is a mere snippet of a person's life at the moment that is not really connected to the next snippet. P.S I cried my eyes out during the finale.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading your analysis of Friends, I'm realizing that our posts were actually very similar. I'm a huge fan of the show; however, after reading what you wrote about the show not being concerned with future or past episodes, but rather entertaining viewers for 30 minutes and then moving on to a new gimmick, I'm figuring out that the show has no real deep meaning to it. It's a show about a group of friends and their daily lives. That really doesn't sound very interesting, but yet, it's had people hooked for 20 years. It's this presentist aspect of the show that keeps viewers coming back for more and pressing next on Netflix; because when you're binge-watching it on a Saturday night, you always know that every 30 minutes will bring new hilarious shenanigans (probably courtesy of Joey).
ReplyDeleteYes, Caroline, I do see a lot of similarity between your two posts!
ReplyDeleteAs I did in responding to you, I will say I think "Friends" was a bit of a strange example Rushkoff chose. I see the point about the static nature of the setting...but particularly in the later years of the show, the characters really do move forward, and "grow up." Most marry, four of them have children, they get new jobs, etc. What you guys have made me think about is how the Netflix angle-of-vision affects all of these shows. Most were not designed to be viewed in this format, at this speed--how does the message change when the delivery system changes?