Link to Installment #1- http://cophilosophy.blogspot.com/2015/11/final-installment-1-friends-tv-show.html
The TV show FRIENDS has had a cultural impact throughout the years. Originally the show generated average reviews and NBC almost chose not to even air the pilot episode because the show was deemed “not believable” in audience testing and viewers claimed the show “played it safe.” However, the fact that it “played it safe” is one of the reasons audiences grew to love the show. 20 year olds enjoyed the fact that the show addressed both work and relationship struggles among the characters and their jobs weren’t anything special; Rachel worked as a waitress, Joey was a struggling actor, Ross was a museum tour guide, etc. The jobs were all obtainable by viewers.
Another reason for the success of the show was the fact that
all six main actors stayed throughout its entirety. A lot of times a drastic
character change causes a decline in viewership, but throughout the entirety of
Friends all 6 remained. Having that many actors in equal roles is unusual.
Usually a “main character” is appointed, but the 6 actors chose to remain a
united front and were payed exactly the same for 9/10 seasons.
After September
11th, Friends ratings grew 19%. Viewers saw the show as a safe haven
during all the terror. It made New York seem like a place that anyone with a
dream could go. Even if you weren’t financially successful, you could still
work, take steps to following your dreams, and be happy. It allowed viewers to
still see a positive side of New York despite what was actually happening
there. Therefore, one of the main takeaways from FRIENDS, is the idea of
finding happiness.
Philosophers who write about
“happiness” typically take their subject matter to be either of two things:- A state of mind
- A life that goes well for the person leading it
The characters
of Friends display both uses of the term "Happiness". Even when things are going
wrong, they still have a positive mind-state because of the fact that they
still have their Friends, which is the most important thing to them.
In the end,
it also is believed that their lives will go well after the show is over. In the
final episode you see the main characters moving out of their apartment, a
place where a lot of the show takes place. There is a sense of sadness, but also
a sense of closure. They are believed to be moving on to bigger and better things,
and it’s understood that the lives will go well for each character because even
though they’ll be separated, they will still have each other.
Friends Final Scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9snbUbbMqbg
Vanessa Beard 12 INSTALLMENT 2 FINAL EXAM
ReplyDeletePeople accomplish amazing things all around the world every day. Many churches and other private organizations go on mission trips each year in order to help people in developing countries. A dream of my own to help people is to work with Doctors without Borders in these countries to help the world using medicine. The power each of us has to help each other and improve the world truly amazes me. A friend of mine spent a year living in Haiti working with the children and adults to learn about their culture and helping to improve their way of life. But it isn’t a necessity to travel to another country to make a significant difference in someone’s life. One of the most rewarding experiences I have ever had was working with the special needs people of west Tennessee during the Special Olympics. I believe that more than anything, giving someone you time and attention can make the largest impact on them. I know that from day to day each of us gets bogged down with his own struggles and hardships and forgets that we are all a part of this human experience, and we are all muddling through this life together. I believe that if we use what time we have and make a conscious effort to inspire change wherever we’d like to see it, that we would all be proud to call this world our home. I believe that even I, a 20 year old woman from Dyersburg, TN, can leave the world better than I found it.
INSTALLMENT 1
I believe in people. I believe that each of us can leave the world better than he found it. By this I don’t mean that we all have to do something incredibly profound like curing cancer or ending world hunger; I just mean using your abilities to impact the life of at least one person even if it is after you die. I believe that the way we live our lives, the way we treat people matters. My favorite aspect of human nature is our ability to grow and adapt to new things – sorry for the scientific nature of that statement, I’m a biochemistry major. People have the power to change each other’s mind about things. I believe that diversity is an asset and not a curse no matter how much of a burden it may seem sometimes. Growing up in a culturally diverse family, I have the privilege of having eyes that see people and not just race or ethnicity. I have endured the struggle of each of the cultures I proudly call my own, and that has only made me a stronger person. I don’t expect to be a Martin Luther King Jr. or anything, but I hope that my life and how I live it impacts someone somewhere to follow his dreams and pursue his goals. More than anything, I am intrigued by people and how different we all are, yet we can all come together and do amazing things. Take natural disasters for example: populations band together in their time of need for a common good, but what if people did that for enduring issues like poverty? That would certainly make a change, and I believe that people can do this.
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