Rachel and Joey Belonged Together on Friends, Contrary to Popular Opinion

I’m still mad about Rachel Green (Jennifer Aniston) getting off the plane on the eve of the show’s highly anticipated reunion, 17 years after it aired. I’m furious that she sacrificed her dream job as a fashion designer in Paris for a man—and not just any man. Ross is the name of the character.

And that was supposed to be a romantic moment. When Rachel appeared in Ross’ (David Schwimmer) doorway and said, “I got off the plane,” we were supposed to cheer (as did the studio audience). We didn’t lie when we said we did. However, the more we thought about it—and we’ve thought about it for 17 years—the more upsetting it became.

Friends is, in many ways, Rachel’s coming-of-age story. She began the pilot as a runaway bride, a sweet but spoiled brat who was forced to learn to live without her father’s money and all the promises that her life as a dentist’s wife was supposed to provide. We watched her try new jobs and fail, then try new jobs and work her way up in the fashion industry until she was living a dream she didn’t even realise she had back when she was arguing with her father about not wanting to be a shoe.

Unpopular Opinion

All the while, she was falling in and out of love with Ross Geller, a palaeontologist who couldn’t care less about fashion than a dinosaur could, and who frequently resented Rachel’s job when it meant she had less time for him or was spending time with a male human who wasn’t him. He demeaned her, mocked her fashion sense and the stupid or shallow things she said from time to time, and continued to believe he deserved her after years of crushing on her. After taunting her over a colleague, he slept with someone else just hours after she said they should take a break! Were we supposed to be delighted when she dumped Paris because it was inconvenient for him?

But, you might argue, this article’s headline has nothing to do with Ross! No, dear reader, it isn’t, but I just wanted to get my Ross objections out of the way before I get to the real reason I’m here: to highlight another man who was present the entire time: Joey Tribbiani is an actor who is known for his character in the series Joe