Race Representation

Friends featured an all white cast and had very few non-white characters during its 10 year run. Even background characters were white for the most part. The ones that did appear were usually present for only one episode before disappearing. The show did feature two non-white recurring characters. Both of them were primarily used as love interests that created conflict between the main characters. 

An Asian woman named Julie (played by Lauren Tom) appeared in seven episodes. She has  an ‘Americanized’ name, no accent and no other Asian cultural markers. One would think she would able to fit into the Friends group because of this but unfortunately does not. She does manage to break the circle and sit with the characters, but is presented with awkwardness and deals with scrutiny, specifically from Rachel. In the episode titled ‘The One With the Breast Milk,’ Julie is trying to fit into the group. Rachel, having feelings for Ross, is very cold towards her. She refers to Julie as a “bitch” twice in the episode. Chidester argues that Rachel is colder towards her than to the other (White) women Ross has dated. It could be argued that Rachel is just acting jealous and would act the same towards any other women. However “it is difficult to discount the expressly racial quality of the encounter, or the extent to which Rachel’s presented value as a woman is tied to her worth as the visual ideal of the White woman, the blonde, pale-skinned beauty who has so often served in visual media texts as the source of desire for the red-blooded American male” (Chidester). Ross ends up breaking Julie, by getting together with Rachel. The breakup is not officially shown on screen but implied and Julie is not seen again.

A Black woman named Charlie Wheeler (played by Aisha Tyler) appeared in season nine. She was introduced as part of a love triangle between Ross and Joey. She appeared in nine episodes. Charlie begins to date Joey for four episodes and moves on to Ross for the remaining. She causes conflict between the two characters. At the time, the press made a huge deal about the character Charlie (played by Aisha Tyler). She was the first major Black character in the Friends series. She appeared in more episodes than the Asian character Julie, making her more significant. Charlie is also the first black character to be romantically linked to the main cast. Of course her race is not explicitly mentioned. Chidester mentions how the cast “go to to great pains not to discuss Tyler’s racial difference.” While Charlie is dating Ross, Rachel’s jealous remarks include her height. Like Julie, Charlie does not fully integrate into the closed circle. She does get to sit in main setting of The Central Perk twice, but only with a few of the main characters present. So she never really has a sense of belonging in the circle. She eventually breaks up with Ross by reuniting with an ex. She is never seen from again after that. Her departure is very similar to the only other non-White major character, Julie. The visual metaphor of the closed circle in Friends displays how Whiteness is more important as other non-Whites could not successfully integrate into the group. The media favors the white over the non-White and uses messages in television to enforce the idea of White privilege. It focuses its attention on Whites and minority groups are seen as not as important.