'Friends' Creator Sorry for Everything, Except the Insufferable Characters

Marta Kauffman apologises for lack of diversity and misgendering

THE creator of sitcom Friends has apologised for misgendering a character in three episodes that aired in 2001.

Marta Kauffman told the BBC it was a mistake to refer to a transgendered character, played by Kathleen Turner, as a man.

"We kept referring to her as Chandler's father, even though Chandler's father was trans," Kauffman said.

“Pronouns were not yet something that I understood. So, we didn't refer to that character as 'she'. That was a mistake."  

I beg to differ. We understood pronouns perfectly well 20 years ago. It’s only in the past five years that we’ve become hopelessly confused.

Anyway, wait until they hear about M.A.S.H.!

And the proverbial will really hit the fan when they realise Jessica Rabbit wasn’t actually voiced by a rabbit!

David Hasselhoff from Knight Rider, needs to apologise for calling Kitt a car when, obviously, it’s a Trans Am

Okay, I’ll stop.

But Kauffman didn’t stop. She also apologised for the lack of “diversity” on the show.

None of the main characters in Friends were people of colour, you see.

Or disabled.

Or two-spirited polyamorous Democrats.

I provide below an exhaustive list of people upset by all of this, and who had been waiting for an apology ..

Anyway, it’s surely only a matter of time now before the creators of Ethiopia’s most popular sitcom, Betoch, apologise for not having featured a white character. But I digress.

Kauffman told the BBC:

“I'll never make that mistake again. I was clearly part of systemic racism in our business. I was unaware of that, which makes me feel stupid." 

I imagine it might also feel stupid to apologise for supposedly misgendering a fictional character who appeared in three TV episodes 21 years ago as if it matters to anyone.

Kauffman continued:

"I've learned a lot in the last 20 years. Admitting and accepting guilt is not easy. It's painful looking at yourself in the mirror. I'm embarrassed that I didn't know better 25 years ago." 

Seriously? Kauffman has struggled to look herself in the mirror because … (honestly, I couldn’t be bothered finishing this sentence)

It’s all so wearisome. Will it ever end? Can you ever be Woke enough?

If the creator of Friends really must apologise for something, she could apologise for making all the characters so insufferable.

So why is Kauffman doing this?

Is it an insurance policy?

Rather than being cancelled when someone drags up her transgressions (yes that’s a deliberate pun) from 2001, she’s getting ahead of the Woke pitchforks by taking the initiative to confess and repent.

Or is it a way of establishing her credibility for future projects?

Kauffman no doubt understands that if you are not a member of an oppressed group then the only other way to cultural currency is to confess your sins (real or imagined) and become an ally of oppressed groups.

In truth, it’s likely both.