THEY’LL BE THERE FOR YOU莫逆之交
How Friends made friends with a whole new generation. By VANESSA KO劇集《老友記》與新一代觀眾成為老友記。撰文： Vanessa Ko
IN COMPARISON TO
modern sitcoms, Friends seems quaint. First there are the explicitly ’90s references: the fashion, pagers, cassette tapes. Then there are the production elements, like the laugh track and the unrealistically large flats. Finally, there are the charmingly funny storylines that magnify life’s small catastrophes, devoid of any edge or darkness, though sometimes with jokes that would be considered politically incorrect today.
It’s dated. And yet, a new generation of young viewers is discovering Friends – 20 years later – and loving it. Part of the appeal is precisely its quaintness: what’s old is now retro cool.
But there are also enduring qualities to Friends. The glue that holds the show together is the six main characters’ distinct personalities and how they clash and complement. There’s cute but spoilt Rachel; neurotic Monica; quirky hippie Phoebe; scholarly but hapless Ross; cool guy Joey; and droll-humoured Chandler. They’re in their 20s and 30s, and hanging out in their outsized New York homes and local coffee shop. Much of the drama and laughs stem from the way their personalities come through in each situation. After just a few episodes, new viewers will pick up on precisely who these people are.
We’re showing six episodes onboard this month, and they are some of the funniest in the show’s 10 seasons. They cover several of the friends’ romantic entanglements (both failed and successful), iconic phrases like, ‘ We were on a break!’ and a very bad spray tan.
It’s hard to overstate the impact Friends had on US culture. For a while, everyone wanted Rachel’s haircut in season one, simply referred to as The Rachel. The name Emma shot to number two on the popularity ranking of newborn girls’ names after a baby in the show was so named, and still hovers at the top of the list today. The influence reaches across continents, too: head to Beijing, and you can visit a faithful replica of the show’s coffee shop, Central Perk.
與今時今日的處境喜劇相比，《老友記》顯得相當老派。劇中充斥著1990年代的事物，例如時裝、傳呼機與卡式錄音帶等。至於製作上則有當年流行的背景笑聲，以及大得脫離現實的寓所內景。而故事則風趣而無傷大雅，講的都是日常生活中的小風波，雖然裡面有些笑料今天會被認為政治不正確，卻完全不會觸及任何尖銳議題與陰暗面。
這齣劇集確是過時了。不過20 年後，新一代的觀眾看過之後，不但沒有嫌棄，反而愛上了它。對這些觀眾來說，老派的氣息正是劇集吸引之處；古老當時興，變成有型有格的懷舊。
但是劇集亦自有它歷久常新的特色。六位主角各有獨特鮮明的性格，他們互有分歧，亦彼此扶持，生活化的情節將整個劇集連貫起來。六位老友記括貌美而嬌生慣養的 Rachel、神經質的Monica、言行古怪的嬉皮士Phoebe、古板的學者Ross、有型有格的Joey與滑稽幽默的Chandler。他們都是 20 出頭至 30來歲，住在紐約，經常在大得過分的家和附近一家咖啡店碰面。由於各人的性格，加上他們遇到的情境，因而產生戲劇性，亦製造不少笑料。新觀眾只要看過幾集，就會將每個主角的性格摸得一清二楚。
《老友記》一共播映了十季，本月機上精選其中最令人捧腹、最受歡迎的六集來放映。這六集的故事圍繞幾位老友記之間糾纏不清的愛情關係，當中有人敗走情場，也有人蜜運成功；還有那句著名的對白「We were on a break!」（我們當時處於冷期！），以及有人想用噴槍為身體噴上曬太陽後的古銅色，結果卻弄巧反拙。
《老友記》當年推出後，對美國文化產生重大影響，這種說法並無誇大。有個時期，人人都爭相擁有Rachel在第一季裡的髮型；那個髮型就叫做The Rachel。劇集中出現一個叫做Emma的女嬰之後， Emma這個名字成為最受歡迎新生女嬰名字排行榜的亞軍，這個名字至今仍在排行榜上高踞不下。劇集的影響力甚至飄洋過海，跨越大陸。如果你現在前往北京，可以到Central Perk喝咖啡。這家咖啡館仿照劇集中一眾老友記經常聚腳的咖啡館佈置，可以亂真。