Friends' Darkest Storyline Was Used for Comedic Relief, And Fans Still Can't Make Peace With That

Summary:

• Friends is an iconic sitcom because it manages to be both funny and super dramatic.
• With a lot of dark humor used in the show, the one particular storyline seems to be too disturbing to be used as a source of humor.
• Phoebe casually joking about her mother’s suicide is making fans uncomfortable.

There are several series out there that we call legendary for the impact it had on the viewers when it was released and many years after. One of the best examples of such shows is of course the iconic 90’s sitcom Friends.

To remind you, the actions of the series take place in New-York and revolve around six best friends: Monica, Chandler, Ross, Rachel, Phoebe and Joey. Needless to say, they all are quirky and have odd personalities… The life situations they find themselves in constantly are sometimes so ridiculous you can’t even believe in it.

The show is full of both comedy and drama, and that is what makes it even more fan favorite. However, sometimes the show also navigates dark humor, and while the writers mostly succeed in what they do, there are examples of storylines gone terribly wrong.

For example, one of the running jokes of the show is the fact that Phoebe’s mother committed suicide and that led to her tough life. She always mentions some things from her past that are impossible to believe in.

The fans of the show still can’t make peace with the fact that such a traumatic event of one’s life was constantly used to laugh at.

“Yeah it’s probably my least favorite thing about the show. I’ve lost people to suicide and it’s just not something that’s funny to joke about to me at all. It’s actually quite maddening,” Redditor accountnine said.

Many would say that this is Phoebe's way of dealing with her childhood trauma -- by laughing it off. But the fact that her mother's suicide is used as a punchline to make the audience laugh makes the horrible event sound like it's some kind of joke, when in fact there's nothing funny about it.

It even came to the point where the people around Phoebe, when she mentions her mother's death, don't even pay attention and don't feel uncomfortable, but just want her to stop mentioning that sad fact because it was too annoying. And we just wonder: would a "joke" like that fly today?