Rachel is introduced to the show as a runaway bride, who has come to the realization that she is not in love with her fiancée. She describes how she was more in love with the gravy bowl on the table then her fiancé Barry, and was also more concerned with how he looked like Mr. Potato head. Rachel has always relied on her fathers’ money and now was looking to rely on her fiancé’s wealth. She did not know how to survive alone. Cooking, working, independence was nonexistent in Rachel’s world. Completely naïve to life as an individual, Rachel slowly begins to understand that she has to learn to live for herself.
On the phone with her father explaining her situation, she uses a metaphor to describe what has happened. She has been told all her life to do everything a certain way and to live according to their rules. She uses a shoe to explain this. “All my life I’ve been told to be a shoe…a shoe, a shoe, a shoe. What if I don’t want to be a shoe, what if I want to be a purse or a hat?” Taken literally, her father seems to offer to buy her a hat over the phone. Hegemony in this case is addressed with the understanding that Daddy will buy everything for me, and then my fiancée and everything will be done for me. She has always followed her fathers’ rules and has never done anything for herself. This co-dependency slowly fades as Rachel begins to hang out with her friends. She begins to cook, search for a job, and cut up her credit cards (which are paid off by her father). She adapts to this new world initially but comes to realize that she must learn to be independent by adapting to the environment that exists and is accepted between her and her friends. What she now believes to be real is “a matter of human definition and collective agreement, a reality that is socially constructed” (Newman 36).
Counter hegemony is also portrayed with Rachel throughout this episode. She leaves her fiancé because she knows she doesn’t love him. She calls him several times, leaving message trying to explain herself and acts independently by making coffee for the first time in her life for her friends while realizing she no longer wants to be that “shoe”. She knows the society is always changing and she needs to accommodate to her new surroundings in the city living with her friend Monica. She ultimately gets a job the coffee shop; however she tells a customer to go fill up the requested order from a customer across the café. She knows what she has to do to live for her, however still is trying to adapt to the new lifestyle of the ongoing changes of ideas that at her age, independence is crucial to a successful life.
Joey, a character that is introduced as Italian guy with an attitude that is depicted in most comedy as crude, sex-crazed, sexist, childish, egotistical and stupid. ( Newman 94). A witted womanizer, whose Italian presence created a traditional tough guy persona on television sitcoms at the time, Joey has the idea that every woman is into him and that eating food with your fingers in cool. The image as men as dumb and clueless. But far from being demeaning and destructive, these images have the luxury of being harmlessly humorous. (Newman 93). For example, he suggests that a woman be pushed down the stairs while he and his friends are watching a small conflict between to young woman on television. Even after Rachel just called off her wedding, he insists on offering his support to her. Seemingly a nice gesture, Rachel seems intrigued and flattered; however Joey then goes on to say that his roommate is not there all the time, implying that Rachel should come over to be with him. The conflict of hegemony is addressed because his ideas of woman are engraved in his mind from his family values and his background. His comments throughout the show are that of a child, and his sarcasm is often offensive but acceptable by his friends. They have come to accept his personality just as society comes to accept different media depictions of such characters. As stated by Lull, “dominant ideological streams must be subsequently reproduced in the activities of our most basic social units - families, workplace, networks and friendship groups in the many sites and undertakings in everyday life.” (Lull 62)
Even though Joey has his egotistical, macho mannered persona, he is a close friend of all the characters and helps Rachel with her search for independence. He offers suggestions, ideas, and his own opinions to the others in the show. Even though he is against the norm in his approach to such things as woman and life, his hidden sensitivity peaks through, just taken as that of a clueless, dumb, male.
The show Friends displays many representations of hegemony and counter hegemony as you can see with just the two characters, Rachel and Joey. Rachel’s attempt have her own life is expressed thought her counter hegemonic desires for true love, independence and knowledge. However, when taunted by her wallet, still being in hold of her credit cards she still finds it easy and normal to purchase things with her fathers’ money. By ridding of such items she forces herself to live independently by finding a job and becoming a “hat” rather than a “shoe”.
Works Cited
Lull, James ”Hegemony” Gender, Race, and Class in Media: a text reader. Gail Dines and JeanM. Humez., editors - 2nd edition. Thousand Oaks. London. New Delhi: Sage Publications, 2003.
Newman, David M. Identities and Inequalities: Exploring the Intersections of Race, Class,
Gender and Sexuality. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2005.
