Friends (TV Show)

[Henadic Theologian]

I've noticed that while Friends isn't conventional Greek stuff, the over the last few years the Friends fandom has increasingly began to resemble geekdom, with costumes at Spirit Halloween, Friends Jewelry, Art, Games, Coffee Cups, actual Central Perks, etc...

I loved watching Friends and the show was always popular, but did any of you see it eventually turning into a geekdom when Millenials and Gen Zed found it?

 

[Leatherhead]

I think you are confusing "geekdom" for the nostalgic retro-culture trend that is currently subsuming everything, including geekdom.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

I think you are confusing "geekdom" for the nostalgic retro-culture trend that is currently subsuming everything, including geekdom.

It's got the hall marks of geekdom, cosplay check, fan fiction check, collectables check, games check, all its missing is novels and comic books. I'm a genius, how isn't there a Friends comic book.

 

[Old Fezziwig]

I think you're both right, but it's not just Friends or retro-culture or popular culture — I think it's just about everything now. I keep on thinking about High Fidelity, where Rob makes the argument that it's not what you're like that matters but what you like that matters. It might be too cynical, but sometimes I feel like folks have taken that argument very, very seriously.

 

[Deset Gled]

Friends is as geeky as football or Mickey Mouse. Sure, there are some fans that nerd out about it. But at the end of the day it's just mainstream pop culture going through normal cycles.

 

[TerraDave]

Friends is as geeky as football or Mickey Mouse. Sure, there are some fans that nerd out about it. But at the end of the day it's just mainstream pop culture going through normal cycles.

And sports fans are really the pioneers in merched-up ritualistic fan fanaticism. I think if we include them in geek culture, geek culture becomes pretty meaningless.

That may also apply to Friends.

 

[Willie the Duck]

And sports fans are really the pioneers in merched-up ritualistic fan fanaticism. I think if we include them in geek culture, geek culture becomes pretty meaningless.

That may also apply to Friends.

underline added

Right, and what OP is describing is would be what I call fandom, not geekdom. Honestly, while not meaningless, geek culture has always been kinda nebulous and hard to describe (it is, overall, a trend or set of things that go together for cutural/historical reasons rather than systematic ones, and as such doesn't need to conform to any specific logical framework for what is part of it and what isn't). Fandom, and obsession over specific entertainment is certainly a part of it. The other is the specific subject matter that is the subject of the obsession (sci fi, fantasy, anime, etc.). Those were defined at a time as being things that were semi-non-mainstream and maybe even something that grown adults shouldn't be too into (at least compared to other fandoms in western culture, such as sports fandom). Given that geekdom survives as a concept (and not just a retrospective one) well past the point where sci fi, fantasy, anime, and such are clearly mainstream kinda argues that geekdom just kind of is. Conversely, things that aren't geekdom aren't for no clear and obvious reason except that traditionally they haven't been.

 

[MarkB]

I've noticed that while Friends isn't conventional Greek stuff, the over the last few years the Friends fandom has increasingly began to resemble geekdom, with costumes at Spirit Halloween, Friends Jewelry, Art, Games, Coffee Cups, actual Central Perks, etc...

I loved watching Friends and the show was always popular, but did any of you see it eventually turning into a geekdom when Millenials and Gen Zed found it?

I'm pretty sure most of those things were happening within the show's fandom back when it was still on the air. Plenty of people dress up like their favourite character, it's just that they don't (or at least didn't) tend to call it cosplay outside of geek culture.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

No Festivus? I'm out.

 

[TerraDave]

I just got an ad for The Office Experience: Be a Part of Dunder Mifflin for a Day.

Actually, that is pretty geeky.