Journal Article Analysis

     I am analyzing an article written by Anne Marie Todd.  The article’s name is Saying Goodbye to Friends: Fan Culture as Lived Experience.  It’s an article that draws a picture of the television show Friends loyal fan base and the media surrounding the series finale in 2004.  It’s written to show that fans didn’t simply watch the show for 10 years, but that they incorporated the show into their everyday life.

     Anne’s first point is about the series finale being a major media event.  The show didn’t just have a final episode.  There was an hour long retrospective program showing interviews of the cast and behind the scenes footage.  Cast members made numerous appearances on talk shows and morning shows.  There were websites, message boards, forums and chat rooms dedicated to the show’s finale.  The cast even appeared on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno the night of the finale.

     Anne’s second point is that the TV show and characters were a huge part of fans’ lives.  She suggests that fans wanted to bring a part of the show they loved into their homes.  They did this by purchasing the show’s logoed merchandise like coffee mugs, mouse pads, etc.  I believe I even had a Friends sweatshirt at one time.  A more meaningful way they could bring the show into their home was to purchase similar articles seen on the show such as the highly profiled products from Pottery Barn.  Fans would post on message boards that they were looking for certain artifacts, or lookalikes, seen on the show.  Other fans would give them suggested websites or name a business that sold similar furniture, pillows or clothing seen on the show.

     Anne’s third main point is about how deeply fans get engrossed by tuning in each week keeping up with the plots and becoming intimately involved with the characters.  The fans don’t just follow the characters on the show; they also follow the lives of the actors as well.  They want to know all they can which makes the actors and characters more real to them.  Anne feels that fans relate as much to the characters as they do to their real friends.  She alludes that the network played on how real the shows characters were to the fans by showing advertisements asking fans to watch so they could join in on the goodbyes.  The retrospective that was aired also played to these hard core fans.  The retrospect also showed how these characters became a real part of the actors’ lives as well because of how long the show ran.

     I originally chose this journal article because I was a huge fan of the show.  I thought it would be something I enjoyed.  I think Anne makes some good points about fans being engrossed in the show.  I think that proves what a great show it was and that’s how it stayed on the air for so long.   I liked how she talked about how the show “revealed a softer side of New York.”  It portrayed it as a much friendlier and cleaner city than most any other show that takes place in New York. 

     I also felt that the article was lengthier than it needed to be and there were times I thought I had already read the page I was on because she repeated ideas.  In addition, I thought there were times she made Friends fans look obsessive.  She mentions what fans talked about on the message boards and forums more than a few times.  It was noted how some fans talked about how they got to meet some of the actors, how they discuss what’s happening on the show and how they hunt up artifacts of the show.  I do believe there are people that eat, breathe and sleep shows, characters and actors they like.  I just don’t think discussions on message boards, certain purchases that are made, and never wanting to miss an episode makes these characters and actors “real” in everyone’s mind.  Messages boards and forums were kind of up and coming at that time.  I think it was a good way for people to be able to talk about the final show as soon as if finished airing.  I was never into media devices at the time, so the first thing I did the next day at work was talk with someone I knew watched the show.  It was such a well written show and such a perfectly casted show you couldn’t help but talk about it the next day.  Men have been doing this with sports for years.  The forums and messages boards gave fans a place to interact sooner, rather than later.

     I think the article is important because it captures the love fans had for the show and how it was an end to an era of sorts.  The article also accurately captured the circus that surrounded the end of the series.  It has its place in recalling the history of a great show.

References 



Todd, A. (2011). Saying goodbye to friends: Fan culture as lived. The Journal of Popular
     Culture, 44(4), 854-871.