Popular Culture
The term "friend zone" was popularized by a 1994 episode of the American sitcom Friends, "The One with the Blackout", where the character Ross Geller, who was lovesick for Rachel Green, was not only declared being "in the friend zone" by their friend Joey Tribbiani, but was also labeled "mayor of the Friend Zone". The question of whether a man can ever "escape the friend zone and begin dating one of his female friends" was a prime ingredient in making the Ross and Rachel pairing interesting to watch; one writer described the two as a "geek dream couple".
Comedian Chris Rock performed a routine about women keeping platonic friends on his 1996 album Bring the Pain, where he talked about men being trapped in the friend zone.
The television show Scrubs uses the term on the first season episode of "My Best Friend's Mistake". Protagonist J.D. explains that once something important, a turning point, occurs between a man and a woman, they have 48 hours to do something about it or else the man will be stuck in the woman's friend zone forever. J.D. doesn't get to finish kissing his unrequited love, Elliot Reid, in 48 hours, so he enters an imaginary hospital room called Friend Zone with a room full of men who used to like Elliot, but Elliot didn't like them back in the same way.
The 2005 film Just Friends deals with the friend zone and how it affects the main character of the film (played by Ryan Reynolds). He reunites with his female friend from high school (played by Amy Smart) for the first time in 10 years, and she says that she loves him "like a brother", dashing any hopes of him having her as a girlfriend.
The movie When Harry Met Sally explored the theme of whether men and women could be friends without being lovers.
In May 2011, MTV announced a new show entitled FriendZone, produced by 495 Productions cast by Doron Ofir and created by Damon Epps and SallyAnn Salsano. In an interview with a national publication, Epps is quoted as saying, "The idea for the show came out of my own experience. Unfortunately, I know the pain of telling the girl of your dreams you love them and want to take the relationship to the next level only to be told they don't feel the same. I figured if it happened to me, it might be something others could relate to as well. If it works, you have the beginnings of a great love story. If it doesn't, well, pain and humiliation make great TV, too."
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“But popular rage,
Hysterica passio dragged this quarry down.
None shared our guilt; nor did we play a part
Upon a painted stage when we devoured his heart.”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)
“The hard truth is that what may be acceptable in elite culture may not be acceptable in mass culture, that tastes which pose only innocent ethical issues as the property of a minority become corrupting when they become more established. Taste is context, and the context has changed.”
—Susan Sontag (b. 1933)