Zoë Kravitz has expressed her opinions on the sitcom Friends, which she finds somewhat outdated.
Friends, a show from the 1990s, continues to be a favorite among viewers and gained renewed popularity when it was added to Netflix in 2015.
By 2018, it had become the second most-streamed program on the platform.
However, fans were disappointed when Friends departed from Netflix in 2020 due to the expiration of its licensing agreement with WarnerMedia. The entire series is now available on HBO Max.
Despite its enduring popularity, some viewers, including Kravitz, feel that certain aspects of Friends are outdated.
In connection with Kravitz’s recent film, Caught Stealing, which has just been released, she and her co-star Austin Butler have been engaging with the media.
The movie is set in the 1990s, prompting the duo to reflect on the positive and negative aspects of that decade.
“[I’m] really nostalgic for that time,” Kravitz shared with PEOPLE about the 90s. “Then also the fashion, all that stuff’s so cool. New York City and the grunge.”
Butler, known for his role in Elvis, agreed, adding: “Even just being in the apartment [on set] and seeing the Nintendo 64 on top of the TV. We had the GoldenEye , I saw that.”
He also mentioned missing the days when people weren’t constantly attached to their phones.
Touching on the less favorable aspects of the 90s, Kravitz commented: “Super homophobic jokes on mainstream television. If you watch Friends now, you’re like, ‘Whoa, that’s…’.”
Butler expressed surprise at the presence of such jokes in Friends, to which Kravitz replied: “Oh, so much in Friends. Like, things that aren’t punchlines are punchlines. It’s wild. So maybe that? We can keep that there.”
Butler concurred, stating that such elements should remain in the past.
Even the show’s creators have acknowledged wishing they could revise certain jokes in retrospect.
In a 2019 interview with USA Today, Marta Kauffman stated: “Every time I watch an episode, there’s something I wish I could have changed.”
She added: “Like, how did we leave that joke in there? Or, really, that storyline? That’s what we went with?”
Kauffman was also questioned about how Friends might differ if produced today.
“I think we didn’t have the knowledge about transgender people back then, so I’m not sure if we used the appropriate terms,” she remarked, noting: “I don’t know if I would have known those terms back then. I think that’s the biggest one.”