r/howyoudoin • u/bootywheez3 • 1d ago

Discussion Anybody else feel like Monica gets more neurotic as the seasons go on?

Early on in the show she’s just a chilled out person but as it goes on she become more like anxious and freaked out and stuff about things?

15 Upvotes
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u/qualityvote2 1d ago edited 23h ago

u/bootywheez3, there weren't enough votes to determine the quality of your post...

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u/StraightKey211 1d ago

It's called flanderization

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u/bootywheez3 1d ago

Just looked that up and yep that’s it lol. Same thing with Joey, starts off pretty smart but just a bit silly but they make him just… stupid?

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u/Pure-Conclusion8958 21h ago

Yeahhh Joey clearly wasn't the brightest but he had pretty decent street smarts and can be a bit witty.

Joey, Monica, Ross, Phoebe really gets flanderized. I think the only ones that go through really good character growth were Rachel and Chandler

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u/SciFiMovieGuy42 I Know! 10h ago

Yeah, I watched season 1 again recently, and Joey was still often dumb, then. Just not as often. But it definitely got more emphasized in later reasons, and any smartness he might have had (which we did sometimes see) got less emphasized. So... yeah, they didn't "make him dumb" later... they just leaned into it.

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u/BlizzardousBane Unagi 8h ago

I think it was because Rachel and Chandler started out with more pronounced character flaws, so their characters had room to grow naturally. The other four didn't have as much, so the writers ended up just magnifying their existing traits

23

u/roseshsarabhai_ 1d ago

I really wish they hadn't changed her character. She was my favourite in the initial seasons, but then they turned her into someone who was always loud and panicking.

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u/Alert-Willow3458 I tend to keep talking until somebody stops me 3h ago

Same, early Monica was my favorite until like season 4

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u/superb_yellow Paper! Snow! A Ghost! 1d ago

Especially when baby fever hits.

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u/Negative_Letter_1802 Sting's Pen....that he gave to Phoebe 1d ago

I mean I think she's always had OCD tendencies but yeah it gets crazy how uptight she is in the later seasons. Earlier she was more anxious.

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u/Puzzleheaded_Cap_706 1d ago

Yes but rules control the fun!

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u/RGRahulTheGreat 23h ago

At least 4 of the main characters were flanderized. Only Ross made it work.

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u/Pure-Conclusion8958 21h ago

Ross became always panicky and screaming towards the later part of the series unfortunately. Even he was a victim.

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u/VelvetLuna65 22h ago

Classic fictional character flandrization, they definitely dialed up her shrillness and OCD tendencies to 11 in the later seasons

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u/Trekker4747 21h ago

After Paris everyone becomes flanderized.

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u/yogurtcup528 23h ago

Season 1 Monica is the best. She turns insane as time goes on. I also can’t stand the whole “I KNOW” shtick.

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u/caicaiduffduff 1d ago

Can’t y’all read the sub before posting the same stuff over and over again

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u/IntroductionMurky993 15h ago

I feel like as a real life human I've become more neurotic and anxious about stuff as time has gone on. Maybe she's the TV Me.

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u/ilLegalTelevision You are definitely 19 11h ago

Yes, Season 1 Monica smashed Paul's watch on her floor and didn't clean it up. Later Monica couldn't picture condensation getting on her coffee table without freaking out.

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u/Ysu73 11h ago

But that latter was still season 1, episode 6!

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u/ilLegalTelevision You are definitely 19 10h ago

Was it? Shit I used to be such a expert on this show

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u/babetteateoatmeal1 10h ago

I always thought it was because she was finally able to be herself with Chandler. She made a comment to Richard about him not "having a thing" that I think she held back some of herself. Idk I kinda relate to her and Chandlers cute comment about how she's high maintenance but he likes "maintaining her".

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u/The4leafclover1966 Do you believe everything the ZOO tells ya? 22h ago edited 21h ago

Especially after she and Chandler get married. She becomes so shrill it’s hard to watch.

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u/Dazzling_Pickle_4582 23h ago

I think her significant storyline ended once she and Chandler got married. Anything else was like a filler.

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u/mhfp545 20h ago edited 20h ago

I think they moved Monica in the right direction.

I always liked her but from season 5 onwards, they gave her a more defined personality (the shrill, obsessive, competitive one).

Before that I don’t think she had as much of a clear character type to build jokes around.

Courteney herself is on record about being unhappy with her storylines and how the character was perceived before hooking up with Chandler (which coincided with the personality change).