It’s Day 4 of Women’s History Month. Who cares?
Just kidding. I care very much. But Phoebe Buffay does not care. She’s too busy carrying triplets in her uterus and has no time for your Women’s History Month, okay?
Oh, except Women’s History Month is such a beautiful thing, that a part of her wants to cry.
The above three paragraphs describe Phoebe Buffay’s mindset when she was pregnant with her brother’s triplets (and no, that will never stop being funny). Her hormones gave her extreme mood swings, causing her to snap at her friends, get overly excited, and cry all in a moment’s notice.
I’m not usually a fan of “pregnant ladies are crazy” storylines in sitcoms, mostly because I find them reductive, anti-feminist, stereotypical, and boring. But I also don’t like them because Lisa Kudrow’s portrayal of a woman having severe pregnancy-related mood swings was so funny that I didn’t expect any other performance to live up to it.
Kudrow was easily the most talented cast member of Friends, and Phoebe’s pregnancy storyline gave her even more opportunities to shine. In the first three seasons of the show, she elevated a character originally written as a “daffy dumb blonde” stereotype and turned her into someone who was often ditzy, but often acerbic and biting, and often stunning all of her closest friends with her observations and way of looking at the world. Pregnant Phoebe was even more entertaining, because Kudrow committed to that portrayal, committed with a capital T, and a story that could’ve easily been another stereotypical “pregnant ladies be crazy” story turned was elevated to a great comic performance. (Phoebe also gets bonus points for making fun of Ross/Rachel drama.)
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I was always surprised that they didn’t just leave in the last clip. It reminds me of a quote “your game, your rules, but that doesn’t mean I have to play” which in this situation translates (for me at least) to “your hormones are understandable and I don’t blame you for what you say but that doesn’t mean I need to be around you while you say it”
Having been pregnant gives you an entirely unfunny perspective on pregnancy humor. Honestly, mean pregnant Phoebe makes me uncomfortable with her accuracy. I can’t tell you how stressful it was to my friendships to suffer through those mood swings, and as the above commented said, more often than not it was a leaving the room situation versus being kind and understanding about my pregnant state. For that reason, I thought that the best elements of Phoebe pregnancy were her interactions with Ross, who actually acts like somebody who has known a pregnant person.
Maybe it helps that Ross actually did know a pregnant person – his ex-wife Carol 🙂 I did think it was sweet when Joey offered to give up meat for the duration of Phoebe’s pregnancy so she could satisfy her cravings without hurting more animals.
Actually, I just thought of another way pregnant Phoebe is different from most pregnant storylines on sitcoms. Phoebe’s mood swings are not shown as negatively affecting the men on the show. It’s not all about Ross, Chandler, and Joey’s discomfort, or “rational men deal with stupid irrational ladybrainz.” It was about Monica and Rachel not knowing how to deal with their pregnant friend, sympathizing with her but also walking on eggshells. Rather refreshing, come to think of it.