6 ms·

I don't think your thesis is borne out. "Friends" was widely mocked during its run for how unrealistic the living arrangement was.

by ip26 3y ago

wvenable 3y ago
That was New York, now it's everywhere.
- pierat 3y ago
  Rents 10y ago (here) were around $450/no for a decent 1br apartment in my city. They're now bordering up to $2000/mo . In fact, there's people who moved here from NYC, and are moving back because it's easier to work decent jobs and pay rent in NYC. And you can pay rent on time $1000/mo for 10 years, and it's absolutely no proof that you can pay a $1000/mo mortgage. The boomers didn't have to deal with "credit" but we do now. Again, all these systems are stacked against you and everyone else. It's all one big massive scam. It's the American psychosis, that hard work gets you somewhere. And for many, hard work is low pay, a torn up body, and you die.
- PaulDavisThe1st 3y ago
  Well, rather importantly, not everywhere. Yes, pretty much every metropolitan area that has any level of desirability as a place to live is like that now. But that still leaves large areas of the country in a very different situation. That doesn't describe the lives of many people, because these tend to be low population density areas. But they exist, and their "exceptionalism" might end up providing an arrow into the future just as unaffordable metros did in the 1980s.
  - wvenable 3y ago
    From what I've seen, rural areas aren't doing too well. They're affordable because they're so undesirable.
    - antifa 3y ago
      Undesirable is probably a redherring/misnomer, there's a drought of employment opportunities and a shortage of remote jobs.
dwattttt 3y ago
I do not recall Married with Children or The Simpsons being called out for their unrealistic loving arrangements.
- subungual 3y ago
  To be fair, the Simpsons poked fun at itself for exactly this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axHoy0hnQy8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axHoy0hnQy8
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
SoftTalker 3y ago
Mocked because 20-somethings in cities don't live with roommates?
- golergka 3y ago
  Because of how big their apartments were and how low the rent was.
  - lotsofpulp 3y ago
    And the location of the apartments.
  - SoftTalker 3y ago
    I guess you could say the same about Seinfeld? How could a night club comic or serially unemployed people like George or Kramer afford apartments like that in Manhattan. But I never thought that TV shows were obligated to be 100 percent authentic, especially sit-coms.
    - golergka 3y ago
      Seinfeld character in the show was financially successful. He could easily just lend $5k to Elaine when she wanted to rent an apartment above him (her rent was $400), or buy a jacket which his friends assumed cost around $700 or even a $1k.
yCombLinks 3y ago
I think that backs up the point. Married with Children and The Simpsons were not mocked, because it was a realistic situation. In the 80s a single income at an average job could afford a middle class lifestyle. Friends however was clearly ridiculous, a coffee shop job couldn't afford a large NYC apartment.
- ip26 3y ago
  Married with Children is set in Chicago, not San Francisco. A single income at an average job can still afford a home in Chicago. https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1326-S-Springfield-Ave-Chicago-IL-60623/80839047_zpid/ https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1326-S-Springfield-Ave-Ch...
  - yCombLinks 3y ago
    Sorry, but the literal Married with Children house is $584k on Zillow, the same prices as the other houses in the neighborhood so not an artifact of being on the TV show https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/641-Castlewood-Ln-Deerfield-IL-60015/4912314_zpid/?utm_campaign=androidappmessage&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=txtshare https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/641-Castlewood-Ln-Deerfie...
TMWNN 3y ago
>"Friends" was widely mocked during its run for how unrealistic the living arrangement was. Only by people who didn't pay attention. The show repeatedly established that Monica inherited a rent-controlled apartment. There's nothing unrealistic about the size of Chandler and Joey's apartment.
hn_throwaway_99 3y ago
FWIW Friends had an episode semi-explaining that, IIRC the girls' apartment was rent controlled and was in Monica's aunt's name. Which actually isn't too far off from the situation as it exists today, where tons of people owe their living situations to the fact that their parents or other relatives owned property when it was affordable to buy it. Heck, there are tons of people who say "I'm so lucky I bought my house when I did, I could never afford this place now." We've basically ended up back at a society of landed gentry, and then everyone else is kinda screwed.

I don't think your thesis is borne out. "Friends" was widely mocked during its run for how unrealistic the living arrangement was.

by ip26 3y ago

I don't think your thesis is borne out. "Friends" was widely mocked during its run for how unrealistic the living arrangement was.

wvenable 3y ago

That was New York, now it's everywhere.

pierat 3y ago
Rents 10y ago (here) were around $450/no for a decent 1br apartment in my city. They're now bordering up to $2000/mo . In fact, there's people who moved here from NYC, and are moving back because it's easier to work decent jobs and pay rent in NYC. And you can pay rent on time $1000/mo for 10 years, and it's absolutely no proof that you can pay a $1000/mo mortgage. The boomers didn't have to deal with "credit" but we do now. Again, all these systems are stacked against you and everyone else. It's all one big massive scam. It's the American psychosis, that hard work gets you somewhere. And for many, hard work is low pay, a torn up body, and you die.
PaulDavisThe1st 3y ago
Well, rather importantly, not everywhere. Yes, pretty much every metropolitan area that has any level of desirability as a place to live is like that now. But that still leaves large areas of the country in a very different situation. That doesn't describe the lives of many people, because these tend to be low population density areas. But they exist, and their "exceptionalism" might end up providing an arrow into the future just as unaffordable metros did in the 1980s.
- wvenable 3y ago
  From what I've seen, rural areas aren't doing too well. They're affordable because they're so undesirable.
  - antifa 3y ago
    Undesirable is probably a redherring/misnomer, there's a drought of employment opportunities and a shortage of remote jobs.

dwattttt 3y ago

I do not recall Married with Children or The Simpsons being called out for their unrealistic loving arrangements.

subungual 3y ago
To be fair, the Simpsons poked fun at itself for exactly this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axHoy0hnQy8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axHoy0hnQy8
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]

SoftTalker 3y ago

Mocked because 20-somethings in cities don't live with roommates?

golergka 3y ago
Because of how big their apartments were and how low the rent was.
- lotsofpulp 3y ago
  And the location of the apartments.
- SoftTalker 3y ago
  I guess you could say the same about Seinfeld? How could a night club comic or serially unemployed people like George or Kramer afford apartments like that in Manhattan. But I never thought that TV shows were obligated to be 100 percent authentic, especially sit-coms.
  - golergka 3y ago
    Seinfeld character in the show was financially successful. He could easily just lend $5k to Elaine when she wanted to rent an apartment above him (her rent was $400), or buy a jacket which his friends assumed cost around $700 or even a $1k.

yCombLinks 3y ago

I think that backs up the point. Married with Children and The Simpsons were not mocked, because it was a realistic situation. In the 80s a single income at an average job could afford a middle class lifestyle. Friends however was clearly ridiculous, a coffee shop job couldn't afford a large NYC apartment.

ip26 3y ago
Married with Children is set in Chicago, not San Francisco. A single income at an average job can still afford a home in Chicago. https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1326-S-Springfield-Ave-Chicago-IL-60623/80839047_zpid/ https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1326-S-Springfield-Ave-Ch...
- yCombLinks 3y ago
  Sorry, but the literal Married with Children house is $584k on Zillow, the same prices as the other houses in the neighborhood so not an artifact of being on the TV show https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/641-Castlewood-Ln-Deerfield-IL-60015/4912314_zpid/?utm_campaign=androidappmessage&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=txtshare https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/641-Castlewood-Ln-Deerfie...

TMWNN 3y ago

>"Friends" was widely mocked during its run for how unrealistic the living arrangement was. Only by people who didn't pay attention. The show repeatedly established that Monica inherited a rent-controlled apartment. There's nothing unrealistic about the size of Chandler and Joey's apartment.

hn_throwaway_99 3y ago

FWIW Friends had an episode semi-explaining that, IIRC the girls' apartment was rent controlled and was in Monica's aunt's name. Which actually isn't too far off from the situation as it exists today, where tons of people owe their living situations to the fact that their parents or other relatives owned property when it was affordable to buy it. Heck, there are tons of people who say "I'm so lucky I bought my house when I did, I could never afford this place now." We've basically ended up back at a society of landed gentry, and then everyone else is kinda screwed.