​An Analysis of John Storey's Popular Culture in Friends 

1. Culture liked by many: 'Friends' exhibits the ideals of society at that time. The trending ideals are presented in this episode through the clothing, ways of speaking and society surrounding. Due to the storyline of the show, the show was the biggest hit of it's time because it was a culture liked by many.

2. Not high culture: The characters go against the grain by voicing their opinions and representing society at the time through a critical realistic lens. The episode shows the characters participating in an inferior culture.

3. Mass culture: This episode was produced in order to speak to the commercial culture. Each character in this episode represents a different ideal of American culture. For example, Joey is the stereotyped handsome/player male. Other males that like his character can correlate to Joey.

4. From the people: The show uses characters in their mid 20's early 30's to allow other people around that age to correlate to them. This allows 'Friends' to be a form of folk culture. The producers made this show in order to allow other people to gain comedic relief about the pressures of society.

5. Gramsci-Hegemony: This show is produced by a dominant group in society to win over the consent of subordinate groups. The character’s appeal to people around the character’s age and put themselves in the character’s shoes. If say, Rachel, is stressed because she can't find a job in the episode and has no credentials it's a message to the working class that it's okay and normal. When realistically, people tend to freak-out about this if their parents aren't still supporting them.

6. Postmodernism: This episode contains elements of postmodernism due to the blurred line between high and popular culture. Although the episode speaks to the mass culture, there's no clear distinction if the people viewing the program aren't a group considered to fall under high culture.