At the Friends Reunion last night, it was revealed that Ross Geller (David Schwimmer) and Rachel Greene (Jennifer Aniston) actually had crushes on each other in real life. Cute, yes. But do you know what wasn’t cute? The plebs on the internet who kept saying “tHiS iS wHy tHeY wErE eNdGaMe.” NO. No, no, no, no, no. Ross and Rachel should NOT have been end game for one blindingly obvious reason… Ross fucking sucked!!!!!
Ross stans do not read on, because you are not going to like what I’m about to say, but Ross was your typical gaslighty, soy boy before it was even a thing. He was arrogant, rude, played the victim card way too much and was NOT a good boyfriend to Rachel.
A sack of potatoes is funnier than Ross Geller
Ross’ only personality trait was that he liked dinosaurs and that would be ok if he wasn’t a GROWN MAN. Aside from that he was not funny, and was simply a pain in the other character’s sides. If you don’t believe that Ross isn’t funny, just watch this YouTube video where someone has removed the laugh track from his scenes.
If you think that’s bad, just wait till you watch The Big Bang Theory without a laugh track.
Ross was pretentious and rude to his friends
Ross Geller constantly belittled the people around him, because he thought he was more intelligent than them. Remember when he ridiculed Rachel for using “you’re” instead of “your”?? The man would mask his own insecurities by making other people feel small, and sir, that just ain’t it. A well evolved person can have a two-sided discussion without trying to insult another’s intelligence. I know that would make boring television, but if Ross was a real guy, his behaviour would 100% be called out for being toxic.
Remember when Ross dated one of his students?
While working as a professor, Ross dated one of his students, Elizabeth. He also knew that this was against the rules, but chose to date her anyway. Elizabeth was much younger than Ross and was extremely vulnerable, being raised by her father from a young age. She clearly looked up to Ross, which makes it so much more ICKY that they had a relationship on the series.
In one episode, Elizabeth told Ross that she wants to go to Florida for a party. He of course freaked out, because she’s young and hot and will no doubt meet men that are WAY cooler than him. Mr. Gaslighty McGaslightface then creepily followed her to Florida in an attempt to stop her from meeting guys. RED FLAG. RED FLAG. RED FLAG.
“wE wErE oN a bReAk”
There is no doubt that the infamous line “we were on a break” was a cultural reset. Before Ross uttered those words in season three, being ‘on a break’ definitely didn’t have the same meaning as it does now. Today, it’s very normal to have a break from your partner and date/sleep with other people. However, in Ross’ case it wasn’t so clear cut.
So here’s what happened: Ross and Rachel had a fight because he’s jealous of Rachel’s male coworker. Rachel then said, “maybe we should just take a break?” The flapping bin lid cracks a tanty and later that night gets drunk and sleeps with a ‘copy girl’. While technically it wasn’t cheating, he does this immediately after their fight in what seems like an act of spite. Deep down he would’ve known how his actions would have hurt Rachel, but he went and did it anyway. That behaviour is extremely toxic and creates a lack of trust in a relationship. If one fight is enough to make you sleep with someone else, then clearly you have some stuff to work through.
The man is an absolute trash can, and his insecurities make him an awful person to be around. But let’s not forget that David Schwimmer himself is a great actor, and probably foamed at the mouth when reading for his annoying character.
If you want an even more in-depth look at why Ross sucks, check out this YouTube video by The Take.
