New Girl Improved One Of Friends' Most Controversial Elements

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https://screenrant.com/new-girl-frie...arison-better/

Among the many problems of Fat Monica are that the characters (which are her friends and family) constantly mocked her weight problems, she was used for the laughs, and she was an exaggerated and childish version of Monica, which was also portrayed as a loner, loser, and unlovable, thus perpetuating the TV and film stereotype of overweight individuals. Fat Schmidt, on the other hand, was the same Schmidt viewers met in the present timeline of New Girl, and he never let his weight get in the way of dating. Schmidt dated Elizabeth (Merritt Wever) for four years during his “Fat Schmidt” time but broke up due to his change in behavior after his weight loss. Surely, Schmidt became more confident and thus cocky once he lost weight, and if anything, “slim” Schmidt was an exaggerated version of Fat Schmidt. Unlike Monica, who lost weight after Chandler made a mean comment about her, Fat Schmidt most likely decided to lose weight just because he wanted to, as he had been overweight all his life.

Surely, Fat Schmidt isn’t flawless, and he shares the same problem as Fat Monica: fat-shaming. While Monica’s friends and family were the ones who constantly reminded her of her “fat past”, it’s Schmidt the one who often reminds others that he was overweight, and makes a lot of emphasis on how much his life changed after he lost the extra weight. Fat Schmidt wasn’t unlovable nor dumb and useless, but New Girl sent the message that had he not lost weight, he wouldn’t have been as successful as he was. Still, New Girl took note of what Friends did and improved its “fat character” portrayal, but not without a couple of flaws.

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Friends will forever be seen as the quintessential primetime sitcom. During its run, it was by far the most popular show on TV, and paved the way for countless other shows copying the format to match its success. Show like How I Met Your Mother and Big Bang Theory definitely succeeded, but both made the format their own. New Girl however, had great success sticking almost too close to the format set by Friends. New Girl and Friends aren't carbon copies, but there are more than enough similarities to prove where New Girl got its inspiration.