At this point, the Friends crew all rebel against the idea, along with the audience. And Emily does become paranoid, making Ross get rid of any of his belongings that may have once come into contact with Rachel. So when Joey says "We all hate Emily!" we're supposed to wholeheartedly agree. After all, what kind of horrible cold b***h would ask her husband to stop being friends with someone he's known his whole life? I mean, it's not like Ross would inevitably wind up with Rachel or anything, or that he can't control his feelings about her. What kind of psychopath would assume that? One who turned out to be 100% right, I suppose.
And Rachel is an active threat to their relationship. She shows up at the wedding with the exact purpose of breaking Ross and Emily up. She feels encouraged to pursue him when things start to fall apart, and even decides to tell Ross that she loves him after she sees all the s**t the couple has gone through. Maybe it wasn't her intent to make the situation worse, but none of that really improves Ross and Emily's failing marriage. But then again, this is Ross, the same guy who later tells Rachel to abandon her dream job to be in a toxic relationship with him again, so maybe the whole thing was always gonna be hopeless.
So at this point, Michael is meant to be revealed as a corporate stooge who doesn't "get" Lelaina or the things in life that are meaningful or the music of Soundgarden, probably. Instead we're meant to want Lelaina to get with Troy (Ethan Hawke), her clearly not platonic friend. Troy is rude to Michael the whole time, thinking of him as a dumb, controlling yuppie. And at first Lelaina feels like Troy is just being a d******d, mostly because he is.
But we're eventually supposed to see Troy as correct. Michael, after all, is "stupider" than Troy, and not as "real," since he fumbles artistic references despite having a good job. Troy, on the other hand, can't keep a job, but he still says "clever" "philosophical" s**t, like pointing out that seashells are kinda like life because they're both empty, man. His dickheadery is also excused because his parents got divorced and his dad has cancer, meaning he has to be rude, according to movie law.
So Troy and Lelaina eventually get together. And though Troy runs out on her, he "apologizes" by telling her that he's the only real thing in her life, and she just has to accept that he treats her like s**t. But amazingly, Lelaina does forgive him, even though Michael too asks for a second chance. But he doesn't get it and disappears from the movie, having committed the major crime of ... trying to help Lelaina get into her preferred industry? Apparently that's the kind of thing that was unforgivable in the Clinton years.
At this point, the Friends crew all rebel against the idea, along with the audience. And Emily does become paranoid, making Ross get rid of any of his belongings that may have once come into contact with Rachel. So when Joey says "We all hate Emily!" we're supposed to wholeheartedly agree. After all, what kind of horrible cold b***h would ask her husband to stop being friends with someone he's known his whole life? I mean, it's not like Ross would inevitably wind up with Rachel or anything, or that he can't control his feelings about her. What kind of psychopath would assume that? One who turned out to be 100% right, I suppose.
And Rachel is an active threat to their relationship. She shows up at the wedding with the exact purpose of breaking Ross and Emily up. She feels encouraged to pursue him when things start to fall apart, and even decides to tell Ross that she loves him after she sees all the s**t the couple has gone through. Maybe it wasn't her intent to make the situation worse, but none of that really improves Ross and Emily's failing marriage. But then again, this is Ross, the same guy who later tells Rachel to abandon her dream job to be in a toxic relationship with him again, so maybe the whole thing was always gonna be hopeless.
So at this point, Michael is meant to be revealed as a corporate stooge who doesn't "get" Lelaina or the thin
gs in life that are meaningful or the music of Soundgarden, probably. Instead we're meant to want Lelaina to get with Troy (Ethan Hawke), her clearly not platonic friend. Troy is rude to Michael the whole time, thinking of him as a dumb, controlling yuppie. And at first Lelaina feels like Troy is just being a d******d, mostly because he is.
But we're eventually supposed to see Troy as correct. Michael, after all, is "stupider" than Troy, and not as "real," since he fumbles artistic references despite having a good job. Troy, on the other hand, can't keep a job, but he still says "clever" "philosophical" s**t, like pointing out that seashells are kinda like life because they're both empty, man. His dickheadery is also excused because his parents got divorced and his dad has cancer, meaning he has to be rude, according to movie law.
So Troy and Lelaina eventually get together. And though Troy runs out on her, he "apologizes" by telling her that he's the only real thing in her life, and she just has to accept that he treats her like s**t. But amazingly, Lelaina does forgive him, even though Michael too asks for a second chance. But he doesn't get it and disappears from the movie, having committed the major crime of ... trying to help Lelaina get into her preferred industry? Apparently that's the kind of thing that was unforgivable in the Clinton years.