hey everyone!! i have just gotten an assignment for my psychology class and i'm really excited about it. the assignment is to do a 1000 word paper that convinces the reader that a fictional character i choose suffers from a particular psychological disorder. anyway, i have chosen monica gellar as my fictional character with ocd as her psychological disorder. this is where i am hoping fans of the show can help me out. i have done some googling to back up my theory and i have a few episodes where monica displays ocd. i have tow the but, tow dirty girl, and a couple others that i'm not sure of the episode name. however...there are sooooo many episodes to go through. i need to narrow down my search so if you know of a particular episode that i could search for on youtube i'd appreciate it. or if you happen to have any stories where monica exhibits ocd please share. i forgot how much i loved this show and i have to say this is the most fun i've had doing an assignment in a while!!
also...i posted this in general nursing discussion because most people...not just students love/loved the show friends:hpygrp:!
That episode was pulled from youtube but I was able to find on another site! I have another really good quote I'm going to use from that secret closet episode. After Monica declares that she is sick, Chandler tells her; "I don't love you because you're organised. I love you in spite of it".
I don't know. I liked Friends, and I agree that this component of Monica's personality was funny, but I don't think it's sound psychology to equate a harmless personality quirk with a mental illness.
I've noticed this tendency in our culture in general - referring to mentally healthy people as being ill. Other examples: someone worried about her weight may say "I wish I had a touch of anorexia." Someone who forgets a name might say "That's my Alzheimer's acting up again." Someone may call another person with a different opinion "delusional". If I'm disappointed by a low exam mark, I might say "I'm so depressed."
And I think this phenomenon - and the fact that it seems to be mostly linked to psychiatric disorders - is connected to the stigmatization of mental illness in our culture. If we equate these diagnoses to behaviours and feelings that are in the normal range of mental health, it's a way to deny and trivialize the conditions. I.e., if what I, a healthy person, am experiencing is depression/delusion/dementia/obsession etc., then those things aren't real, or aren't so bad.
Actually, that might be an interesting angle to bring to your essay. You could make a connection between the Monica character and the stigmatization/denial/trivialization of mental illness. I'm sure the writers said "Let's give one character OCD!" and that the layperson watching the show would think that her behaviour is representative of OCD. You could then contrast her with a real or realistic case of OCD to show the difference, and the harm done by the real condition. And just to get you started: one difference is that OCD is not particularly funny.
There's one of the very first episodes, it may even be the pilot, where Rachel cleaned the apartment and moved the green ottoman. Everyone else knows not to move the ottoman because Monica will go crazy. Then they dare her to try to not be so obsessive. At the end of the episode, she realizes she left her sneakers out or something like that and can't fall asleep because of that. She keeps thinking "should i leave them out? should i sneak out when everyone is sleeping and put them away? no i can't because then they will know i moved them and i will prove them all right." something along those lines. oh man there are so many episodes! great choice in character!!
I don't remember the names of the episodes so I will describe the incidences
1. Ross is dating a girl that has a very, very, very messy apartment. At the end of the episode after Ross and that girl broke up, Monica comes to that girl's apartment and says something to the effect of "My brother told me about your apartment and I couldn't sleep. Can I clean it?" and the girl gets mad and shuts the door, and Monica proceeds to start wiping the outside of the girl's door.
2. In the episode where everyone finds out about Monica and Chandler's relationship, Monica and Chandler are trying to play a joke on everyone. Monica is waiting in Chandler's bathroom....and ends up cleaning it!
3. In the episode where Joey pretends to have a porsche, Monica lets out that she bought car cleaning supplies....and doesn't have a car. She bought them because there was a dirty car on the sidewalk....which she cleaned....along with six other cars.
Thats what I can think of now...jeez there are so many though!
What a fun assignment....go watch tv and do your homework lol!
thanks for your post. i agree that ocd is not funny...no mental illness is. i have seen mental illness first hand how how it can completely control and ruin a persons life. in doing my research for this project i have learned that though monica has ocd tendincies characterised by her pefectionism, attention to details, rules and lists, she more likely suffers from ocpd (obsessive compulsive personality disorder.) please don't think i am trying to trivialize mental disorders...i simply picked a character who i thought could possibly suffer from one. the show is funny period and that is why i am enjoying 'researching' my paper. there are all kinds of degrees of ocd and while you or i (or even monica) may see it as a personality quirk, there could be more of an underlying issue. you have definatley given me some things to think about and i appreciate your time!!
...i just want to add that a personality quirk wouldn't control a person's life. however there are many episodes where we see monica's "personality quirk" control what she is doing. for example the episode jerzytech mentioned where she is laying bed 'obsessing' over the shoes she left in the livingroom. to the viewers it was funny...to a person actually suffering from ocd probably not so much.
What about the episode when Phoebe babysits the triplets in Monica and Chandler's apartment and it's a disaster when they get back. Monica starts to flip out and Chandler has to remind her that the mess isn't that big of a deal.
This is such a cool assignment!! Have fun and good luck with it!!
I guess if you want to make the case that there was real pathology involved, then you'll need to find incidents showing not just that she loved order more than most people but that her love of order interfered with her ability to cope with life. I wouldn't have thought that was the case, but I get the distinct feeling that you know Monica better than I do :).
Also, I was once taking care of a woman with OCD and a bad temper. Once she threw a plate at the wall in anger... then, without missing a beat, started picking up the pieces. I've got to admit I did find that funny....
hey rhymes...me again! i was thinking about your first post and i think i am going to try and find ways to support my theory of monica's ocd and then compare it to someone 'normal' and how that person might behave/react in the same situation. i think you're helping me more than you realise!! i am going to do what you suggest in your recent post and support my paper with situtations where monica's love of order has interfered in her life. a perfect example of this is how she handled being pheobe's wedding planner. of course it had a happy ending but in real life, things probably wouldn't have ended the same way. so thanks....!! :)
the funny thing for me with this show is i was never actually a big fan and now i don't know why. i've been killing myself with laughter for the last two days!
There was also the one (can't remember what it was called) where Monica and Chandler are trying to conceive but Chandler just quit his job and he doesn't think that now is the right time to be having a baby. When he tells Monica this her response is that there's never going to be a good time to have a baby. Then she starts thinking about all the ways that a baby would change their lives (like "what if the baby gets into the ribbon drawer and messes up all the ribbons? What if there's not even room for a ribbon drawer because the baby's stuff takes up all the space???) so they decide to go try to make a baby right then before they can change their minds.
And there's the one where Monica and Chandler are going on their honeymoon and they're at the airport and that other couple is standing in front of them kissing and so into each other that they don't hear the woman calling "Next, next!". Chandler says "Oh, give them a break, they're in love." and Monica's response is "I'm in love too, but in an orderly fashion!"
sunkissed75, CNA
252 Posts
That episode was pulled from youtube but I was able to find on another site! I have another really good quote I'm going to use from that secret closet episode. After Monica declares that she is sick, Chandler tells her; "I don't love you because you're organised. I love you in spite of it".