Keris Stainton continues her hunt for the TV women we love...
A formerly overweight, insecure, control freak who choreographed dorky dance routines with a sibling and had a crush on Kermit the Frog ... it's like they took my life and put it on TV!
Monica is my favourite Friends character. She's sweet, charming, funny, intelligent, bossy, needy, dementedly competitive ... real.
Like many women, the majority of Monica's problems can be sourced back to her mother. Both parents clearly favour Ross and make no secret of it (Monica's mother called Rachel "the daughter I never had") although their father does try to make up for it by giving Monica his Porsche, to Ross's horror. I love the scene in The One Where Nana Dies Twice when, after Monica and Ross's Nana's funeral, their mother tells Monica about how critical her mother always was of her:
Mrs. Geller: Do you know what it's like to grow up with someone who is critical of every single thing you say?
Monica: ...I can imagine.
At the end of the scene Mrs Geller moves to fix Monica's hair, but catches herself in time.
Monica always got the best boyfriends too. While Phoebe went from "intense and creepy" Roger to David the Scientist Guy and then married Mike, and Rachel went from, um, Paolo to Ross to Ross, Monica got Richard (Magnum PI!) and then lovely Chandler.
I admit I was worried when I first read that Monica and Chandler were going to get together but they turned out to be so incredibly perfect for each other. Of course, the signs had been there. Monica lost the weight because she overheard Chandler making fun of her during the first Thanksgiving he spent with the Geller Family. He was also the reason she became a chef:
Monica: Hey Chandler! Did you like the macaroni and cheese?
Chandler: Oh yeah, it was great. You should be a chef.
Monica: Okay!
As it turned out, Monica helped Chandler grow up and Chandler helped Monica loosen up. Their proposal scene makes me cry every time.
I also share Monica's obsessive nature and crazy Monica is my favourite Monica. I love the episode where she tears the boys' apartment up trying to find what a random switch does, the one when she tries to establish Richard's "cute obsessive behaviours", the one with the quiz when they lose the apartment ("Nooooooo!"). And don't forget that when Monica was arranging Phoebe's wedding, Phoebe called her a "crazy bitch" and Monica took it as a compliment. What's not to love?
Keris co-edits Shiny Media’s fabulous women’s fiction blog, Trashionista and contributes to TV Scoop and The Bag Lady. She has seen The One With the Chicken Pox more times than she can count.