Monica+Gellar

= =

=Monica Geller=

= =

By: Anita Laven

Biography
Monica E. Geller is a fictional television character on NBC’s // Friends // (1994-2004) played by Courteney Cox-Arquette. She was born to Judy and Jack Geller in 1971 and grew up with her older brother, Ross Geller. As a child and teenager, Monica was extremely overweight. She was often criticized by her parents and compared to her brother who they saw as the better child. Monica’s best friend throughout high school and into adulthood is Rachel Green, a spoiled teenager very into her appearance. As an adult, she lives with Phoebe Buffay for several years in New York City until Phoebe moves out because of Monica’s extremely anal personality. Rachel Green moves in with Monica until Monica lives with her boyfriend, and eventual husband, Chandler Bing. Monica lives close to her brother and across the hall from friend Joey Tribbiani. Monica and Chandler try unsuccessfully to have a child together and ultimately adopt a young woman’s twin children. After beginning their family, Monica and Chandler move out of the city and into Westchester, New York (Monica Geller –Friends Central).

Neo-Anayltic/Ego Perspective: Alfred Adler’s Inferiority Complex & the Importance of Society
A main component of Alfred Adler’s theory was the idea that there are three societal issues that every individual must come to terms with – occupational tasks, societal tasks, and love tasks. While it does take a great deal of effort and time, eventually Monica is able to achieve all three of these tasks.

Adler defines an occupational task as “a fundamental social issue in which one must choose and pursue a career that makes on feel worthwhile” (Friedman & Schustak 121). Monica struggles for years at finding a job that makes her feel worthwhile. Monica’s lowest point in her career was settling for a job at the Moondance Diner. At the diner, Monica had to roller skate around the restaurant and dress up in a ridiculous costume that included a blond wig and fake breasts. Following the Moondance Diner, Monica opened a catering business with Phoebe, and eventually was offered the head chef position at an affluent restaurant in Manhattan, Javu. With this job, Monica was much happier because she felt that she had a purpose going to work and was able to feel satisfied in her accomplishments. Monica no longer felt she was not reaching her full potential and was able to excel at Javu (“Friends”).

A societal task is “a fundamental social issue in which one must create friendships and social networks” (Friedman & Schustak 121). Monica does this by keeping a close group of friends. Monica lives across the hall from her brother’s college roommate, Chandler Bing and becomes friends with Chandler’s roommate, Joey Tribbiani. While Phoebe lives with Monica for only a short period of time, they maintain their relationship even after Phoebe moves out. In addition, while Monica is very close with Rachel Green in high school, the two eventually lose touch. When Rachel randomly finds Monica one day after not speaking for years, the two quickly reconnect and Rachel moves in with Monica. Monica is maintaining and strengthening her relationship with Rachel by taking Rachel in. A strong social network is extremely important in an individual’s life because when surrounded by others, a person is much happier and has a larger network. When part of a large network, an individual has more connections and is therefore more able to be successful in all aspects of life.

A love task addresses the idea of finding an acceptable life partner. Monica, much to her mother’s chagrin, has great difficulty in finding an acceptable life partner. For a period of time, Monica seriously dates her father’s (much older) golf partner, Richard, and even considers marriage until she learns he doesn’t want to have children. Monica’s next serious relationship is to a billionaire, Pete Becker. The two did not date for long, and Monica eventually marries Chandler Bing, adopts a set of twins with him and lives happily with him in a suburb of New York City.

As Adler predicted, experiences in occupational, societal and love areas intertwine with each other. At one point, Pete buys a restaurant for the sole reason of giving Monica the position of head chef. Monica accepts, advancing her career while trusting her relationship with Pete more. In addition, Monica originally sees Chandler as just a friend, but after spending so much time together, he eventually becomes a love interest.

Adler also believed that birth order played a huge role in the development of an individual. While first-born children are characterized as nurturing, and last-born children are characterized as having a lazy attitude, Monica has the typical defining characteristic of a second-born child – extremely competitive. In a //Dateline// interview with Courteney Cox-Arquette, Courteney explains her character as “tough […] the one who ha[s] to be the best at just about everything” ( Pepper, G.). Growing up, Monica was constantly being compared to her older brother. Ross, always superior in academics, was the favored child, resulting in Monica constantly trying to compensate in other ways. As children, every Thanksgiving, Monica and Ross competed in the “Geller Bowl” – a touch football game. The siblings were named captains and were always allowed to choose their teams, striving to win the “Geller Cup”. During Geller Bowl VI, Ross and Monica became so competitive that Monica elbowed Ross, breaking his nose. After this incident, Ross and Monica’s mother banned her children from ever playing football again [1]. As adults, Ross and Monica’s friends suggest playing a touch football game with one another. After some disagreement, Ross and Monica decide to play. Eventually, the two declare a tie and agree to throw the “Geller Cup” down the trash chute of Monica’s apartment complex. However, Monica has her friend, Phoebe, wait at the bottom of the trash chute in order to retrieve the cup, ultimately making her team the winners (Bright, K.) [2]. Monica goes to extreme lengths in order to win and beat her brother. This is likely because growing up she was not the favored child and always tried to live up to Ross’s accomplishments.

Another example of Monica’s extreme competitiveness is when she plays table tennis with Phoebe’s husband, Mike. Monica insists on keeping score because otherwise no one wins and everyone is “just a loser”. Monica is willing to play for $1,000 a game until Chandler stops her, and she even exclaims that her competitiveness is her “sickness” (Bright, K.) [3].

It is likely that Monica is so competitive because even into her adulthood, her mother is constantly criticizing her and finding flaws in her personality and lifestyle. Monica’s mother constantly makes the mistake of thinking that Ross is her only child and he will be her only chance of having grandchildren. Monica’s parents even used Monica’s wedding fund to finance their beach house because they believed she would never get married. When Monica is older, she learns that during a massive flood in her childhood house, all of her things in the garage were ruined because her boxes were used to protect Ross’s science medals and other items from his childhood. When an individual is constantly being compared to their older sibling, it is inevitable that they will grow to be competitive. The younger sibling is always looking to outshine their older sibling in order to garner more attention. In this case, Monica longs to prove her mother wrong and be the best at whatever she does.

T rait and Skill Aspects of Personality: Conscientiousness & Agreeableness
The Big Five is considered a contemporary approach to the trait and skill aspect of personality. There are five different dimensions in which personality can fit into – extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness. Extroverted individuals are often social and enthusiastic. Agreeable people are considered to be friendly, warm and cooperative. Those high in conscientiousness are responsible and organized. Neurotic individuals are normally nervous and high-strung. Those that are high on the openness scale are witty and imaginative (Friedman & Schustak 267). Monica’s personality most clearly fits into the conscientious and agreeable dimensions.

Monica is an extremely conscientiousness individual. In an interview with //Dateline,// one creator of //Friends//, David Crane, described her as a “control freak” (Pepper, G.) and Kristin Veitech of E! Television labels Monica a “type A […] organizational freak” ( Griffin, J.). Some examples of Monica’s extreme organization and cleanliness are dividing her towels into eleven categories, ironing wrapping paper, labeling everything, and cleaning her cleaning supplies (Bright, K.) [4]. When Phoebe gets married, Monica is appointed the role of wedding planner. She is so controlling, however, that Phoebe fires her [5]. It is not until every aspect of the wedding starts to go wrong that Phoebe has no choice but to give Monica her job back. As usual, Monica is able to fix everything and Phoebe’s wedding is flawless. It is likely Monica is so organized because as a child, and even as an adult, she feels as though her mother controls her. Being so anal about keeping things organized and orderly makes Monica feel in control. In addition, because Monica always felt she had to live up to Ross’s accomplishments as a child, cleaning is Monica’s own way of feeling successful. When Monica cleans, she feels accomplished and can see progress in her work. Monica needs to feel that she is also capable of accomplishing tasks.

Monica is also very agreeable. She is considered the caretaker among her group of friends. Monica and Rachel are very good friends in high school but lose touch after high school. After not speaking for several years, Rachel comes searching for Monica after walking out on her wedding. Monica immediately takes care of Rachel and allows her to live with her for several years. Monica helps Rachel create a resume, apply for jobs for the first time, and makes her cut up her credit cards to become more independent. Monica may take on the role of caretaker because she does not feel very connected with her own mother. By being a caretaker, Monica makes up for the connection that her and her mother lack.

D iscussion
Monica successfully comes to terms with occupational tasks, societal tasks, and love tasks. Like any other individual, this accomplishment took time and patience. In the end, Monica married a man she loved, had a successful career and spends time forming healthy relationships with her friends.

A lot of Monica’s character traits are a result of her relationship with her family. As the second-born child, Monica is constantly compared to Ross throughout her life. Monica does not feel as appreciated or valued by her mother compared to Ross, so she has learned to compete for attention. Growing up, she was constantly in the shadow of her older brother and tried to succeed in anyway in order to have the spotlight on her, making her extremely competitive. In addition, Monica is extremely organized and clean. When cleaning, an individual can easily monitor and assess his/her own progress. It is very likely that because Monica can see that she is doing well at tasks like these, she enjoys them.

Margaret Mahler, a neo-analyst believed that having a healthy relationship with one’s mother is necessary to grow up normally symbiotic. Mahler believed that, “the forming of ties between a child and mother in which the child develops empathy and the sense of being a separate but loving person” (Friedman & Schustak 130) were necessary for normal development. It is interesting, however, that while Monica does not have a strong relationship with her mother, she is still able to be extremely empathetic and loving.

Video References
[1] Ross and Monica Telling Their Football Story

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3pPJDlkuNI&feature=player_embedded

[2] Ross and Monica Fighting Over the Geller Cup

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvB62QrOqPk&feature=player_embedded

[3] Monica Playing Ping Pong

media type="youtube" key="gw2zeiQ2vg0" height="385" width="480"

[4] Monica Cleaning Her Cleaning Supplies

media type="youtube" key="cIsdSND-BGo" height="385" width="480"

[5] Phoebe Fires Monica

media type="youtube" key="1ClWhTGJpng" height="385" width="480" 

References
“Friends" (1994). (n.d.). //The Internet Movie Database (IMDb)//. Retrieved April 13, 2010, from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108778/

Bright, K., Kauffmann, M., & Crane, D. (2003). The One In Barbados: Part Two [Television series episode]. In //Friends//. Burbank: NBC.

Bright, K., Kauffmann, M., & Crane, D. (2004). The One Where Chandler Gets Caught [Television series episode]. In //Friends//. Burbank: NBC.

Bright, K., Kauffmann, M., & Crane, D. (2004). The One With Phoebe's Wedding [Television series episode]. In //Friends//. Burbank: NBC.

Friedman, H. S., & Schustack, M. W. (2008). //Personality: Classic Theories and Modern Research (4th Edition) (MyPsychKit Series)// (4 ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

Griffin, J. (2004). Friends [Television series episode]. In //Biography//. New York City: A&E.

Monica Geller - Friends Central - TV Show, Episodes, Characters. (2006, August 5). //Friends Central - TV Show, Episodes, Characters//. Retrieved April 13, 2010, from http://friends.wikia.com/wiki/Monica_Geller

Monica Geller - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (n.d.). //Main Page - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia//. Retrieved April 13, 2010, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monica_Gellar

Pepper, G. (2004). A Farewell to Friends [Television series episode]. In //Dateline//. New York: Dateline.