Dear Mr. Hopkins,

My mother just sent me this, as I have just, very recently, finished my binge watch of the entire series of Friends. Classifying myself as an intellectual and a huge nerd, I agree and disagree with your claims that “Friends” signals a harsh embrace of anti-intellectualism in the US, and that 2004 was the “year that we embraced the stupid.”

I beg to differ. Case in point: Harry F**king Potter. While the young-adult and adult generation were obsessed with Friends, the young minds that were being molded for the future and being guided to inherit the future were engulfed in Lord J.K. Rowlings’ fantasy universe chock full of teachings of empathy, friendship, camraderie, good vs. evil, and a vast multitude of other invigorating lessons. Thus, while those older young adults and adrift twenty something year old’s were numbing their minds with cheap comedy and formulaic sitcoms, my generation was prepped to come in and save the day, which is also why we love Marvel movies.

So, while i may agree that Friends signified an embrace of ant-intellectualism at that time, that embrace was already going on in the times before. The writers were writing about things that they were already experiencing, and thus were mainly bringing their visions of the world they lived in to the small screen. Not only did they reinforce the notion that intellectuals are boring know-it-alls, they also reinforced the notion that most actors are silly idiots who are most likely going to end up working at a bar, as well as the notion, that those who work in corporate are depressed fiends, who don’t really do much and hate their lives, as well as several sexist notions about varying types of women.

In conclusion, i see more of a polarization between sections of society, rather than the doom of all society. Adults watching Friends were reinforced with their already existing prejudices and societal pretenses. The young minds that were being primed for tomorrow were doing what you say they should have been doing: READING F**KING BOOKS, learning that while, yeah, Hermione may be an overbearing intellectual that sometimes bores the shit out of Harry and Ron, she in fact, saves their sorry asses using her knowledge on countless occasions. And, you know what? They appreciate the hell out of her for it.