How Rachel of ‘Friends’ Evolved From Her Spoiled Past to Become a Strong, Successful Woman

As part of their ongoing series of deconstructing the individual personalities of the characters on the classic sitcom series Friends, film and television analysis platform ScreenPrism took a look at the evolution of Rachel Green over the life of the series. The first episode was based upon Rachel’s flight from her own wedding to man she didn’t love, stepping out of the safety of her spoiled past into a new scary world where she would be responsible for herself. Rachel’s determined journey from dependence to self-reliance had its share of missteps and mistakes. Yet with each error, Rachel fearlessly learned something new and put herself out where she’d eventually find success in her job, become a loving mother to a little girl and live the happy life she’d always wanted.

Thanks to the many missteps and lessons learned as well as the friends she found, the Jennifer Aniston character completely transforms herself by the end of the series. This transformation demonstrates the message of the show — that investing in our friends and letting ourselves live the messiness of our young adult lives is the only way to grow into our authentic best selves.