I always felt like the friends never gave her enough credit for overcoming what she went through. having a dad who abandoned her, a mom who killed her self, left with barely any family, & having to live on the streets at a super young age and fend for herself. Yet, she made a living, still managed to be as optimistic and caring as she is, and get her life together. Props to pheebs
Ananda Morales, precisely. And it explains why she has such a rigid moral code for herself and her friends, something the other friends often find frustrating. But it’s exactly this moral code that is so essential to her because it gives her a structure and boundaries that she never had.
Yes, Phoebe would often casually mention tragic incidents that happened in her childhood (her mother's suicide, being chased by a homeless man), and while her friends would occasionally be shocked by her tales, she would also be rather throwaway about it, and use it to get the last muffin. However, Phoebe doesn't let her tragic past define her, which is partially why I love her!😍
I think it's a problem of the genre. You can have sad moments in a sitcom, but a deep dive into the effects of Phoebe's childhood and how it affected her? Not too many laughs in that.
I feel like in real life people generally try not to speak about terrible things. I could say that my childhood was comparable to Phoebe's and anytime I've spoken about it, people become visibly uncomfortable and try to change the subject. I'm not as cavalier about it as her though and only bring it up during appropriate times(not to get the last muffin)
It always bummed me out that Phoebe didn't get as much screen time for her stories; she was by far the most fascinating Friend and had a big impact on who I became as a person.
I always thought Phoebe and Ursula have basically the same random, creative personality, but Phoebe chose to embrace compassion, and Ursula decided to cut off her compassion for others.
They’re kind of opposite ideals: For Phoebe, she believes that you never know when someone in your life is going to leave you forever, so you should be kind to them. For Ursula, she believe that everyone will leave eventually, so there’s not much point to putting in an effort.
I know, Lisa deserves huge credit for portraying two starkly different twin sisters, and so convincingly being the sweet AND the mean twin, although she's DEFINITELY more of a Phoebe than an Ursula!😀
Frezle Verzo I think it depended on the episode and the writer because there was so much overlap with the Ursula from Mad About You who is much more similar to Phoebe in personality. I think as Friends exploded in popularity they grew a bigger distinction between the two and she started developing mannerisms in the character that separated them. Ursula is much less expressive than Phoebe
Yes, that analysis would be perfection! There's no limits- The Manga Doodle in Joey and Chandler's apartment, the white dog statue, the Monica's purple apartment walls...
Oh I'm so glad you did this. I never thought Ursula was evil, just a darker, more realistic (albeit extreme) version of what happens to people who grew up in such bad circumstances.
One thing I've always been curious about Phoebe's past: she says her mom committed suicide when she, Phoebe, was 14, and that after that, Phoebe was homeless. And yet early seasons of "Friends" show Phoebe living with her grandmother. Why didn't Phoebe live with her right after her mom's suicide? But then I realized a possible solution: after Lily's suicide, young Phoebe suffered a mental breakdown and ran away, not realizing she could have a home still. It wasn't until years and years later that Phoebe finally came to her senses and moved in with her grandma. But I also wondered, did Ursula go to live with the grandma after Lily's death? Or did she run away and live on the streets too? And also, did Ursula think of Phoebe running away as abandoning her? That could make a lot of sense of the resentment Ursula may hold for her sister. If they did a "Friends" reboot, I hope they delve more into the Buffay's sisters' relationship, and finally give them a reconciliation. Also, bring back Phoebe's birth mother, because that was another wasted relationship.
@@Kelaiah01 They did not give her enough credit as an interesting character tbh. I would much rather have a more fleshed out Phoebe than Ross/Rachel relationship drama
Oh, how about this: in the reboot, reveal that Ursula married David, the ex-love of Phoebe's life! Only it's actually a *good* thing, since David managed to bring out the best in Ursula, and Ursula makes David extremely happy (and no, he doesn't see her as a replacement for Phoebe; he honestly has fallen for Ursula).
When I was little I thought that everyone named Ursula was evil because I just watched The Little Mermaid far too often. My mum’s friend Ursula was super confused when I hid from her when she came over 😅
The triplets were conceived through IVF. They're 3/5 of the separate, artificially inseminated, embryos of Frank Jr Jr and his wife. Phoebe and Ursula were conceived naturally and were once one egg, which split in their mother womb. So it's highly unlikely that the triplets will have quadruplets. Possible but not likely to happen
@@enzmondo true but I don't think it works with twins and triplets together. I think that it's either you get twins or triplets in the family. I could be wrong though. And multiple births usually skip generations i.e. the grandparents and the grandchildren could be twins while the parents are just singular individuals
Always wanted a pair of indentical twins whose mother forced them to dress the same and they hated it, or have one hate it and the other love it. Matching outfits have been done to death in movies, but really, any mother who would even consider being enthused about mommy and daughter matching outfits would have a freaking field day shopping that way for twins for at minimum the first 12 years of any set of twins life.
Truth in television? I hate when parents dress up the twins in the identical clothes. A friend, one of a pair, of mine mentioned it often led to them feeling like they weren't allowed to develop an identity aside from "the twins".
Games Geary I heard that sometimes if you get them separate outfits the twins get jealous of each other’s outfits, so the mom has no choice but to give them the exact same thing, even though it would be cost a lot to always have to buy 2 of the same clothes every time.
MITM is such a deeper more complicated show that looks at child development, parenting, growing up, relationships, ect and its passed as a silly sitcom and it's a piece of art.
Ursula is truly the kind of broken that can’t be fixed. She’s not a sociopath imo, she’s more if an avoidant narcissistic type of personality. She’s way more tragic than Phoebe because she is a hollow shell of a person who has given up on what generally makes ones life fulfilling (love, morals, passions, etc)
Phoebe's portrayal of trauma is actually pretty true to life with how common it is to adopt toxic positivity. The way she assumed Rachel's bad experience after the wedding is the same as her own deeply troubled upbringing is classic for someone dealing with childhood trauma. Same with her catching the fall of the guys Ursula dumps. She might have this mindset that she can save the world from experiencing the same heartbreak she's had to endure. I think Ursula's habit of checking out either mentally or emotionally is equally as fitting for their upbringing.
20:10 That was a really horrible move on Joey’s part. He was using Phoebe’s likeness to Ursula as a way to get the affection of the latter. He also completely rejected the fact that it was also Phoebe’s birthday as well and didn’t get her a gift. He acted like she didn’t matter.
As a twin myself, I've always found the way twins are presented in media to be interesting. It's almost always either "evil twin" or "twincest". Both feel weird to me, but I'll take an evil twin story over incest any day.
Kids stuff has a lot of twins where they are both normal and there isn't an evil one:. Parent Trap, all the Olsen movies, Zach and Cody, Sister, Sister (and other Tia and Tamara stuff),
Lisa Kudrow's actual sister was Ursula's/Phoebe's stand in in behind-the-head camera shots. Also, actors usually like playing someone outside of or exploring other aspects of their normal character. Lisa liked that about Phoebe and Ursula, but when she read the script with Ursula's first appearance on Friends, she was shocked saying "Oh, that's kinda mean!"
It just goes to show that Lisa is more of a Phoebe than an Ursula type! 😀Still, it is fascinating to portray a character who is very different from your normal personality, and to step outside of your comfort zone once in a while.
As a twin, I always find this trope very problematic.... Not because the things you talk about in the video (that makes me look to the trope on a very different way). It's because in a more literal interpretation (at least for me in childhood), it looks like everyone in media is saying: "you are exactly the same as someone else, so the ONLY way that you could have your own identity is being the exact opposite of your sibling". Buuuut.... If your identity is based on a reflex of a others person behavior, how you could say it is YOUR identity? It's a paradox @~@
Yeah i know how you feel. Im also an identical twin. We were pushed into having different likes because they couldnt tell otherwise. Even in football. I hated playing offense all it ever was was waiting for people to hit you. But because my twin also played we couldnt be on the same side. I once got accused of cheating because my brother and i got the same points for our SOLs. We were on the opposite sides of the building with different teachers.
@@sc31337 did this stuff ever happen to you? I mean its not that its common. I had 3 other sets of twins that i knew of growing up that had similar situations that i had and some that hadnt ever had to deal with it.
Man dating sucked in high school. If my brother had someone i often got slapped or bitched at because they thought he was cheating. No one leads with a cool head and simply asks back then. It was always i saw this or that happened. Mainly it was because the gilfriends friends didnt know me and i didnt care to know them. My bro and i shared friends but we did have seperate friends. Different groups.
Darius Cole-Samuels honestly, i’m not sure! we aren’t that close and we run in totally different circles but i’m questioning whether it was organic or a reflex to establish our own separate identity like OP said. our family still refers to us like we were one person though 😅
Omg can u do Mike vs Phoebes other lovers? What makes Mike different than her other relationships? Why would she just reject one guy who just proposed to her to Mike? I think it could bring on how love can be messy
My twin sister died before we were born. We were identical. I can't go a day without thinking about her, and a part of me knew I was a twin even before I found out. It clicked in a way nothing else did. It was like being told something I already knew, but somehow hadn't ever been told before. The twin bond is an instinctive part of me, the only difference is that I don't have my sister to share it with. You absolutely cannot imagine the loneliness this causes unless you yourself lost a twin. It's so difficult to spend your life knowing you're missing something and find out you'll never find it. I never got to speak to her, but I miss her so much and I grieve for the amazing childhood I would have had with her by my side. Even if she and I ended up hating each other, at least I would have known her and understood where those feelings came from.
I think you mean if only she got therapy for all that trauma you pointed out. Plenty of great point but that line is just... take it from someone with trauma, she would need a lot of therapy to be more like Phoebe. Also if Phoebe were real I’d assume she’s compensating. I often find myself casually bringing traumatic events into conversation because I’m so used to it that I forget how other people see it, Phoebe seems to have that habit too. Being overly optimistic isn’t always healthy, I think they’d both need therapy to find a middle ground.
I like to think that really Ursula's worst traits are only as a way to shield herself from being vulnerable around Phoebe. She's scared of having a connection she doesn't own, that she can't control, that she can't be free of. Its why in Mad About You she's more of an airhead and more like Phoebe, while when she's on Friends she's being confronted with another life that she doesn't want to be a part of... so she contextualizes her feelings in ways that are meant to be antagonistic. I have a strangely similar relationship with my brothers. To my friends I am a kind, affable, fun loving guy who enjoys their company. When I am around my brother my only desire is to not be around my brother.
Phoebe has so much energy and imagination, if she put all that into some professional setting, whether artsy or corporate she would be more successful than all her friends. Plus she cares. She’d be a Branson type of CEO.
its weird that they portray Phoebe as all light rather than explore her dark side, like how she consistently competed with her sister who wasn't even competing with her, how she tried to steal her sister's fiance and the guy who was stalking her sister, or how she couldn't let Joey date Ursula. It was like she felt a need to be seen and chosen by the men she knew wanted Ursula instead.
Interesting theory indeed. What if Phoebe is pretending to be her own evil twin so as to get a chance with Joey, but knows that he would never date her, so she invents Ursula to be able to do so?😮
Not my favorite topic for a video (evil twin episodes of sitcoms are terrible in my opinion), but I love this channel. This level of insight into pop culture and the arts is nearly unmatched on youtube.
Ursula's reaction is realistic but I find Phoebe's reaction as something incredible because being able to care and give so much love despite life throwing her under the bus metaphorically is a symbol of strength. Ursula's is of course much closer to reality but her complete detachment may also hint at denial or closed off . Maybe I'm wrong but that's my viewpoint. Nevertheless , I wish Phone had put some effort into reconnecting with her twin. Ursula's " I don't care" could be a shield she uses to protect herself from hurt . Perhaps all she needed is a push from her twin to finally start healing.
14:20 I got pretty creeped out by the part where you said that in Madagascar and Nigeria, they kill twin babies because they think twins are bad luck. 🙄
It depends on the place in Yoruba land (my dad) they worship twins as they bring good luck while in some other cultured like Benin (my mom) they can kill them. But currently it isnt very common. Every where me and my sister go we are asked to bless people because we bring goodluck.
Opposites. But at the same time their personality is SO ALIKE. When the two women that new Ursula and thought phoebe was Ursula in the coffee shop, phoebe reacts to strangers exactly the same as Ursula would. They’re both super blunt and straightforward because of their crazy childhoods. They just LOOK at the world differently.
The funny thing is that whenever I rewatch Friends I always forget that Ursula exists. Then when I see her on screen she becomes the best part of the episode. That's how good Lisa Kudrow is at playing both her and Phoebe.
I was today years old when I found out Ursula was on another show, which is great because I'd like to know more about her but its different writers so they might not explore Ursula in the same way friends does
I've always been fascinated by Mark Twain's use of the trope, although more of doppelganger switcheroos than twins, in "Prince and the Pauper" and "Puddin 'Head Wilson".
@Madalin Grama well if you think about it they all represent different type of personas and if you have seen all 6 seasons you must know that The take can do a great video explaining the type of persona each carácter has and why there like that. And what makes gossip girl so special.
Because pheobe isnt evil herself? She is prone to violence and crimes. She has always been the one to physically attack others. She had mugging days and she locked someone on a pipe and left them there. She then legit no joking wanted to plant pcp in her friends room and call the police. Hell ursala does bad things to her sister but you might have to face that she isnt the evil twin.
@Black Ninja no a lot of the things i hear here is the tone in which they describe her. When pheobe describe ursula or when others do. Both have done some realyy fucked up things.
They might not have meant litteral siblings I suppose, one or both might have been a doppleganger, clone or what have you? It's still a sort of an odd way of putting it in that case if you ask me...Two triplets aren't twins, they are still triplets even if you're only refering to two out of the three. But it's probably right that it was because they weren't refering to all three that they used an odd or wrong expression.
I never saw Ursula as evil just more realistic than phoebe, albeit mean. I love Phoebe but honestly she’s a lot to deal with sometimes. Ursula just wanted to move on with her life and cope by herself. Phoebe only visits Ursula when she wants something. Overall, Ursula chose self-reliance, phoebe chose friends
Okay but I feel that it's worth noting that Henry Jekyll isn't exactly a good person in the novel, he just acts like a respectable gentleman. Hyde was, at least in the beginning, a way for him to act upon his more banal and primal desires without ruining his precious reputation, as was all too important in the victorian upper class society. However, it eventually got out of hand and he gradually found himself being controlled by those desires and thus his other half. It was a satire on the hypocrisy of the wealthy elites of victorian England and their hypocrisy, not a story about good and evil.
Characters who mirror or are inversions of each other are fascinating and are some of my favorites to create in my own work (although, being a twin myself, I've always found the "evil twin" trope hilarious).
Lisa Kudrow has already said in interviews that since she was already playing the Ursula character on Mad About You, which aired on the same network, the writers of Friends decided to add the Ursula character as Phoebe’s twin as an in-universe explanation for why audiences were seeing the same person on two different shows. Lisa Kudrow added that as Friends went on, the writers began to write Ursula as meaner and meaner due to resentment of having to have Ursula character on the show.
It would have been a cool idea to not have Phoebe and Ursula be twins but rather the same person. Especially since it was the Friends writers who changed Ursula’s personality. The idea that the character could be living a double life would have been interesting.
I always found their names to be unique because one is "bright" and the other is a "she-bear." One is particularly open and bright while the other has this apathetic tough exterior.
I've never really thought how much I've prejudged Ursala. My father and his older brother never really got on. My uncle is gifted but squandered it, my father had to work so hard. I've met him so rarely but never gave him a chance.
One thing I wondered was - how was Ursula's youth? Considering her mother killed herself when she was a teen, did she also end up on streets with Phoebe? I'd say probably not, since she's never mentioned there, but where was she? Was it the final straw that tore them apart? Was this troubled past the reason why she became so cold-hearted? So many questions...
Thank you for the video, love all the analyses you post, very well thought out and researched! I have a request, I am a classical musician and since I was young I noticed that villains are very often depicted with classical music and other markings of what used to denote a cultured person. I kind of hate it, as much as I kind of understand it, because the directors want to associate the villain with aloofness and feelings of superiority which is how classical music makes a lot of people unfamiliar with the style feel. I remember first noticing this when I was watching the sequel to Beauty and the Beast, “Bells Magical World”. The villain is literally an organ and his P.I.C. is a fife (a small high-pitched type of flute). In Pirates of the Carrabian the face tentacle character, forgot his name, plays the organ in his alone time. These are just two examples that come to mind, the archetype of a cultured villain is everywhere. There’s always a bit of cognitive dissonance when the villain is shown listening to their classical music because I love the style and don’t see anything villainous about it, also it might as well be me blasting Bach in my room at night. Thank you for reading, and for the awesome content!
My granddad was the evil twin. The story goes he used to get his pocket money, change his t-shirt, then collect his brother, Paddy's money. When Paddy went to get his own money, he was scolded for being greedy. Years later, my granddad arrived early to meet a girl Paddy had set up a date with. My granddad took the girl out while when Paddy arrived, he was left thinking the girl stood him up. Apparently the girl was gorgeous. My granddad still laughed about it over 40 years later.
@Lollywhoistotally NOTaloli Lol as bad as it sounds, it was entertaining for me as an outsider. You know how like Ursula's treatment of Phoebe is played for laughs to the audience as outsiders but for Phoebe it's not fun to deal with? Like that
This was really cool to watch! Wow, there are so many examples of evil twins--too many to fit one video. I kept waiting for mention of Data and Lore (Star Trek), and afterwards I also remembered Miley's evil twin cousin in Hannah Montana.
It’s hard enough portraying one character for 10 seasons but to portray 2 characters and slip in and out so effortlessly in between just highlights how versatile Lisa is as an actress
When Phoebe confronts Ursula about using her name as a porn moniker, it's the only time Ursula who is always in black, and colourful Phoebe have their palettes swapped
Got a twin and one time, my colleague thought it was me at a grocery store and kept waiving to my twin, when me and my colleague met at work, she was mad at me and had to explain haha
+cat YES!!! I was coming to say the same thing. One of my favorite "evil twins" is Faith from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Joss Whedon spoke many times about how Faith (in the beginning) was Buffy's Shadow self and more a nemesis than an enemy.
Phoebe's compassion comes from her 5 best friends. I think Ursula doesn't care about compassion and other good things because she has no close people, none teaches her anything about life and love
Okay, I'm not mad that you didn't use a clip of Willow/Vamp!Willow when you were talking about doppelgangers, just disappointed. Also, they're sisters two years apart in The Shining, not twins. Silly pickiness aside - this was awesome. The analyses of Friends that you do are always my favourites, as they bring such great insight into a show that could be viewed as a 'candy' show. Looking forward to more!
Phoebe was my favorite character from the first episode I watched. I actually watched an episode with Ursula today and just laughed but now, I'll see both characters in a different light. They do say that "those who have been through more, laugh at more" which is Phoebe in a nutshell but Ursula's distance does make sense as well
I really like that how you have Ursula given a fair shake, and fleshed out her story, I was really sad she didn’t get an appearance or at least a mention at phoebe’s wedding. But I guess her brother or nieces and nephew weren’t there either
I always felt like the friends never gave her enough credit for overcoming what she went through. having a dad who abandoned her, a mom who killed her self, left with barely any family, & having to live on the streets at a super young age and fend for herself. Yet, she made a living, still managed to be as optimistic and caring as she is, and get her life together. Props to pheebs
Ananda Morales, precisely. And it explains why she has such a rigid moral code for herself and her friends, something the other friends often find frustrating. But it’s exactly this moral code that is so essential to her because it gives her a structure and boundaries that she never had.
Yes, Phoebe would often casually mention tragic incidents that happened in her childhood (her mother's suicide, being chased by a homeless man), and while her friends would occasionally be shocked by her tales, she would also be rather throwaway about it, and use it to get the last muffin. However, Phoebe doesn't let her tragic past define her, which is partially why I love her!😍
I think it's a problem of the genre. You can have sad moments in a sitcom, but a deep dive into the effects of Phoebe's childhood and how it affected her? Not too many laughs in that.
I feel like in real life people generally try not to speak about terrible things. I could say that my childhood was comparable to Phoebe's and anytime I've spoken about it, people become visibly uncomfortable and try to change the subject. I'm not as cavalier about it as her though and only bring it up during appropriate times(not to get the last muffin)
It always bummed me out that Phoebe didn't get as much screen time for her stories; she was by far the most fascinating Friend and had a big impact on who I became as a person.
I always thought Phoebe and Ursula have basically the same random, creative personality, but Phoebe chose to embrace compassion, and Ursula decided to cut off her compassion for others.
They’re kind of opposite ideals: For Phoebe, she believes that you never know when someone in your life is going to leave you forever, so you should be kind to them. For Ursula, she believe that everyone will leave eventually, so there’s not much point to putting in an effort.
Ursula endured much more difficult situations Phoebe didn’t even know her mom committed suicide
Dubshakra that’s not true, phoebe knew their mom killed herself. They hD the same/similar trauma
Dubshakra Ursula didn’t end up on the streets though, she also knew her biological mom
The way Lisa Kudrow portrayed her was so effortless
Agreed. Very underrated
I know, Lisa deserves huge credit for portraying two starkly different twin sisters, and so convincingly being the sweet AND the mean twin, although she's DEFINITELY more of a Phoebe than an Ursula!😀
Both twin kinda feels the same way and acts a little similarly. Ursula just say means stuff.
Frezle Verzo I think it depended on the episode and the writer because there was so much overlap with the Ursula from Mad About You who is much more similar to Phoebe in personality. I think as Friends exploded in popularity they grew a bigger distinction between the two and she started developing mannerisms in the character that separated them. Ursula is much less expressive than Phoebe
It’s true. Ursula had a different voice than Phoebe. Lisa was so great at it.
There's literally no limit to breaking down each character in Friends. Next you should do the significance of each room. No joke, I would love that
Monica's secret closet
The ATM vestibule
@@charmedprince LOL
@@myheartbelongstowhat i need me some Jill Goodacre
Yes, that analysis would be perfection! There's no limits- The Manga Doodle in Joey and Chandler's apartment, the white dog statue, the Monica's purple apartment walls...
Oh I'm so glad you did this. I never thought Ursula was evil, just a darker, more realistic (albeit extreme) version of what happens to people who grew up in such bad circumstances.
Same
420 likes lol I am going to tarnish it by making it 421
uujij.uij.uuj.juuj🙏.jj.🙏 ji.uj.🙏ujj.🙏u🙏 un.unujuij.jn🙏
@@radiyhakhatun1041 ujooooui.uoo.nolunu.o
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One thing I've always been curious about Phoebe's past: she says her mom committed suicide when she, Phoebe, was 14, and that after that, Phoebe was homeless. And yet early seasons of "Friends" show Phoebe living with her grandmother. Why didn't Phoebe live with her right after her mom's suicide? But then I realized a possible solution: after Lily's suicide, young Phoebe suffered a mental breakdown and ran away, not realizing she could have a home still. It wasn't until years and years later that Phoebe finally came to her senses and moved in with her grandma. But I also wondered, did Ursula go to live with the grandma after Lily's death? Or did she run away and live on the streets too? And also, did Ursula think of Phoebe running away as abandoning her? That could make a lot of sense of the resentment Ursula may hold for her sister.
If they did a "Friends" reboot, I hope they delve more into the Buffay's sisters' relationship, and finally give them a reconciliation. Also, bring back Phoebe's birth mother, because that was another wasted relationship.
Oh yes, and, for the reboot, bring back Phoebe's birth-father. ...Wow, Phoebe had a *lot* of wasted relationship-storylines.
@@Kelaiah01 They did not give her enough credit as an interesting character tbh. I would much rather have a more fleshed out Phoebe than Ross/Rachel relationship drama
@@oof-wi7hp Agreed. The Ross/Rachel stuff really overshadowed a lot of the other stuff that had more potential.
She was so underestimated
Oh, how about this: in the reboot, reveal that Ursula married David, the ex-love of Phoebe's life! Only it's actually a *good* thing, since David managed to bring out the best in Ursula, and Ursula makes David extremely happy (and no, he doesn't see her as a replacement for Phoebe; he honestly has fallen for Ursula).
Her name is Ursula...I mean yeah she's totally evil but super entertaining.
Yeah, she's a bit of a poor unfortunate soul. ;)
@Nectar Vam even better!
THIS Ursula might be just as nasty, but you can't say that she'd steal your voice, only wreck your head, break your heart, and steal your soul!😁
When I was little I thought that everyone named Ursula was evil because I just watched The Little Mermaid far too often. My mum’s friend Ursula was super confused when I hid from her when she came over 😅
Phoebe is a twin that gave birth to triplets. Think about that. Quadruplets on the way?
Chandler the babygirl will probably have the quadruplets
Maybe Leslie, the other triplet, will have septuplts, or maybe even octuplets!😮😊
The triplets were conceived through IVF. They're 3/5 of the separate, artificially inseminated, embryos of Frank Jr Jr and his wife. Phoebe and Ursula were conceived naturally and were once one egg, which split in their mother womb. So it's highly unlikely that the triplets will have quadruplets. Possible but not likely to happen
There are genetic links to multiple births. “Twins run in the family” is a real thing.
@@enzmondo true but I don't think it works with twins and triplets together. I think that it's either you get twins or triplets in the family. I could be wrong though. And multiple births usually skip generations i.e. the grandparents and the grandchildren could be twins while the parents are just singular individuals
There's also the cliche in fiction where twins have the same personality and may even dress the same like they're clones.
Always wanted a pair of indentical twins whose mother forced them to dress the same and they hated it, or have one hate it and the other love it. Matching outfits have been done to death in movies, but really, any mother who would even consider being enthused about mommy and daughter matching outfits would have a freaking field day shopping that way for twins for at minimum the first 12 years of any set of twins life.
Truth in television? I hate when parents dress up the twins in the identical clothes. A friend, one of a pair, of mine mentioned it often led to them feeling like they weren't allowed to develop an identity aside from "the twins".
Of course, scientifically speaking, clones ARE just younger, artificially created twins.
Games Geary I heard that sometimes if you get them separate outfits the twins get jealous of each other’s outfits, so the mom has no choice but to give them the exact same thing, even though it would be cost a lot to always have to buy 2 of the same clothes every time.
I am a twin and our mother dressed us the same as kids, never bother us, as we grew up each choose their own style, I dont see the issue 🤷🏼♀️
Malcolm in the Middle is criminally underrated but the parents would make great subjects for a video.
Chloe Rodriguez yes!!! One of my favorite shows
Lois!!!
MITM is such a deeper more complicated show that looks at child development, parenting, growing up, relationships, ect and its passed as a silly sitcom and it's a piece of art.
Chloe Rodriguez YES
True that
Ursula is truly the kind of broken that can’t be fixed. She’s not a sociopath imo, she’s more if an avoidant narcissistic type of personality. She’s way more tragic than Phoebe because she is a hollow shell of a person who has given up on what generally makes ones life fulfilling (love, morals, passions, etc)
Phoebe's portrayal of trauma is actually pretty true to life with how common it is to adopt toxic positivity. The way she assumed Rachel's bad experience after the wedding is the same as her own deeply troubled upbringing is classic for someone dealing with childhood trauma. Same with her catching the fall of the guys Ursula dumps. She might have this mindset that she can save the world from experiencing the same heartbreak she's had to endure. I think Ursula's habit of checking out either mentally or emotionally is equally as fitting for their upbringing.
20:10
That was a really horrible move on Joey’s part. He was using Phoebe’s likeness to Ursula as a way to get the affection of the latter. He also completely rejected the fact that it was also Phoebe’s birthday as well and didn’t get her a gift. He acted like she didn’t matter.
As a twin myself, I've always found the way twins are presented in media to be interesting.
It's almost always either "evil twin" or "twincest". Both feel weird to me, but I'll take an evil twin story over incest any day.
...
Twincest?
.....
I...wow...
*stares at Orane High School Host Club*
Kids stuff has a lot of twins where they are both normal and there isn't an evil one:. Parent Trap, all the Olsen movies, Zach and Cody, Sister, Sister (and other Tia and Tamara stuff),
Like Sharpay and Ryan, Riverdale, the last season of Glee and what I heard about Game of Thrones
Lisa Kudrow's actual sister was Ursula's/Phoebe's stand in in behind-the-head camera shots. Also, actors usually like playing someone outside of or exploring other aspects of their normal character. Lisa liked that about Phoebe and Ursula, but when she read the script with Ursula's first appearance on Friends, she was shocked saying "Oh, that's kinda mean!"
It just goes to show that Lisa is more of a Phoebe than an Ursula type! 😀Still, it is fascinating to portray a character who is very different from your normal personality, and to step outside of your comfort zone once in a while.
@@trinaq Absolutely!
As a twin, I always find this trope very problematic.... Not because the things you talk about in the video (that makes me look to the trope on a very different way). It's because in a more literal interpretation (at least for me in childhood), it looks like everyone in media is saying: "you are exactly the same as someone else, so the ONLY way that you could have your own identity is being the exact opposite of your sibling". Buuuut.... If your identity is based on a reflex of a others person behavior, how you could say it is YOUR identity? It's a paradox @~@
Yeah i know how you feel. Im also an identical twin. We were pushed into having different likes because they couldnt tell otherwise. Even in football. I hated playing offense all it ever was was waiting for people to hit you. But because my twin also played we couldnt be on the same side. I once got accused of cheating because my brother and i got the same points for our SOLs. We were on the opposite sides of the building with different teachers.
whoa... i’m a twin and i never thought of it that way
@@sc31337 did this stuff ever happen to you? I mean its not that its common. I had 3 other sets of twins that i knew of growing up that had similar situations that i had and some that hadnt ever had to deal with it.
Man dating sucked in high school. If my brother had someone i often got slapped or bitched at because they thought he was cheating. No one leads with a cool head and simply asks back then. It was always i saw this or that happened. Mainly it was because the gilfriends friends didnt know me and i didnt care to know them. My bro and i shared friends but we did have seperate friends. Different groups.
Darius Cole-Samuels honestly, i’m not sure! we aren’t that close and we run in totally different circles but i’m questioning whether it was organic or a reflex to establish our own separate identity like OP said. our family still refers to us like we were one person though 😅
I never noticed Janice in parent trap lol 24:10
omg good catch
The special effects on these scenes are pretty underrated.
The way they interact is pretty flawless even today.
Omg can u do Mike vs Phoebes other lovers? What makes Mike different than her other relationships? Why would she just reject one guy who just proposed to her to Mike? I think it could bring on how love can be messy
I adore their relationship, and would love that video!
Upvote this, people!
I feel like David was a better fit for her.
My twin sister died before we were born. We were identical. I can't go a day without thinking about her, and a part of me knew I was a twin even before I found out. It clicked in a way nothing else did. It was like being told something I already knew, but somehow hadn't ever been told before. The twin bond is an instinctive part of me, the only difference is that I don't have my sister to share it with. You absolutely cannot imagine the loneliness this causes unless you yourself lost a twin. It's so difficult to spend your life knowing you're missing something and find out you'll never find it. I never got to speak to her, but I miss her so much and I grieve for the amazing childhood I would have had with her by my side. Even if she and I ended up hating each other, at least I would have known her and understood where those feelings came from.
Okay, this makes me want a show called "Phoebe and Ursula"
YES ME TOO
Starring: Lisa Kudrow and Lisa Kudrow
I never thought it was possible for Lupita Nyongo to look scary ... she has the cutest face ever.
Agreed! 😊
Even her double was quite beautiful.
Yes, she’s like a human puppy hahahha, really pretty and lovable, the kind of face you see and feel like smiling.
I think you mean if only she got therapy for all that trauma you pointed out.
Plenty of great point but that line is just... take it from someone with trauma, she would need a lot of therapy to be more like Phoebe.
Also if Phoebe were real I’d assume she’s compensating. I often find myself casually bringing traumatic events into conversation because I’m so used to it that I forget how other people see it, Phoebe seems to have that habit too.
Being overly optimistic isn’t always healthy, I think they’d both need therapy to find a middle ground.
A bit awkward watching this while in a car with evil twin driving.
I like to think that really Ursula's worst traits are only as a way to shield herself from being vulnerable around Phoebe. She's scared of having a connection she doesn't own, that she can't control, that she can't be free of. Its why in Mad About You she's more of an airhead and more like Phoebe, while when she's on Friends she's being confronted with another life that she doesn't want to be a part of... so she contextualizes her feelings in ways that are meant to be antagonistic. I have a strangely similar relationship with my brothers. To my friends I am a kind, affable, fun loving guy who enjoys their company. When I am around my brother my only desire is to not be around my brother.
Phoebe has so much energy and imagination, if she put all that into some professional setting, whether artsy or corporate she would be more successful than all her friends. Plus she cares. She’d be a Branson type of CEO.
She's not that sort of person though to become someone 'corporate' or a CEO. That's like, a fundamental point of her free-spirited personality.
@@leeleecassidy7175 she became the biggest hypocrite on the show
Could you do a video analyzing Lorelai or Rory Gilmore as characters (not just hair lol)?
!!!!!!!!
Yes, they're horrible.
@@aR0ttenBANANA It's more that I think they're interesting
And Rory's changes in the curse of the series
@@asmrizzy1574 oh no I didnt mean they're not interesting, they very much would be but a given would be that they're trash people.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: y’all gotta do a video on mike hannigan! Such an underrated character imo
YES.
As a twin, it got really old being asked "who's the evil one?"
Tell them "you are"
I tell them it's me but only when I'm asked stupid questions
its weird that they portray Phoebe as all light rather than explore her dark side, like how she consistently competed with her sister who wasn't even competing with her, how she tried to steal her sister's fiance and the guy who was stalking her sister, or how she couldn't let Joey date Ursula. It was like she felt a need to be seen and chosen by the men she knew wanted Ursula instead.
The twist: There never was an Ursula
Can you explain this theory?
Nice
dont u lie to me... dont u lie to me!!!
Interesting theory indeed. What if Phoebe is pretending to be her own evil twin so as to get a chance with Joey, but knows that he would never date her, so she invents Ursula to be able to do so?😮
that explains the birth certificate!
Not my favorite topic for a video (evil twin episodes of sitcoms are terrible in my opinion), but I love this channel. This level of insight into pop culture and the arts is nearly unmatched on youtube.
Ursula's reaction is realistic but I find Phoebe's reaction as something incredible because being able to care and give so much love despite life throwing her under the bus metaphorically is a symbol of strength. Ursula's is of course much closer to reality but her complete detachment may also hint at denial or closed off . Maybe I'm wrong but that's my viewpoint.
Nevertheless , I wish Phone had put some effort into reconnecting with her twin. Ursula's " I don't care" could be a shield she uses to protect herself from hurt . Perhaps all she needed is a push from her twin to finally start healing.
It took me 6 minutes to realise you wouldn’t be mentioning the little mermaid
WHO IS THAT GIRL I SEE
Me too, I hear the name "Ursula", my mind automatically thinks of "Villainous Sea Witch antagonist"!😆🐙🐚
@@ayachavez7450 wait,I...wasnt that mulan?
This made me laugh 😂
@@YG21.03 exactly
Reminds me of Sam's twin sister from Icarly. Only Sam was the "evil" one while the sister was girly and nice.
14:20 I got pretty creeped out by the part where you said that in Madagascar and Nigeria, they kill twin babies because they think twins are bad luck. 🙄
That has been going on for centuries around the world
That's so sad. Being blessed with two children in one birth is so rare, and should be celebrated. Some people can't even conceive one.
It depends on the place in Yoruba land (my dad) they worship twins as they bring good luck while in some other cultured like Benin (my mom) they can kill them. But currently it isnt very common. Every where me and my sister go we are asked to bless people because we bring goodluck.
Like in "The Giver", they killed the smaller twin because their identicalness would cause confusion. It's messed up.
Please do Crazy Ex Girlfriends characters
yesss
oo galaxy brain
YESS!
Oh, that serie has really good character development
Yes please do this!
Opposites. But at the same time their personality is SO ALIKE.
When the two women that new Ursula and thought phoebe was Ursula in the coffee shop, phoebe reacts to strangers exactly the same as Ursula would. They’re both super blunt and straightforward because of their crazy childhoods. They just LOOK at the world differently.
The funny thing is that whenever I rewatch Friends I always forget that Ursula exists. Then when I see her on screen she becomes the best part of the episode.
That's how good Lisa Kudrow is at playing both her and Phoebe.
bro i LIVE for the friends videos
Likewise, once I saw Phoebe in the thumbnail, I instantly clicked!💕
I would love to see you ladies take on the show Dark, on Netflix. It's an amazing show with a lot going on and its very overlooked!
+
Omg yes!
YES YES PLEASE. I've been waiting for The Take's take on it! That show is amazing!
I was today years old when I found out Ursula was on another show, which is great because I'd like to know more about her but its different writers so they might not explore Ursula in the same way friends does
You know what’s kind of funny is that iCarly does the opposite with Sam and her twin
I've always been fascinated by Mark Twain's use of the trope, although more of doppelganger switcheroos than twins, in "Prince and the Pauper" and "Puddin 'Head Wilson".
Can you do a video on Gossip girl, like a special on each othe main caracters especially Blair Waldorf.
Aaron Palacios YES YES YES
+
@Madalin Grama well if you think about it they all represent different type of personas and if you have seen all 6 seasons you must know that The take can do a great video explaining the type of persona each carácter has and why there like that. And what makes gossip girl so special.
I can't believe you didn't mention Vampire Diaries Elena and Katherine
I know!
Katherine and Elena are the most relevant in this decade! Also Nina Dobrev portrayed them both so effortlessly.
they’re not twins tho
Because pheobe isnt evil herself? She is prone to violence and crimes. She has always been the one to physically attack others. She had mugging days and she locked someone on a pipe and left them there. She then legit no joking wanted to plant pcp in her friends room and call the police. Hell ursala does bad things to her sister but you might have to face that she isnt the evil twin.
@Black Ninja no a lot of the things i hear here is the tone in which they describe her. When pheobe describe ursula or when others do. Both have done some realyy fucked up things.
Darius Cole-Samuels I bet you are a conspiracy theorist?
Please do character analyses on Orphan Black and Haunting of Hill House! And not just the clones.
oml two great great series! YES PLEASE!!
Haunting of Hill House would be literally the best thing ever!!!!
Yas for Orphan Black!!!!OMG!!
"Two seperate evil twins". I think you just mean evil triplets 😂
except if only two of the twins are evil, then its not exactly the entire set of triplets that are evil. two evil twins is the correct way to say it
They might not have meant litteral siblings I suppose, one or both might have been a doppleganger, clone or what have you? It's still a sort of an odd way of putting it in that case if you ask me...Two triplets aren't twins, they are still triplets even if you're only refering to two out of the three. But it's probably right that it was because they weren't refering to all three that they used an odd or wrong expression.
Unless it's two sets, then it's quadruplets
I never saw Ursula as evil just more realistic than phoebe, albeit mean. I love Phoebe but honestly she’s a lot to deal with sometimes. Ursula just wanted to move on with her life and cope by herself. Phoebe only visits Ursula when she wants something. Overall, Ursula chose self-reliance, phoebe chose friends
"That's right. He's not Drake. He's....Hans Ramoray! Drake's evil twin."
A video about Ursula? I love you guys! !! This channel's creativity knows no limits! !!
Oooohhhh....I didn't know friends and mad about you was the same universe
Okay but I feel that it's worth noting that Henry Jekyll isn't exactly a good person in the novel, he just acts like a respectable gentleman. Hyde was, at least in the beginning, a way for him to act upon his more banal and primal desires without ruining his precious reputation, as was all too important in the victorian upper class society. However, it eventually got out of hand and he gradually found himself being controlled by those desires and thus his other half.
It was a satire on the hypocrisy of the wealthy elites of victorian England and their hypocrisy, not a story about good and evil.
Characters who mirror or are inversions of each other are fascinating and are some of my favorites to create in my own work (although, being a twin myself, I've always found the "evil twin" trope hilarious).
Phoebe is the strongest and best character on friends no doubt
Lisa Kudrow has already said in interviews that since she was already playing the Ursula character on Mad About You, which aired on the same network, the writers of Friends decided to add the Ursula character as Phoebe’s twin as an in-universe explanation for why audiences were seeing the same person on two different shows. Lisa Kudrow added that as Friends went on, the writers began to write Ursula as meaner and meaner due to resentment of having to have Ursula character on the show.
Did you bother to watch the whole video before condescendingly commenting?
Clearly not🤡
Carlie O ... of course I didn’t, how else would I be able to stand on my soapbox smuggly judging everyone else.... 🤷🏽♀️
This video is showing that when you remove the laugh box, these twins life was terrible and traumatic. I have more sympathy for Ursula now.
When I think of Evil twin I always think of Blackfire
Lisa Kudrow did a great job portraying both Phoebe and Ursula. Even though they were twins, they were two different characters.
It would have been a cool idea to not have Phoebe and Ursula be twins but rather the same person. Especially since it was the Friends writers who changed Ursula’s personality. The idea that the character could be living a double life would have been interesting.
Phoebe is generous and giving to a fault.
*proceeds to show a clip from the episode where she's trying to scare Rachel out of Joey's apartment*
My twin isn't evil... I guess that means I'm the evil one
The voice over woman has a beautiful voice
I always found their names to be unique because one is "bright" and the other is a "she-bear." One is particularly open and bright while the other has this apathetic tough exterior.
Me: *watching videos on Friends posted by The Take*
The Take: *posts*
Me: OK. Are you reading my mind?
I keep on thinking The Takes icon is the Telemundo one! 😂
24:10
I’m nearing my 30s and I just found out Janice is in Parent Trap. WTF. My childhood has changed forever.
Please never stop making these in-depth Friends analysis videos
Kind of funny, there was a bogeyman in my neighbourhood but he had a twin who was kind. but obviously whenever we saw either we ran lol
I've never really thought how much I've prejudged Ursala. My father and his older brother never really got on. My uncle is gifted but squandered it, my father had to work so hard. I've met him so rarely but never gave him a chance.
You should do the psychology of Rachel’s sister Amy, cause she had many flaws about her and she acts like she is the perfect sister
One thing I wondered was - how was Ursula's youth? Considering her mother killed herself when she was a teen, did she also end up on streets with Phoebe? I'd say probably not, since she's never mentioned there, but where was she? Was it the final straw that tore them apart? Was this troubled past the reason why she became so cold-hearted? So many questions...
24:10 I like how Janice sneaks a cameo even in this video LUL
I have a twin and I've recently realized that I'm the evil one.
Thank you for the video, love all the analyses you post, very well thought out and researched! I have a request, I am a classical musician and since I was young I noticed that villains are very often depicted with classical music and other markings of what used to denote a cultured person. I kind of hate it, as much as I kind of understand it, because the directors want to associate the villain with aloofness and feelings of superiority which is how classical music makes a lot of people unfamiliar with the style feel. I remember first noticing this when I was watching the sequel to Beauty and the Beast, “Bells Magical World”. The villain is literally an organ and his P.I.C. is a fife (a small high-pitched type of flute). In Pirates of the Carrabian the face tentacle character, forgot his name, plays the organ in his alone time. These are just two examples that come to mind, the archetype of a cultured villain is everywhere. There’s always a bit of cognitive dissonance when the villain is shown listening to their classical music because I love the style and don’t see anything villainous about it, also it might as well be me blasting Bach in my room at night. Thank you for reading, and for the awesome content!
My granddad was the evil twin. The story goes he used to get his pocket money, change his t-shirt, then collect his brother, Paddy's money. When Paddy went to get his own money, he was scolded for being greedy.
Years later, my granddad arrived early to meet a girl Paddy had set up a date with. My granddad took the girl out while when Paddy arrived, he was left thinking the girl stood him up. Apparently the girl was gorgeous. My granddad still laughed about it over 40 years later.
@Lollywhoistotally NOTaloli Lol as bad as it sounds, it was entertaining for me as an outsider. You know how like Ursula's treatment of Phoebe is played for laughs to the audience as outsiders but for Phoebe it's not fun to deal with? Like that
"I had a crush on all you guys! Well, except for Ross and Chandler," including Rachel and Monica DEFINITELY
Funny I never saw Utsula as evil or even that opposite- just a different approach to life
yep take what you can. not that I fully fully, fully agree but sometime's you just gotta.
This was really cool to watch! Wow, there are so many examples of evil twins--too many to fit one video. I kept waiting for mention of Data and Lore (Star Trek), and afterwards I also remembered Miley's evil twin cousin in Hannah Montana.
I love this channel so much! The playlist of friends is my background sound whatever im doing. Please do videos about harry potter!!! ❤❤❤❤
It’s hard enough portraying one character for 10 seasons but to portray 2 characters and slip in and out so effortlessly in between just highlights how versatile Lisa is as an actress
When Phoebe confronts Ursula about using her name as a porn moniker, it's the only time Ursula who is always in black, and colourful Phoebe have their palettes swapped
Excellent observation 👏
they’re not twins but this reminds me of Helga and Ulga from Hey Arnold
* Olga
We are our own evil twins.
True
The video I never knew I needed.
Ren G ^ this entire channel in a nutshell.
So Chaplin *was* aware that his mustache was identical to Hitler's.
he had it first
LOVED this! Totally unrelated to Friends - but can you guys do Girl, Interrupted?
Got a twin and one time, my colleague thought it was me at a grocery store and kept waiving to my twin, when me and my colleague met at work, she was mad at me and had to explain haha
I love this. It was horrible to see none of Phoebe's family relationships have closure so this really gives
Omg is that Janice at 24:10?? Lolol
The Thirteenth Tale gives an interesting view on the topic. It's all about good and evil twins, their connection and mysteries
Shadow self
+cat YES!!! I was coming to say the same thing. One of my favorite "evil twins" is Faith from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Joss Whedon spoke many times about how Faith (in the beginning) was Buffy's Shadow self and more a nemesis than an enemy.
Phoebe's compassion comes from her 5 best friends. I think Ursula doesn't care about compassion and other good things because she has no close people, none teaches her anything about life and love
I never knew the back story on Ursula! Great video as always :)
Honestly i would totally watch a full 3 seasons of a phoebe spin off
Ursula's style of emotional detachment gets rewarded in our society. Isn't that the American truth? Wow. I love that observation.
Okay, I'm not mad that you didn't use a clip of Willow/Vamp!Willow when you were talking about doppelgangers, just disappointed. Also, they're sisters two years apart in The Shining, not twins. Silly pickiness aside - this was awesome. The analyses of Friends that you do are always my favourites, as they bring such great insight into a show that could be viewed as a 'candy' show. Looking forward to more!
Phoebe was my favorite character from the first episode I watched. I actually watched an episode with Ursula today and just laughed but now, I'll see both characters in a different light. They do say that "those who have been through more, laugh at more" which is Phoebe in a nutshell but Ursula's distance does make sense as well
I really like that how you have Ursula given a fair shake, and fleshed out her story, I was really sad she didn’t get an appearance or at least a mention at phoebe’s wedding. But I guess her brother or nieces and nephew weren’t there either