The OCD Queen

I was delighted to see that there were Friends action figures (Friends the 90s sitcom. Its hilarious. My personal hero is Rachel) each with different nicknames. I wasn’t thrilled to see Monica’s action figure labeled “OCD Monica”. First, of all isn’t that just offensive to Monica? Doesn’t she deserve to be more than a condition which she may or may not have? After all, Monica is never diagnosed during the series. She never sees a therapist which probably tells us her “OCD” doesn’t impair her life enough that she needs professional help. Plenty of people have compulsions to clean or a penchant for neatness. That does not mean they have OCD. I feel like OCD is just one big joke for the world to laugh at. Tee hee, tee hee, let’s watch her steamclean the apartment. Maybe after that she’ll mop the floor. Then we’ll really get a good laugh.

“OCD” characters are lazy writing. It’s a stereotype, a caricature. Monica is more than that. First of all, she has romantic entanglements with several different characters at different times, including a friend of her fathers, his son and eventually Chandler whom she ends up marrying. She’s a chef. She’s extremely competitive, she’s kind of loud, and she’s a little bossy. She’s a good friend. Why couldn’t any of that be used to describe her character? Why did you have to whittle her down to a genuine mental health disorder which, once again, we don’t even know she has. Perhaps my favorite thing about Monica is that her backstory really relates to me. She used to be heavier (“fat” is the word Chandler uses) and that is weaponized against her. As someone who is also overweight I feel her pain when she overhears Chandler uttering that word.

Again society trivializes OCD by making it a doll. Imagine if anorexia were a doll? Cancer? AIDS? Maybe you think OCD is not on par with these more serious illnesses. Let me tell you. The worst cases of OCD have ruined people’s lives. It’s an insidious disease because it makes you question your own sanity. Some people become convinced they are pedophiles. Some people are sure they just ran over somebody and as a consequence can no longer drive. Some people believe they have cheated on their spouse. When my OCD was bad, I was eleven years old. I was convinced I was a pervert, a murderer and that I was going to hell. It was terrifying. I went undiagnosed for a while living in absolute hell. The same kind of hell somebody thought to make a doll about. Well, this action figure was really in poor taste. I hope I’m not the only one who feels that way.