Tyler McElhenny- Phoebe from Friends

I think Phoebe from Friends has some of the most interesting religious views of any character in film or TV. She seems to have a free mind and isn’t afraid to voice her opinion. She strongly believes in the idea of reincarnation. In one of the episodes, she believes her mother has taken on the form of a cat. In another episode, she believes that the spirit of an elderly woman has somehow entered her body and Phoebe acts like her the rest of the episode. In the one where she believes her mother is a cat, Ross tries to get her to stop believing that way. This is similar to Big Fish. Ross and Phoebe end up working things out because Phoebe just wants a way to cope with the death of her mother. Ross understands this eventually and sees why people might choose to ignore the logic. In a Thanksgiving episode, Phoebe tells the group about her previous lives and explains how she was a nurse in World War I and World War II. She believes that she has had past lives and claims to remember them well. Monica, Ross, Chandler, and Rachel all think Phoebe is crazy but Joey strongly believes her. In almost all of Phoebe’s “crazy” notions, Joey is the only one that thinks she might be right. Both Joey and Phoebe show that they are open minded and able to think outside the box. Phoebe is one of my favorite characters because she stands up for what she believes in and doesn’t let anybody tell her what to think. She is strong willed and garners respect, regardless of how crazy some of the things she says are.