The Theme of Free Gifts in "Friends" Series

In an episode of the TV situation comedy "Friends," entitled "Good Deeds Do not exist," two characters -- Phoebe and Joey -- engage in a contest based on the theories of sociologist Marcel Mauss, with respect to his analyses of topic -- “There are no free gifts; gift cycles engage persons in permanent commitments that articulate the dominant institutions. So is there such a thing as free gifts, they wonder, one in which someone benefits while the person performing the act receives nothing in return? Joey states that these are no unselfish good deeds; Phoebe disagrees and sets out to prove him wrong. After several failed attempts, Phoebe went down to the park and let a bee sting her, stating" it helps the bee look tough in front of its bee friends." She totally believes this is a selfless act, simply from her own perspective: Phoebe allowed herself to be hurt so that the bee could benefit. But Joey points out that the bee probably died soon after losing its stinger in Phoebe's arm. In this instance, there is a gift cycle between Phoebe and the bee. The bee benefits from Phoebe and could look tough in front of its bee friends, but meantime it lost its life in return. The gift phenomenon entails a juridical commitment and connect to a dominant institution of society – law.

In a broad sense, when one person hurt another, he probably receives a good feeling from exploiting others but in return he will get a juridical penalty with respect to the public law. This is the major point in Mauss’s discipline -- “All these phenomena are at the same time juridical, economic, religious, and even aesthetic and morphological, etc. They are juridical because they concern private and public law, and a morality that is organized and diffused throughout society.” More resolute than ever, and with the end of the episode looming near, Phoebe tries one last-ditch effort. Despite having a deep dislike for the Public Broadcasting Service, she decides to make a $200 pledge to help the kids at the local station during a fund drive in which Joey is taking calls. This act would seem to represent all of the marks of selflessness: Phoebe could have spent her money elsewhere, but instead she gives it to an organization she is mad at. Even better, her phone call lands Joey, a struggling actor, praised as the sharpest dressed volunteers on TV. But Phoebe's act has an inadvertent benefit to her. She gets a good feeling that her benevolence unintentionally helped her friend and she suddenly realizes that her act is not selfless at all. In other words, Phoebe got something out of it (a good feeling), and her selfless act is actually a representation of altruism. There is an apparent gift cycle between Phoebe and Joey. Joey was rewarded to be on Camera because of Phoebe’s donation and meantime Phoebe’s deed made her happy. An aesthetic and domestic commitment is entailed in the gift phenomena, relating to their social classes as well as communities and friendship.

In general, Phoebe and Joey’s happiness from this case is based on their friendship. Living in the same community (apartments) provides them with close friendship, in which they build a gift cycle to benefit each other. Ultimately, Phoebe figures out what Marcel Mauss has discovered: It's difficult to prove the existence of “free gifts”. In real life, we somehow ignore the importance of the gift hidden and covered under a number of symbolisms and its vital role in our society. In all societies gifts which are supposed to be given voluntarily, are actually obligatory. All social phenomena are connected with each other, in which all kinds of dominant institutions are expressed through. The gift is only one part of this social whole. In archaic societies, a gift must be paid back, otherwise this whole is broken. On the moral level Marcel Mauss is surprised to find that not everything is wholly categorized in terms of buying and selling. He recognizes traces of the principles of the gift in the case of invitations and courtesies which must be returned and in our tendency to give back more than what we have received. Regarding these economic facts, Mauss tries to apply some of the principles of the gift to our society. Throughout the book, Mauss concluded that: the gift must be obligatory reciprocated according to the legal and political principle in societies. The gift cycle exists and makes the recipient to pay the praise or blame back.