The impact of popular American series and the image of Polish society – on the example of the Friends series

Abstract

Over the past decades, many factors have influenced the current image of Polish society, including people's lifestyles and mentalities. An undeniable impact of mass media, including television series, was one of them. The presence of American productions in the Polish media space was a particularly interesting phenomenon. They were extremely popular and significantly contributed to cultural changes. The question arises: to what extent does the current image of Polish society mirror the qualities, lifestyles, and mentalities of Americans, featured for over quarter of a century in polish media, for example, in the series „Friends”? Among other things, the article highlights the similarities in morality and peculiarities of the formed relationships, ways of spending time, attitudes towards life, and careers. It also presents the mechanisms underlying this influence.