Friends: 10 Chandler Quotes That Prove He's The Worst
There's no denying that Chandler Bing is a fan-favorite character from Friends. He's remembered for his hilarious and sarcastic one-liners, generosity, and benevolent disposition.
That said, viewers often find it hard to differentiate between Chandler's good-natured humor and mockery. While he mostly means well, he can often be a little too judgmental and hurtful. Sometimes Chandler fails to manage conflict with humor and at other times, his remarks are really out of line. The "king of sarcasm" should have thought twice before saying the followings things to his friends, and loved ones.
Friends' pilot successfully introduced viewers to the world of the ragtag group who were regulars at Central Perk. It is there that Chandler sat on the extreme left to observe things and to pass snide remarks at her friends.
At the end of Rachel's second day in the city, she rushed to see the group at the coffee place to give them an exciting piece of news. Ross initially thought she'd found a job somewhere, but when Rachel said she'd been laughed at twelve different interviews, Chandler just couldn't resist making fun of her.
Chandler questioning Rachel's positive attitude was irrelevant to the problem at hand. She'd actually been in the city for 24 hours and already tried interviewing at twelve different places. What she needed was for her friends to be there, and so, Chandler's hurtful comment wasn't at all appropriate.
Fans also feel it's time they bring attention to Chandler's demeaning behavior towards his again-off-again girlfriend, Janice. In "The One With the Candy Hearts," Chandler accidentally flailed his arms and hit Janice in the eye. The man had the worst breakup etiquette in the history of Friends.
After thoroughly watching Friends, both millennials and Gen Zers unequivocally agree that Janice deserved far better than she got. She certainly deserved to be broken up with respectfully and Chandler's breakup act doesn't sit right with the current viewers.
From being a sarcastic meanie to a bad breakupper, viewers believe that Chandler got worse and worse as time passed. In "The One Where Chandler Can't Remember Which Sister," he fooled around with one of Joey's sisters without knowing which one she was.
It was the night before, he'd had way too many pure vodka Jell-o shots, and he was clearly hungover and thinking about Janice. When Monica and his friends heard the next day, their jaws dropped in horror and so did the viewers'.
Chandler just couldn't handle dating Joanna - on more than one occasion. He went out with her in "The One With The Dollhouse," and in the end, he just didn't feel the connection. However, since she wanted to see more of him, he decided to keep comforting her with unnecessary lies.
5 Times Friends Defied Social Norms (& 5 It Didn't)
Chandler kept saying he'd call Joanna again when he had zero intentions of doing so. Viewers are miffed at him because he jeopardized Rachel's job working as Joanna's assistant and yet again, failed to break up respectfully. He genuinely believed women were incapable of handling rejection.
Chandler and Janice were undoubtedly doomed from the start but that doesn't take away from the fact that he treated her poorly every time they got together. His cruelty is often swept under the rug, and the show made it seem like he was the better person between the two of them.
Chandler is without a doubt guilty of not being straightforward with Janice, and of showing her little respect. In "The One With All the Rugby," he set up the elaborate Yemen transfer ruse to break up with her. Fans find it unsettling that Janice was lied to and manipulated for the hundredth time. How hard would it have been for a man, known for his straightforward jokes, to come clean with the woman he once deeply cared about?
Chandler's treatment of Charles, as seen in "The One With Chandler's Dad," alienated even the most loyal of his fanbase. Modern-day fans have a hard time seeing the man (who found his true calling in the creative, embracing, and democratic profession of advertising) block out his father all his adult life.
The show as a whole also failed to handle the character well, and never explicitly stating whether they were a trans woman or a gay man in a drag show, referring to them as both Charles and Helena, and predominantly with male pronouns and the title of 'Dad'. No matter the details of their gender identity, though, Chandler almost left his parent out of his wedding - and seemingly because of discomfort around sexuality and gender identity. The fact that he fixated on his parent's sexuality throughout the series snubbed the show's LGBTQ+ viewers. It is also revealed his parent had reached out to Chandler several times before, but he kept taking rainchecks to avoid seeing him.
The priceless season 5 episode is about the main characters keeping their 1999 new year's resolutions. Ross decides to do a new thing to make himself happy every day, Phoebe wants to pilot a commercial jet and Joey wants to learn guitar. Chandler, on the other, begins his new year by making fun of his friends. Phoebe suggests he should resolve not to do it anymore and Ross bets him $50 for sticking to it for a week.
New year's resolutions are the promises that people make to themselves in good faith. They are meant for healthier and happier living. In today's times, the last thing people want is a friend like Chandler who makes fun of their goals and decreases their motivation.
The Friends' funnyman adopted sarcasm as a way of life and unfortunately, his friends ended up bearing the brunt of his habit. In "The One with Joey's New Brain," when Joey announced his character was getting a brain transplant on the Days of our Lives, Chandler couldn't resist taking a jab at him.
Joey Tribbiani is a well-known example of flanderization in the sitcom landscape. His intelligence, or lack thereof, was a constant source of amusement, not to mention a source material for Chandler's jokes. Current audiences think Chandler's demeaning quote (such as the one above) was a subtle example of bullying.
When Joey started to make regular money, he bought Chandler a bracelet as a thank you gift. Chandler, who evidently had a problem with gender-fluid clothing and accessorizing, wanted nothing to do with the golden piece of jewelry but ended up wearing it to honor Joey's sentiment. Quite obviously, viewers feel Chandler's character was constricted by gender norms and that he made no effort to educate himself with changing times.
Viewers' belief that Chandler was imprisoned by gender stereotypes was confirmed in the episode "The One Where Underdog Gets Away." Once again, sarcasm got the better of him as he saw Joey walking around wearing makeup.
It didn't matter whether Joey was dressed for a part, or for himself, makeup to Chandler was exclusively meant for women. He'd learned to accept norms as prescribed and in doing so, he perpetuated outdated gender norms.
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