I want to be Chandler Bing!

“Could I be any more specific with the title?”

This is exactly what this article is going to be about!
In the evening, I was watching ‘F.R.I.E.N.D.S.’ the TV show with my friend, probably for the hundredth time, and laughing equally hard.

“Which character do you like the most among the girls?”, my friend asked me casually.

“Rachel looks great, but I think I like Monica as a character better”, I said. I have my reasons for it, but that should go into some other post, some other day.

I have been watching the show for over 5 years now, and I think I will continue to do so in the years to come. I am sure, people who have watched the show have all been asked or have thought about what characters they like from the show. For me, among the girls, it always has been either Rachel or Monica, partly because I am biased towards people who are good looking, and partly because I would want to fall for those kinds of girls. 

“What about the guys?”, my friend asked again.

“I think I like Ross, because he kind of represents the geeks and is very humble and polite”, I said.

However, today I gave a thought about whether Ross really was my favorite from the guys, if I honestly saw myself in him. After some thought, I think I would want to be Chandler Bing. Apart from all the “Chandler is gay”, “Chandler’s a stupid name” and “Chandler is a girl” jokes, I actually think he is the most ideal character of the series in today’s world. I would want to be a Chandler for my Joey, for my Monica, and the entire ten seasons of the show flashed right in front of my eyes while I thought about all the things that he is good at.

He virtually adopts Joey, sometimes paying for his rent, his food, electricity, his career, and the best part is, he never expects Joey to pay him back. All this in a city like New York which is one of the most expensive cities of the world to live in. I know it’s a TV show and it’s not real but it’s the thought that counts, right? He doesn’t forget Joey even after he finds Monica, the love of his life. In a scene where he describes to Monica how they’d raise the kids in a small place outside the city, he jokingly says “And an apartment over the garage, where Joey could grow old”. We might have laughed at that moment, but just the thought that he never wants to let Joey go, is something I think is missing in friendships today. The best part is, Chandler wasn’t joking. When Chandler and Monica buy the new house in the last season of the show, they really do have a ‘Joey Room’ for him. Who wouldn’t want a friend like that? Keeping aside the fact that he kisses Joey’s girlfriend, Kathy, he instantly confesses about it because he feels guilty of betraying him and doesn’t want to ruin their friendship. Be it any incident, him kissing one of Joey’s seven sisters and then forgetting which one, him not liking the ‘Best Buds’ bracelet that Joey gives him, him forgetting to tell Joey about an audition or sleeping during Joey’s movie, he instantly makes up for things and never lets it affect their friendship. These are real best friend goals right?

  

Chandler and Monica are one of the best on-screen couples. On numerous occasions, Chandler has proven to be the best boyfriend and also the best husband for her. Monica books a spot at the plaza for her wedding and the plaza manager calls her to check whether she still wants to keep her reservation and Chandler answers that and being the commitment-freak he is, instantly freaks out. But being a good boyfriend, he overcomes his commitment issues and decides to propose to her. Doing something like that takes courage! Also, no fan of the show will ever forget that epic, heart touching proposal, right? When Monica’s parents use up her wedding fund, Chandler agrees to give up his lifetime’s savings just so that Monica could have a perfect wedding like she wanted. Not everybody would do that. Sure he freaks out and tries to run away before the wedding, but the important thing is, when he finds out that Monica is (apparently) pregnant, he self-introspects and realizes his mistake. On being seduced by his colleague, a Miss Oklahoma contest runner-up, he mans up, thinks about Monica, turns his colleague down humbly and comes home to celebrate Christmas with his wife. Now, that is a man with character! Hubby-goals, girls? He also sends his colleagues home on that very Christmas night when they're actually supposed to be working to meet a deadline. I mean, who wouldn’t want a boss like that?!

Chandler’s bond has been shown to be very strong with Joey and Monica, Joey being his best friend and Monica being his girlfriend and wife, but he is an equally great friend to Ross, Rachel and Phoebe as well. “A donation has been made in your name at the New York City Ballet”?!, could he be any better? 😆

His character, according to me was something unique, with all his witty jokes and sarcastic humor (even in uncomfortable situations), and was very well sketched and portrayed. It was also excellently played by the talented Matthew Perry who says he found himself very similar to the character in real life. These were just some of the incidents that I could recollect over the top of my head, which made me think about Chandler from an entirely different perspective. 

"I think my favorite character is Chandler!", I texted my friend suddenly out of the blue, later that night. 😊