Why Chandler Bing is the Friends Character That Feels Most Relatable
Of the six main characters, Chandler Bing is arguably the most likable. More importantly, he is the most relatable one. But what makes him so?
Chandler is smart, but pretty awkward socially. He’s hopeless relationship-wise and somewhat desperate to be loved. But it’s not the secret of his appeal.
As difficult it is to imagine in a sitcom, Chandler Bing is probably the most complicated character in Friends. Over the course of ten seasons, he gets the most character development and manages to feel real. His rich, multi-faceted nature is what makes him so human and indeed relatable.
Chandler is a character of contrast.
Very successful at his job as a statistician, Chandler is very easy-going, emotional, and empathetic. He never looks down on his broke and sometimes broken friends who he cares deeply about. Again, successful at work, Chandler is a loser when it comes to romance. Constantly rejected, he is still funny if not hilarious, especially when it comes to his sarcastic or self-deprecating jokes.
Chandler Bing manages to be the life of the party without being the center of attention.
But he is far from being perfect. Bing is meek and non-authoritative.
He is a coward, sometimes pathetic and indecisive. He’s aware of it and mocks himself for his flaws that make him a real person, which is so uncharacteristic of sitcoms.
Sitcoms usually hyperbolize their characters until they are turned into unbearable stereotypes which you can’t but laugh at. It is simply not the case with Chandler Bing.
“The most realistic and least exaggerated character on Friends. […] He was exaggerated at times because he was the anxious type, but seeing as they based Chandler off of Matthew it makes the character so much more realistic. They’re all relatable in some way, but there’s something special about Chandler,” wrote Redditor Dillonnyle.
It must be Matthew Perry’s acting that made Chandler so unique among the six friends. At liberty to change certain parts of the script, the actor endowed his character with his own traits, habits, and sense of humor. It did both Chandler and Friends a favor by creating a character that so many people can relate to.