Matthew Perry tribute: How the 'Chandler Bing Sarcasm' shaped millennial humour

Matthew Perry, as Chandler Bing from the iconic American sitcom 'F.R.I.E.N.D.S', died on October 28 aged 54.

For a generation of Indian millennials who grew up without Internet access, watching Friends on Star World in the late nineties and early aughts was more aspirational than recreational. Six twenty-somethings meeting in a cozy café to make sense of their lives was aspirational for young Indians in a decade when Starbucks and Café Coffee Day hadn't made their way to the Indian suburbs.

In many ways, Chandler Bing perpetuated the stereotype that if one isn’t conventionally good-looking or considered attractive as per beauty standards, they must compensate with a good sense of humour. This humour then shields you from the world that throws barbs — you thought having a third nipple is embarrassing? Wait till you meet Chandler whose many one-liners are around the extra vestigial nipple on his chest. You see — the trick here is to rob the world of the pleasure it gets by embarrassing you by using the worst thing they could say about you and owning it.

Third Nipple And The Magical Land of Narnia

Joey Tribbianni and Chandler Bing from F.R.I.E.N.D.S

While Chandler’s one-liners on his third nipple might seem juvenile, to many of us imperfect, buck-toothed, non-ideal body type Indian teenagers, Chandler making fun of his flaws was a radical act of self-acceptance. It was a way of telling the world — “Hey you think I’d be embarrassed by that? Huh, try harder!” So, it isn’t very surprising that when Ross said something about Bing’s third nipple, he quipped, “Yes, Ross pressing my third nipple opens up the delivery entrance to the magical world of Narnia.”

Now one might argue that many of Bing’s one-liners were written by the showrunners Martha Kaufmann and Crane — and Perry’s job was to deliver them. But you see, playing Chandler was a double-edged sword. Chandler was confident in his humour, so confident that he was convinced there was something seriously wrong when Monica stopped laughing at his jokes. But he still was, deep down, a quintessential ‘quirky’ sitcom character. He was a dork around girls and unlike Joey, he wasn’t charismatic with his one-liners — think “How You Doin’?” that would win over the ladies.

To walk this thin line between having enough confidence in one’s humour but also being aware of one's quirks and dorks, made Perry’s job as Chandler tricky. But in a strange way, it also made him more human. As opposed to a Ross who was always embarrassing himself and Joey who often charmed the women on show, Chandler was more relatable for most coming-of-age millennial men — he knew what he was good at, and what he sucked at, and he owned it and didn’t really oversell himself.

Championing a softer, gentler masculinity

Chandler Bing was a green flag.

It is no surprise therefore that Chandler gave young millennial men multiple one-liners they could use to land their next date—before the Andrew Tate minions took over the dating world with toxic masculinity, Chandler’s “What a small world, yet I never run into Beyoncé” or “I am not great at advice, can I interest you in a sarcastic comment?” were often used, reused and emulated as pick-up lines in the dating world.

Would it be an exaggeration to say that Perry’s Chandler Bing was, in many ways, a champion of softer, gentler masculinity? Perhaps not. Bing used his humour and wit to make his presence felt in a room as opposed to most men who would use their power and influence — heck, a running gag on Friends about how Rachel, Ross, Monica, Phoebe and Joey didn’t even know what Chandler’s job was — shows that he was much more than his career and a paycheque.

Chandler Bing’s legacy: A master of wait

Chandler Bing memes

In hindsight, it seemed that Chandler was ahead of his time. Better still, a large section of Indian meme pages today have Matthew Perry as Chandler Bing in their profile pictures. His iconic cut-out images are still sold as merch on countless online stores — it has been mass-produced and illegally reproduced so many times that it is difficult to differentiate it from the official Warner Brothers merch — such is Chandler Bing’s impact on Indian pop-culture consciousness.

The star who put a smile on our faces in early aughts and taught an entire generation of millennial men non-toxic masculinity, is no more. Perry might just ask the gates of heaven a question from Season 9, Episode 10 of Friends — ”I’m funny right? What do you know? Of course. You’re a door—you only like knock-knock jokes!”