The Friends TV show is not just a show, but it has added joy to our life like a saviour. I don’t know about you guys, but I grew up binge-watching this show as a teenager. We can all agree that the show had a great cast. We love every character in their own unique way. I mean, didn’t we all try to replicate our favourite characters?
Joey Tribbiani is a character from Friends whom you can’t stop loving (especially girls). And that’s justified because even today, he looks the most charming among the three boys! Most fans love him, but there were times in the show where the character of Joey Tribbiani was spoiled. The creators of the show have tarnished the image of Joey so badly at instances that people often remember him for the negative examples rather than the good ones. He is fun, charming, and lovable. Also, there were times when we were head over heels for his jokes and undying charm. But like they say, every coin has two sides and so did Joey.
But not all fans enjoyed seeing both sides of Joey. Here we have listed a few things from the show which badly destroyed the character of Joey Tribbiani. We really think the creators could have made him a better person. He was no doubt the truest friend, genuine person, caring, sensitive, and more. But many negative habits in him could have been avoided.
So here’s the list of things that fans like me did not enjoy about Joey.
His dating manner.
Well, this is something that I and a lot of us dislike about Joey. The way he used to go on dates with women, have his cup of fun, and then never call them again was so infuriating. The fact that he never felt bad about this habit and boasted about it, was even more maddening. This was one of the worst things his character depicted. He never for once sat and thought about how devastated they would have been. Not every woman looks for a fling; some do wish to have a serious relationship that Joey never understood.
He didn’t learn his lesson when Kate left.
Remember Kate? The one we all thought was the soul-mate for Joey. I do feel bad for Joey because he is the only one who ended up being single. But isn’t it ironic? He treated women like objects and so ended up being alone. As you sow so shall you reap! I thought he would realize the pain he caused to every woman he dated but he was normal within a few days.
He did not love Kathy to punish Chandler in such a way.
I agree that anyone would be mad after hearing that their best friend kissed their girlfriend. But it wasn’t like Joey was in love with Kathy. He was even double dating at that time which again is beyond the pale. When he didn’t even love her so there wasn’t any need to be so harsh with Chandler because Chandler did love her and tried his best to suppress his feelings just because Joey (his best friend) was dating her.
The time when he tried to break a couple.
In one of the episode, he meets a woman with whom he formally went on a date. He then flirts with her but she tells him she is dating someone. What he did after that was unacceptable. He used Monica to break the couple and it’s not like he fell in love with the woman. He just wanted to be physically involved with her again. Such things are the reason he got tagged with the title of a ‘womanizer’.
When he chose to save a sandwich over his friend.
As uproarious as I found the episode where he dove to save his sandwich and not Ross, I found the concept kind of stupid. How can someone choose a small piece of food over their best friend? Doesn’t this make him self-obsessed? It sure does. Not just this but it also makes him a bad friend.
When he and Chandler tried to get Ross to move out.
I get it that Ross is a geek and is not that funny but that does not make it right to disrespect him and force him to move out when he requires his friends. They found him annoying and why was that? Because he had a job and was working hard for that or the fact that he was trying to get them to be a little hygienic. This only shows how everything for Joey was just for fun. Chandler realized and felt that they were doing something wrong but not Joey.
When he asked his roommate (Rachel) to tell the girl that he is not interested in her.
Who on earth asks their friend to tell someone that it’s not working out and that they should move on. I mean flirting with Women and just having a fling is itself inappropriate and then not even having the courage to tell a woman that you are not interested in her is ungentlemanly. I mean man up!
He left Ben on the bus.
In an episode, he agrees to babysit Ben (Ross’ son). Do you remember why? That’s right! He agreed because he wanted to take Ben out just so he could get women to talk to him seeing a cute baby. How vile was that? Using a kid to flirt with women! This shows how hitting on women was his major priority.
When he threw a woman’s leg into the fire.
In another episode, he sees that Chandler has met a woman whom again he had already dated in the past and then hides. He explains to Monica and Phoebe about how he dated her and while they were on a vacation he threw her artificial leg into the fire thinking it was a log. Now, I agree that mistakes are a part of life. But he didn’t even have the courtesy to apologize for his behavior, instead, he left her alone and ran away. Can anyone be more of a coward?
His criteria for being his roommate.
His ad in the newspaper while he was looking for a new roommate was legit improper. There are people out there who are really in need of a place to stay but all he cared about was that his roommate should be a good looking girl and she should be okay with him hitting on her all the time. Why would any girl who is conscious and knows what she is doing would ever be okay with such things? Then after Janine clearly stated that she is not attracted to him, he didn’t stop there and kept hitting on her.
So these are some things that have tarnished the character of Joey. I understand the show was intended this way and maybe the creators wanted to put forward many other points by writing the story this way. But, hey! I love Joey so you can’t complain if I want to see him as a better person. The whole purpose of the show was to make us laugh and you cannot deny that the show did fulfil its purpose. So let’s make peace with the fact that we can’t change things now. And yes the most important thing, despite all the points described above, my love for Joey never died because he is the best!
