Modern Family Ep. 4: The Incident

1.     Summary: 

In this episode Mom shows up (Jay’s ex-wife. DeDe Pritchett lives at a "facility" in Sedona, she got Cameron an exercise machine (or a "hint", as he called it) as a thank you for some very nice diamond earrings last Christmas, and she needs to move on to the next level of her "awakening". This requires her to move past "the incident."

DeDe wanted to be invited to the wedding to prove she was "over" Jay and Gloria getting married, and Mitchell convinced them to invite her. She had a few too many drinks and gave a toast that was completely outlandish. She was dragged out kicking and screaming...and mocking Gloria...and had wedding cake all over her backside. The entire family now calls this the incident.

Claire wished she had Gloria's problems, as Haley wants to go to a concert with Dylan that would require her to stay overnight with a bunch of male friends. Haley is being her usual confrontational self, Claire is being her usual strict self, and Phil is being his usual completely useless self.

DeDe needs to make her apologies because she met a very nice man, Chaz, and plans to live in a faraway place...French Canada. However, without making peace with the family, she won't be able to be satisfied...sexually. Which she describes to Mitchell and Cameron in graphic detail.

The first stop for Mitchell is Claire's house. DeDe is glad to see her "little comet" (Haley) and proceeds to shoot down the concert objections by telling Haley about her mom and Ricky (Claire’s high school boyfriend). DeDe never got to know Ricky, and it would appear Claire is not willing to meet Dylan. Claire decides she'll "interview" Dylan at dinner and make her decision.

Mitchell's next stop is Jay's house. He is alone, because Manny decided to take Jay's advice for revenge after getting a beard drawn on him at a slumber party...by setting fire to the kid's bike. Jay pretends the conversation with Mitchell about Dede coming to dinner is not even happening.

Dinner comes and Dylan arrives. DeDe thinks he's got a very gentle soul. Gloria arrives and wants nothing to do with DeDe. However, DeDe appears sincere and apologizes for her behavior at the wedding.

Dede was completely unprepared for Gloria to accept he apology, so a fight ensues. Not to worry, though. Phil's got Gloria. (I'm not going to try and do it justice; watch the episode and you'll laugh your head off.)

Dylan thinks this is so beautiful, because in this family, DeDe is trying to reach out to hang on to “something awesome”. Nobody talks in his family, but Haley has this "killer confidence that's accepting of hot foreigners, gay dudes, and nutty people." Claire is touched and encourages Dylan to play one of his songs. The songs chorus is: “The stars all fall from the sky, and you're the breeze in my life. The moon is shining on your face, because it finally feels it has found its place. 'Cause maybe, baby, I just wanna DO YOU! Wanna DO YOU! Under the moonlight! The moonlight!” Well, the song is very catchy, as everybody is singing it the next day, but no concert for Haley.

2.     Theme:

It was really hard for me to pinpoint the theme of this episode. This family is pretty crazy. However, I think that the theme is acceptance. The family accepts that all of them are individually a little nuts, and they give one another grace for the things that they do wrong to each other. This can by seen by their unconventional family dynamic.

3.     Perspectives via scripture:

Jesus was very accepting of all people groups. One example is of the woman at the well, which shows that he is accepting of those who are outcasts. Jesus would have been accepting of all of the members of this family…whether or not they returned that acceptance. I think this is very important for our culture because sometimes we treat people as outcasts when we shouldn’t be. 

Modern Family Ep. 3: Come Fly With Me

We open this episode with Phil in Claire. Phil is in the middle of watching a baseball game. His wife doesn’t understand that he can’t just stop to do things in the middle of the game. In the middle of the game their daughter’s boyfriend (Dylan) comes over. Phil as usual tries way too hard to be cool. Claire asks Phil why he tries so hard to be friends with Dylan, but he never tried to be friends with her father (Jay). Phil believes that him and Jay are buds with “an invisible asterisk”. Phil seems to have the same uneasiness around Jay that Dylan had around him. Jay compares his relationship with Phil as conflicting alpha male gorillas. During this time Claire and Manny begin to spend some time together. Claire begins asking Manny for advice about how to deal with family issues.

            Gloria walks in with Manny to see Jay working on a model airplane. Manny tries to get Jay to play with him, but Gloria explains to her son that every man needs his hobby. Gloria takes Manny over to play with Phil and Claire’s children, specifically their son Luke. Manny and Luke are two very different boys. Gloria takes Phil and Claire’s youngest daughter (Alex) shopping. Jay takes Phil out to fly his model airplane, but soon discovers that the two of them have absolutely nothing in common. There is a significant generational gap between the two of them. Jay asks Phil to hold up a hula-hoop so that he can fly the plane through it. The plane ends up hitting Phil right in the face. I feel like this was a pre-meditated act. Instead of checking to seek if Phil was okay, Jay checked to make sure the plane was still in working condition.

            Mitchell and Cameron are on their way to Costco to buy diapers for Lily. Cameron believes that Mitchell doesn’t want to shop at Costco because he’s too good for that store. He accuses Mitchell of being snobby. Mitchell’s real problem is that he doesn’t want to go to Costco because he knows that the two of them won’t be able to go in there and just purchase diapers. They end up purchasing a lot of pointless items that they don’t even need and spending hundreds of dollars.

            It was difficult for me to figure out the theme of this episode. I think it was that people are more important than possessions. By the end of the episode all of the characters realize that their family is more important then their hobby. Jesus often teaches that it is very important to show love to others. All the things that we acquire in this life will one day come to pass.

            In the bible it talks about in all things moderation. This particularly makes sense for this episode. We should never get so caught up in our possessions or hobbies that we fail to keep relationships a priority. Never let things hold you back from spending time with others. Relationship with those around you is much more important than the satisfaction that material possessions can give you.

Modern Family Ep. 2: The Bicycle Thief

          In the beginning, all of the father figures are asked what the key is to being a great dad. The first dad, Jay, doesn't have an answer to give at the time. He is unsure. The second dads, Cameron and Mitchell believe that they should give their child freedom to be what they want to be and to have patience with them. The third dad, Phil, believe that he needs to be their buddy. His wife disagrees with him to which he replies, "stay in school and don't do drugs."
          Jay doesn't know how to answer the question of how to be a good father until the end when he is forced to act upon it. Jay and Gloria are trying to go on a vacation while Gloria's son is with is real father at Disneyland. Jay and Mannie try to fix his ceiling fan together, but end up fighting. Mannie's Father (Javier) cancels on him, so Jay and Gloria take Mannie to Disneyland. This is when Jay figures out that parenting is all about being present for your kids.
          A new neighbor is causing trouble for Phil because he is attracted to he. Claire doesn't want to buy their son a new bike until he proves he's responsible enough to take care of his sister's old bike. Phil decided to go behind her back and buy one for him anyways. Paul tries to teach his son a lesson by stealing his bike from him. He has to help his neighbor and in the process the bike gets stolen (moved) for real. He now goes to buy a new bike, but he soon finds out the bike he took wasn't his sons and that the bike was never really stolen. His neighbor returned it after it was put in her garage. By doing this she reveals to Claire that Paul helped her. Paul was trying to keep this a secret.
          Cameron and Mitchell start taking Lilly to a parenting class. Mitchell is afraid they will be judged on their sexuality, so he has the two of them act "more straight". Mitchell is extremely nervous of the class. He sees that Lilly isn't as "developed" as the other children. Eventually Cameron can no longer act "straight".
          I felt that the main theme of this episode was "the key to being a great dad". A better way of putting is that "the key to being a great dad" was the question, and by the end of the film all of the dad's discovered that the answer to this question was to be present in their children's lives. This means to love them and just to be there when they need them.
          The scriptures affirm how important it is to be there for others and to show love to others. More importantly we are not to turn out backs on people. By being present through all circumstance we demonstrate to people that we love and care for them. Jesus never gave up on loving us, so we are not to give up on others....even our family members.

Modern Family Ep. 1: Pilot

Summary:
          Throughout the episode we view three family "types." The first family consists of a homosexual male couple (Mitchell and Cameron) and their adopted daughter (Lilly). These two have been together for 5 years and want a child. They end up adopting Lilly from Vietnam. The couple feels the need to constantly reaffirm their relationship and sexuality. it seems as though Mitchell is constantly seeking approval from those around him, especially his father.
          The second family is the "American family." Claire and Phil have three kids. They are trying to raise them the best that they can, but it doesn't look like they see eye-to-eye on everything. Both parents, but especially Phil are trying to be the "cool" parents. At one point Phil does a dance from the movie High School Musical. This cracked me up because I once had to learn the same dance for a kids camp... and it was performed just as badly.
          The third family is experiencing an age gap. Jay is much older than Gloria and because of this the couple has many interesting differences. Together they are raising Gloria's son, Manny.
          In this episode: Jay's family tries to function despite the age difference between himself and his second wife, Gloria. Claire's and Phil's family tries to punish their son and watch over their eldest daughter and her new boyfriend. Mitchell tries to hide the fact that he and his partner Cameron have just adopted a baby daughter in Vietnam from his family until Cameron invites Mitchell's family without consulting him (which is revealed to be the other two families, Jay being Mitchell's father and Claire being Mitchell's older sister). (IMBD)

Theme:
          The main theme in this episode is familial love. All of the characters make several mistakes, but at the end all that matters is the love that they have for one another. They accept each other regardless of whether or not they think the other person is wrong. This family truly wants the best for everyone involved. It seems as though the love that they have for each other is greater than any flaw that they may have.

Evaluation:
          The bible really affirm the belief of the theme in this episode. In the bible there are numerous times when we are told to love other regardless of their activity, situation, etc. Jesus loved others no matter how they were viewed by others and no matter how sinful they were. I think it is important that the bible commands us to love others before it commands us to preach the gospel. In order to effectively preach one must love the group that they are speaking to. This means to love them no matter their sexual orientation, sinful acts, etc. People need to experience the love of Christ in order to accept Christ. If us as representatives show them only rejection not only are we giving a false representation of Christ, but we are also turning away people from the gospel. Christ showed love to everyone he encountered, and as followers of him it is our responsibility to do the same to those that we meet.