How to evaluate the American TV series "Modern Family"

The following is excerpted from Zhihu's Yu Yuanyun

Recently opened a new Weibo for Modern Family. Friends who like the beautiful Modern Family are welcome to follow it

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I wonder if anyone still remembers the 2002 mainland TV series "Modern Family" of the same name. I read it when I was a kid. It told the story of a traditional Beijing family whose sons and daughters all married foreigners. There was also a mixed-race Jacob, a very cute child. The reason why I mention this drama is because, like the American drama Modern Family, in order to highlight the word "Modern", the character settings are somewhat similar but similar in purpose. But modern families in the Mainland have factors such as domestic violence and divorce. The American TV series Modern Family created a lighthearted and enjoyable sitcom.

I watched Modern Family out of boredom. After watching a few episodes, I became hooked after sorting out the relationships between the characters. (As an aside, when watching a new drama, you have to stick with it for at least three episodes. Only when the relationship between the characters is clarified can you know whether you like it or not, especially a drama like Modern Family, which is full of supporting characters and no protagonists.) In In my heart, this is a divine drama. Both the plot and the actors are excellent. It is a well-produced and thoughtful work. You must be calm and experience it carefully, and you will gain a lot of emotions.

I think the most interesting thing is that each of them has his own shortcomings and selfishness, which makes the whole drama real, but this little selfishness does not affect the whole show at all. To the harmony and love of the entire extended family. You can even fall in love with a character because of their small flaws. Every laugh comes from life. If you don't have an extreme love for life and a person who is observant, you won't be able to write such a drama. I always feel that the main creator must have such delicate emotions. A few days ago, at the Emmy Awards, Modern Family won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series for the fifth time. During his acceptance speech, the creator joked that after taking his daughter to visit the set, her daughter said, “It’s a miracle that their house still has a roof! "I want to say that this miracle comes from the fact that there are so many caring and loving people who like this show.

When I first read the introduction, it was said to be in the form of a mockumentary, recording the lives of middle-class American families. In order to reflect Modern and diverse elements, the play sets up a white American couple with two girls and one boy, plus an old husband and a young wife. The wife is Colombian and has a son from her previous husband, plus a white gay couple. , adopted an Asian daughter.

================== Tell me your views on several characters================== ==

First of all, let’s talk about Claire and Phil. I personally think they are the core couple and the most “normal” couple.

Claire, a housewife, has returned to work in her father's cabinet company in the fifth season and is preparing to take over the business. The first time I saw Julie Bowen, the actress who played Claire, was playing a female lawyer in the American drama Boston Legal. First of all, I was attracted by her appearance. She was still young at that time, with healthy dark blond hair, delicate facial features, and always spoke very forcefully. It's the feeling of a very orthodox beautiful lawyer. Later, I saw her in Modern Family, where she played a housewife who was troubled by the trivial matters of life every day, but she still couldn't hide her beauty. This part went astray because I really like her haha. Claire is beautiful, capable, strong, stubborn, competitive, and it goes without saying that she loves her children and her family. She was well educated and became a housewife for her children and husband. Later, the children grew older, and they were still very good when they returned to the workplace. As a housewife, she will be upset by her three children, but she will also be moved by their sensibleness. As a bad mother, she has to take care of the housework, worry about her beautiful teenage daughter Haley, worry about her second daughter Alex who is not good at socializing and focuses on studying, worry about her lively and distracted young son Luke, and a husband who still has a childlike heart. Phil. Claire will use tricks to prove her point of view, she will be jealous of her stepmother Gloria, who is younger and more beautiful than herself, she will be sad because her mother only sends slippers to her every Christmas, and she will cheer up Phil when he tells a joke that is not funny. laugh.

Sometimes I think one of the reasons why I like watching Modern Family is because Claire looks so much like my mother. I think everyone can see the reflection of their mother in Claire. Mother is a creature that knows no nationality. I almost excitedly added that it does not recognize gender, hahahaha. Haley always said that Claire was a control freak. But this is also one of the cute things about Claire, and it is also a kind of protectiveness.

Phil, a professional real estate agent and a dream magician. Phil has achieved good results in his career. He loves Claire and never does anything to feel sorry for Claire. He wanted to please his father-in-law, but he always hit a wall because of Jay's toughness. He and his youngest son Luke do all kinds of adventurous things. I have always felt that Luke is so lucky to have such a father who never stifles his imagination and creativity. Every time Luke has a very bizarre new idea, while Claire rolls her eyes at it, Phil always shows great interest and patience to accompany Luke to explore. I think this education method is really valuable, especially for Chinese people. Phil's attitude towards his two daughters is different from that towards Luke. He has a more protective feeling towards his daughters. What impressed me deeply was the episode where Haley lost her virginity. After he found out about it, he couldn't accept it and felt that he had lost his little girl. In fact, Claire already knew this, and Phil couldn't accept it even more than Claire. This is really strange. A father always has different emotions towards his daughter and a mother towards her son, with an extra level of doting. The most sensitive point in Phil's heart, and the point where he has low self-esteem, is that he feels that he is not that worthy of Claire. He thought she was beautiful, capable, had a rich father, and handsome men were pursuing her. They only got married because she was pregnant with Haley at the time. But the particularly touching episode was actually when he felt that Claire would be better off marrying another man, Claire told him: He has never made me laugh. But I laugh at your jokes every time. T^T Phil is optimistic, positive, family-oriented, and enthusiastic about life. He just balances out the cold and reserved Claire. He is the person who is most worthy of Claire.

Then let’s talk about another couple, Jay and Gloria. Why do I fight so much? It’s out of love!

============================================ ============================

Jay, the owner of the cabinet company, is rich and tough, but has a soft heart. . His first marriage was unhappy, and later he met Gloria. Although the two are very different in age, they have a happy marriage. He would have loved the surprise that Gloria had created, even if it had been made with his money. He would take great care of Gloria and thoughtfully buy him Cinderella's slippers when Gloria in Disneyland couldn't walk in high heels. He is not very good at educating his children, but he is their strong support. He doesn't reveal his emotions too much, but there is a quiet river flowing in his heart. He took good care of Manny, who was not his biological child. He couldn't help but call Manny, my kid, encourage him, and tolerate all his strange problems and "precociousness". He was harsh on Phil, but he was grateful for the blessings he brought to his daughter. happiness. The relationship between him and the French bulldog Stella is really cute, and I always dream about Stella in my dreams. Jay is a tough guy who is not afraid of anything, but he can't stand up to his family's tough tactics!

Gloria, a Colombian, is young, beautiful and kind-hearted. I particularly like Gloria. When everyone thinks she is a vase, she convinces you with her personality. She is beautiful and confident, and speaks English with a strong Spanish accent. He understands Jay and can always make Jay feel young. She will use her own way to ease the relationship between Jay and several children. It is she who tells Jay, who is not good at words, that love must be expressed. She has a good way of educating Manny. She will encourage Manny to be himself and not worry about being different. She always provides great guidance to Lily, Haley and Alex as girls.

Even if she doesn't get along well with Claire at first, she will take the initiative to solve the problem and improve the relationship. How could anyone dislike such a woman? What I appreciate most is that although she is in the United States, she attaches great importance to protecting the culture of her hometown. While exaggerating about her hometown, she would celebrate her hometown’s festivals and cook her hometown’s food, worry that Manny would forget Spanish, and scold Cam and Mitch for not understanding Lily’s Vietnamese culture. In short, Gloria is a very thoughtful and beautiful woman with high emotional intelligence.

Then let’s talk about the last couple, Cam and Mitchell, a gay couple. They are complementary examples of bringing out the best in their other half.

============================================ ========================

Cam, taking care of children at home and working part-time in various studies or theater. Cam is always a little narcissistic and thinks he has good taste. He would prepare various gifts for Mitchell, such as the blue sweater that Mitchell threw out of the window because it was too prickly on his skin. He would say: "That color matches your eyes." It was simply too sweet. As for Mitchell, he is sometimes timid and fearful, which is the opposite of Claire, but he loves Cam very much. To be honest, I didn’t really know much about homosexuality before. After watching this drama, I realized how cute they are and what beautiful emotions they have. I remember that after gays were allowed to get married in California, their joy and joy in planning a proposal was really touching. They cannot have children, but they traveled thousands of miles to adopt a Vietnamese child, Lily. The care they took for Lily is enough to tell us how cute, healthy and happy a child with two fathers is, even if there is no mother.

======== Next, let’s talk about every child I like ========================= =====

Haley, beautiful, popular, doesn't like to study. Beautiful Haley, like every adolescent child, likes beautiful clothes, likes to take selfies, and hates reading. She always makes her family worry about her, but in fact she has her own way of doing things and has her own plans for life. She promotes what she is good at. She usually doesn't seem to care that much about her family, but every time she shows concern for her family at critical moments. Especially when she holds photography exhibitions, those photos record the small details of their family's life, and it can be seen that she also attaches great importance to family ties. Alex once said, roughly "Sometimes I think you are really smart, like the smart smart." The subtitles translated it as "smart in the true sense", which I think is quite appropriate. Every child has his or her own personality and a life path that suits him or her. Not all of them should study hard, which is the only serious thing.

Alex has good grades, is organized, doesn’t know how to dress up, and is always said to be a nerd. Claire said that Alex looks like him, which is quite similar. One time when Alex was worried that she couldn't find a husband, Haley told her not to worry. She said that people like her mother have found the right one! Hahaha, it’s true, no matter what kind of person you are, there will always be people who will tolerate you and fall in love with you. This is called one thing defeating another. Alex is under tremendous pressure to study and strive to do his best in everything. He wants to go to the prom but feels embarrassed, so he will pretend that he doesn't want to go, and he will also do things he doesn't like in order to get close to the cool kids. These are the little thoughts we had when we were little, they are very cute. When we grow up, those embarrassing things that make us feel ashamed and the sky is falling will be laughed off when we talk about them. Every stage of growth is the best.

Luke, the youngest son in the family, but his sisters did not take more care of him. Instead, they would play with him, but this is a real family. By season five, Luke has grown taller, lost weight, and even changed his voice! When I was little, I had curly hair and a chubby face, so cute.

He has all kinds of weird ideas, and his attention is always distracted, but as I said before, he has a good father who will accompany him to implement these weird ideas. He would try his best to act cute when Claire was angry. One time he made his mother angry, and when he came back later and held up a rose to apologize, his heart almost melted. I always feel that Luke will be another Phil when he grows up. Although he was troubled as a child, he will definitely have many advantages when he grows up.

Manny is chubby, not good at sports, likes to write poetry, and is relatively precocious. He doesn't like the things that ordinary children like to do. But Manny is a very thoughtful child and has his own appreciation of various things. Perhaps influenced by Gloria, he was very focused on protecting the culture of his hometown at the beginning. His relationship with Jay is what touches me the most. Jay gave him a lot of care that his romantic biological father could not give him, the kind of stable, continuous and real fatherly love. One time he went to Colombia to visit relatives, and he wrote back and asked Gloria to take good care of Jay. After the physical examination, he told him the results. Jay cried, and so did I. He is also very protective and dependent on Gloria. After all, mother and son once depended on each other.

Lily, I like Lily so much! She is getting cuter and cuter, she has a sharp tongue from time to time, and always gets bloodshed. There are so many little details, just watch the show. As a Vietnamese child, her happiness always reminds me of other poor children. In the drama, she was adopted and lived a happy and stable life. I have to think, if she had not been adopted... Of course, this is a drama without sadness, so let's not think about it for the time being.

Joe is still young, and I don’t know if he can hope to take over the task of Luke, who is growing up, and continue to be cute.

Stella, French bulldog, Jay’s little girl, as an important member of the family, how can we not mention Stella. At that time, he was also abandoned by his old owner and adopted by Jay. Every time Gloria said something bad about her, Jay would always cover Stella's ears, fearing that she might hear a little haha.

What a great drama. In fact, there is no comparison with Friends or The Big Bang Theory. After all, it is mainly about family ties. But in terms of level of care, it is definitely not inferior to these two dramas. Don't let the name fool you into thinking it's boring. I usually also like to watch dramas like The Good Wife or Criminal Minds, which are fast-paced. But Modern Family is worth a closer look. Although some details and concepts of life may not have a lot of excitement, the emotions involved will definitely cause great excitement. As a drama, there will be a certain degree of exaggeration in order to highlight the personality of each character, but each of us will find our own shadow in it. The richest subject matter is actually in the most ordinary life. I am deeply grateful to the creators and actors of this show. Hope more people like them. My hand is about to break, so I won’t write anymore.

Edited on 2015-02-28 53 comments Thanks

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Zhang Peiwen, prone to obesity and endless troubles.

Bai Xiaotang, Peng Zhihao, B Chen and others agree

Everyone in the modern family has their own personality characteristics.

Dad Jay is a typical American man, raising his daughter as a son. Not good at expressing one's emotions.

My lovely wife Gloria. Jay's remarried wife is younger than Jay's daughter. I like that Gloria is beautiful and unpretentious, and I am often amused to death by her simple thinking. "Where our wives are angry, they will shoot their husbands." Hahaha

Manny, the romantic actor. Gloria's son. Young and mature. Love poetry and love performances. Chubby looks like a little adult and is so cute!

Female housewife Claire. Jay's daughter. She has a simple and rough mind, and she and her husband Phil are a perfect match. He is very capable, taking care of his three children and helping Jay manage the company.

Pisces man Phil. Claire's husband.

I guess he must be a Pisces! Love fantasy! Full of passion and vitality! Good eloquence! Loves his career as a real estate manager~Luke’s biological father! I also want to find a silly husband like Phil who makes me laugh every day~

The eldest daughter, Heley, is beautiful, terrible at studying and extremely talented in boy stuff (completely opposite to Alex, okay? 233333). She has a sharp tongue and a soft heart. Phil once fell off the stage and she went on stage to accept an award for her father, showing off her eloquence and charm. She will definitely achieve success in the future~ In the latest season, there are sparks with the nanny brother, a three-good man~ Come together and spread the flowers ~

Alex, the top female student. The second daughter, Alex, is the complete opposite of her older sister. She got into Harvard and has never been in a relationship (?). Now she is much fatter than before! It’s so funny when he uses his IQ to despise the whole family~

Luke, a sweet guy with ADHD. Oh, my silly Luke grew up and started to want to watch girls naked, and started to make out with girls. Growing Pains~

The following are my favorites! Gay couple!

The Queen’s Poison House Cam. Although he is a big dog, he behaves like a small woman, haha! The mean-spirited ones are innocuous and mean-spirited. I love jealousy, I love dramas, and I like his bitchy expression the most, hahahaha!

The sad and adorable Mitch, Jay’s son. A top-notch lawyer, a little doormat, and sometimes a mischievous person. Always encounter various situations and various dramas. In the latest episode, Cam and I finally got married! present! Got it! But there are constant twists and turns~

My daughter Lily is too young, and she can say classic lines at any time, haha.

There are also a variety of loving recurring supporting characters. The two are the good man Mr. Nanny, the most gay Piper, the nagging and neurotic Didi, and the silly and cute Dylen. Everyone is so loving~