As the semester starts picking up, I find myself leaning on my favorite comfort shows to keep spirits high. One of my favorite comfort shows is Modern Family for obvious reasons. Perhaps it reminds me of my own delusional family, but regardless, I love having it on even in the background as I submit assignments and cook my girl dinner.
If you haven’t watched Modern Family before, here is my quick, shameless plug. There is something to relate to for everyone. At the very least, I promise you, it’ll give you some laughs. My roommates and I recently were talking about who our favorite character from Modern Family was. To me, that question had an easy answer: Gloria.
In Modern Family, Gloria was often portrayed as the attractive, young, foreign wife to Jay Pritchett, but she deserved more credit for the critical role she played in the family. She was much more than just a pretty face, but often was undermined because of her beauty. I personally thought she was one of the funniest characters on Modern Family. She was unapologetically herself and proudly claimed her Colombian roots.
As the seasons progress, Jay’s relationship with his family members strengthened and I credit that to Gloria. Gloria challenged Jay to understand his family’s perspective which helped him become more accepting, especially to Mitchell’s sexual orientation. Without her, I don’t think we would have seen Jay work on his relationship with Claire and Mitchell, and become a better father figure for Manny and Joe.
This leads me to argue that Gloria’s biggest strength is her strong family values. Even though she was not born into the Pritchett family, she held unconditional love for every member of the family. Being a part of the family was incredibly important to her. I believe many of us can relate to Gloria in the sense that we feel like we hold our family together at times, especially when sh*t gets crazy. Gloria, like many other women, is the glue that holds her family together. She was always ready to babysit and planned many family get-togethers.
Gloria did not have the best upbringing and struggled to make ends meet before meeting Jay. She knows what hustle is and can get the job done. Her commitment to carving a better life for Manny reminds me of the struggle my own immigrant family faced when first coming to the U.S. In season 6, episode 7, Gloria says, “Do you know how frustrating it is to have to translate everything in my head before I say it? To have people laugh in my face because I’m struggling to find the words?” This was one of my favorite emotional moments in the show as I appreciated how Gloria stood up for herself. Many people who had to learn another language to assimilate in a new country can relate to the struggles of stumbling on your words and not be understood.
While many argue that their favorite character of the show is Phil Dunphy, my heart remains with Gloria Pritchett undoubtedly. She is bold, protective, humorous, and loving. She reminds viewers that it is okay to be loud and different. So, the next time you’re rewatching Modern Family, I implore you to pay attention specifically to Gloria. She may give you a laugh, but most importantly, she will teach you to be unapologetically yourself.