Feminist Analysis

> http://www.hulu.com/watch/140083/modern-family-benched <

For this analysis, I watched season 1, episode 20 of Modern Family: “Benched.” In this episode, Cameron and Mitchell struggle with their new jobs – Mitchell is the stay-at-home dad and Cameron has a part-time job at a greeting card company. They both secretly hate their jobs but think they are doing what the other person wants them to. Gloria and Claire are struggling with their kids growing up. Alex and Manny are going through the stage where the mere thought of their mom embarrasses them. Jay and Phil take over the position of head coach for Luke and Manny’s basketball team after they think the head coach is too demanding and mean. The main theme of this episode is mis-communication.

I enjoyed this episode because it was hilarious. When watching Modern Family, I always find myself agreeing with the characters or feeling a sense of nostalgia. Because the characters and the plot are so easy to follow, I feel in every episode there is something I can relate to. Claire and Gloria who are so unlike each other actually had something in common with each other and I enjoyed seeing their friendship grow. I also loved the scene where Alex goes up to Claire, who had been waiting for quite some time for Alex to meet her. Alex apologizes to her mom and says she has been feeling pressure from friends at school and will always be her little girl. Then, she bluntly asks for mom for $20. Claire gives her $40 and proceeds to embarrass Alex when she is standing in front of her friends, by yelling out the window she pick up a training bra for the future when she will need one.

Luke and Manny’s basketball coach is giving them a hard time and instead of encouraging them, is yelling at the kids and calling them names. Of course, the women think this is such a horrible, mean thing to do to their kids and feel the coach needs to be replaced. However, Jay thinks it’s good for the kids for the coach to be tough on them, and asks Phil to back him up on this. But instead, Phil says, “No, he’s a mean man.” Jay responds with, “Oh, you’re such a woman.” In this situation, Phil is reversing the typical roles by agreeing with women and Jay is responding as a stereotypical guy would by calling Phil a woman. In this way, I think by calling Phil a woman, he is saying that Phil is too emotional and acting like a wuss, instead of being gun-hoe about Luke and Manny getting some structure and discipline from the coach. Through the episode, Jay and Phil eventually take over the positions of head coach and assistant coach for the team. Jay, of course, is head coach, and Phil assistant. Phil is constantly trying to give Jay input, but Jay ignores him, and thinks he has no idea about coaching a team. Jay eventually apologizes to Phil and wants him to become the head coach. But, Phil feels that Jay is leaving something out, so Jay says “Ok….I love you.” Phil responds with no, that’s not what he wanted to hear. I feel like saying “I love you” is something a woman would want to hear, and that is how Jay views Phil.

Camera shots are key to this show to understanding the characters and plot. The somewhat realistic camera shots allow the viewer to understand awkward, tense and loving feelings being expressed. The camera will zoom in when trying to focus on a particular emotion, to add more intensity and ensure the viewer knows they are supposed to be paying attention to this scene so they can understand the storyline. For example, Mitchell is talking to Cameron about how he likes not having a job, though he secretly hates it. They camera zooms in on Mitchell to show that he is awkwardly lying and trying to cover it up by looking at the camera quickly and then staring back at his computer screen, pretending he was doing something important. The scene then cuts to a documentary/personal interview set-up and Mitchell is alone talking to the camera, divulging upon how much he hates not having a job. The camera then cuts back to the same scene with Mitchell and Cameron talking. Because there is constant conversation, there is little to no music in Modern Family.

In the media, women are often portrayed as sexual objects and emotional. Modern Family often has these stereotypes within their characters, but more to point out the obvious and make fun of how stereotypes are so often prevalent within the media.

Gloria is a character that is often portrayed as having little depth to her. The viewer is sometimes able to see her true colors, but she is typically portrayed as the stereotypical woman. In every episode it is guaranteed that she will say something about her Columbian heritage. Other than that, she is portrayed in a sexualized way. She is constantly wearing fashionable, nice clothes and jewelry and always has her hair and make-up perfectly done. Gloria and Jay’s relationship is stereotypical in the sense that Jay is the strong male who provides for his family and Gloria is the loving, caring mom who holds the family together.

Mitchell and Cameron, though not a “typical couple,” are actually pretty stereotypical. Mitchell wants to be in the working world, providing for his family, and enjoys having a job and interacting with people in the professional world. Cameron, on the other hand, loves being a “trophy wife” (his words) and stay-at-home dad. He loves spending time with Lilly and hates having a “real” job. Cameron was forced to get a part-time job at a greeting card company while Mitchell is between jobs. But has become fearful that Lilly has gotten used to him not being around; he is the typical mom, always worrying about her children. Mitchell gets invited to a very wealthy friend of his dad’s house for an informal interview. Cameron is extremely awkward in social situations and babbles on in the interview, making himself look silly. He then proceeds to knock over a tray with food and drinks and then knocks a bowl off a counter. This proves further that Cameron is super awkward and Mitchell is professional. Mitchell and Cameron eventually express their true feelings to each other. Cameron confesses to Mitchell that he hates working and wants to be home with Lilly, and Mitchell feels that he is “not cut out to be a stay-at-home dad,” and would much rather be in the professional world. Both of them were fulfilling the duties that they thought the other person wanted.

Phil and Claire are one of the funniest, most dysfunctional couple I have seen. They are hilarious and constantly switch roles. Phil is the more sensitive, sweet one and Claire is more logical and worldly. Claire even dresses and looks like a typical mom. She is the mom who conquers everything – takes care of the kids, makes dinner, goes to all of their extra curriculars and helps them with their homework and projects. Phil acts more like the woman, in the sense that he is easily offended and often is emotional and becomes emotionally invested in many things. Claire is more aggressive than Phil, and he will always back down or become intimidated by her when they are arguing.

This was a great episode, and though I have already seen all of the Modern Family episodes thus far, I have enjoyed re-watching them and reflecting upon some more critical aspects that are prevalent in the media.