People say they dislike Valentine’s Day because of its commercially driven agenda and overpriced roses. No doubt both of those are true, but, for whatever reason, they think this is enough of an excuse to vilify it like the coconut chocolate in the heart box. Valentine’s Day isn’t about grand gestures or spending money, it’s about making sure one day a year that you focus your love and attention on someone else. It doesn’t have to be a romantic love. It could be a phone call to someone you care about or a piece of candy to a group of coworkers, just as much as it could be a flash mob dancing to “Your Body Is A Wonderland.” Just as long as it’s true.
Modern Family this week deals with the sentimentality of the holiday as they run simultaneous storylines happening over a three-day period. We follow along as Phil and Claire, Jay and Gloria, and Mitchell and Cameron each experience their own trials and successes in making sure each is loved and cared for by the other.
As it often does, Modern Family knows exactly which chords to strike, creating the harmony of a front lawn serenade of thought, feeling and humor.
Obviously the stories are done under the guise of romantic relationships because the couples are people that are devoted to one another, but the entire theme behind it is that people need to be cared about, as well as cared for. The reason you feel it’s appropriate to show someone how you feel physically is because of how they make you feel emotionally. True relationships starts and end with an adoration of the other person because they make you realize the best version of yourself. Too often we don’t think about the real reasons why we enjoy having the people in our lives that we do and only fixate on what’s wrong with our life instead.
Again, Valentine’s Day is the antidote to those feelings. The elixir… the Love Potion (#9).
Modern Family knows this and uses it as its backdrop for the episode. All three couples find themselves wanting to please the other to prove how much they care. As it often does, the show also sprinkles in some sentiment about what it is to be a family as well. Specifically doing so beautifully with Jay and Gloria—they remind us that while we may focus on our significant others, it’s still our closest loved ones in our family that deserve our time and attention.
This episode was Valentine’s Day done right. It dealt with it under the pretext of creating a romantic environment for one specific loved one, but made sure to encapsulate everyone else you love within it. Because, as the show knows, you can’t simply forget about the people that helped you realize who you were.
I love Modern Family because of how each episode is a reminder that every day should be used as a measurement for your own sense of self-worth; And that the greatest way to know how you affect people is by taking into account how much you actually love outside yourself.
Dustin O’Donnell – @halfzippdhoodie
Liked the fact that the stories are told in one while scene as opposed to constantly cutting from one story to the other. Also liked the fact that it was like three stories in the lead up and aftermath of Valentines Day. It gave us a ongoing storyline for Claire, Gloria’s reasoning for loving Jay and a bearable Lily segment.