Breaking Down Impressions on "Boys' Night"

Hi Guys, Welcome Back! Tonight’s first episode of Modern Family, entitled “Boys’ Night”, uses character interactions to show how long-term impressions of people can be proven false.

To first show an example of the impressions, the subplot in “Boys’ Night” revolves around Dunphy son, Luke, and the family’s neighbor, Walt.  Claire and Phil believe that Walt is a very crotchety, scary, old man that just likes to be grumpy all the time.  They want nothing to do with him and believe he wants the same relationship with them.  Luke doesn’t understand this perception of Walt and goes over to talk to him.  The two form a friendship that Claire and Phil cannot understand why the two are friends and are hesitant about allowing the friendship to occur.  After investigating Walt and having shenanigans ensue, the couple actually gets a chance to learn a little bit about the true Walt.  He tells Claire and Phil that he used to be a firefighter and that he would never hurt a child.  This interaction between the characters shows that impressions backed by speculation are not always true.  Modern Family tells the viewers that it is important to get to know somebody on a personal level before judging them.

The main event in the episode is the “boys’ night out” that Cam and Mitchell have planned with a few of their friends at a local bar.  The two will need a babysitter for the night.  Mitchell hires Haley to watch Lily for the night, which frightens Cam very much.  Cam believes that Haley cannot babysit a child because she is not responsible enough.  Cam even goes as far as to spy on Haley using a webcam.  Even though Haley does break a rule and invites a boy over, she turns out to be a great babysitter and exceptional caretaker for Lily. 

Along with this surprise are the surprises during the group meeting at the bar.  Mitchell believes that his father is too narrow-minded and would not have a good time with his friends.  Similarly, Jay thinks that Mitchell’s friends would be too outgoing or flamboyant for his taste.  Despite this belief, after some time getting to know each other, Jay and Mitchell’s friends have a great night at the bar.  The two are able to break down their impressions of each other and have a great time together being in their own skin.

These last two interactions comment greatly on our impressions of the people we know and love.  Modern Family uses these two situations to show that even long term impressions of people can be proven false and we can be surprised by those people’s actions.  “Boys’ Night” exemplifies to the viewers how wrong our impressions of others can be at times.  It is important to not assume the actions of people, including those we don’t know and those we do know.  We learn from Modern Family not to judge people on what we speculate they will do, but on their true actions.

Looking forward to the season finale which is on next!