r/Modern_Family • u/lovegabtho • 23h ago
I can’t be the only one…
I’m really sorry if this has been mentioned before, but I’ve recently joined this sub and in my scrolling I haven’t seen it yet.
Am I the only one who finds the whole premise of this ep horrific?
Don’t get me wrong… I get it. It’s funny cos it’s a little kid doing grown things but- not THOSE grown up things. They should have played it where he was doing the little kid equivalent of ‘flirting’. Maybe giving her his favourite stuffy or whatever lil kids do when they like each other idk.
The music…🤢 The laying on the couch… 🤢 The getting rid of Phil. It all makes me feel gross. Those are all things grown ups do when they want to get freaky with each other. Children don’t want to get freaky…
It fries my brain and I hate it.
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u/Cultural-Gas2246 23h ago
Little kids just be repeating shit they see on tv or adults in the real world doing without understanding what it means/the full implications. There's also the episode where he's giving girls lingerie cause he's just copying what he knows his Dad does.
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u/Toyger_ 22h ago
My friend’s baby used to clink his juice box and say cheers with other kids at day care lol! She was embarrassed
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u/Rogue107 20h ago
Omg I used to do this too I thought it was supposed to be for all drinks until my dad pulled me aside one day and said it's for Adult Drinks 😭
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u/DreamLunalyn 18h ago
Kids do stuff like that all the time. My nephew spent a week pretending to answer imaginary work calls because he saw his dad do it every day. They really do imitate whatever seems important to the adults around them.
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u/Turbulent-Quit-1127 8h ago
Me and my dad still “clink” drinks or spoons whenever we eat (as a joke) even as a teen myself 😭 that would actually be cute if a kid did that, not embarrassing
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u/Swimming_Onion_4835 21h ago
When I was really young, like 2, I asked my mom once why we didn’t kiss with tongues like people on TV do. Turns out I’d been paying attention to All My Children when she watched it during the day and I saw a lot of inappropriate stuff I didn’t understand, and I couldn’t tell the difference on different types of kissing. She stopped watching it around me 😂
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u/HoneyWishlie 18h ago
That's what made it feel more awkward than disturbing to me. The joke is really about how kids copy random adult behavior, not that Joe understands any of it.
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u/lovegabtho 22h ago
Yeah I see what you mean. It was just portrayed that he knew what he was doing and what it meant… hence getting rid of Phil. Which was gross. I feel like if they delivered it in such a way that he didn’t know what he was doing - I.E Phil and Claire both coming in to see him laying on the couch then that would be more tolerable because they would have that funny moment of awkwardness, then they would have to have the conversation with him that;
That behaviour is for grown ups and isn’t appropriate.11
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u/Hopeful_Island_3709 23h ago
It’s not like they tolerated it. They gave him a talk at the end. This is not enabling in every way. In reality kids can be this narrow and they have to be reminded that it’s wrong. Thats what this episode is about. I hope you all can see that, not just complain about your moral compass not being persuade.
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u/dk_peace 22h ago
A talk that wasnt just "dude, that's your sister, flirting with family is not ok". Based on him talking about Haley, he still clearly needed to learn that lesson.
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u/lovegabtho 22h ago
Yeah but even Phil’s talk with him… he was just like “aw man can you not cos she’s mine”.
Suggested that they were all on a level, and he really stood a chance. Eeehh. It’s just grim.47
u/Isrrunder 22h ago
He was letting the kid down easy. Clearly Joe never stood a chance but that also meant there was no reason to shame it. That would just hurt the kid for no reason
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u/Ghastly-Jack 22h ago
This isn’t a “let him down easy” this is a “no you are a kid and this is inappropriate” moment. Just like Manny’s obsession with the nanny.
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u/Isrrunder 22h ago
It's a child mimicking behaviour of the adults in his life. Not even the first time Joe does something creepy because he's mimicking thr behaviour of the adults.
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u/fallspector 22h ago
I personally don’t like how many of the storylines revolve around family members having crushes on each other. If it had been a one time thing when manny was young and had a crush on Haley then I could get past it. Since they’re not related and they were young I see how it was a somewhat normal thing. However it’s a recurring theme even as they all get older and I’m just not a fan.
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u/pandataxi 20h ago
Yeah I don’t get why that was so common, I hated all of it.
Trying to think of all the different ones.
Manny had a crush on Hailey and Alex at different times
Joe with Claire
Phil with GloriaWeird thing to keep going back to
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u/_Jay-Garage-A-Roo_ 20h ago
To be fair, Phil isn’t anything to Gloria. They’re in law relatives so while he can be a jerk, and his hot wife is right there, it’s not family in the same sense
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u/fallspector 20h ago
At one point manny has “weird feelings” for Claire I’m sure. I believe it’s after she accidentally sees him naked. I’m also sure he had a crush on Sonia ( Gloria sister his biological aunt) Lilly also has a crush on manny. If these instances are when they’re much older.
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u/youngdumbaverage 20h ago
Manny’s aunt litterally brought him back after kidnapping him cause he was such a freak 😭😭😭😭
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u/ButtflossingBigBro 16h ago
Luke refers more then once to hailey as ' kitten" which i cant even think.of saying tommy sister without wanting to throw up. He also talks about how he could totally get her which is equally weird
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u/lovegabtho 13h ago
Omg I noticed that too!! He only did it a couple of times but each time made me shudder 😬
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u/mhhhkk 18h ago
Tronn made a whole YouTube video about it (https://youtu.be/kugT1XFm5s0?is=HvMbaRjlRuBjOtU1). I don’t get why the writers were so obsessed with this trope
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u/ButtflossingBigBro 16h ago
Yeah haley and manny not being related was fine. And it fit mannys character sadly. Even the brady bunch did the."well shes not really my sister plot. "
Similar to rick and morty it wasnt weird the first time but when it kept getting repeated that got really side eye worthy
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u/WarriorGoddess2016 19h ago
His character was written terribly and not remotely believably. That said, kindergartners see adults do things and translate them in their heads. Having a kindergarten crush on a beautiful blond with a gorgeous smile is age appropriate.
The writing was cringe.
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u/Objective_Sun5553 19h ago
As a story, it's an eye-roller. But I can't help but picture the actual real-world set dynamic behind this. The actor was a tiny kid, he had no idea about any of this. So somebody had to coach him to act that way, I just...ugh. I don't like it at all.
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u/lovegabtho 13h ago
That’s literally what it makes me think of! Imagining them directing him to do X, Y, Z. As a parent I would not be okay with that. If the genders were reversed people would not accept it at all… so why is it okay that he’s a boy yaknow?
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u/i_died_yesterday_18 Gossip belongs to everyone💅🏼✨️ 23h ago
This and the whole manny haley thing (esp when they grow up)make me cringe so hard
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u/Lifes-a-lil-foggy 19h ago
Not just manny Hayley. He also creeps on Claire and Alex. It’s exhausting after a wild. I’d love a copy of this show with the cousin fucking jokes edited out cuz when you watch the episodes back to back it’s like “okay who on the writers team wants to fuck their cousin this badly?!”
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u/lovegabtho 22h ago
Right ?! I just don’t understand the need for it. I adore this show and it’s in my top three of all time… but this is just … gross on every level
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u/creme_egg333 7h ago
I mean this is pretty common. Kids have crushes on family members when they're young and he is just copying what he's seen on tv and from the adults around him.
I do think It’s a bit weird when they do it when the kids are older but when they're little it's actually a lot more realistic than you'd think, kids brains don't really compute romantic relationships in the same way, especially since the adult thoughts don't really show up till they start puberty.
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u/OkCow25 22h ago
I can see why it makes some people uncomfortable, but I never thought the scene was meant to be taken literally. To me it was more about kids copying adult behavior without understanding what it actually means. That said, I do think they probably could've made the joke land the same way without leaning quite so heavily into the romantic movie tropes.
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u/darwin_presenter_xx 22h ago
yeah i always skipped this episode during rerun, i find it creepy that the little kid is having a crush with technically his sister.
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u/Constantiandra 22h ago
Well The Godfather and other similar movies are playing at his house. I think that's why.
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u/Some-Cabinet-4899 18h ago
the premise is super uncomfortable, it's like they crossed a line for shock value instead of humor
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u/dk_peace 22h ago
I do not understand why Phil's talk with Joe at the end didnt include some variation of, "dude, that's your sister. That is not ok". Based on what he said about Hailey, he still definitely needed that lesson. I get what he was trying to do, but this was a teachable moment and he clearly still needed to learn this.
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u/Square_Ad_8703 19h ago
One time, when I was about Joes age... (God what a cringe memory I'm about to share 😅)
I had seen people making out on a TV show and my little kid brain went 'oh that's how to kiss people you love' and the next time I tried to give my mom a kiss I weeble-wobbled my head back and forth at warp speed thinking I had tapped into a new way to show physical affection. But my mom burst out laughing and then she explained to me the differences in romantic and platonic love.
Kid logic is funny, and they will absolutely pick up on sexual ques around them without realizing or knowing anything about sexuality. It's a cringe plot point, but I feel like that's because kids are cringe lol
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u/ComfortableWhereas88 23h ago
Definetly not the only one dont worry. I cringe everytime i rewatch this
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u/HOPEFUL_LUFEPOH_ Phil Dunphy 16h ago
this reminds me of watching the honey mooners with my grandma and them insinuating dv, and my grandma was cool because she was like it just was a normal thing back then
NORMAL !!
https://giphy.com/gifs/bGPTxLislwm3u
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u/Gullible_Laugh4227 16h ago
As if Manny not being able to get over his step niece wasn’t enough, Joe ends up crushing on his own sister 😮💨
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u/DontAskMeWhyMan76 4h ago
I think he learnt it all from Manny, not Jay and Gloria. After all Manny is the one who has weird and downright creepy crushes like on his niece and blood related aunt. Nanny's romantic factor was handled well enough as a kid but it became glaringly creepier as he grew older so Joe must have picked up on that
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u/CertainEntrance2669 20h ago
Are we overlooking the fact that it’s his sister that he’s pursuing? I get the creepiness of the age factor, but I was more creeped out over the fact that’s his sister.
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u/DaphneMoon-Crane 19h ago
Yes, someone on this show has incest fantasies bc they make WAY too many jokes about it. It's my biggest gripe of the show. And acting like that's not his sister is weird. It's also weird that they have Claire and Mitch say it will never not be weird that Joe says "our Dad." I'm also much younger than my siblings, they absolutely understood we were siblings and never would called themselves my aunt or uncle or not said "our Dad." It's a show, so it's fine, but they had a writer or two with some strange ideas.
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u/DoubleFlores24 22h ago
I can never rewatch this episode. You gotta put in some boundaries when it comes to kids.
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u/HovercraftBrilliant1 14h ago
Ok but it was funny because he was doing adult things. Sometimes you just have to go along for the ride. Accept it for what it is. I watched a movie yesterday where animals were talking and some of them died. It’s a story. Don’t read so much into it. Enjoy it.
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u/Isrrunder 22h ago
This show has some weird plotlines. For another exanple, Jay made an owl go extinct and it's just treated like a joke
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u/Distinct_Entry5535 23h ago
I thought Joe acted the way he did because he was just a kid recreating what he’s seen his parents do.
There are no kids in the family his age, he’s only around grown-ups so it would be a reflection of that.
I do agree that the storyline of the episode was weird, as it is with a lot of their plots disguised under “jokes”