Modern Family Television Series

Haley: Okay, Mom, you can't have a problem with this one. I am Mother Teresa.

[Haley walks in with a short white dress and a nuns cap]

Claire: Are you kidding me?

Haley: What? I am her back then when she was hot.

Claire: I will give you $10 to go up and put more clothes on.

Alex: I bet that's the first time you heard that.

This series of interactions and quotes was taken from an episode of Modern Family.  The episode takes place around Halloween time and is titled “Halloween”. 

In the first line Haley, who is the oldest daughter in the series questions her mother (Claire) in an accusing and disgusted tone, asking if her Halloween costume which is Mother Teresa is acceptable.  This is quite ironic because Mother Teresa is known throughout the world as a very kind and caring public figure.  As Hailey walks down from upstairs she is wearing a mother Teresa outfit but it is very short and revealing.  In utter disgust and frustration Claire fires right back at Haley with “are you kidding me”.   Haley’s response to her mother’s comment almost suggests that Haley knew that the costume was pretty revealing but she wore it anyway.  This battle between authoritative parent role and kid is very present throughout the whole series.  The next two lines in the conversation really relay the comedy that is packed into each and every episode.  Claire responds by saying to haley that she will give her $10 to go back upstairs and put some more clothes on.  Alex, Haleys younger sister then buts into the conversation and says that that was probably the first time someone would give haley money to put back on her clothes.  This statement obviously doesn’t mean that Haley is selling herself for money but instead is a jab at haley.  Alex is just trying to make fun of haley in anyway possible.

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Hannah was the most popular girl in school; the kind of girl that all of the guys and girls alike looked up to.  She was always involved in numerous school activities ranging from student leadership to lacrosse to soccer.  She always had the latest and greatest clothes, a trend setter for the rest of the girls at the school.

The one thing that no one knew about Hannah, not even her best friends was that when Hannah went home after school, and all of her activities that she was involved in, she went home to a broken household.  Hannah yearned for a normal life.  She desperately wished that she could be like her friends.  She would throw away her superficial style and appearance that she had when she went to school each day for a more normal life.  After all, her superficial looks and her style was the only way that she felt normal and for six or seven hours of the day she felt accepted and recognized.

Hannah’s father was an alcoholic. Her older sister had long ago moved out of the house far away from her crazy drunk ass dad. Hannah had always loved her father even in his worst of moments.  Hannah knew that he wasn’t himself when he drank.  Every time things start to get out of hand Hannah remember a quote that she heard somewhere in school “The only way to love a person is to love them without hope”.  This quote really resonated with Hannah because she knew that her father’s situation was not going to get better any time soon.

 Whenever the phone rang at the house Hannah would race down the stairs and answer the phone out of breath.  “Hello” she would say, in hope that it would be her older sister. Most of the time the calls were mainly business stating that the cable company had come to shut off the cable or something to that extent but occasionally she would come running down the stairs and hear her sisters calm and warming voice across the line. Her sister was one of the only things that helped Hannah get through the days.  Hannah hoped to follow in her older sisters footsteps and move out of the house right at the age of 18.  Hannah just wanted to escape and be free from her life as she knew it.