Culture Meets Media: the Representation of the Cultural Identity of Bilingual Families in Modern Family and Fresh Off the Boat

Culture meets Media: The representation of the cultural identity of bilingual families in Modern Family and Fresh Off the Boat

Masterarbeit

zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades Master of Arts (MA)

an der Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz

vorgelegt von Erlis Laçej

am Institut für Anglistik Begutachterin: Ao. Univ.- Prof. Mag. Dr. phil. Hermine Penz

Graz, 2020

Declaration of Authenticity

Unless otherwise indicated in the text, references or title, I hereby declare that this thesis is entirely the product of my own scholarly work. I take full responsibility of any inaccuracy of fact or faults in the reasoning.

Graz, am Unterschrift der Studierenden

June 2020 Erlis Laçej ______

Acknowledgements

First, I would like to express gratitude to my supervisor Ao. Univ.- Prof. Mag. Dr. phil. Hermine Penz, for her continuous support and guidance on this thesis. I am thankful for all her academic inputs and advices that helped me carry through with my research.

I would like to extend my thanks to my academic coordinator and dear colleague, Mag. Dr. Jennifer Schumm, for all the motivation and encouragement throughout the whole writing process of my thesis. I am also very grateful for all her support throughout my entire Master’s degree.

To my close friends, thank you for being such an amazing support system! I am blessed to have you in my life.

And finally, I would like to thank my parents Kujtim and Fatmira, and my brother Hans. I am forever grateful for all your unconditional love and support, and for the constant encouragement to follow my dreams. Thank you for always being there for me!

Table of Contents

1. Introduction 1

2. Literature Review ...... 2

2.1.The functions of language ...... 3

2.1.1. Adjusting to the cultural framework of society ...... 7

2.2.Deconstructing the multifaceted process of identity ...... 8

2.2.1. Identity and culture: a view from linguistics ...... 9

2.3.Acquiring bilingualism: Young vs Adult ...... 12

2.3.1. Bilingualism and biculturalism ...... 14

2.3.2. Understanding the functionality of code-switching ...... 16

2.4.Cultural representation in the televised media...... 19

2.4.1. Channeling American cultural theories ...... 20

2.4.2. Detecting the stereotype ...... 23

2.4.3. Media discourse ...... 25

2.5.Critical Discourse Analysis in a nutshell ...... 27

3. Methodology and data ...... 28

3.1.Using Critical Discourse Analysis in practice ...... 29

3.2.Modern Family: An overview ...... 32

3.3.Fresh Off the Boat: An overview ...... 34

4. Data categorization of the analysis ...... 35

4.1.Deconstructing the bilingual character(s) in Modern Family ...... 37

4.1.1. Subcategory nr 1 ...... 38

4.1.2. Subcategory nr 2 ...... 44

4.1.3. Subcategory nr 3 ...... 47

iii

4.2.The Asian American identity in Fresh Off the Boat ...... 52

4.2.1. Subcategory nr 1 ...... 53 4.2.2. Subcategory nr 2 ...... 60 4.2.3. Subcategory nr 3 ...... 61 4.3.The similarities between Fresh Off the Boat and Modern Family ...... 62 4.4.Presenting the findings ...... 70 5. Conclusion ...... 72 6. Works Cited ...... 74 7. Appendix ...... 81

1. Introduction

Several issues surrounding today’s society include indisputably the question of self-identification. It is a rather problematic topic to deal with as it tackles the difficulties and the limitations that labels and categorizations bring about. On the one hand, it serves as a method of subtracting the individuality amongst each of us. On the other hand, it unites people into groups that potentially fall under the same category. Thus, creating a dichotomy in the general quest for identification and representation. On world Hispanic heritage month, June 2019, the famous American actress America Ferrara had a TED talk on the issues concerning her identity as an American with a Latin background. She stated that “her identity is her superpower, and not her obstacle”; after realizing she was not given a role because she did not embody the characteristics of a typical Latin woman. She had to shift the stereotypes and fight against the cultural norms that society had set. She continues by stating “collectively, we are what the world actually looks like” (TED, 2019).

Television has long been one of the biggest telecommunication mediums. On the one hand, it is not strictly bound to bring about a radical change in society but rather has the power to spread awareness and information. On the other hand, one of the prevailing roles of media and televised communication is the entertainment of the masses. As the years went by, more attention started to be paid to the message these kinds of programs carry through. The cultural representation that television series exemplify is tremendously crucial. Consequently, the message carried through it should be met with equal importance.

In this thesis, I aim to find out how the cultural identity of the bilingual families is represented in two notable American television series, namely Modern Family (2009-2020) and Fresh Off the Boat (2015-2020). These two series have displayed the unique representation of intercultural relationships, bilingual families, and the quest for identity in the mainstream television realm. As such they have contributed to spread the message of diversity, multilingualism, and the importance of keeping in touch with one’s heritage. Additionally, in this analysis, I aim to find out whether the interculturality, bilingualism and the identity that these characters carry is shown with regard to any stereotypical depiction. Thus, this analysis aspires to further understand how the particular portrayal and character development in these two television series contribute to the major frame of cultural representations.

2. Literature Review

According to Omoniyi and White (2006: 1), identity is rather tricky to define because of its complex construction. Many theorists and researchers have established the definition of identity as “non-fixed”. This observation occurs simply because identity cannot possibly be determined only by one’s self, given that it is also “co-construed by others”. The main influencing elements are those of the society and people surrounding us, with which we may or may not get to share the same values and principles. Another just as important and prevailing component in identity construction is culture. Three very important aspects come into play when talking about culture and identity; that is the culture we come from; the culture we live in; and the culture we feel we belong to. Identity cannot be restrictedly defined or determined by culture, even more so the culture we have been born into. Recognizing a fact, for instance the culture one is born into and the culture one feels as part of, are mutually interrelated, but could as well be not referring to the same process. People in general may or may not decide to identify with the culture they are born into, or the one of their parents, since the place they live in and the people they are surrounded by have a lot more influence on the process of identity construction.

To begin with, similarity is one of the essential markers of identity. After all, identical things are the same and that notion is what reinforces the concept of the identity. Personal identity is a “summary of all of our individual traits and dispositions, thus defining the uniqueness of every human being” (Edwards 2009: 19). Ironically, personal identities are constructed in such a way that they are simply reflecting specific parts of our cultural or social identities. No matter how much we try to avoid it, cultural identity will be considered stereotypical to a certain extent because of the commonality that exists between and across individual components (Edwards 2009: 20).

Nevertheless, defining culture in itself comes close to what people relate to the most. Simplistically, culture is what makes people define one another, their individuality but also their conformity. Macdonald (1991: 9) defined it as something that does not specifically belong to the past, as it becomes an integral and unalienable part of who and what we are today and what the future will hold for us later on. However, although culture is an undeniable part of who we are, it is not so in its entirety. People are bound to change due to the thorough and constant exposure to everyday life. The question is how the is the change perceived. On the one hand, the roots of the culture we share remains the same. Thus, it becomes rather riveting to find out how do people

2 genuinely change with the passing of time, alongside realizing which part of the identity is bound to alter. Due to the constant exposure to change, the process leads to self-identification.

Paradoxically, one of the very few constants in life is that people, the world, and not only, are bound to change, to some extent. The Greek philosopher Heraclitus (socraticlife.com.au) observed that the only constant in life is change. There are several ways how people can choose to embrace change, and although it is not clearly visible to some, it is however an undeniable truth of life. One of that facts that need to be accepted is that there is no stated difference between personality and social identity. The process of finding one’s self within a certain group in which we feel we belong, is another way of extracting and receiving the personal characteristics. Particularly, a social context is what makes it easier to construct a personal identity “out of the larger human pool of possibilities” (Edwards 2009: 20). Thus, from the commonalities people share, at the same time they are able to extract their own individualities. Another integral part of the connection between culture and identity is the pivotal role of language.

2.1. The functions of language

Certainly, language, culture and identity exist interchangeably in the context of interculturality and diversity. Joseph (2004:13) adds that language and identity are “ultimately inseparable”. Considering the fact that language is the center of human functionality, it is additionally the most prominent feature of all human characteristics. This leads to the assumption that any research, carried in the past or in the future, must therefore include the concept of language. Indisputably, language is considered “a marker of identity”, which precedes the formation of a person’s idiolect - the precise combination of accent and dialect– that marks the individuality among every person (Edwards 2004: 21). The important role that language carries as an indicator of identity revels much more than anticipated. The clear language indicators such as the accent, dialect or any other language variation can disclose particular aspects about different speech communities, social classes, and even national or ethnic groups. There have always been some conflicting and to some extent even opposing views on identity and the way it is used and referred to in a society. The contradiction has included such perceptions that view “[identity] as a fluctuating and quite unstable phenomenon, […] more of a process than an entity” lead by the social – constructivist conception. On the other hand, there are certain argumentations that see identity as an individual phenomenon

3 located inside the mind” a fixed phenomenon […] located inside the brain” (Omoniyi and White, 2006: 1)

Clark (2013: 2) adds geography as another important constituent aspect in deciding the ‘boundaries’ of a language and the boundaries between languages. A lot can be expressed through the medium of language, particularly about the people and the places they come from. Normally there exists the common perception that people living in a specific geographical space must speak the language directly associated with it. However, this is only a limited argumentation as is not always the case, simply because one language is not restricted to one single country. For instance, the English language is the best example in this particular scenario. English is the official first language of the United Kingdom, its surrounding countries, and then Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United States. On the other hand, in today’s society, English language is the official language of business, diplomacy, internet, travel and many more fields. Thus, it becomes a lot harder to define the socio-cultural functions of a language, its limitations as well as the concept of self-identification. Both notions of identity and language are interconnected, but it does not necessarily entail that one can help define the other more accurately or not. It simply opens up to new perspectives that dig deeper into the process of self-identification, making the latter a challenging yet rewarding task to complete. Although there are opposing views on the functionality and formation of identity, some of these views support the argument that it is a phenomenon located inside the mind (2013: 7). Therefore, it is considered to happen within each person individually. The other side of the arguments support the fact that identity is instead socially and culturally inflicted. As a result, in this case the subjective dimensions of the self are given more privilege and priority, whilst disregarding the social aspects (2013: 7).

Despite the conclusions that these studies have come to, the argument that is extracted upon it states that identity is just as much of a social and cultural phenomenon, as it is an inner and psychological one. The interactional discourses that happen on a daily basis are all part of the sociocultural contexts which as a consequence influence the formation of identity. When talking about identity, there cannot be a discussion solely on the individual and/or the personal identities without including the social, cultural and even national identities which require the same commitment and effort as the former. Joseph (2004) observes how identity is rather seen as the

4 product than the source of many linguistic and semiotic practices. He summarizes the relationship between identity and language (2004: 225), where he argues that:

Language in the sense of what a particular person says or writes, considered from the point of view of both form and content, is central to individual identity. It inscribes the person within national and other corporate identities, including establishing the person’s ‘rank’ within the identity. It constitutes a text, not just of what the person says, but of the person, from which others will read and interpret the person’s identity in the richest and most complex of ways. Indeed, the over-readings they produce will be richer than the text itself can sustain.

Although his work is heavily influenced by the socio-cultural environment, Joseph has largely contributed to making the whole dynamic between language and identity easier to understand. He adds that one of the principal functions of language includes the whole expression of the self and the emotions associated with it; which for the most part, this aspect has been put aside by linguistics. Instead, self-expression has mostly been dealt with by literary critics and researchers from other discipline. Given that emotions have been associated with the body rather than the mind it has not been considered worthy of much research. However, when studying language people have to be aware that just as much attention must be given to the ways social identities are attributed by others within a particular social and cultural setting.

Riley (2007: 86) gave a note-worthy analogy to put in perspective by saying that a stone does not necessarily need another stone to tell what it is. If we look closely, today’s society considers ‘identity’ as a quality which is attributed to an individual by others in their surroundings. He continues his argument exclaiming that people rely a lot on other people and groups, which as a consequence, serves as a guideline for people constructing their own social identities. Riley adds:

In social terms, identity can, by definition, only be treated by reference to others, since others are its principal source. Discussing social identity as if it were an intrinsic quality of one person makes about as much sense as discussing the sound of one hand clapping. […] socially speaking, identity is as much the product of the gaze of others as it is of our own making. (2007: 87).

Observed through the perspective of language, the concept of identity is only established through the complex process of deciding the features of a language. When placed together people comprise of a unique set of structures through which identity is expressed.

Throughout the entire twentieth century, the work of many researchers has proved that in numerous disciplines language plays a pivotal role in both “structuring and creating reality” (Edwards 2009: 53). This has been noted and observed by the international linguists such as Ferdinand de Saussure (1916) and Mikhail Bakhtin (1981), the works of anthropologists like Edward Sapir (1921) and Benjamin Whorf (1956); as well as cultural theorists such as Michel Foucault (1972). In addition to the argument previously mentioned by Edwards, Sapir (1921: 7) reaffirms the fact that “language is a purely human and non- instinctive method of communicating ideas, emotions and desires by means of a system of voluntarily produced symbols”. Edwards concludes his observation based on three arguments: firstly, stating that language is considered a system, in this way implying order and regularity. Secondly, the language system is arbitrary just like the agreement of its users. And thirdly, language is used for communicative reasons by a number of people who have helped in its establishment (2009:53). So, in conclusion language can be considered as:

A communication system composed of arbitrary elements which possess an agreed-upon significance within a community. These elements are connected in rule-governed ways. The existence of rules is necessary for comprehension, […] also essential for the virtually infinite creativity of a system that rests upon a finite number of linguistic gears and axles (2009: 53).

Rightly observed, language has the power to first and foremost structure and create a reality rather than being a mere reflection of it. As a consequence, the source of power and control of whoever has the authority of what is being said is a constant fluctuating paradigm. A highly important and noteworthy contribution to the shifting constant between linguistic thinking and the connection between language and society was created by Edward Sapir and his student Benjamin Whorf; who together developed the well-known Sapir-Whorf hypothesis. Their hypothesis argues that all “perceptions and concepts are encoded in language systems, neutralized through repetition and reinforcement by constant and unquestioned use by their speakers” (Clark 2013: 14). The Sapir- Whorf hypothesis proposes that language is influenced by other sociocultural factors, and most

6 prominently, is able to influence our way of thinking. Thus, it is implied that one of the key differences between languages is the way how people allocate meaning to its sounds and symbols. Edwards (2009) observed that there are several language groups and societies in the world whose patterns of communication are not fully comprehensible. He adds that there is more to a language than simple communication, a conclusion that provides the foundation of the relationship between language and identity. (2009: 54)

2.1.1. Adjusting to the cultural framework of society

As it was formerly pointed out, when talking about language the aspect of culture and its influencing role cannot simply be avoided. In the endeavor of capturing the great interest that has always been present in the language-culture dynamic, a few prominent scholars should be mentioned whose work served as the basis of studying this key relationship. Sharifian (2015) writes that it was Wilhelm von Humboldt (1767-1835), Franz Boas (1858-1942), Edward Sapir (1884-1939) and Benjamin Whorf (1897-1941) who emphasized the intertwined relationship between language, thought and culture. However, up to this point in time, an integrated and interdisciplinary focus on this relationship has yet to be further developed (2015: 3).

People constantly demonstrate how language is principally conventional, which clarifies how both culture and language reflect the way society thinks in all plausible settings and contexts. The foundation of this relationship is culture, as both language and context are rooted in the former, and they both reflect culture in different ways (2015: 114). Undoubtedly, culture is socially construed by a system of shared beliefs, values, norms and behaviors which the members of the society share in order to understand one another. However, not all members of the society adjust or reflect the culture similarly or as anticipated. Clearly, bilinguals and multilinguals have more than one language in their minds. Therefore, it is important to consider that no matter which language they use as their first one, there are specific restrictions initiated by the mind producing thoughts in more than one language. Slobin (1996) argues that “language is a transmitter of real- life experiences, and these experiences are later filtered through language into verbalized events”. As a bilingual or multilingual has more than two transmitters, this explains the importance of language in their daily life. The process of thinking provides the system of language with the different mechanisms through which the complex knowledge systems are construed. (Sharifian 2015: 115).

In recent times, the exact significance of the notion of culture is to some extent still ambiguous, as it can associate diverse meanings to different people. Some consider culture as a measurable possession, leading to the prospect that some people may have more and some may have less of this measurable unit. Others may consider it as being exclusive to certain people and to a certain place, leading to the assumption that people who leave their country, consequently will be living in some other people’s culture. Other reflections refer to culture as a set of beliefs and values that certain people share, while other people think of culture as a collection of rules, which can either be obeyed or broken. In other words, people are free to choose how they want to conform to the word ‘culture’ and can therefore define it in their own way without having to confront other people’s beliefs of the notion. On the one hand, there are other occasions where culture is cherished as the unifying component that positions everyone together, while on the other hand, it can be arguably what ironically divides people. All these contrasting views help us gain new perspectives on the diverse aspects of human behavior. According to Scollon (2012: 3), the current and most apt definition that culture can attain is that it refers to “a way of dividing people up into groups according to some features of these people, which helps us to understand something about them and how they are different from or similar to other people.’ (2012: 3).

Williams (1976: 90) concludes that there are three significant inflections that encompass most of the modern uses of language. These relate to the intellectual, the spiritual and the aesthetic development of human beings. He further elaborates on humanity in general, and the works and practices of intellectual and artistic activity. Thus, concluding the argument, he states that the meaning of culture varies across disciplines (Burgett and Hendler 2007: 71).

2.2. Deconstructing the multifaceted process of identity

Identity is significant for a lot of processes across varying disciplines, which broadens the scope for further studies and interdisciplinary research to be carried out. By focusing primarily on cultural identity and its medium of representation, both cultural identity and culture are understandably umbrella terms. These terms were once referred to as racial and ethnic identity, but that clearly in today’s society needs a more inclusive terminology. In its most simplified terms, culture is formed by individuals with the same shared values, beliefs and behaviors (Matsumoto 1996: 16). These individuals are connected by the ancestral heritage they all share in common, which is also based on a specific geographical location. Therefore, no matter where the present

8 location is, these groups of people, when separated, will have a sense of belonging to a specific culture.

Luoma (2005) argues that identities are formed in interaction with other people we may or may not share similarities with. However, even when in interaction with a person we may find dissimilar from us, we are able to extract our personal traits in a rather easier manner. In this way, she argues that identities are formed in social interactions. Therefore, an imminent distinction of the differences between roles and identities that people obtain must be certainly settled. Roles basically determine the function of an individual in a society; these roles are turned into norms that are defined by other institutions forming part of a society. The distinction between roles and identities becomes fairly simple at the very end: on the one hand, identities are what defines the meaning of an individual, while roles organize the function of an individual in a society.

2.2.1. Identity and culture: a view from linguistics

According to Hall, there are three separate approaches to the studies regarding the question of identity. Principally, the enlightenment subject which is strictly seen from the individualist and essentialist point of view; the sociological subject which sees identity through the classical interaction of the sociological concept of the matter, which finds its formation in the close interaction between the combined self and society. Lastly, the third approach Hall suggests is the post-modern subject which describes it with no fixed structure. It is thus “formed and transformed continuously in relation to the ways we are represented or addressed in the cultural systems surrounding us, since after all, identity is historically defined” (Hall 1992: 277).

Hall continues his argument by stating that there are several concepts that prove the way identity is differently conceptualized. Firstly, the essentialist view sees identity as a phenomenon lying somewhere inside the fundamentals of our inner selves. Secondly, the discursive view sees identity and the process of identification as being under constant change. Consequently, this viewpoint further implies that identities are construct within the discourse and not outside it. The distinction between the roles of the ‘self’ and the ‘person’ is also rather important, as another signifier of the importance of distinguishing the roles each of the individuals play in the society; where ‘the self’ strictly refers to the psychological feeling of what a person considers one’s self to be, whereas ‘person’ comes across as the identity that each individual “projects towards the others in socially defined roles” (Hall 1996: 275).

Some of the most renowned French philosophers and structuralists like Althusser, Foucault, and Bourdieu have argued that “the self is a product of the discourse and the social field in which it is located” (Joseph 2004:10). Thus, coming to realize that both identity and the process of identification do not merely refer to the fixed condition that identity represents, but more to the long process that it entails. Understandably, people are able to acquire multiple identities, strictly based on the multiple roles which they might take on in different socio-cultural relationships they are part of. As such, it can shape in the form of accents, dialects and other language variations to indicate membership to specific speech communities.

Burgett and Hendler (2007: 123) writes that identity is one of such words that exist in our everyday language but is not often discussed in detail or even defined. In the daily life, we refer to identity in the most common collocations as ‘personal identity” and ‘social identity’, which are not specifically different from one another. However, there exists a certain hierarchy between the two. Presumably, personal identity serves as a mediator between all sorts of social identities and provides a logical control of the shifting dynamic between social identities, in helping to find the constant ‘who we really are’. In the meantime, during this process there still exists the chance of an identity crisis, which is observed to be more of “a crisis rather that an identity opportunity because personal identity demands proper and unimpeded expression” (2007: 123). On the one hand, identity is considered as a value that is added to our whole being, and hence, becomes a highly valuable possession that does not change or alter due to any kind of physical development or other external factors. On the other hand, Alkoff (2000: 315) remarks that personal identity is instead viewed as a unified of many different “cultural negotiations”. While considering the presence of the self as always being at the center of identity, it reflects on its transparency and realistic approach. However, there have been contrasting views on the aspect questioning the positioning of the self at the center of identity. According to Kaplan (2007: 125) this constant debate only proves, that there might exist “an absence of the identity”. As a result, there are two paradigms that remain yet undefined. These paradigms counterpart the portrayal of identity as either an attributed ‘process’ we possess or a phenomenon that defines every person individualistically. This recurrent quest for clarification on the topic, could as well be referred as a constant “linguistic process of becoming” (125).

Concluding on the dynamic relationship of identity, culture and language, the work of Mary Bucholtz and Kira Hall (2005) has been crucial for the basic understanding of analyzing the phenomenon of identity, through the linguistic perspective. The analytic framework they created is based on five principles through which we are able to form a critical view on identity formation and its scope of interaction. These five principles are emergence, positionality, indexicality, relationality and partialness. Among these principles, an important perspective is the observation that identities may as well be linguistically adjusted through labelling, and other linguistic structures and systems. Another principle included in the framework states that identities are relationally constructed through corresponding aspects of the interactive relationship between the self and the other. This includes the dichotomy created within the two aspects. Finally, to some extent, it can be said that identity could be intentional, habitual and less conscious. In fact, it must be taken into consideration that it is the outcome of interactional mediations whilst in contact with the others’ perceptions and representations.

All in all, Bucholtz and Hall (2005: 590) define the aspects and perspectives that are observed in ‘identity construction’. It is viewed as the outcome of interactions and not simply as a psychological phenomenon rooting from within. As a concluding remark, the scope of research that has been carried out on the topic of identity has been crucial to the fields of sociolinguistics, discourse analysis, linguistic anthropology and social psychology, to name a few. As such, the added value of the constant research to these fields of study has shown identity as a phenomenon that happens relationally and in given socio-cultural contexts. Apart from this, there have been agreements among researchers that the definition of identity is consciously broad and open-ended, and is considered as the “social positioning of self and the other” (2005: 586). Bucholtz and Hall have contributed to the creation of this framework that offers a sociocultural linguistic perspective on identity itself, one that focuses on both the details of language as well as the workings of culture and society. What we can understand through this newly emerging field of studies, namely sociocultural linguistics, is specifically “the broad interdisciplinary field concerned with the intersection of language, culture and society” (2005: 586). At the same time, it also comprises of numerous other disciplines. As such, there is the intention of integrating all under one single representative concept. This results from the continuous aspiration to distinguish all the variety of categorizations there are. Bucholtz and Hall (2005) add that:

[…] along with performance, culture and grammar, identity is best viewed as the emerging product rather than primarily, the pre-existing source of linguistic, and therefore, as a fundamentally socio and cultural phenomenon (588).

In conclusion, based on the results of the aforementioned argumentations, the shifting trajectory of identity comes as a result of the different socio-cultural contexts more than being individually manifested in the inner self. Bucholtz and Hall classify any association linked to the close relationship between language and identity as being formally rooted in the cultural beliefs and values of an individual. All in all, there have been many efforts at confirming a final definition of identity. As a consequence, there have been several findings by many scholars and researchers. However, up to this point, a unified definition is still to be confirmed; one that ideally combines all the results and approaches that scholars and researchers have determined. Therefore, there is still the need to “theorize the concept” (Bucholtz and Hall 2005: 607). Hence, it is possible to conclude that the five principles that have been previously revealed Buchotz and Hall, express the individuality and at the same time, diversity in the approaches that scholars choose to tackle the notion of identity.

2.3. Acquiring bilingualism: Young vs Adult

Chomsky argues that a person’s linguistic competence cannot be explained by referring to other socio-cultural concepts (Ellegard 1979: 131). We are free to assume that a child can only learn how to master a language at an early age because he or she may have what it is called a complex ‘language acquisition device’. Chomsky (1957) added that some of this assumption relates to the question whether this language acquisition device is part of the human inborn capabilities or not, given that children are able to learn an extremely complicated language system with no specific training or previous experience. He stated that children are exposed to an imperfect prototype of the language, the one used by both parents which could as well be grammatically or morphologically wrong. Despite all the subconsciously inflicted impact people may have on them, all children are able to adopt the majority of the grammar structure of a language that is being used around them within a span of four to five years (1979: 131).

Over the years, researchers have presented theories proving that age is an important factor in acquiring a language specifically in terms of duration and timespan. Accordingly, younger learners have been said to acquiring a second language in a more effective way. Lee (1995: 282)

12 added that the reason is that the language system of the children is suggestively simpler than the one of the adults. Lenneberg (1975) included that the differences in maturation between the child and the adult play an important role. The reason behind the skill of acquiring a language more effectively is because of the existence of a biological critical period. This hypothesis proposed by Lenneberg suggests that the child should be exposed to the language between the ages of two and the early teens of about ten to twelve, since during this stated time cerebral lateralization of functions is established (Lee 1995: 282).

The idea that the younger a person is the better s/he is in acquiring a language faster and more efficiently has been around for a long time; however, this is not universally accepted. Many researchers who have worked on age differences in language acquisition have essentially proven and supported the opposite; in this case the adult is in favor. The main conclusion from these studies is that on a short term, adults may be superior to the young, however, after a period of one to two years the younger subject actually surpasses the adult. Although this cannot simply be explained in biological or neurological terms, observations conclude that children are better at acquiring second languages than the adults. (Lee 1995: 282)

As it is commonly known, native speakers of any language are at large at an advantage compared to those who use it as their second language. Native speakers have also been considered as the “legitimate owners” of their language, possessing the innate advantage. It is therefore implied that the native speakers of English, either American or British English, will at all times, inevitably be “linguistically ‘better’ than any non-native speaker of the language” (Clark 2013: 15). Similarly, at the same time, given the fact that language is a great marker of identity, Stuart Hall (1996: 12) added to the discussion stating that:

A national culture is a discourse - a way of constructing meanings which influences and organizes both our actions and our conceptions of ourselves […]. National cultures construct identities by producing meanings about ‘the nation’ with which they can identify; these are contained in stories which we are told about it, memories which connect its present with its past, and imagines those which are constructed of it.

2.3.1. Bilingualism and biculturality

Edwards (2009: 54) observed that the ‘outsiders’, being the non-native speakers of a language, can in fact learn a language, even if it happens merely through the medium of translation. Understandably, the resistance to abandoning a particular language has always been present, which concords with the desire to “attain ‘instrumental’ bilingualism”. However, if for any reason, bilingualism leads to a language being more dominant than the maternal one, the latter could as well lose its driving force. This withdrawal could bring to light the differences between the communicative and the symbolic functions of a language, also known as the non-instrumental functions of the native language.

Edwards explains how it is for the ‘outsiders’ of a language to grasp and be able to understand every level of communication. These ‘outsiders’, who have learned a language can develop a very fluent knowledge of the language. Nevertheless, the deeper levels of communication may still remain unknown to them because its technicality cannot be aware of the fact that language and knowledge go much beyond the literal meanings of the words. He continues the argument by saying that full awareness of the ‘expanded’ interaction is only plausible and accessible to the ones who grow within the frame of a single community. (Edwards 2009: 55). A commonly known concept is that every language forms its own entity, each and every single one of them is considered separate and ungraspable by any other. Clearly, no language is better or worse than another. The only logic is that the key element of every language remains its grammar, which according to Edwards, is considered the logic of convention. All languages are potentially equal when it comes to functionality but they are significantly interchangeable in terms of lexicon, grammar, phonology, and not only (Edwards 2009: 60).

Pavlenko and Blackledge (2004: 2) write that today’s world and the way how societies have developed has made it easier to being exposed to a whole new variety of identities. With all due credit to the matter of consumerism, this new exposure has become relatively distinctive because of the various media technologies and the new technological age that is constantly changing. They compare this process of change to the times when the emerging quest for new national identities in the post-colonial and post-communist eras took place. The argument continues with the observation that as the number of multilingual societies increases, there is a tendency of languages becoming more equal to one another. In contrast, the result of this imbalance

14 remains the negotiation between different individuals, majority or minority groups, or even between institutions and those part of it. Over the course of year, several studies have worked on the close relationship between language and identity, particularly in multilingual contexts. Yet, this multifaceted relationship has been insufficiently researched due to the focus on the negotiation of the language choice instead (2004: 3).

The analysis of this thesis will explore the cultural representation of the identity of the bilingual characters in the two selected American television series, Modern Family and Fresh Off the Boat. The title is self-explanatory with regard to the approach of the analysis and the data that is expected to be analyzed. However, there still needs to be a more explicit clarification of what exactly cultural representation is and how does bilingualism affect one’s identity. According to Grosjean (1982: 2), there is no specific statistics regarding the number of bilinguals in the world. Later on, Wald lists the several challenges at defining bilingualism by several scholars and the different aspects that have been added to the case throughout the years. Bloomfield (1933: 56) has defined bilingualism as “native-like control of two languages”. However, his definition has been considered as insufficient to include the experiences of all those who use two or more languages in their lives. On the other hand, Haugen (1953: 32) framed Bloomfield’s theory as “the one pole of the continuum of abilities”. The other pole of the continuum being “the ability to produce complete meaningful utterances in another language” (Wald 1974: 301). In an attempt to determine the extent of ‘bilingualism’ in itself, Diebold (1964: 15) implied that more importance should be dedicated to what he referred to as “passive knowledge”, by explaining that a speaker can fully comprehend a language without necessarily having to produce something out of this ability (Wald 1974: 302)

The spread of bilingualism results in having more language groups and explicitly being concentrated in specific geographical areas. The reason of the spread of bilingualism is quite simple. It happens primarily because different language groups need language(s) to communicate with each other if they are living next to each other. Thus, either one group will learn the language of the other, and/or vice versa, or they will both find a third common language, which in this case would be a lingua franca. Considering America’s long history with colonialism and immigration, significantly there has always been place for an extensive language contact along with enduring bilingualism (Grosjean 1982:104). Many sociolinguists are able to accept the perception that

15 language is simply not just an instrument of communication; it also symbolizes group membership and solidarity. Despite the fact that bilingualism requires skills in both comprehension and communication, there is in fact another unique aspect of it. The phenomenon of code-switching makes for a highly important aspect of bilingualism (1982: 145).

2.3.2. Understanding the functionality of code-switching

Constantly observed in Modern Family, the main bilingual character, Gloria is constantly switching between Spanish, her first language, and English, her second language. Due to the fast pace in learning how to speak her second language, she keeps switching between the two languages repetitively, especially during the first years after she moved to America. As the series develops, in season six, episode twenty, titled ‘Patriot Games’, initiated by the moment when she receives her American citizenship, she mixes up the two languages again. During an argument she has with her Colombian ex-husband heated argument, she forgets the Spanish equivalent of the word ‘cow’. In Spanish she would have said the word ‘vaca’. After the incident, the conversation shifts entirely to English. Much to her own disappointment, her ex-husband Javier states that she is not only forgetting her mother tongue, she is also letting go of her identity.

As per the example, switching is not similar to borrowing a word, as it is not simply putting a word from a different language into a different speech. Code-switching refers to having a complete shift into the other language (Grosjean 1982: 146), however, it is not strictly attached to bilingualism. According to Grosjean, bilinguals are not passionate about code-switching and they do not consider it as a great asset of it because it creates a whole different opinion on bilinguals and their ability to carry across a conversation in one language without mixing the two. Most of the time, bilinguals avoid using code-switching, especially when they are confronted with people with very strict or formal norms concerning language use (1982: 147). To support this argument with an example from the show, in Modern Family, Gloria rarely switches between her two languages when she is at a formal event or setting, or with other people that are not her family. Grosjean continues his argument by saying that bilinguals only reserve their code-switching to close-acquaintances as well as to those who also use code-switching. In Modern Family, Gloria is constantly code-switching when she is with her family, with her son Manny; her husband Jay; her Colombian ex-husband Javier or with Gustavo, Manny’s Spanish speaking high-school janitor. Codeswitching is not a phenomenon that happens on a regular basis, and bilinguals are able to

16 control their use of language and codeswitch only when the people in their surroundings are doing the same or are familiar enough with the whole linguistic amalgamation.

Blue (2013) observed how bilinguals switch between languages. The research concludes that bilinguals who have learned the two languages from early on have two separate language systems; as opposed to the ones who learn a second language later on in life. Therefore, when using two different languages, the case is not that they use a different grammar or vocabulary, but instead focus on the sound system. Consequently, accent becomes present in speech. Blue (2013) concludes that learning a second language at a later point in life, the person would normally be dominant in one of the languages and therefore, uses the sounds system they are most familiar with for the other language, and as such an accent is formed.

From the perspective of bilinguals, the process of code-switching is considered negative to some extent because they reflect that “[switching] is done out of laziness, and that it can become dangerous if it is used on a regular basis” (Grosjean 1982: 155). In spite of all the arguments that prove against it, there are other arguments asserting that in certain bilingual or multilingual contexts, code-switching becomes the standard the reason behind which could be that the speakers may “lack facility in one language when a particular topic is being discussed”(1982: 155). This also occurs because an accurate word or expression cannot simply be found at that given instant, and in cases when the language does not contain the appropriate translation, code-switching is used instead. English has inevitably become an essential part of every culture and language, and similarly, every language is compatible with others; thus, code-switching is not always the answer. The irregularity between production and comprehension will always exist in the complex trajectory of language acquisition. Certain other aspects should be considered as a bilingual, and more attention should be given to the intricate relationship between language and identity. In fact, stating that identity is relatively a complex notion, is in fact one of the definitions that denotes all the designed meaning and references.

Additionally, the paradigm of having ‘bilingualism’ and ‘biculturalism’ put at the same level requires equal attention as the aforementioned issues. By implication, these two concepts would at first refer to the same matter. Being a bilingual gives you other opportunities of mingling and becoming one with the crowd. However, putting the two under the same category does not quite do justice to the representation they both imply. Bilingualism and biculturalism are not the

17 same and they define two different aspects of culture and language respectively. Consequently, having acquired one of these aspects does not guarantee you have the other, since they can but are not necessarily interchangeable. While focusing on the accreditation of culture and becoming a bicultural person, Grosjean (1982: 340) points out that the term that differentiates the two concepts is instead acculturation.

Through acculturation, we are able to define the phenomenon that occurs when teenagers reject the shift that happens when switching from one culture to the other, along with the language. As a result, children become monolingual, because of either attending school and primarily their surroundings that have a rather bigger influence than first assumed. Their dominance in one single language comes as a consequence of two explanations. Firstly, because some specific linguistic paradigms are difficult to create in one of the languages. Secondly, the individual, in this case the child, could as well be more exposed to or/and may be in need of one language more than another. In conclusion, the main reason for this focus on one particular language is simply because the person has experienced greater exposure to that one language and is in bigger need of that language to communicate with others in their proximity (1982: 341). Hence, the two terms do not specifically refer to the same notion. Bilingualism can coexist with biculturalism, since one person is not restricted to attaining the two qualities. One can be bilingual but not necessarily bicultural, since bilingualism is essentially connected to the languages one acquires. However, biculturalism, known as bicultural identity, predominantly refers to the ability to identify oneself with two separate cultures, not significantly related to one another.

Unlike bilingualism, where the two languages can be set apart, biculturalism normally does not consider the two cultures apart from one another. There are other people who do not feel like they belong to either one of the cultures assigned and these people are called “marginal” (1982: 342). Culture is socially acquired and therefore, is essentially transmitted through language, whereas biculturalism refers to the coexistence or the combination of the two. However, the question that arises is if monolinguals are in theory assigned to one single culture, then in the adverse case, bilinguals or multilinguals would belong to two or more cultures. Grosjean argues against this theory, judging that bilingualism and biculturalism certainly do not have to coexist. Inevitably, there are people who will use the two languages on a daily basis but, in fact, are monocultural.

2.4. Cultural representation in the televised media

At first glance, mediatized language can be considered as a case of particular collected data which includes certain words, idioms, sentence structures and even different styles of language use, both written or spoken (Durant and Lambrau 2009: 2). Oral storytelling is one of the oldest forms of communication. As a consequence, television becomes the medium bringing the story to life, both audibly and visually. It is solely another medium of communication where its primary purpose is entertainment and awareness. According to Lorenzo-Dus (1995: 17), this explains why television is constantly on the lookout for new content, as well as new ways of storytelling. Storytelling that is transmitted through television achieves a basic function, that of representing people and their diversity in everyday life interactions. In this way, television uses storytelling in a practice that visually embodies the constructed identities set in the society and brought to the audience in much simpler and comprehensible terms. There is always the question of being able to tell the truth in order to spread awareness.

Consequently, being able to tell reality apart from ‘televised reality’ is what primarily differs between fiction and non-fictionalized stories, both sharing in common the plausible inspiration from a real-life story. This balanced dichotomy is what in the world of television culture is commonly referred to as ‘reel versus real’. Storytelling is essentially the main implementation that people can use in order to access and reach out to the larger audience, and thus, connect with the world. (1995: 17). Lorenzo-Dus continues by asserting that storytelling can be implemented in two separate ways, namely the world and the realm of the story. In the ‘world’ method, stories are considered real, using their own characters and storylines. In the ‘realm’ method, the project functions as a space where discourse takes place and so does the storytelling. All in all, every documentation and plotline of a reality show, television series, documentaries, talk shows contribute some truth to the general story or message they intend to spread awareness on; they all grasp and show specific aspects of reality (1995: 38).

2.4.1. Channeling American cultural theories

In episode five of season seven of Modern Family, titled “The Verdict”, the character of Gloria refers to what it means to be an American for her, from the effect it has had on her life and the one of her son Manny. Coming from Latin America, a place that is neither culturally not socially similar to America, she notes how little the ‘real’ Americans in her family appreciate the fact of being American citizens and everything it means in their lives. She specifically addresses the case to Jay, who does not seem to be as excited to participate in jury duty. Gloria however, takes of great honor. In line 634, she expresses: “Jay, you’re a bad American. [It] is a privilege to serve on a jury”. Burgett and Hendler (2007: 17) writes that “As Americans we prize freedom”. However, this statement may seem restricted to US citizens only, but in the context of the series it is positioned in concordance with the wider understanding of “shared values, not just passports”. In Fresh Off the Boat, however, there are opposite responses by the couple Jessica and Louis, played by Constance Wu and Randall Park, on the whole process of serving on a jury duty. In episode “The Taming of the Dads”, Jessica does not realize the importance and honor of serving in a jury. Louis is the one who talks to her about the significance behind the action once she is an American. For that reason, “[…] jury is something every American should do”.

In present times, the entitlement of the status of a citizen is considered to be related to nationalism. Citizenship is equivalent to the relationship that exists among people who consider the status as a common aspect of their identity in a given sociocultural, historical or familiar environment. Burgett and Hendler (2007: 37) argues that in return of the support and security that the state offers, the same is required from the people of the country; to love and take pride of their country. More significantly, the status of a citizen is considered to be the essence of their identification when in comparison to others. It all comes down to being a question of insiders versus outsiders. However, this is constantly conferred as a political, social and cultural challenge because it exemplifies the manifold criticism on the meaning of citizenship and its limitations.

The word ‘family’ is one of the most extensively used words and topics nowadays and not only. All mediums of transmissions, including television, theater, and cinema have family as their primary chosen topic. The important role that family has played in American culture has been through a relatively long history (Burgett and Hendler 2007:112). It has assisted to the dichotomy of dismantling the unknown from the familiar, and defining the normal and the nonstandard. It is

20 noted how usually the term ‘family’ has been closely associated with the middle class. In this way, it was possible to represent the acceptance of a domestic home whose inhabitants are related by blood and “are of the same lineage” as the definition of domestic in the world of entertainment. However, Americans and the American culture sees it differently. During the last decades society has adopted a more nonconventional and inclusive version of the sociocultural meaning and representation of the word ‘domestic’ and ‘family’. Due to the two world wars, and the economic upheavals, the United States was able to spread a different concept of family and household from early on. This inspired the formation of blended families with members that were not related by blood (2007: 112). The non-traditional notions of the nuclear family and blood relations have been primarily conceptualized through adoption.

Since this analysis will be focusing on these two specific American television series, a lot can be disclosed about the medium of television and its influence on American culture and society in general. Both of the series, Modern Family and Fresh Off the Boat, are considered comedy visualizations of reality. When Modern Family first aired in 2009, it was referred to as a mockumentary, a series depicting real life with a pinch of satire, sarcasm and mockery. This is how television comedy was first considered to be showcased in this series. Mundy and White (2012: 100) write about the functionality of comedy and laughter in American television. The system of writing comedy for a larger audience makes the well-known American sitcoms more homogeneous. Thus, the density of jokes becomes a standard version of comedy in America (2012: 104). Normally, television series run in seasons, where one season contains from fifteen up to twenty-four episodes. Depending on the success of the series, they can run up to more than ten seasons and have a successful and profitable run. Therefore, during the production of one particular season, the writers and the director, along with the audience of the show have the chance to react and see firsthand what is working best for the series in terms of improvement and adaptability. However, judging by the large number of series that are being produced at recent times and the duration of the series itself, Mundy and White argue that series have become significantly less stable and predictable over time.

In the consumerist society we all share today people are ‘fighting’ for ideas that sell and succeed in the world of entertainment to give them longevity. Nevertheless, with the series becoming more unpredictable, the change of the leading cast becomes necessary, which can be a

21 risky task to take on. Therefore, the series’ debut season and especially its first episode, normally referred to as ‘The Pilot’, is rather important to will predict the success of the series. One thing that the authors have emphasized is that Americans like jokes (2012: 104). The situation comedy is the predominant comedy form of television entertainment in the USA. The genre of sitcom we know today has developed out of the variety sketch. Then, it has then adapted to the regular broadcasting of radio to then turn into the most efficient form of delivering comedy within the television medium. As a result, the sitcom is the outcome of the interplay between the comic impetus of all comedy and the specifics of television (Mills 2009:23)

The genre of sitcom is noticeably similar to narrative, which is indirectly linked to a form of drama. What makes the sitcom different is the fact that its practicality is distinctively different from other television genres. For instance, the reality that Modern Family was able to portray for over ten years is what made this series different from the other family sitcoms; setting its own irreplaceable mark in the comedy genre. Another unique aspect about this series is the filming, including the storyline and screenplay. During each episode, the characters sit in the form of an interview and talk to the audience, sharing their thoughts and opinions on a more personal level. This way it allows for the possibility of connecting with the audience. With this technique the audience indirectly becomes part of the series and the story.

Mundy and White add that there is another key point when discussing the consumability of a sitcom. The use of stereotypes is extremely significant for a sitcom’s durability. Feuer (1992: 154) emphasizes that there is certain dichotomy that illustrates two types of characters. On the one hand, ‘flat characters’, which are the ones that typically embody the stereotype, are then less progressive, less deep or complicated. Consequently, these characters fail to relate to the general audience. On the other hand, a rounder and more complex character allows the audience to laugh along with them and easily relate to these characters, thus clarifying the main difference between the two types of characterization. With that said, it supports the argument made by Lovell which states that somehow realism in the representation of social reality conveys conservatism instead (2012: 106). In addition, Lovell argues that “the stronger the referencing of social reality, the less subversive sitcoms tend to be” (Lovell1982: 30). What Feuer proved regarding the main difference between the flat and the round character is clearly demonstrated in the series. In Modern Family, Gloria, a beautiful young woman from Colombia, mother of Manny, marries Jay, a white divorced

22 middle-aged American man. In this series, there are several moments where references are made to Gloria and the entire Latin community. Judging by the spectrum and the progression of the series, it is possible to say that Gloria’s character is the one that goes through the biggest character development. Her character is a mix of both a flat character (stereotype) and a round complex character, because it is easy to laugh at her and at the same time, laugh along with her. Gloria is indeed a living stereotype and she is not afraid to admit it both on and off camera. Sofia Vergara, the actress who plays Gloria Delgado, has admitted several times that she has taken inspiration by her real-life aunt and mother to play the character of Gloria. Therefore, the show displays some stereotypes and admittedly makes the audience laugh at Gloria. This occurs since it is difficult to avoid the stereotypes and represent reality without crossing the thread that divides the two sides of character representation. The character of Gloria in Modern Family makes it clearly visible how her character represents a Colombian woman living in America, as closely as they could get to representing the realness behind her character. She is portrayed as a fearless and strong woman, along with her moments of vulnerability, making her a highly likeable and relatable character. Hence, she holds a lot of depth and breaks the stereotype regarding the possible superficial representation of the non-American characters in American television series.

2.4.2. Detecting the stereotype

Each of the characters in the series Fresh Off the Boat is unique and specific in their own terms. However, Jessica’s bond with the rest of the members of her family stands out. Her character has a distinctive accent, which is one of her main characteristics. The presence of accents, in an intrinsic way weaves into the questionable yet fluctuating thread that separates stereotypical sarcasm and accurate representation. After all, the series is based on a real-life story and thus, there is no place for misrepresentation or misuse of stereotypes. Fresh Off the Boat is the first Asian American television series with Asian leads in more than twenty years. This simply reveals that it has come to a point of breaking the stereotype and the cultural norms set by society. It should not be overlooked how these Asian American leads are the main protagonists and not simply part of the supporting cast to a presumably white American lead. This gives them a platform to be represented in a convincing approach. Therefore, in Fresh Off the Boat, the producers of the show are breaking the mold of the stereotypical Asian representation, although some of these ‘stereotypical’ behaviors can be disputed.

One of the stereotypical behaviors in this series, is definitely depicted by the exuberant presence of accents in its characters, especially the character of Jessica. Constance Wu, the actress who played Jessica Huang, admitted in an interview with Time magazine that accent is simply a part of the life of an immigrant. She adds that “It’s just a fact of life: immigrants have accents”. In particular, when people first move to another country, there will be an accent. Yet, this should not be attributed as a shameful feature in the life of an immigrant, or consider it as a chance to base stereotypes on. For this reason, accuracy is of high importance because once the message is spread, people associate that character to the rest of the people of that culture. However, that is not always the case. This issue is presented in the episode “Good Morning Orlando”. Louis, in an attempt to be funny, becomes the stereotype wrongfully represented on television years ago by the movie Sixteen Candles. Constance Wu continues in her interview saying that “every immigrant knows they don’t speak perfect English, […] they have different customs, […] don’t think there’s any reason for them not to have a voice”. She emphasizes the importance of having a voice and primarily having Asians in leading roles because it contributes to “change […] the Anglo- heteronormative status of television”. Unquestionably, all cultures are varied and different within themselves and as such, Fresh Off the Boat does not specifically represent or give a voice to all Asians. After all, there will be some group of people who will not identify themselves with what is being represented in the series. However, Wu states that “[Fresh Off the Boat] should not, by all means be a voice for all Asians; […] we’re given this burden because we’re so rarely represented” (Teeney 2015).

With regard to the concluding argument previously made by Feuer, saying that all representation of realism in social reality conveys conservatism, there is obviously a lot of veracity to the argument. Modern Family has been criticized several times for the irony and paradoxicality that the show and its title represent. The main reason for this criticism is the way the plotline and the general character development are presented in discordance with the title. The latter presumes that the story along and the message they want to convey is rather modern-day reality. However, despite the assertion of the title itself, the series somehow falls prey to moderate conservatism. Many critics were not pleased with how the series’ title goes against what the show is supposed to portray. After all, the series presents the white patriarchal middle-class family which mostly supports the concepts of togetherness and family. That considered, Lovell’s point finds a perfect example in this series.

On the other hand, the series Fresh Off the Boat is inspired by the real-life story of the celebrity Eddie Huang. The story, which dates back in the mid-1990s, follows the lives of the Huangs, once they relocate from Chinatown in Washington D.C. to Orlando in search of a better future. It additionally portrays glimpses of reality and stereotypes, with its main focus being a comedy family sitcom. Jessica, portrays the mother who keeps the family attached to their roots, wanting to celebrate the diversity in their intercultural lives. Her eldest son, Eddie is the one who avoids any connection to his heritage as he sees it as an obstacle to fit in the American society. He considers himself an outsider, as he is yet to find the balance between his bilingual and bicultural identity.

As Kramsch (1998: 8) added that “to identify themselves as members of a community, people have to define themselves as insiders against others who identify as outsiders”. Such being the case of Eddie, where during the first season, he is constantly looking to be part of group and fit in the society; thus, to become an insider. Mundy and White conclude that the fundamental principle of the situation comedy is that nothing changes in the end as there is no consequent transformation of society. In Modern Family, at the end of every episode, there is a two to three- minute long reflection that is voiced by one of the characters present in that specific episode. Through this reflection, they are able to realize their faults and accept their mistakes, while eventually learning to come to terms with it. And as such there is no radical change emerging in the end. They simply learn and reflect on how they are willing to adapt to situations they may find unusual. The unique part at the end of each episode is the self-realization and the message the characters in the series convey; presenting a similar life situation which the audience can easily relate to or find themselves in.

2.4.3. Media discourse

The settings where a situation comedy is best set is the domestic one, which as a coincidence is also the case in both of the series chosen for this analysis. In 2003, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) ran a poll for the best UK produced sitcom, only to find out that the dominant sub-genre is the domestic sitcom. What is meant by ‘domestic’ is that the story and the characters are set in a living space or home environment, no matter whether the people inhabiting it are friends or family (Mundy and White 2012: 108). Perhaps the reason why this genre is so successful is because many people can relate to it and thus, it is the closest to depicting reality as accurately as

25 possible. The American equivalents of the results of the British poll would be: I love Lucy (1951- 1957), Friends (1994-2004), and Two and A Half Men (2003-2015), to name a few. These results showed how nuclear family sitcoms serve as the subgenre of the larger domestic sitcoms, representing about one third of the domestic sitcom in total.

Mundy and White write about the importance of remembering that the traditional sitcom is the background of innovation, judging from the success of the American family sitcoms such as Father knows best (1954-196) The Cosby Show (1984-1992), Family Ties (1982-1989), Married…with Children (1987-1997), and so on. These family sitcoms and the success of this genre, in particular, point out the obvious, that is the high popularity of this genre among American viewers (2012: 105). Variety sketch was the genre that developed into the sitcom, which later became the most efficient method of transmitting delivering comedy through television. In the American mainstream television, a typical television sitcom would last up to twenty-two minutes Attallah (2003: 107) states that the great success that the family sitcom has achieved over the years has managed to transform into the dominant metaphor for all the North American television. At the same time there is a recurrent questionability whether the importance that is given to this genre is used in a repetitive order in order to maintain the successful trajectory.

At a first instance, mediatized language can be considered a case of particular collected data. This data can include certain words, idioms, sentence structures and even different styles of language use, insignificantly of it being written or spoken, for which needs to be later discussed in the fixed context (Durant and Lambrau 2009: 2). Considering that language is shaped within a certain context that is being offered, media as such can be viewed as “a specialized kind of system, and more specifically, a structure of words, images, music and sound effects governed by rules or conventions” (2009: 5). No matter how different the approaches might be, the various understandings of ‘media language’ are nevertheless connected. Communication includes a medium or different media. Being able to understand the language of media means looking into the various patterns of communication. What makes both language and the media worth discussing as a common topic is their correlation to the ways we look at the media discourse. The diverse styles of language use in the media come as a reflection of the accessibilities the society has on media technologies, and demonstrates the several perspectives the society embodies. At the end, being able to understand the different approaches of language comprehension in relation with the

26 media, allows us to shift the focus to the specific idioms, styles and genres. In times of uncertainty and lack of predictability, the only constant which has been proven by research is that the future of media will emphasize several innovative and significant methods means of representation (2009: 7).

2.5. Critical Discourse Analysis in a nutshell

Widely known, used and discussed, the term ‘discourse’ has attained several meanings in different disciplines and most importantly in linguistics. The conventional practice in linguistics has always been to describe spoken language using discourse analysis as the study of speech acts in different contexts. After further research, the term has also been widely used in social and cultural theory, especially in the remarkable works of theorists and scholars such as the French philosophers, Michel Foucault, Pierre Bourdieu, and the Russian Mikail Bakhtin.

According to Van Dijk, (1993: 9) the use of the term ‘discourse’ in social theory is perceived in its general terms in order to include several components and theoretical practices. Firstly, it includes the spoken and written discourse. Secondly, it focuses on the direct social context within which the speaking and writing takes place. Thirdly, it emphasizes the broader historical, social and cultural contexts within which the language is fixed. In this way, the discourse allows us to define and restrict what is possible to say and do in accordance to the rules and laws of a particular society. A key method in working with discourse analysis is the widely known approach of Critical Discourse Analysis, or CDA, which has been greatly influenced by Foucault. Based in critical linguistics, primarily the works of theorists like Fowler, Hodge, Kress, and Trew (1989), Van Dijk and Fairclough were among the first theorists who established this approach in the early 1990s. From then onwards, Wodak (1989; 1995; 2001; 2009), along with other works has given a valuable contribution to the development and improvement of this approach.

The specifics of Critical Discourse Analysis stand in the fact that it emerges from linguistic analysis along with the social and cultural theories. This happens in order to interpret the ideologies and assumptions that occur in language, which are mainly related to power. Critical Discourse Analysis identifies that “texts and language are essentially a form of social practice” (Fairclough and Wodak, 1997: 258). In this case, Critical Discourse Analysis develops further and places the linguistic analysis within the wider frame of discourse practices, only found in the sociocultural practices. Therefore, any kind of interaction between every aspect of language use turns into a

27 topic of analysis. In this way, CDA becomes both a theory and a method. Primarily, CDA is the outcome of analyzing the relationship between language, power and authority, including the ways in which language contains and constructs social reality and inequality. Many critics of CDA like Blommaert (2005: 37), made the claim that this approach diminishes and disregards the historical aspect of discourse. Both power and inequality have gone through long transformational and processes od ‘becoming’, just like the linguistic collections or social structures and systems have.

3. Methodology and data

The distinctive differences between Critical Discourse Analysis and other kinds of methodologies is due to the socio-pragmatic and sociolinguistic approach attached to it, which becomes the basics of CDA. This methodology does not pertain to one single approach and therefore, receives all kinds of interest from several other research fields Locke (2004:19). However, it specifies how more social scientific research is needed to clear up any kind of ambiguity between this method and its researchers. Generally speaking, CDA is able to ask and answer many questions that are not simply limited to one specific field of studies. This is what makes it more open to perspectives and other components imposing on the discourse. Yet, on the other hand, this lack of limitations makes it easier to narrow down and keep to one particular aspect. Critical Discourse Analysis is a methodology that is bound to learn more about power relations on a profound level. Any discourse analysis based in CDA is able to “derive results of practical relevance” (2004:19).

A lot of the understanding that these discourses bring about can only be fully grasped in close relation to the contexts in which they occur. As a consequence, it depends thoroughly on other features that are not necessarily linguistical, such as culture and society, and the intricate ways of how these factors become interconnected with the method. For this reason, the methodology and the findings depend massively on the way the research is combined with the contextual sociocultural and political background put in comparison with the research ideologies. This notion is crucial to simplify the concept of Critical Discourse Analysis since it goes beyond linguistic aspects, including the socio-psychological aspects as well as the political ones (2004: 19). As such, this methodology calls for an interdisciplinary process of research and analysis. Depending on the theoretical framework that is selected for the research, one can decide whether interdisciplinarity is needed both for the collection of the data as well as the analysis.

When differentiating between Critical Discourse Analysis and other types of discourse analyses, the relevance of the relationship between language and society and the way this relationship intervenes with the analysis should be considered. In CDA, this relationship is not presumed to be the only one defining the analysis. However, it does highlight the importance of mediation in the discourse (Locke 2004: 20). What adds to the characteristics of CDA is the fact that linguistic categories are integrated differently into these analyses. This is not completed essentially in the same form but shifts the focus of the analysis into other directions. This process does not imply that researchers are obliged to include all focus areas into one analysis, but they can choose which one of these aspects is a better fit for the analysis.

Locke concludes that diversity and interdisciplinarity is what defines this methodology best. It works with different aspects of linguistics; socio-cultural as well political contexts and the shift is decided by how each of the researchers decides on their own work ethics. The common ground for all researchers is that they all share a certain interest in the socially inflicted processes of power, hierarchy, exclusion and subordination. In its most traditional and basic critical theory, CDA deals with matters of social disparities and inequalities reflected and constituted through discourse. It then focuses mainly on the linguistic exemplification of how the “privileged stabilize or intensify inequalities in society” (Locke 2004: 21). This particular analysis requires detailed attention to the differentiation between the description and its interpretation so as to reach a clearer and unbiased transparency of the analysis. Locke concludes that these opposing views and criticism on the functionality of the methodology has brought nothing but great attention to the field, only encouraging more research and reflections to be carried out on the subject.

3.1. Using Critical Discourse Analysis in practice

Van Dijk (1993: 253) adds on how this methodology takes a sociopolitical stance, and as such every perspective and principles are put into the framework of the respective societies or disciplines. He supports the argument previously made by Fairclough (1985) and Locke (2004) that all researchers dealing with CDA are required to be multidisciplinary; including different aspects from every field that their research is directly related to. In concrete, the researchers need to become social and political scientists given the fact they are also performing social criticism and activism. In this way, it is also presumed CDA is a normative approach (1993: 253). Fairclough states that this is a difficult and multilayered approach that requires far more commitment from its

29 scholars than any other approach does due to its complexity. Among its other requirements, it essentially involves interdisciplinarity to understand the intricate relationships between text, discourse practice and sociocultural practice” (Fairclough 1995: 28).

The criteria selected for this method further imply the need for more scholarly work to be carried. Through all this work, the scholars and researchers are able to monitor the formation of theory, the analytical method and the procedures that need to be followed so that more research can take place. In conclusion, both power and dominance are carefully balanced in accordance with the control and access they have over a particular discourse. This however does not suggest that it represents another form of social control (Van Dijk 1993: 257). Through the use of social cognition, it is therefore possible to monitor all the interdisciplinary relations within discourse, communication and other forms of interaction. CDA focuses on specific words and phrases that reveal more about the context and the problem in question. As such, it is a detailed description and criticism of the various ways that indirectly have an impact on a society with shared knowledge and ideologies. Critical Discourse Analysis is therefore a variation of the research method such as discourse analysis, with a particular focus on studying the way how social and power abuse, dominance and inequality are interpreted and represented through the medium of text or talk in several social contexts (Van Dijk, 2001, 352).

On the other hand, Fairclough defines Critical Discourse Analysis as a big umbrella term under which scholars are able to work with different theories that are, however, limited to additionally investigate the use and reproduction of ideologies in language (Fairclough, 1992). It requires far more research into all the political, gender or media discourses and more specifically, how several groups are represented or misrepresented in other cases. Critical Discourse Analysis has already received lots of criticism and disagreement upon it, mainly concerning the ideology and concepts that it embodies. Some critics argue that many concepts and models of analysis that CDA exemplifies are yet unclear. Other viewpoints include how more attention should be given to the length and arbitrary selection of the texts, leading up to certain concerns about having proper credibility with what these texts represent in the wider frame. As a result, these limitations would create a certain difficulty in drawing a conclusion from the analysis (Lanchukorn 2017).

Despite all the critical views that CDA has received, it still helps in increasing the ability to describe the text and also reveal all the ideologies that are hidden within the text (Machin and Mayr, 2012: 25). However, there should be a certain organizational system set when collecting the data, and it should be enough in order to provide a representative sample. This should help to make the analysis “transparent so that any reader can trace and understand the thorough textual analysis” (Wodak and Mayr, 2011, 11). Nevertheless, just as much effort should be paid to the description of the methodology as it is equally important to understand where it all comes from and how the analysis takes place.

More precisely, the analysis is separated into three parts: first, extracting specific words and terminology that seems to be in need of revision; secondly, taking into consideration all the ways how the text was produced and interpreted while keeping in mind the readership that has access to that text; and thirdly, analyzing how the borrowed language effects the text in the broader socio-cultural context. Therefore, in a nutshell, Critical Discourse Analysis has a focus on primarily three basic concepts: power, ideology and critique. It studies how a linguistic unit can become an important feature in finding out more about a social or cultural phenomenon. It points out the multi-methodical approach that CDA is; requiring an interdisciplinary analysis focusing not only on the discourse and language use, but also on the sociocultural and political background within which the discourse takes place.

Analyzing the bilingual families in both these series allows for an exploration of their identities in the wider frame of media representation. The focus of this thesis is further divided into three parts. First, I aim to explore how these characters develop as the series progresses and how much attention is given to their identity representation in comparison to the rest of the characters. Secondly, I want to find out how much does the language factor influence their identities and whether bilingualism is considered a difference. Thirdly, I want to discover how does this comparative analysis of representations contributes to the major frame of cultural representation in the media. Through Critical Discourse Analysis, I carry a detailed analysis of the syntactic categories, where I focus on particular phrases and word collocations that are used in the episodes selected. While having a close look at the phrases used to express the concepts of identity, culture and language, the focus on the different aspects of language use while in comparison to the socio-cultural background will be observed.

3.2. Modern Family: An overview

The first series of analysis is Modern Family (2009-2020) which along Fresh Off the Boat (2015- 2020) has been selected as a notable example of mainstream American television. In Modern Family, issues such as identity, bilingualism, and interculturality are discussed and dealt with great attention. These concepts mark the basis of my research. To begin with, this series provides some of the most adequate examples of intercultural representation and bilingual families on American television.

Created by Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan, Modern Family first aired in 2009 and it was produced in the form of a family mockumentary sitcom for (ABC) the American Broadcasting Company. Running for over a decade, the show embodies daily life stories, set in real time portrayed by an ensemble cast. The series follows the lives of Jay Pritchett (Ed O’Neill), and his big extended family, living in the suburbs of Los Angeles, California. His family consists of his second wife Gloria Delgado (Sofia Vergara) and her son Manny, (Rico Rodriguez). The family is completed by his two adult children from his first marriage; Claire Dunphy (Julie Bowen), and Mitchell Pritchett (Jesse Tyler Ferguson), and their respective partners and children. The two distinguishable specifics of ‘modern-ism’ is that Mitchell and his partner Cameron represent the main homosexual couple in the show; and secondly, Jay is married to a younger Latin woman. During the first two seasons of the series, it is clear how Gloria struggles with her broken English, which is full of grammar mistakes and mispronunciations. Gloria has left her country Colombia, along with her son Manny, in search of a better life in America.

Gloria’s character and life story becomes a reflection of the Hispanic women living in the United States, sharing the same struggles and constant strive to fit in and become part of the culture. DeSipio writes that the essence of the contemporary Latino politics in the US is “due to the struggles that the previous generations went through in order to achieve inclusion and becoming part of that society”. This is particularly the case of Gloria in Modern Family; where she had to sacrifice a lot as a working single mother in a culture that was still relatively unfamiliar to her and her son. The Latin community in the United States was able to achieve a big and powerful voice largely during the twentieth and twenty-first centuries during which the expansion of the political organizations and the Latino electoral influence in the fifties, sixties and seventies

32 took place. Therefore, the Latino youth, primarily those born in the USA, were and still continue to be the pioneers of this political and cultural wave.

However, when trying to define Latino identity amidst the US, or simply the people who acquired this term, is to some extent, a common thread that joins all possible labels through its sheer complexity. What the majority of people relate to the most when using the term “Latino” is simply “a major growing force to be reckoned with.” (DeSipio). One of the main issues presented and further elaborated by DeSipio is how the process of assimilation is seen among the interviewees of his research. The main finding was native language proficiency. Gedillo, an LA council Member quoted by DeSipio, adds that “within a short period of time, everybody will have problems talking to their grandmother”. Without a doubt, young Hispanics are more proficient in English than the previous generation, and the younger they are, the more proficient they will be. When talking about the importance of preserving their own culture and heritage, 95% of the Hispanics interviewed by DeSipio believe it is of high importance to preserve their cultural tradition and consequently, their first language Spanish. However, 71% of them argue that they do not need to prove their heritage, in order for them to feel or be considered as Hispanic.

It is rather complicated to find an accurate definition of the term ‘Latino’. Nevertheless, there is a meaningful difference between the two terms ‘Latino’ and ‘Hispanic’. These differences serve as distinctive categorization on why these terms would be used in the first place. The majority of the interviewees by DeSipio prefer using their own country of origin to describe their identity. The difference between the two terms is that ‘Hispanic’ refers to every person whose roots are in Spanish speaking countries, excluding Brazil or Portugal. Whereas the term ‘Latino’ identifies those people whose roots reside in Latin America, thus including Brazil. There have been ongoing debates on the identity issues surrounding the Latino community in the US. At the same time, there is a progress in raising their voices and being heard by others. The character of Gloria and her bilingual family depict all the aforementioned reflections. In this family sitcom, her character is one of the most outstanding and memorable, with due credits to her strong character and significant portrayal of a Latin woman.

3.3. Fresh Off the Boat: An overview

The second series of this analysis is Fresh Off the Boat, produced by 20th Century Fox Television for ABC, the American Broadcasting Company. The main storyline is based on the autobiography of the chef and food expert Eddie Huang, published in 2013. This series follows the lives of the Asian American Family in the 1990s, who migrated from Taiwan to America. At the beginning of the series, the family moves from Chinatown in Washington D.C. to Orlando, Florida; following the father’s longtime dream of opening a farm-themed steakhouse. The bilingual family of the Huangs consists of the parents, Louis (Randal Park) and Jessica Huang (Constance Wu); their three children Eddie (Hudson Yang), Emery (Forrest Wheeler) and Evan (Ian Chen). The family is completed by their grandmother Jenny (Lucille Soong). She is the only monolingual in the family; as she understands English, but can only speak Mandarin.

The series’ six seasons present an overview of the life of an Asian American family in the mid- 1990s. Their story depicts the process of adapting in a new culture and traditions. During the first seasons of the series Jessica is presented as a strong opinionated woman who is at all times in charge of everything. Just like her children, she is not a fan of the relocation, given that they are moved to a totally different place, away from their family and friends. Eddie seeks to fit in immediately into the new society and his new school, and therefore, looks at every possibility he has to mingle and be one with the crowd. In ‘The Pilot’ episode, he specifically tells Jessica “he wants white people food” (line 795), because that would get him to associate with the cool kids of the school, and not be bullied for having a different lunch meal. Jessica is the one who tries her best to keep the Asian culture present in their family. However, it is only a matter of time before they fully immerse into the American lifestyle and culture.

As the series progresses, their lives turn more American than they ever had thought of. Jessica’s friend circle is mostly comprised of American women, who in fact share different interest that her. Yet, she manages to find the common ground so to have new experiences, one of which being partnering with her neighbor friend Honey over a business venture. Her citizenship becomes a crucial point in the series, as concerns over the implication of the citizenship rise up. Jessica’s character development is constant and progressing. She is always looking for different challenges in her life, where she writes her own book which brings about a change in her life. Jessica is constantly reminding their children but also herself of where they come from. At one point, she is

34 concerned whether she has forgotten who she is, given that her lifestyle presumes of an American person. The family is constantly reminded of their heritage and their roots, by Jessica and their grandmother Jenny. Towards the end of the series, Eddie goes to his first cultural exchange program in Taiwan, which proves to bring some lifechanging moments for him and his family.

The series received a lot of criticism, when Fresh Off the Boat first aired in 2015. The title in itself is a derogatory term referring to Asian Americans. Thus, it was considered of presuming of an offensive remark. The term ‘fresh off the boat’ in the everyday language refers to immigrants who behave differently; given they are not used to the culture they have migrated to (Abad Santos, 2015). However, the producers of the series justified the action as “it all depends on who says it”, and the connotation of the phrase in particular contexts. Nowadays, the term is remotely used between Asians, as the term has lost its credibility over the years. The importance of the series focuses on the story and the representation. Given that it was the first television series with Asian leads in twenty years, the success of this series demonstrates how much diversity is appreciated and spikes interest from all audiences. Additionally, it paves the way for the depiction of more diverse topics in mainstream American television.

4. Data categorization of the analysis

After carrying some research on both series in the past year, specific episodes were selected where the notions of cultural identity, bilingualism and belonging are clearly depicted. My own personal viewing of these series has been carried through individually over the years through different television channels and recently through online streaming sites, such as Netflix.com. Since I am personally familiar with the whole content of both series, I mainly focused on the series’ transcripts (SubslikeScript). This made it easier to focus only on the dialogues and parts of discourse carried by the bilingual families. The category of the analysis in Modern Family is titled “Deconstructing Gloria’s and Manny’s cultural identity representation”, as the focus will be on these two bilingual characters and their family. This category has three undersections that have been labelled as subcategory 1: “The display of Latin identity”; subcategory 2: “The importance of traditions” and subcategory 3: “Language barriers”. In total, more than thirty episodes were analyzed for this research. The classification of the selected episodes chosen under these subcategories has been further explained in Table. Nr. 1 “Distribution of the Modern Family episodes into subcategories”; where additional information can be found in the appendix.

Table 1: “Classification of the Modern Family episodes into subcategories”

Deconstructing Gloria’s (and Manny’s) identity representation Modern Family Seasons Subcategory 1 Subcategory 2 Subcategory 3 The display of Latin identity The importance of traditions Language barriers 1 1.The Pilot 6.Run for your wife 4.The incident 10.Undeck the halls 5.Coal Digger 18.Starry night 2 2.The kiss 6.Halloween 10.Dance Dance Revelation

3 11. Lifetime supply 24. Baby on board

4 5.Open house of horrors 11.New Year’s Eve 19.The future Dunphys 13. Fulgencio 5 19. A hard Jay’s night 3. Larry’s wife 6 22. Patriot Games 7.Queer Eyes, Full Hearts 7 5.The Verdict 6.The More you Ignore Me 9. White Christmas 8 1.A tale of three cities 9 6.Ten years later 10 13.Whanex 17.The wild

4.1. Deconstructing the bilingual character(s) in Modern Family

When studying the character of Gloria, the first qualities of hers that stand out are her broken English, her strong Latin personality and her thick accent. More specifically, through the analysis of this character and her bilingual family, I want to find out where this character development stands in the fine thread that separates representation from stereotyping. Thus, through this demarcation it is possible to reveal the importance of creating a strong and memorable character in relatable contexts. Clearly, she does not represent the entire Latin community as that would be an indisputable generalization. Yet, she was inspired by her real-life mother and aunt to depict the character of Gloria in the most realistic and relevant way possible. For this reason, her representation is considered authentic and crucial for further research.

Gloria’s identity has been constructed around her bilingual personality and the way she switches from one language to the other seamlessly. In reviewing her journey in the series, more characteristics and elements ought to be clarified in the following subcategories. In the first subcategory “The display of the Latin identity”, there is a collection of the times when the character of Gloria as a Latin woman is taken into account. More specifically, the series also focuses on her entitlement and reputation she has to uphold given the Latin background she retains.

The second subcategory titled “The importance of traditions” is reasonably self-explanatory. It reflects the great significance and influence the traditions of her culture have in her life and her identity. This influence directly shifts to the life of her son Manny. Since he represents the younger generation it is possible to observe how the narrative changes in this case. In this case, Manny tends to take a step back and dissociate with that part of his identity so it does not influence his life on a significant level. This constant shift of narratives is brought to the attention of the audience more vividly whenever Gloria’s family visits, mainly her mother Pilar and sister Sonia. Whenever her mother and sister visit, she switches to Spanish and blends in the same as she was when she lived in Colombia. She is fairly loud and overly expressive. This serves a reference to her old self, which to some extent, she puts aside when living her ‘normal’ American life. The third subcategory “Language barriers” touches upon the question of her language barriers which is most certainly the most present and recurring topic in her life and her character development. Interestingly enough, during the first seasons of the series, Gloria’s broken English and distinctive thick accent

37 is an irreplaceable part of her character build up. On the other hand, towards the other half of the series, her English gets relatively better and in the last two seasons her accent clearly dissolves.

4.1.1. Subcategory 1: “The display of the Latin identity”

The audience is introduced to the character of Gloria in the “Pilot” episode. She and her husband Jay are seen present at her son Manny’s soccer practice. They are interrupted when one of the people present at the soccer practice comments on Jay’s slow movements. He is consequently referred to being a much older guy compared to his young wife, thus mistaken to be Gloria’s father instead. The first impression we get of her character is the fierce, strong, and proud Colombian mother who would do anything to protect her son. This is why she argues with one of the soccer kids’ moms, since one of them commented on Manny’s bad skills at playing soccer. Therefore, wanting to justify her character, the creators of the series focus on displaying her strong mentality and upbringing. By emphasizing on how loud and impulsive she is, one can get a clearer image of her character background.

Fig. 1. Gloria (Sofia Vergara) and Jay (Ed O’Neill) during the “Pilot” episode.

Gloria: We’re very different. He’s from the city. He has big business. I come from a small village, very poor, but very, very beautiful. It’s the number one village in north Colombia for all the…? What’s the word?

Jay: Murders.

Gloria: Yes, the murders.

The portrayal of her character fits within the frame of the living stereotype. She is the epitome of the beautiful young woman, who at the same time is not afraid to speak her mind. Gloria is also extremely caring and sensitive when it comes to her family. In the dialogue presented above, she admits that she and Jay are two poles apart, given that their differences are discernable. In addition to their age difference, they come from two different cultural backgrounds. Jay is presented as the patriarch of the family. He is a wise man of very few words, and clearly not as expressive or emotional as his wife Gloria. He assumes a reputation and a certain personality to uphold as the head of the family. Their son Manny, however, is perceived as too mature for his age, as pointed out several time by his family. He is a hopeless romantic, extremely well-behaved and an intelligent young man. During the first season, Gloria still believes that she and Manny are unwelcome by the family; especially by Jay’s daughter Claire. Given that they share the same age, Gloria senses that Claire is not content with her father’s new wife. In episode four of season one, titled “The Incident”, the selected dialogues portray how the entire family reflects on the incident incited by Jay’s first wife Dede at Gloria’s and Jay’s wedding. Due to Dede’s intoxication, she throws some offensive remarks towards Gloria, implying that she is another gold digger1. Gloria reflects how her first wedding took place. She had gotten married in a judge’s office in Colombia, where “drug dealers burst in and assassinated the judge”. Thus, she takes a hint at how loud and confusing her culture can be. Despite her disastrous first wedding, she implies that her wedding with Jay “was even worse” (line 27), because of the incident triggered by Dede. Gloria is never apologetic when talking about the life in her home country. Her expressions have always been honest, and regardless of the chaotic world she presumes it to be, she still respects her home country and is particularly proud of where she comes from.

1 A woman who associates with or marries a rich man in order to get valuables from him through gifts or divorce settlements (WordWeb).

The discourse she applies to explain her background in this episode, implies that her life has always been full of drama and so has her family. However, in the end of this episode she accepts Dede’s apologies in order to restore piece in her family. Thus, her character is given a lot of scope to change the stereotypical presumptions that surrounded her. In episode five of season one, titled “Coal Digger”, the story presents the assumptions that some family members had regarding Gloria. During a family dinner, Luke, Claire’s son and Manny jokingly discuss how they would make fun of their respective mothers’ characteristics. Then, Luke jokingly mentions how Gloria used to be a coal digger. He clearly misheard the term gold digger used by his mother Claire to talk about Gloria behind her back. Gloria then confesses to Claire that “[…] from the beginning, I feel like Manny and I are not welcome in this family […] it's not so crazy. It's how I feel” (line 33). Claire adds that she has tried her best to make them feel welcome but it has also been hard on her given that “[…] you don’t expect to wake up one morning with a new mom who looks like she fell off a mud flap. But I’m getting used to it”. She continues by stating that “the most important thing is you make him happy, which you do […]” (line 91).

Fig. 2. Claire (Julie Bowen) and Gloria (Sofia Vergara) during the episode “Come Fly with Me”

In addition to her loving and nurturing character, Gloria is also an extremely proud Colombian. During the first seasons, she is a living example of a Latin woman. She constantly gives credits to her home country for raising her the way she is and for giving her the values she possesses. Through her first years of marriage, she runs through trouble trying to switch between different cultures and traditions. Gloria’s identity as a bilingual is compromised whenever she has to differentiate between her identity as a Colombian and that of an American. The clear difference is

40 put to display whenever she encounters parts of her life before she married Jay. Going back to her old workplace at a beauty salon, or looking at her old advertisements make her realize how much her life and her personality have changed. Most importantly, she comes to realize how her identity has adapted to a life of comfort that she once though would never be possible.

This particular concept is depicted in episode nineteen of season one, “Starry night”. Mitchell’s partner Cameron decides to take Gloria out for dinner at a fancy restaurant to make her feel more welcome in the family. Gloria rejects the choice of the restaurant, and instead suggests they go to a local Latin place she used to go when she first moved to America. As they enter the restaurant, she becomes livelier, switches to Spanish when she talks to the waiter, and has traditional food from her home country. In a way, Gloria goes back to her life before she married Jay whenever she misses her old self; as a reminder of how much her life has changed. In episode five of the fifth season, “A hard Jay’s night”, Gloria and Phil visit her old neighborhood since she is trying to sell her old apartment. In the way, she comes across the place where she used to work. As she enters the beauty parlor, she immediately switches to Spanish. Everybody laughs at her jokes, making her realize how “nobody in her white family” thinks she is funny. After their visit at the beauty parlor, Phil makes Gloria realize there might be another reason behind her decision to not sell the apartment just yet. Gloria explains:

I don't know. I guess it just makes me feel a little ashamed […] It's just that, you know, before, when I used to live here, I used to work for every penny […] I would stand on my own two feet. Now I just stand on expensive shoes that Jay buys for me. [That apartment] is the last piece of the old me.

To some extent, she feels embarrassed for living a life so different from her old one, and for having such a luxurious life provided for her. Phrases like stand on my own two feet and last piece of the old me add to the argument that she has to conform to the fact that she already lives a different life. These phrases and this episode in particular, serves as a closing remark to the struggle of trying to balance between her past and her present. The next group of episodes in this analysis will depict how Gloria’s identity eventually adapts to the American culture. In season six, episode twenty- two, titled “Patriot Games”, Gloria finally decides to apply for the American citizenship. However, she goes through some uncertainties when Javier, Manny’s father, questions her decision of

41 applying for the citizenship. Javier adds: “Manny told me about your plans to abandon your Colombian roots. If only you could let that 2go as easily as your homeland” (line 603).

Fig. 3: Javier (Benjamin Bratt) and Gloria (Sofia Vergara)

In their heated discussion conducted in Spanish, she forgets the Spanish word for “cow”. And immediately utters the English equivalent. The entire discourse then switches to English. Javier directly questions her how she could forget her own mother tongue, while Gloria defends herself by saying “it had simply slipped her mind” (line 607). According to Javier, this is a sign of her giving up her nationality, her roots and more importantly, her identity. She is furious at him for interfering in her life decisions, denying him the right to do so. Eventually, she ends up questioning the whole process and asks herself whether she is indeed giving up her identity by taking such an important step. In their discussion, words and phrases like abandonment; letting go; homeland reveals the various aspects that are implied when receiving a second citizenship. In this way, she reconsiders her own identity and the binary of having to differentiate between her past and her future.

As the episode progresses, Gloria continues her day listening to only Colombian music as a way to prove to herself that she can never let go of who she is. Jay and Manny manage to convince her that a life with better opportunities was always what she dreamt of, ever since she lived in Colombia. The new chapter in her life does not entail that she consequently needs to let go of her past or her identity. As the show progresses, there is a constant transformation of Gloria’s character into an American woman. In season seven, episode five, titled “The Verdict”, Gloria is called to

2 He refers to how Gloria keeps reminding him that he abandoned them when Manny was little.

42 serve on a jury duty. She is excessively happy about it as she considers it a unique opportunity. For an American, it is a great honor to serve on a jury. Therefore, it should be taken with great responsibility and appreciation. Jay, however, is reluctant to feel just as excited about serving on a jury and tries to talk her out of it. However, Gloria emphasizes how important it is for her as a new American. For her, serving on jury entails that America also considers her as its own.

Displaying the strong Latin character she has been known for comes with a certain burden for her, more significantly towards the end of the series. In the ninth season, she comes to realize that with the passing of time her physical figure has changed irrevocably. In episode six, titled: “Ten Years Later”, the family is celebrating Gloria and Jay’s ten-year wedding anniversary. Gloria wants to put on her wedding dress to celebrate the occasion. However, she finds herself in a desperate situation noticing that her dress does not fit her anymore. As a consequence, the image she had been projecting is no longer the same. In this case, the change is perceived through physical alteration, indirectly hinting at her character development. Gloria confesses that:

“I tell people that I work hard to stay fit and to stay young, but the reality is that I barely do anything. But I’ve always looked a certain way. And now that I don’t, then what am I? Just a self-trained hairdresser with a hot sauce business” (line 703).

Gloria pressures herself to lose weight and revert to her former figure which she had always been so proud of. Despite her slight figure change, she continues to challenge herself and delve into new business ventures. She starts a hot sauce business, using the recipe she inherited from her great aunt Miranda as a unique way to connect her heritage to her future. In season ten, episode thirteen, titled “Whanex”, Gloria tricks Phil into participating in a commercial audition, knowing Jay would never agree to it. However, when they do not get selected, Phil realizes that the real reason why Gloria wanted to win the audition was another way for her to feel young and up her feet. Gloria specifically addresses the topic, confessing that:

It's just that it was a time in my life where I was out there hustling, modeling, driving a taxi, selling bacon-wrapped hot dogs outside a nightclub. Seeing them taking it 3down made me feel like that version of me is gone forever. I just miss being passionate about something again; the way that you feel passionate about real estate.

3 Refers to Gloria’s ad from twenty years ago.

By season ten, she has completely fit into the American society. She does not have the thick Colombian accent anymore. Considering the number of friends, the brunches and yoga classes she takes, she firmly believes she has “turned into a white woman”. Therefore, she fears she is losing “her Colombian edge” in episode “The Wild”. However, she resents the fact she let herself get influenced significantly by the culture she is living in. She dislikes the possibility of losing her identity and the fact that she has become so vulnerable to change. By season eleven, she finally realizes that real estate is a profession she is passionate about. Thus, she takes some tutoring classes with Phil, given he is a certified real estate agent. She becomes a business woman, and a working mom who is always running around balancing between her job and her personal life. This marks the parallel of her life at the beginning of the series where she was constantly struggling with finding a profession, she was passionate about. As such the Latin figure that she has presumed for years, remains part of her, regardless of the passing of time. Gloria embraces change in all forms and shapes. She always surrounds herself by people who appreciate her for who she is. Being a Colombian is undoubtedly one of her greatest attributes which she never lets go. Her Latin identity is instead her biggest strength and she uses it at her best advantage.

4.1.2. Subcategory 2: “The importance of traditions”

Traditions play a crucial role in the portrayal of Gloria’s character, her life and identity. She constantly wants to bring back parts of her Colombian traditions into her family’s life. It would most importantly remind her children where they come from and learn to balance between their intercultural identity. In episode ten of season one, titled “Undeck the Halls”, the first Christmas episode, Gloria and Jay have mixed opinions on how to celebrate their first Christmas together. Jay is reluctant to celebrate Inocente4, since he does not believe it pertains to traditional Christmas celebrations. Much to the disappointment of Gloria and Manny, Jay further explain how the holiday is celebrated in America. He adds: “Tonight, 9:00 pm sharp, we open one present each. Pajamas- which we sleep in […] Tomorrow morning, 7:00 a.m., Manny, on the stairs for the Christmas picture. Then we open presents”.

Gloria adds how instead “in Colombia, they open presents at midnight and stay up till morning. In addition, she remains confident that “every country has their own traditions “. Therefore, they are

4 Inocente in Spanish translates to ‘the innocent” or “the fool” in this context, a joke is played on the Inocente, therefore they become the fool.

44 bound to have different ideas on how to celebrate their holidays. In the end, Jay complies, understanding that Christmas is more than a routine annual celebration. In the reflective segment of the episode, he confesses how that first year with his new family they all got to mix traditions from both cultures. That same year was “the year when the word tradition got even bigger” (line 174).

In season two, episode two titled “The Kiss”, Gloria cooks a traditional Colombian dish named Chunchullo5 for the whole family. She explains “her grandmother has been “coming to her dreams telling her she is losing touch with her roots”. Through having some parts of her culture included in her new family, makes her feel better about the fact that she has left her home country. At the same time, the entire family gets a chance to taste part of Colombia’s culinary traditions. In season one, episode five “Coal Digger”, Manny is seen drinking coffee in the morning despite a small kid. When Jay asks for the reason, he replies with: “it’s my culture. I’m Colombian” (line 31). Additionally, in episode six “Run for your wife”, on the first day of his fifth grade he is keen on showing off his Colombian heritage. He decides to wear a Colombian poncho to school and play some traditional music with his pan flute, much to Jay’s discomfort. Jay insists that the students will not appreciate his show and will in fact mock him. In line 103, he points out: “I want my new classmates to know I’m proud of my heritage”. Later he adds that he is going to play some Colombian folk music with his pan flute, to make a strong first day impression.

With the arrival of the new baby in episode thirteen of season four titled “Fulgencio”, Gloria’s mother and sister come to spend some days with them. Both Jay and Manny are aware of the chaotic world their house turns into whenever Gloria’s relatives visit. Gloria’s mother insists on naming the baby after her father Fulgencio Umberto Pritchett. Jay however disagrees as a name like Fulgencio is not common in America. Moreover, Manny is appreciative of his gifts from Colombia, but is not quite sure what is the purpose of the big cross his grandmother brought him. Pilar tells him that he is “free to do as he likes”. Yet, she adds that “if you wear it, ooh, you'll make me proud. It's been in my family for five generations” (line 431). With these words, she is playing the emotional blackmail card on Manny and the rest of the family. Thus, making every imposition appear like another demonstration of the excessive importance of traditions in their culture.

5 Chunchullo- traditional Colombian dish made of freshly roasted beef intestines.

Like the majority of the people in her home country in Colombia, Gloria is a firm believer in Christianity and in the healing powers of the priest (padre in Spanish). She strongly believes that the priest has the power to subtract the evil spirits that may exist around her; although she is the only one to believe that. In several episodes throughout the series, she refers to the priest’s help whenever she is in doubt or is concerned about something. In episode “Larry’s wife”, her baby Joe is suspended from his baby classes because of unusual behavior. Afraid that a curse might have befallen on him, Gloria calls the priest to clear away all the insecurities. However, as pointed out from the priest, she worries too much over such an ordinary behavior for a toddler. In such cases, Gloria has the tendency to overreact and turn into the overprotective mother she has always been portrayed as; it is all part of her upbringing.

In season seven, Gloria starts a hot sauce business based on her great-aunt Miranda’s famous recipe. This is ignited by a momentary flashback she has during a family lunch with her husband, as well as Mitchell and Cameron. She expresses how she is sorry her children are not able to speak Spanish or connect to their Colombian heritage as she would want them to. Instead, she realizes that her great-aunt’s sauce, with which she grew up, is the only way for her children to grow up the same way she did. In line 636, she discloses that “it’s a secret recipe that has been in my family for generations […], I don’t have many thigs that remind me of Colombia here in the house, but now I do. We grew up eating this every Sunday, and now Manny and Joe will too”. Thus, she focuses primarily on the importance of traditions as carried through in generations. By following some of these traditions, she admits that it is the only way to keep their children connected to their Colombian roots.

As much she respects and is proud of her family, every meeting of Gloria and her family, in her own words is full of drama. Whenever she meets with her sister Sonia, given the slight enmity that exists between them things do not go as planned. Sonia has always been jealous of Gloria’s life in America. In season eight, episode one, “A Tale of Three Cities”, Sonia takes Manny away in order for Gloria to be obliged to hand her hot sauce business6 over to Sonia. Jay explains to Gloria that the incident should not be taken lightly and they should call the police instead.

6 For more information, please refer to the appendix.

However, Gloria is the one calming Jay down, pointing out that this type of behavior “is normal in her family” (line 688).

Later in the seventh season, Gloria explicitly states what are the main differences between her homeland Columbia and America, specifically when it comes to celebrating Christmas. This serves as a parallel to the first Christmas episode of the series, where she and Manny were particularly keen on mixing some Colombian traditions along with their “American” way of celebrating. In episode “White Christmas”, she is specific about how she wants “a white Christmas, like white people have” (643). In saying she wants a white Christmas, there are two possible scenarios that the word may have served as a reference to. First, the character could have made a direct reference to having a white Christmas, as to having a snowy Christmas. Secondly, the character could have referred to celebrating like “the white people do”. Thus, taking an indirect hint at the Americans, given that from a Latin perspective the Americans are the white people.

However, when taking a closer look at the whole discourse, it is understood that she rather refers to the Americans and the way they celebrate Christmas as that was her first Christmas as an American citizen. Gloria expresses this as follows: “Christmas in Colombia was always hot and loud, people arguing, betrayal…schemes […] that’s why I rented a mountain cabin for the whole family to celebrate my first Christmas as an American […] I want a white Christmas, you know… like white people have” (line 643). She explains the main difference between the two cultures, how Christmas time in Colombia is the opposite of what Christmas is meant to be, focusing on the family time and harmony. Using words such as: hot, loud, arguing, betrayal, marks the implications of celebrating holidays in Colombia. Therefore, she wants to move past that part of her life and focus more on her family and their emotional stability. This depicts how her character switches between the different traditions as she adapts to the American culture.

4.1.3. Subcategory 3: “Language Barriers”

The second season delves deeper into exploring the character of Gloria. This season is essential in telling how Gloria shapes her own identity and opens up to the two cultures. In this season, the episodes selected present how she really feels when she has to switch from one culture to the other. In episode six, titled “Halloween”, the language barrier is displayed by Gloria’s mispronunciations, up to a point where she is made fun off by her family. The opening scene presents Gloria in the car dropping Manny and his friends off at school. While talking to Jay she makes many mistakes

47 like: drop-out instead of drop-off; or gargle instead of gargoyle. The episode is characterized by the mistakes of Gloria being put to display, while Manny and Jay correct her. In the discussion she has with Jay, she insists that what she says is the correct version of the word as she does not see the difference. Additionally, she highlights that although she might make small mistakes “people understand her just fine” (line 296). Later in the day, Gloria comes to realize that her mistakes should be taken more seriously and asks Jay to explain the differences between what she says and how it should be said.

She has always been famous for her thick accent, as much as it becomes an irreplaceable part of her character’s identity. At first, she is embarrassed of her mistakes, but is humble enough to ask for help. Jay explains to her how she has been saying phrases in the wrong way. For example, the expression ‘dog-eat-dog-world’ is not how she says it, "doggy-dog" world; or it's not "blessings in the skies” but instead "blessings in disguise”. It gets to a point where she sees there are far too many mistakes in her English. To stop it all, she shouts that she accepts she has an accent. Nevertheless, she believes she is able to transmit the same message to people and “get on just fine”. However, in reality it becomes very difficult for people to understand her and not make fun of it. One of the reasons for her difficulties at English can be related to the fact that Gloria started learning English at a later time in her life. Therefore, she has an accent and difficulties in being fluent in English without instinctively switching back to Spanish. Apart from her, Jay, Cameron and Phil express their desire to learn Spanish throughout the course of the ten seasons. This way they demonstrate how open their family is to learning the language of their relatives.

However, when around other native speakers of Spanish, Gloria is herself. Being able to use her mother tongue Spanish, becomes her biggest strength. In episode ten, titled “Dance Dance Revelation”, Gloria helps Claire organize a dance party for their sons’ elementary school. Claire feels that Gloria is simply asking for attention in a desperate act of proving she is better than her. Gloria is aware of the heated environment between them. Gus is the school’s janitor and becomes part of the discourse, since he is helping out with the party arrangements. Whenever Gloria comes into the picture, he is extremely present and partaking. Gloria and Gus communicate in Spanish, their mother tongue. Therefore, Gloria feels very encouraged given she is the only person to get Gus to work willingly, because of their Spanish language connection. As it is shown in the dialogue below, Gloria simply asks Gus to clean up the area and he immediately complies. However, when

Claire asks what their conversation was about, she lies saying that Gus was simply complimenting the new arrangement of the tables that Gloria had done. This way she feels more at power, accepted and appreciated for what she contributes.

Gloria- Ay, es que esto esta lleno de hormigas… (Oh, but this is full of ants…)

Gus- Si, hay muchos, lo voy a matar manana… (Yes, I know, I will get rid of them tomorrow…)

Gloria- No, pero mejor hacerlo ahora porque ya vienen los ninos… (No, but it’s better to do it now because the kids are about to come

Gus-Ta’ bien. (Alright)

Claire- What are you guys talking about?

Gloria- No, nothing. He was just saying how much he loves the tables.

Reasonably, Spanish language has a very important role in Gloria’s life. Understanding this relation is crucial in order to reach a critical overview of the whole projection of her character in the larger societal and cultural implications. The character admits that whenever she talks in Spanish, she is a completely different person, a lot smarter and funnier, which are attributes she finds difficult to replicate in her daily use of English language. Being able to speak more than one language is a quality that is highly appreciated and celebrated. However, that is not always the case. Gloria is rather moderately mocked at for her slow progress of mastering her second language. Some of her family members also try to take up Spanish lessons, as a way of understanding Gloria from another perspective. Phil tries to learn some Spanish only towards the end of the tenth season, as part of the new life goals he set on of his 50th birthday bucket list. Whereas Jay starts taking Spanish classes only in the last episode of the series since they are visiting Colombia that same summer.

When she is able to help others with her Spanish skills, it becomes one of her proudest moments. This is also depicted in episode twenty-four of the third season when she goes along to help Mitch and Cameron meet their newborn baby whom they adopt from a Hispanic woman. The language barriers are highly prevalent in the portrayal of her identity, her character and her close communication with her family. Language is a boundary that at some occasions set the family apart from her, specifically during the first seasons. However, this metaphorical distance does not

49 become a burden in their relationship. That being said, in episode seven of season six, titled “Queer Eyes, Full Hearts”, Gloria and Manny are situated into a discussion regarding his preferred second language class. Gloria vents at both Manny and Jay for not only disagreeing with her, but also for not understanding her. In their discussion, she expresses how “trapped” she feels whenever she talks in her second language, and consequently how difficult it is for her to think first and then translate it in her head before she can speak the words. Preceding this heated discussion, Gloria hires a new Spanish tutor for Manny, since she wants him to recollect his pieces of Spanish. However, Manny does not appreciate it at all as he would rather have French classes instead. Given that he only needs one parent’s signature to switch to French classes, he convinces Jay to do so. Gloria disagrees since she wants to reinforce Manny’s connections to his roots, and his cultural identity. She defends the importance of keeping Spanish imbedded in her family:

Gloria- It would be nice for someone to care for what I think for a change. Do you know how frustrating it is to have to translate everything in my head before I say it? To have people laugh in my face because I’m struggling to find the words? You should try talking in my shoes for one mile.

Jay- I think you meant…

Gloria- I know what I meant to mean. Do you even know how smart I am in Spanish? Of course, you don't. For once, it would be nice to speak to someone in my own language in my own home.

Gloria constantly code-switches between Spanish and English around her house, with her family, but to some extent, also in public. She does it in an affectionate way but also serves to point out to her son Manny that it is their identity and not just a part of their story. She views it as an undeniable indicator of their identity; although their current life proves the opposite. Analyzing Manny’s linguistic choices proves to be difficult as his character is developed differently from his mother’s. Manny was born in Colombia, but has practically been raised in America. He moved to the US with his mother at a very young age, probably between the ages of six and ten. He speaks perfect English and dreadful Spanish, although he spent his summers in his hometown in Colombia. The first three seasons of the show display how he is profoundly fond of his culture and his upbringing. He brags about the important role of coffee in his life, since he is Colombian. In season one, episode six, titled “Run for your wife”, Manny is seen debating the enriching culture of his country with his mother and Jay. They disagree on the choice of outfits that Manny picked for his first

50 class. Manny, wanting to show off his Colombian roots, decides to wear a traditional Colombian poncho. He plans to play the traditional Colombian flute, while wearing his poncho as a way of demonstrating how proud he is to be a Colombian, and the enriching culture he comes from.

However, towards the second half of the show he is slowly losing the connection to his roots, much to Gloria’s disappointment. It is a constant struggle of hers to keep reminding her son but also herself who they are and where they come from. Although, the fact they have settled their lives in America, makes it harder to keep the two cultures equally present in their lives. As the series progresses, it is implied that Manny was born in Colombia and did his first years of elementary school there; before moving to the States with his mother around the age eight or nine. In season one, episode six, titled “Run for your wife”, Manny starts his fifth grade. In line 125, Gloria states that: “In Colombia, Manny went to Pablo Escobar elementary school, […] if you were pulled out of class it was definitely to identify a body”. Therefore, Manny was able to speak Spanish before he moved to America. His refusal to recollect his pieces of Spanish, has nothing to do with the question whether he knew Spanish in first place. In season four, episode nineteen “The Future Dunphys”, Gloria talks to Manny in Spanish, but he never responds, implying he has already forgotten most of his Spanish. He then urges his mother to talk to him in English in order to communicate. Later in the episode, Gloria confesses to Mitchell and Cameron (see line 461):

Gloria- That’s the problem with this country. Nobody cares where they come from. […] they have forgotten about Colombia. […] It’s just that I feel like I am losing my children to America. Manny has forgotten most of his Spanish and Joe…I’m sure he is not even going to learn it. I know it’s silly, but I just don’t like feeling like I’m so different from the rest of the family. Maybe I’ll take Manny and Joe to Colombia this summer.

Mitchell- I really think that keeping in touch with your heritage only enriches our culture.

As Vega (2016) writes “young Hispanics today are more proficient in English than the previous generations”. 88% of the Hispanics aged from 5 to 17 will already be proficient English speakers at an early age. Manny is one of them as from the age ten, he was only exposed to an English- speaking community; despite his mother’s Spanish influence. Vega (2016) notes “within a short period of time, everybody will have difficulties talking to their grandmother”. Although Manny’s grandmother is a proficient speaker of English, he is the first to avoid talking to her over Facetime, since he does not feel comfortable talking to a Spanish environment. During the first few seasons,

51 he visits his family in Colombia once a year. However, as he grows older, he fully adapts to the American culture, and consequently, lets go of most of his Spanish. This behavior can be considered as another way of trying to fit into American society and letting go of the differences that might set him apart from others.

Based on this close analysis of his character, the character of Manny develops from the young kid of ten years to the young adult of twenty-one years old. As a young Hispanic boy, he was always represented as a character who was extremely proud of his heritage. However, as he grows up, he gives up that part of his identity as a way of accepting his new reality in a society where he finds himself at home. Fitting into society can be a rather difficult situation as a young adult in America. Therefore, Manny is seen to be distancing himself from that part of his life to give himself a chance to grow into a new person. However, whenever he gets the opportunity, especially in front of his parents, he is never ashamed to admit he is the proud son of two Colombians. phrases Gloria uses such as: different; traditions; losing touch with my roots; nobody cares; losing my children to America; last piece of the old me; lost the Colombian edge indicate the deep connection she feels with her home country after she left for America. The discourse also demonstrates her sense of guilt and doubt whether she is abandoning her roots or not, in the process of adjusting to the fluctuating constant that is her identity.

4.2. The Asian American identity in Fresh Off the Boat

The following analysis will be dealing with the series of Fresh Off the boat under the following categorizations. I will be using the same subcategories mentioned in the previous series’ analysis, but clearly in a different context. The selected episodes have been classified under the subcategories as explained in the table below.

Table 2: “Classification of the Fresh Off the Boat episodes into subcategories”

The representation of the Asian American identity in Fresh Off the Boat Subcategory 1 Subcategory 2 Subcategory 3 Seasons Asian-American identity The importance of Language barriers traditions 1 1. The Pilot 2. Home Sweet Home School 4. Success Perm 13. So Chineez 2 6. Good Morning Orlando 11. Year of the Rat 20. Hi, my name is… 5. No Thanksgiving 20. Hi, my name is… 11. Clean State 3 1. Coming from America 4. Citizen Jessica 9. How to be an American? 4 16. Ride the tiger 5 5. Mo’ Chinese, Mo’s Problems 21. Under the Taipei Sun 6 9. Lou wants to be a millionaire

4.2.1. Subcategory one: “The display of the Asian American identity”.

From the first episode of the series, we are introduced to the story of the Huangs. They relocate from Chinatown in Washington D.C. to Orlando, Florida since the father Louis is all set to open his own steakhouse; later called “Cattleman's Ranch Steakhouse”. The story is set in the mid- 1990s, depicting the struggles and sacrifices that this family experiences wanting a better life for their family in America. Eddie, who is the center of the attention in the house but also in the story explains how his parents, Jessica and Louis were born in Taiwan but “he and his two brothers were born and raised in America”.

On the one hand, their mother Jessica is portrayed as a living stereotype of the Asian American woman. She has a distinguishable character, along with a very stoic and demanding personality. After leaving Taiwan, they were located in Chinatown, Washington D.C. Thus, they had the possibility of keeping with the same culture and the same traditions, and surround themselves with people who shared the same customs as them. She is a very demanding mother, which proves true to the stereotype. She is constantly pushing and motivating her children to reach par excellence, much to their occasional discomfort and annoyance. When they first move to a white neighborhood in Orlando, she is bothered by the unfamiliarity surrounding her. She keeps complaining “the humidity is no good [for my hair]” (line 758); dislikes how shopping in a store resembles a hospital; and most importantly, how uncommon it is “to eat food from a box”. Therefore, Jessica cannot seem to wrap her head around the fact they have moved their whole family to a place it is nothing like they were used to.

Louis, on the other hand, is the opposite of Jessica; as he is constantly wanting to explore and challenge himself with new endeavors. He is the one who takes a risk to fulfill his longtime American dream. Since the rest of the family is not happy with their relocation, he always comes in to convince them that the choice is not easy but it will become better. In line 802, he confesses that “In fact, us coming to this new place is going to make us all stronger”. He admits that they were doing well in Washington but he “wants more […] for his family”. Thus, he provides the balance in his family’s life whenever everybody is overwhelmed with the new cultural assimilation. Their three children, however are each a completely different character from one another.

Eddie considers himself as ‘the odd one out’ among his family and in his school, as he always feels like an outsider. He finds it difficult to fit in, especially after their relocation. That said, he finds shelter in ‘hip-hop’, where he feels represented and understood by the artists of the genre, as for example Shaquille O’Neill or Nas. Eddie is considered as the rebel of the family, where he does not present much interest in excelling at school, except for his other interests like music and eventually culinary arts. Like his brothers, he was born and raised in America, and as such does not have any direct connections to his Taiwanese heritage, other than his family. The three children are bilingual however, and the family makes sure they practice as much as possible so the language is not forgotten. Mandarin is not their first language, and so, they are not quite

54 skilled at it as much as their parents are. His younger brothers, Emery and Evan are quite the opposite of Eddie. They have no trouble fitting in their new society and making new friends. They are calm and serious; they perform well at school and have an easygoing relationship with the rest of their family.

Eddie’s main concern when they moved to Orlando was making new friends and how much would he would be able to fit in in a society that he feared shares very few things in common with his main interests. In the “Pilot” episode, he complains to his mother Jessica, that he does not want any Chinese lunch anymore, as the other students said “[his lunch] smells” (line 773). He has a rough second day at school where he throws away his lunchbox in the garbage just so he does not get mocked for the second time. After he returns home from school, Jessica notices there is something wrong and asks Eddie for an explanation. He responds that “I need white-people lunch. That gets me a seat at the table” (line 795). By focusing on the word white-people, he notes how important it is for him to do as other people do in order to fit in, especially at such a delicate age like his. Despite the fact he loves his mother’s food, he realizes the important things is to not point out even more at the differences between him and the rest of the students.

Jessica is recognized for her strong character, who is fearless, demanding, strict and caring; all at the same time. She always aims higher and requires a lot from her children. Her demanding character is put to highlight firstly in episode two “Home Sweet Home School”. She gets suspicious of their sons’ excellent report card, questioning the difficulty rate of the school. She complains to the principal that if her children get all straight A-s, then the school is too easy for them. In line 808, she expresses “You need to make school more challenging, or else my son will fall behind”. Thus, realizing there is no CLC 7(Chinese Learning Center) around the area they live, she decides to have her own CLC at home, for her children to be better prepared. This however, was another way of her demonstration of care for her children. As Eddie asserts in line 824, “We showed our love through criticism and micromanagement, so if you said "love you," you were probably hiding something”.

7 According to the series, Chinese Learning Center or CLC is an after-school learning program for math, science and violin.

Being challenged has always been part of Jessica’s competitive spirit, even when it comes to her family. As stated in the series, the referred competitive spirit relates to the majority of the Chinese people. In episode four “Success Perm”, she is conflicted when her sister and her husband come over to visit. Given that they are much more successful than them, Jessica spends time in making her house and their family look much fancier than it is, presuming of a life of luxury. In line 829, she adds that “In addition to fake lemon trees…another thing Chinese people did to show prosperity was to get a perm. I don’t know why, but to my people, curls were like dollar signs”. And so is Louis, when it comes to being a successful businessman. In the “Pilot”, he shares his brainstorming idea on how to make his restaurant more popular and more successful. He reveals that:

I need to hire a white host. Instead of people coming in and seeing a Chinese face and saying "huh? I thought this was an old west steakhouse," they see a white face and say, "oh, hello, white friend. I am comfortable.

He parallels the success of his restaurant with the fact that they live in a white neighborhood, where the majority of the customers are going to be Americans. Although stereotypically depicted, he confesses to Jessica that a white face would attract bigger crowds. Given that he comes from an Asian background, he believes that having a white face to welcome the customers would make the restaurant more inclusive and open to all. Towards the end of the first season, the issues of their cultural identity and heritage come to light more openly. Triggered by a misunderstanding Louis and his friend Marvin have at their country club, he and Jessica then question the whole purpose of their being in America. When their friend Marvin casually mentions that “sometimes [I] forget you guys are Chinese. […] you guys are just like regular old Americans to us” (line 833). As much as it was a comment made with no bad intentions, Louis questions whether they are indeed just like a family of regular old Americans. He wonders if there are forgetting they are Chinese, and contemplates whether they are also forgetting who they are (line 839). Jessica reminds him that he always wanted to be considered as an American, and although their lives have changed, it does not necessarily mean they have lost their identity. Through this moment of doubt, Louis reflects how “Our parents made sure we knew where we came from. We need to do the same thing for the boys” (line 870).

Jessica also realizes she has changed and most significantly has succumbed to change: as she likes her American lifestyle more than she can control. She further admits: It's okay for us to like this stuff. But I hate that I like it, and I hate that I am too weak to give it up. I keep telling the boys to hold on to their identity, but I can't even do it myself” (line 872).

Thus, she fears that since it is easy to give in to change, her children might also never reconnect to their heritage. Following this incident, Eddie comes home from school stating that he chose to represent Jamaica at a school project, as it is a “much cooler country than China” (line 877). Jessica tries her best to convince him how cool and interesting his country is. As a consequence, Eddie defends China when one of his friends claims there is “not much to China, other than pandas”. He fiercely asks him to not make fun of the culture as he is Chinese. In this way, he defends what he feels as his own. The representation of Asian American stories on television is less prominent as it has been anticipated. Fresh Off the Boat is the first series in twenty years with a full-on Asian cast. As the general representation is insufficient and lacking diversity, every opportunity that is given is of high importance and significance. This concept is thoroughly depicted in episode two of season one, titled “Good Morning Orlando”. In this episode, Louis gets to promote his restaurant in one of the local morning television shows. However, according to Jessica the figure he made in the morning show was completely wrong and misleading. He impersonated an Asian character from an old classic movie, without noticing the bad influence and the wrong message that character had sent, other than being funny. Jessica believes Louis had made a fool of himself instead. She further elaborates that “[We] don’t get opportunities to be on TV. That’s why when we do, we need to present our best face, not clown around […]” in line 900. She adds that the impersonation Louis carried reminded her of his favorite character from the movie “Sixteen Candles”, which is an example of what inaccurate cultural representation can bring about, such as racism, generalizations and cultural misappropriation. Jessica states:

Long Duk Dong. The Chinese guy in that movie became what everybody thought all Chinese people were. He made people think that was okay. That’s when we get opportunities like this, it matters.

Through mentioning when they get opportunities like this, there is also a clear reference to the lack of diversity in the topics dealt in the American television. Therefore, these stories such as Fresh Off the Boat were much needed to spread the message of interculturality through the medium of television. Another important component in their identity is their original Chinese names that each of the members of the family have. In episode “Hi, my name is…”, Evan asks Jessica the story of their American names. Evan insist he uses his Chinese name and that people should learn how to say because it is his name. Moreover, when Evan learns he was named after the last name of the nurse who helped deliver him, he realizes his Chinese name has much more significance. However, Jessica explains how in fact both of their names are of great significance. She shares how her fellow classmates and teachers had trouble pronouncing her Chinese name (Chou Tsai Cha), and consequently, they would shorten it and simplify it to their convenience. She reflects on her resistance to give up her Chinese name as stubbornness as it simply made things even harder than it already were by having moved to a new country. Jessica adds that “I wasn't losing my identity. […] by giving myself a name that was easier for people to pronounce, I was opening the door to more opportunities” (line 929).

Their identity is put into question often by mostly themselves. There are several moments where they question their whole life in America, giving that they cannot afford such a luxurious or a comfortable life. Their identity questions also relate to the fact they now see no connection to their homeland Taiwan, but are however, very proud of where they come from. In the first episode of season three, “Coming from America”, the family visits Taiwan for Louis’ brother Gene’s wedding. Louis is equipped with the tourist pamphlet given that he considers himself one. His brother Gene corrects him instead saying that although they have never visited, “it is still your home” (line 939). Later in the episode, Louis realizes he probably could have afforded the same great life for his family too, had he not risked and moved to America. Jessica reminds him that “Taiwan is not the same as she remembered” and how much she has changed, since now she is homesick for Orlando. She adds that this is their success story, because they made it without anyone giving any help”. Jessica then ends her reflection by putting things in perspective saying “Well, maybe we'll never feel completely at home in either place. […] Stuck between two worlds, part of both, belonging to neither” (line 962). This point made by the character of Jessica proves

58 the situation in every immigrants’ life, that of being part of two cultures, with the possibility of never being part of each, neither being part of both.

Jessica admits she has changed and is no longer afraid to admit it, as that is the life she has always strived for. However, when it comes to having a legal document proving the aforementioned, she is still hesitant to officiate matters. In episode “Citizen Jessica”, it is clear how she only kept renewing her permanent residence, as to avoid the red tape; bureaucratic matters she would have to deal with if she had applied for a citizenship. Therefore, in this case her reasons for not applying for a citizenship are presented as quite superficial given that she only did not want to go through all the paper work needed for a citizenship. Later in episode nine, “How to be an America”, Jessica finally prepares to receive her document and become an official citizen of America, which she sees as an immensely moment to celebrate.

Despite the fact they have all turned into American citizens and are fully engaged with its culture, they are still nostalgic of the time when they were surrounded by fellow compatriots. Given that their last visit to Taiwan was two years prior the episode, they are seen struggling with the lack of Asians in their close friends and neighbors’ circles. However, in episode five of season five, “Mo ‘Chinese, Mo’ Problems”, they are ecstatic when their first Chinese family moves in their neighborhood. Jessica and Louis express that they “dreamt about this day to come”. Further on, the family congratulates Louis on the success of his restaurant, as “he’s living the American dream”. However, Louis responds: “Well, you know, I'm Chinese through and through but I'm 100% American”. With this statement, he clarifies how although he is a proud Chinese, he is additionally fully immersed in the American culture, and wants this fact to be reflected in the success of his restaurant as well. Towards the last season, the characters have developed thoroughly and immensely. Louis is already running a successful business while Jessica tries her luck at writing a book. Eddie, however delves into new interests and passions. He becomes more engaged with his Chinese heritage, as he also goes a culture exchange program in Taiwan (episode “Under the Taipei Sun”). In addition, he develops a passion for culinary arts and especially on the Chinese cuisine, with great influence from his grandmother’s recipes. In season six, episode “Lou wants to be a millionaire”, Eddie expresses how he would love to be included in the family business and taking initiatives when it comes to different dishes. Incited by his grandmother’s Bao recipe, he creates a fusion dish called “Cow Bow”, which describes as being Half American, Half Asian.

Louis however, disagrees as he does not want to mess up what has been working already for the restaurant. Eddie insists that his father should take more risks and assures him that his new mixed dish will work. He explains how: “It's the year 2000. Fusion is hot right now. There’s a 63% uptick in Asian cuisine popularity”. Eddie focuses on how towards the new decade people have become more open to new challenges and options. Moreover, this change of attitudes marks the reflection of change in Eddie’s character. In the beginning, he was eager to move back to Washington where all his friends were. He wanted little to do with the Chinese culture as he believed it made him stand out and different from others. However, as he gains more experiences, he realizes that interculturality should in fact be celebrated. He grows proud of his heritage and the rich culture he is part of. Thus, he channels the richness of his heritage through his passion for culinary arts. He is able to combine the two parts of his identity, through an interest he is quite fond of. In retrospect, the words he mentioned in the first episode, remain to their mentality and diligence to keep improving. Eddie once mentioned that (line 806) “we’re gonna do it our way, because you don’t have to pretend to be someone else in order to belong” (line 806). The entire family learns to adapt both parts of their identity into their American life, without belittling the importance of neither.

4.2.2. Subcategory 2: “The importance of traditions”

Like in any other culture, traditions play an extremely significant role in the Huangs’ lives. However, the role is augmented given they live in a different culture, surrounded by people they do not know. Thus, their traditions become the most significant connection to their heritage. In episode eleven of season two, “Year of the Rat”, the family prepares for the Chinese New Year, and explain the different traditions that come with it. On the one hand, Jessica states how as the New Year is approaching “it’s tradition to clean our home to welcome in good fortune”. Louis on the other hand, explains to his neighbors how their New Year traditions take place. The focus is on the family and spending time together, also with their community back when they lived in Chinatown. He adds “[we] have a big dinner. There are decorations, dragon dances, fireworks” (line 913). This is one of the aspects this series shares in common with Modern Family. Just as Gloria explained how her family celebrated Christmas in Colombia with decorations, fireworks and family time, the same parallel focus happens in Fresh Off the Boat, with the celebration of the Chinese New Year. Louis adds to clarify how intense it gets in Chinatown around this time of the year, where: “if you can breathe properly the next day, you weren’t there” (line 915).

Another tradition of the Chinese New Year is getting a haircut. Louis further adds that they pick a specific time after the new year, as otherwise one might be “getting rid of any good luck you have just received”. Even though they are fully adapting to the American culture they continue to follow their traditions as it is part of who they are. In a way, it is also reflection their desire to keep the two cultures they belong to as part of their everyday lives. Additionally, another tradition they follow during the time of the new year is a clean slate8. In episode “Clean State”, Eddie does not understand why the family goes through much trouble for a holiday (line 1001). Louis explains to him that it is just part of their traditions, as “having a clean slate is an important part of the lunar New Year […] in order to ensure good fortune for the coming year” (line 1003).

In episode “No Thanksgiving” Jessica looks for a way to open the restaurant even during Thanksgiving holiday. She reveals the differences between the two cultures, reflecting how there is no point in celebrating a holiday that has no connection to their culture or traditions. She questions the reason why they go through such a stressful time, visiting their relatives and cooking great amounts of food, since they practically have no ties to this holiday. Eddie expressed how in fact it is their tradition as well because “that’s what we do every year”. Thus, he brings into attention that the fact they are celebrating different traditions does not imply they are forgetting their own. Since they now live in a different culture, they have to adapt accordingly. Part of this adaptation process is the celebration of both cultures and the traditions they are part of.

4.2.3. Subcategory 3: “Language barriers”

Fresh Off the Boat present a different case of language barriers compared to the one in Modern Family. The three children were born and raised in America as bilinguals, but the parents moved to America at a later point in their lives. Thus, they have an accent, more specifically during the first season noted in the character of Jessica. However, the whole family tries to have both languages part of their lives, as a way to keep their heritage present in their home, despite having little relevance to their everyday lives. Their grandmother Jenny has a significant role in preserving their Chinese identity and their language Mandarin, as it is seen in episode “Ride the Tiger”. In this episode, Jenny suggest they spend the Chinese New Year dinner speaking only in Mandarin,

8 Clean Slate-An opportunity to start over without prejudice; a fresh start (WordWeb).

61 like they would normally do had they been in their home country. Additionally, towards the second half of the series, Eddie grows more interest of his culture. In episode “Under the Taipei sun”, he experiences his first cultural exchange program in Taiwan. Since it is his first trip on his own, Louis and Jessica prepare him for everything. Louis confesses how hard it was for him when he first moved to America as there are too may concepts to consider. In line 1035, Louis states:

Oh, I thought I could handle everything when I moved to America. My first week here, I was working as a seafood delivery guy...when my mediocre English got me lost. We just want you to be careful. When you're in a new country and you don't speak the language well and you don't have any money, it can be dangerous.

4.3. Similarities between Fresh Off the Boat and Modern Family

The dynamics of Fresh Off the Boat are rather different compared to Modern Family. When I first selected the series for the analysis, the choice was clear because in its essence, the focus of both these series remains on family and intercultural relationships. However, the background of these two stories relies on identity and how they struggle with cultural shock, switching between two languages and also two cultures and set of traditions. For the next part of the analysis, I decided to focus on the few episodes of Fresh Off the Boat whose topics are clearly similar to the ones in Modern Family.

Fig. 4: Jessica and the kids

In contrast to Modern Family, The Huang’s, Jessica and Louis and their three children Eddie, Emery and Evan have already been living in the United States before their story in the series begins. But when they move to Orlando they live in a simple neighborhood, where they know nobody, especially no one from their own culture. In this way, they experience a new culture shock, as they are surrounded by people that do not share the same interests. To analyze the similarities and differences between the two series, I am going to look at the way the main characters in Modern Family and Fresh Off the Boat are represented, and provide a detailed comparison when it comes to character, plot, and approach, as presented in the table below.

Table 3: Comparable topics in Modern Family and Fresh Off the Boat

Fresh Off the Boat (2015-2020) Modern Family (2009-2020) So Chineez Run for your wife Ride the Tiger Suddenly last summer Year of the Rat Undeck the halls Coming from America Patriot games Good Morning Orlando Stand by your man Citizen Jessica Open house of horrors How to be an American The verdict

4.3.1. Example no. 1

In the first example, in episode “So Chineez”, Eddie agrees to represent Jamaica in a school activity because he believes this place is “so much more fun and super easy”. Furthermore, their school principal does not even suggest he picks China as he is afraid it would appear as a racist remark. However, Jessica is upset about this fact, and makes Eddie reconsider his choice and pick China instead. She insists how he should feel the necessity to represent his heritage. To encourage him even more, she tells Eddie interesting facts about China that rise to his attention. When one of his classmates makes fun of him and China by implying there is nothing much to China other than pandas, Eddie is triggered at his friend for being so inconsiderate and unaware of the enriching culture his country has.

A similar situation happens with Manny in Modern Family. However, in this case, the character roles change quite a bit, including their behavior and reaction towards the issue. In episode, Manny is proud to dress up in a traditional Colombian attire, as he wants to make a good impression on his first day at school, but also show pride for his upbringing and heritage. In addition, she believes there should be a lot of support and encouragement for her son at such a young age. When she sees Manny wants to also perform a traditional folk music with his pan flute, she urges Jay to break the flute. She is certain that would be too much for his son to bear and that all his friends would make fun do him. In this case, Gloria is still extremely proud of her culture and of the fact that her son has not forgotten his heritage. However, on the contrary to the case in FOTB, Gloria is the one to hint at Manny to not brag too much of his pride for his culture in such a crucial moment of first impressions at a new environment for him. Whereas in FOTB, Eddie shows very little interest in his heritage and Jessica has to trigger his interest in the enriching culture he comes from.

Fig. 5: Jessica and Louis Huang (Constance Wu) and (Randall Park)

4.3.2. Example no. 2

The next example is taken from season two, episode eleven “The Year of the Rat”. In this episode, the Huang’s are prepared to celebrate the Chinese New Year with the rest of their family in Washington DC. But due to some date mix up, they have to stay in Orlando and try to find a way of being surrounded by people to celebrate the New Year as they would have done in Washington. They describe their tradition that highlights family, togetherness and generations. Louis adds how: “We get together with the family, have a big dinner. […] decorations, dragon dances, fireworks. There is similar situation in Modern Family, where Gloria is trying to convince Jay to mix a couple of tradition in”. And thus, combining both cultures and traditions of Colombia and America

64 together, shows how the families work together to come together for such an important holiday (see season one, episode 10, “Undeck the halls”).

Both of these episodes tackle the importance of traditions and how it becomes an irreplaceable part of who they are. In “The Year of the Rat”, Jessica brags about how amazing their traditions are and how different they are from the American way. She adds in line 916, that “you don’t want to cut your hair too soon after the new year, because you might be getting rid of any good luck you just received”. On the other hand, Gloria in In Modern Family, also tries to convince Jay that her traditions are not a silly way of celebrating Christmas. She insists he understands the importance it has for her to celebrate the holiday like they did in Colombia. She adds “Every country has their own traditions”. Therefore, in both these cases, the characters are shown how they react to unpleasant situations. In the case of FOTB, the family has to improvise a Chinese New Year’s dinner together with the people of their community in order for them to celebrate the way they did in Chinatown. Whereas in Modern Family, Gloria and Manny have to prove the importance of their Christmas to Jay in order to celebrate how they used to in Colombia. The only difference between the two series is quite prevailing. Gloria is married to an American and thus, the two cultures come together where the compromise happens withing the couple. However, in FOTB, the entire family is Chinese and as such, their adaptation process is made easier given that they all embrace change together as a family.

4.3.3. Example no. 3

In the next example, the reasons why both families decide to move to America are displayed. In Fresh off the boat, in episode “Coming from America”, the family goes back to Taiwan for Louis’ brother’s wedding. During this trip they gain a new perspective of their home country and see how much has changed since they had left. Louis has a completely different view from Jessica’s. He looks up to his brother who has a solid business. Thus, he questions if he and his family would have lived a better life had he stayed in Taiwan. Jessica, on the other hand, has a rather different experience as she appreciates even more the life they have in America. She realizes that life in Taiwan would be too chaotic for her. In some way or another she realizes how much she loves the life they have created for their family in the US and makes sure that Louis has no doubts about this either.

Likewise, in Modern Family, a similar situation takes place in episode “Patriot Games”, where Gloria experiences her doubts about applying for the American citizenship When her ex-husband confronts her about abandoning her homeland and letting go of her identity in, Gloria wonders if she is taking the right decision or not. Jay and Manny talk her into not giving up her decision of applying for American citizenship because that is what she always dreamt of and what she had worked for. Only then does Gloria come to terms with the fact that she is not in fact giving up her country and her roots, she is simply giving herself the place she deserves for all those years of hard work and struggles. Then, Manny and her husband Jay, add that applying for a citizenship does not mean she is letting go of her identity or of her past. Instead it implies claiming for her rights as a citizen and also starting a new chapter in her life. In comparison, in Fresh Off the Boat Jessica is the one to give support and reassure Louis that the life they had in America was in fact the best for their family; although it means leaving everything back, including their family. She is the one who stands up for their family and backs up their decisions, thus representing the backbone of the family. In Modern Family Gloria is always the one who cheers everyone up and is constantly encouraging her family. But in this case, there is a change of perspectives, she is the one who needs reassuring and emotional support.

4.3.4. Example no. 4

In the next comparative example, the issue of accurate television representations on television is highlighted. In Fresh Off the Boat, in episode “Good Morning Orlando”, Louis is supposed to use the opportunity of appearing on live television to promote his restaurant. However, Jessica thinks he rather made a fool of himself when he tried to be funny and telling the jokes while impersonating a famous character. He believed it was a good trick to be remembered. Jessica however, has a different view on the case. She believes there has not yet been an accurate representation of any Chinese person on television. She explains to Louis that “we don’t get opportunities to be on TV”, and so she emphasizes that whenever they get such opportunities, an accurate representation matters in many terms. Furthermore, she adds “the Chinese guy in that movie9 became what everybody thought all Chinese people were”. In this part of the discourse, Jessica pays close

9 She refers to the character Long DUK Dong, the fictional Asian exchange student in the 1984 American film “Sixteen Candles”. The character was always accompanied by a loud bong, was very stereotypical and offensive, but hilarious; Due to these obvious reasons the makers received a lot of criticism for misrepresentation and gross stereotypical representation. “Long Duk Dong.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 1 March 2020. Web. 29. March 2020.

66 attention to the way Louis was behaving on screen. Through his impersonations and his false accent, he kept alive the wrong image that had been established by the previous character. Therefore, it is essential to break the mold and reshape the Asian character represented on television with every opportunity they get.

On the other hand, in Modern Family, there are no episodes where Gloria is specifically trying to correct a misleading interpretation or representation of the Latin character on television. In episode nine “Stand by your man”, Jay gets a chance to promote his new dog bed business on television. In his case he does not have any tricks to show on live television but he is rather shy and blanks out whenever he gets in front of the camera. This is where Gloria steps in to help him get out of the awkward situation without making a fool of himself. She reminds him that his beloved French bulldog, Stella, is the real inspiration and argues that “she is part of the family, so she deserves a comfortable and fun place to sleep”. Gloria adds that “she sees all the work and love he puts into making these dog beds and that she is very proud of him”. In this case, Gloria is being highly supportive of her husband. Although he probably embarrasses himself on television, she is very proud of him and encourages him to keep up his great work, although she is not a great fan of his new business venture.

4.3.5. Example nr. 5

When it comes to feeling as the outsider, both series clearly depict the notion very clearly. Both in Modern Family and Fresh Off the Boat, the creators have depicted moments where Gloria in the beginning felt like a complete outsider because of the cold way she was being welcomed by the rest of Jay’s family. She specifically addresses the issue during a misunderstanding over a Halloween costume. In episode “Open House of Horrors”, she is dressed up as a green alien, with antennas on her head. During a small discussion with some kids over the fact she is “too old to have a baby”, she overreacts to a simple comment one of the party guests throws at her. He explicitly says: “that is hilarious. I love when people put some thoughts into their costumes, illegal alien…”. Gloria then quickly reacts offended, saying: “Why do you say illegal? Because the color of my skin?”. This scene displays a slight reference to immigrants being considered illegal in the country or at least gives the impression that there are still people in the society who feel that immigrants are somewhat considered illegal or unwelcome.

In Fresh Off the Boat, however, there is a more explicit reference to the term “alien”. In episode “Citizen Jessica”, the story reveals how she simply renews her “resident alien”, so she does not have to apply for a citizenship. Additionally, throughout the first season, Eddie always considered himself as the black sheep of the family and at his school as he felt different and never understood. He refers to himself as an outsider who has issues fitting in a new society that does not present itself as very welcoming at first. Comparing the two discourses, we understand there are some commonalities and differences in the way the terms alien and outsider are used in rather different but also similar contexts. In Modern Family, Gloria assumes she is considered an alien because of the color of her skin and her accent. As such, the word alien refers mostly to her residential status. In spite of this, in Fresh Off the Boat, Jessica refers to the residence permit as the resident alien, so she rather considers the identification card as the illegal component.

4.3.6. Example no. 6

The last comparative example demonstrates the two approaches the families have to a very similar and common issue they come across as Americans. Although both Gloria and Jessica fight it for quite some time, they both apply for and receive their respective American citizenships. However, the reactions to the implications are rather different. Fresh Off the Boat explores the theme of serving on a jury and the importance that comes with it as an American. In the episode “How to be an American”, Jessica has already received her citizenship but when to her surprise, she is called for jury duty, she is absolutely not thrilled about. However, her husband Louis talks her into it and explains the importance of serving on a jury duty, including the great sense of responsibility and honor related to it. Louis is able to convince Jessica that she does not have to hide around and avoid her duties as a resident, because it is not such a hassle as she presumes it to be.

In Modern Family, a similar situation occurs in episode “The Verdict”, only in reverse roles. In this episode, Gloria is ecstatic when she is called to serve on a jury duty. Jay on the other hand, could not care less and carries on with his new business ideas. He ignores Gloria’s excitement, simply because he does not see it as such an important event. Instead, Gloria says “[you’re] a bad American. It is a privilege to serve on a jury and for the first time I get to be part of it”. In both these cases we see opposite reactions to a similar situation. The words used in Jay and Gloria’s dialogue are rather simple as not too much attention is paid to the issue. Yet, they do

68 highlight the importance of the action in phrases like privilege; responsibility; [bad] American; duty as a citizen.

Both Modern Family and Fresh Off the Boat have a common scenario when it comes to the themes of family, interculturality, identity, and bilingualism. This also includes the different perspectives of dealing with the day to day life in America, one being a Colombian born pair of mother and son living in America; and the second example, an Asian-American family who moved from Washington to Orlando. The main difference between the two series is their main focus and how it shifts throughout the trajectory of the story. Modern Family is set in the present time, i.e. from 2009 until 2020. Whereas Fresh Off the Boat, inspired by the real-life story of food personality Eddie Huang, follows the story of the Huang’s in the mid-1990s. Judging from the fact that the parents were born in Taiwan, but the children were all born and raised in America, they do not feel as strangers in the country. They instead look like regular Americans to their friends. They consider their heritage their biggest strength and no matter how much they get to live and be like Americans, their Asianess will never get away from them because it is an essential part who they are.

It is noteworthy to mention another important member of the Huangs. Their grandmother Jenny Huang (Lucille Soong), is quite open-minded, despite being the oldest family member and not being able to communicate in English. She can only speak Mandarin and understand English, but is not fluent at it. Despite this fact, this does not become a burden for her. She is able to reach out to her family in times of doubt. According to Liao (The Verge, 2018), the series highlights the progressive views the grandmother has. Although being the older generation, she would be presumed as the conservative character in the story, encouraged by the lack of her English skills. Liao writes how the grandmother is considered “as the matriarch of the family according to Confucian values”. She is the standing force of the Huang family and a constant “reminder of their Taiwanese values and roots”, representing relatable characteristics of the first-generation immigrants. Thus, she is depicted as a supportive opinionated woman who, despite her inabilities, remains the strength of her family that keeps them rooted in their culture.

4.4. Presenting the findings

Based on this research, one particular difference that reveals itself is the way how these two series embrace change and the concept of cultural identity. As McManus (2017) writes “we’re all constantly changing the way we express ourselves, how and why we do so, depends on everything from culture to language to self-identification and the people we happen to be around”. One particularity that has resulted is that in Modern Family, Gloria’s contribution to the story appears more dominant and effective. She is adamant at emphasizing how at times she feels lonely when she cannot talk in her own language in her own home. Although she is part of an ensemble cast, she still develops a significant screen presence. Her identity is questioned multiple times, mostly by herself fearing she would be the one to let go of her past. As the story develops, she comes to realize that her identity is not a possession she can simply forget about. Her bilingualism and the constant hope of passing it on to her children is portrayed as another aspect of her holding onto her identity. She did not grow up as a bilingual and only learned English at a later point in her life. Given she is more dominant in Spanish, the thick accent and broken English mark her bilingual identity. The constant shift between the two languages is also seen as losing touch with her roots. All in all, the bilingual family in Modern Family is represented very constructively throughout the whole series. Unquestionably, her character proves some truth to the stereotypes surrounding the Latin community, where she comes from. The series demonstrates the attitude of the younger generation towards the notions of diversity and double identities. This way is to reflect how growing up a bilingual with a bicultural heritage in America can turn into a real burden in trying to fit in in the society. That said, Manny slowly starts to let go of his Spanish, as he does not feel any connection to it.

In Fresh Off the Boat, the language use of the characters is kept in a simple and quirky but thoroughly meaningful tone. Not surprisingly for the genre, both tackle their life situations with fine humor and sarcasm. Their readjustment takes a toll on them, despite the fact they already lived in America prior the relocation. However, the process they go through is of high interest. Having lived in Chinatown in Washington D.C, they practically were at home, and in a way found their home away from home. One of the main similarities of these two series is the topics they deal with and most significantly identity and bilingualism. In both cases, it is the older generation, so the parents who try to convince their children of finding the balance between the two cultures they are

70 part of. Additionally, another similarity is that it is the mother figure, respectively Gloria and Jessica who take on the role of showing their children it is fine being a bicultural as that only enriches their lives.

The bilingualism factor is another commonality shared by the two series. Both families struggle with their first language, most noticeably in Modern Family. This comes as a result of Gloria being the only person to influence Manny to keep studying Spanish, given that he never practices at home. But in close comparison to Fresh Off the Boat, the whole family influences and helps each other so the language does not get lost. Since their grandmother does not speak English, they are obliged to communicate with her in their first language. Although it is not their dominant language in this case, they however keep the language alive on a more frequent basis than in Modern Family. As their whole family comes from the same culture, it makes it much easier for them to keep to the traditions and their first language. The reason why in Modern Family, Manny lets go of his Spanish almost immediately after moving to America, is his young age, the English- speaking environment and his stepfather Jay. The fact that Jay can only speak English, influences for their family to mainly speak English. Thus, because of the lack of practice and willingness, Manny’s Spanish consequently becomes less dominant or present in his life.

Regardless of the similarities these two series shares, Fresh Off the Boat takes a different approach to the character representation. Its story is mainly seen from the perspective of Eddie, and how he perceives the whole dynamic relations in his life, be it at home or at school. Whereas in Modern Family, Manny’s involvement in the story comes second after Gloria’s, as the story in their bilingual family is seen mainly from her perspective. Another difference between these two series is the fact how bilingualism affects their respective lives. In Fresh Off the Boat, the whole family is bicultural and bilingual, and thus it is easy for them to keep both languages present in their lives and household. Whereas in Modern Family, only Gloria is the real bilingual in her family. Since Jay insists on his English, and Manny is not willing to practice, it becomes rather difficult for them to preserve Gloria and Manny’s first language.

Moreover, another commonality between Fresh Off the Boat and Modern Family is the strong emphasis on the discourse regarding their cultural identity and their heritage. Both series depict the moments of self-doubt and questioning whether they took the right decision in life; whether they are losing touch with their roots; or whether they have during the process. In this

71 case, the parents were the ones to hold onto that part of their identity, where the children dissociate as a reflection of wanting to fit in a new society. In fact, both these representations speak a lot of truth to the situation, as both series are not only presenting a story to entertain the masses. They are in fact representing the story of every immigrant who came to America with hopes of a better life, while showing the struggles to fit in the new culture and, most importantly, to find a voice for themselves. Every representation matters, because it brings several issues to life and spreads awareness on the matter. After all, this whole representation serves as a visual connection of the understanding and appreciation between cultures and societies.

5. Conclusion

To conclude, this analysis provides a closer look into how cultural representation is portrayed in mainstream American television, while focusing on the three basic concepts of identity, culture and language. There have been several opposing views on the whole issue of identity. It has been considered as an ever-fluctuating phenomenon but also as a fixed entity that is innately entitled to all people. Unquestionably, there are many factors that influence identity as a whole, and society is one of them. No matter how much this phenomenon takes place within all of us, the sociocultural environment and the people we surround ourselves with have a great impact on it.

As identity becomes present primarily when people put themselves in close interactions with others, it is therefore, constructed within a discourse. For instance, both of the series’ main characters are able to reveal more about themselves and the way they feel about their cultural identity only when in interaction with other people. This gives a chance to tell themselves apart from everyone else, and realize their own individuality. The role of language is additionally of great importance in the intricate process of self-identification and cultural representation. The research finds out that identity is shaped accordingly to every life changing situation we may find ourselves in, but is not necessarily lost or forgotten. It simply reshapes into what we feel most comfortable and convenient for us at particular points in life. Although people are bound to change, identity becomes part of them from day one and as such it is an inseparable part of every person and constitutes an undeniable aspect of who they really are and the personality they show to the world.

This analysis demonstrates that television series are such an essential medium that carries an important role in depicting society and pop culture, whilst spreading awareness. The discourse that

72 both series exemplify clearly demonstrates how the topics of diversity and cultural representation are looked at in the American society. To some extent, cultural identity as a whole is considered stereotypical because there are specific commonalities among the representation and the truth. However, it is crucial for the society to dig deeper into these representations and focus on the inner concerns of every bilingual or bicultural individual.

There is simply much more to a story than what is casually presented on a television screen. Yet, although the choice is varied, it is not as diverse as everyone would expect it to be. By taking a closer look into the discourse of both these series, it is rather noticed that diversity and bilingual characters such as the ones selected, are able to uphold their own place in the world of entertainment. They are the ones to break the mold and therefore, present their authenticity and cultural identity firsthand. Given their multilayered personalities, the character development and the story only promote interculturality and diversity in the realm of media representation. Based on this research, it is concluded that these characters embrace bilingualism as their biggest strength. The platform of television series allows for a more in-depth depiction of their bicultural identity and the process of cultural adaptation. This analysis further implies that these notions of study are of great interest both for further academic research, as well as for the media representation. Thus, proving that the medium of television series has a crucial role in establishing further intercultural understanding.

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7. Appendix Modern Family Season One, episode One: “The Pilot” 1.Gloria-We’re very different. He’s from the city. He has big business. I come from a small village. 2.Very poor, but very, very beautiful. It's the number one village in north Columbia for all the… 3.Gloria- what's the word (asking Jay)? 4.Jay - Murders. 5.Gloria- Yes, the murders. After a small discussion she had at the football match, Jay talks to Gloria:

6. Jay- You know Gloria, that blowup with that other mom, why do you have to do things like that? 7.Gloria- If someone says something about my family, I'm going to… 8.Jay- I'm just saying you could take it down here a little bit. 9.Gloria- Well yeah, but that's when you live down here but I live up here (pointing at her head) 10. Jay- You don't have to be so emotional all the time, that's all I'm saying. Manny, you're with me on this, right? 11. Manny- I want to tell Brenda Feldman I love her. 12. Jay- Oh, for God's sake.

Season One, episode four: “The Incident” 13.Dede - I would like to congratulate Jay and the lovely Gloria. I'm very happy for them. 14.Gloria (back to real day) - I wanted a big, beautiful wedding with Jay because my ex-husband 15.and I got married in a tiny, little office of a judge in Colombia. 16. Mitchell- Well, my mother wanted to go to the wedding, to show everyone how okay she 17.was with all of it, So I convinced dad and Gloria to invite her. 18.Cameron- Who warned you that that was the worst idea ever? Anyone? Anyone? 19.Claire- My mom started drinking these cocktails, called "horny Colombians", with some of 20. Gloria's uncles, whom, apparently, the drink was named after. 21. Phil- Oh, come on, they were funny. [laughter] 22. Claire- They kept patting my butt. 23. Phil- [chuckling]somebody's full of herself. It's a… it's a Colombian wedding tradition, they said.

Back to Jay and Gloria’s wedding

24. Dede- To the bride and the groom, my ex. And he couldn't wait 10 minutes to run off with 25. charo. I'm kidding. Seriously, I knew they were perfect for each other When I saw his wallet and her boobs. (Back to real life)

26. Gloria- During my vows to my first husband, drug dealers burst in and assassinated the 27. judge. This [referring to her second marriage and the incident with Dede] was way worse.

Season one, episode five “Coal Digger” 28. Jay- Gloria, if you want to get together with the girls later, I could just watch the football game or something.

29. Manny - That means he wants to watch the game. 30. Jay- I'm not talking to you. And what are you drinking coffee for, anyway?

31. Manny- It's my culture. I'm Colombian. 32. Jay- What part of Colombia are those French toaster sticks from?

Later that day

33. Gloria- From the beginning, I feel like Manny and I are not welcome in this family. 34. Claire- That is so crazy! 35. Gloria- No, it's not so crazy. It's how I feel. 36. Claire- I am sorry if you feel that way, I really am. Because from the moment I met you, I 37. have tried to make you feel comfortable with us. 38. Gloria- You think it's all in my head? 39. Claire- Kind of, I don't know. I mean we really love having you and Manny in our family. 40. Gloria- Really? 41. Claire- Really. So, you don't have to be so defensive. 42. Gloria- I do that, don't I? 43. Claire- A little. A little bit. 44. Phil- I'm feeling a hug. ______

45. Phil- We can learn so much from the children. I bet it seems kind of silly now what you were fighting about. 46. Luke- I made fun of his accent. 47. Manny- What accent? I made fun of him for having the same thing for lunch every day. 48. Luke- I made fun of him because his mom used to dig coal. 49. Gloria- What? 50. Manny- He said you were a coal digger. 51. Claire- Okay, I think we can move on! 52. Gloria- Who said I was a coal digger? 53. Luke- That's what my mom told me. 54. Manny- What's a coal digger? 55. Alex- He heard it wrong. It's "gold digger. ______

56. Claire- I really do not think that I remember ever saying that. 57. Luke- Well, you said it in the car, you said it at Christmas, you said it in the Mexican restaurant

58. Claire- Okay, Mr. "Leaves his sweatshirts at school every day" suddenly remembers everything. 59. Gloria- And it was all in my head, huh? 60. Claire- Listen, Gloria, it was like a year ago before 61. Jay- Nice going. ______

62. Claire- If I say something everybody's thinking, does that make me a mean person? Or does 63. it make me a brave person? One who is courageous enough to stand up and say something 64. behind someone's back to a 10-year old? 65. Jay- Well, she's pissed. She wouldn't even come out of her room. Did you really have to call 66. her that? A gold digger. 67. Claire- You know what, dad? It was a year ago. And it was a natural question to ask. She's a 68. beautiful, hot woman, and you're not exactly You know. 69. Jay- Not exactly what? 70. Claire- Mitchell, a little help? 71. Mitchell- No, you are doing great. 72. Jay- See, this is exactly why we sweep things under the rug. So, people don't get hurt. Until 73. you sweep too much under the rug. Then you got a lumpy rug. ______74. Phil- Listen, Claire feels terrible. Why don't you talk to her? Why? 75. Gloria- I know what she thinks - A coal digger. 76. Phil- She's saying "gold digger”. I know she said that, but that was a long time ago - before she knew you. 77. Gloria- Does Jay buy me nice things? Yes, of course! All beautiful things! Look at this. 78. Yellow, red, blue All the colors. Do you think I can't live without these? Take them away, Phil. 79. Phil- We all know you'd be fine without underwear. I mean, we know it's not about that. 80. Gloria- It's about me not being accepted by my new family. 81. Phil- That is not true. Gloria, look, you're a beautiful woman. In fact, you're probably one of those beautiful women who doesn't know it. 82. Gloria- I know it. 83. Phil- So, it's natural for Claire to wonder about you and her dad. This family is very 84. protective of each other. I remember the first time Claire brought me home. Do you think Jay 85. thought I was good enough for his little girl? No way. But, over time, he realized that I loved 86. Claire as much as he did. And by then, Mitch had brought Cam home, so I was golden. Claire 87. just needs a little time. And then, trust me, she'll be the most loyal friend you've ever had. ______88. Claire- I don't know what to say except for that I am really, really sorry. 89. Gloria- Just tell me one thing. How do you really feel that I'm with your father?

90. Claire- Honestly, at first, it was hard. You don't expect to wake up one morning with a new 91. mom who looks like she fell off a mud flap. But I'm getting used to it. The important thing is 92. you make him happy, which you do, in so many ways. So many colors. Are we okay? 93. Gloria- You embarrassed me in front of everyone downstairs. What, I'm supposed just to forget about it? 94. Claire- What do you want me to do? Just embarrass myself so we're even? 95. Gloria- Go jump in the pool. 96. Claire- You mean "go jump in a lake," right? 97. Gloria- Go jump in the pool with your clothes. Then I know you're sorry.

Season One, Episode Six: “Run for your wife”

98. Gloria- I can't believe my little boy is going into the fifth grade. He used to hold my finger 99. with his little hand and look at me with those big eyes. Oh, mi nino pequeno, Jay! 100. Jay- Yep, they grow up. Come on, Manny, let's get going! 101. Manny - How's my hair? 102. Jay- Hold on. What are you wearing there? That looks like an old Christmas tree skirt. 103. Manny - It's a traditional Colombian poncho. I want my new classmates to know I'm proud 104. of my heritage. 105. Gloria- Si. I think you look very handsome, lindo. 106. Jay - Oh, really? Am I driving him to school, or is he gonna ride his burro (donkey)? ______107. Gloria- Jay, what is this? 108. Jay- Oh, looks like my old car cover. 109. Gloria- Don't give me that. This is Manny's poncho. What is it doing here? 110.Jay- Maybe he decided to take it off on the way to school. 111. Gloria- What did you say to him? 112. Jay- Nothing. I told some jokes. 113. Gloria- You say plenty with your jokes. Jay, he looks up to you. He respects your opinion. 114. Jay- We dodged a bullet on this, trust me. I've been down this road before. 115. Gloria- You know? So, we should crush Manny's spirit and destroy everything that makes him who he is. 116. Jay- I'm just saying, it's no fun. To see your kid, get picked on every day, getting tormented 117. just because he's different. Now, I'm telling you, it rips your heart out. 118. Gloria- Well, batman doesn't get picked on, and he wears a cape. A poncho is just a cape that goes all the way around. 119. Jay- Batman doesn't get picked on because he's a muscular genius. Manny can't make it to the top bunk. 120. Gloria- We're taking this poncho to Manny at school. It's important that he knows that we support him.

______121. Manny- Is something wrong? Who's died? 122. Gloria- No one, Manny. 123. Jay- Why would you even think that? 124. Gloria- In Colombia, Manny went to Pablo Escobar elementary school. If you were pulled 125. out of class, it was definitely to identify a body. 126. Jay- Well, we got your poncho here. 127. Manny- I thought you said it made me look like my neck was wearing a dress. 128. Jay- That was a joke. 129. Manny- Oh, good it's still in the pocket. 130. Jay- What do you got there, buddy? 131. Manny- My pan flute. I'm going to play some Colombian folk music, for my new classmates. 132. Gloria- Huh. Great. I've never been more proud of you. I'm sure your friends are gonna love it. 133. Gloria to Jay - Break the flute. 134. Jay- What? 135. Gloria- The poncho by itself is fine. The poncho plus the flute plus the stupid dance… My son will die a virgin.

Season one, episode ten: “Undeck the Halls” 136.Manny- Are you crying? 137. Jay- What are you, a robot? It's a deeply emotional movie. 138. Gloria- Manny, mi amor, I need you to help me in the kitchen. [TV Off.] 139. Jay- We gotta finish this first, Gloria. The kid's never seen Miracle on 34th Street. 140. Gloria- That's because he always spends Christmas in Colombia with my family. And all 141. we see there is Salazar and El Oso Save Christmas. 142. Jay- Sounds like a classic. 143. Gloria- It is. 144. Manny- Mom, can we finish the movie? Okay. [TV On.] [Girl screaming] [Gasps.] 145. Jay- What the hell is that? What the hell is that? 146. Manny- Inocente! [Both Laughing.] 147. Jay- What the hell? 148. Manny- When you told me we were going to watch this movie; I got a joke copy from the Internet. 149. You are the inocente! [TV Off.] 150. Jay- Well, maybe I'm a little confused right now. What is this "inocente" stuff?

151. Gloria- In Colombia, practical jokes are a Christmas tradition. The one that is fooled is the inocente! 152. Jay- We tell practical jokes on April Fool's Day, so do not do that again. [Laughing.] Inocente. [TV On.] 153. Jay- Does it do it again? Ah, it's ruined. ______154. Jay- Tonight, 9:00 sharp, we open one present each. Pajamas- which we sleep in. 155. Tomorrow morning, 7:00 a.m., Manny, on the stairs for the Christmas picture. Then we open presents. 156. Gloria- In Colombia, they open presents at midnight and stay up till morning. 157. Jay- I'm sure that they do, but as you'll notice from the absence of goats in the street, we are not in Colombia. Come on! I'm kidding. 158. Gloria- Why can't we mix a couple of Colombian traditions in? 159. Jay- Like what? 160. Gloria- Like fireworks. 161. Jay- Come on. You don't have fireworks in Colombia. You're trying to make me the inocente again. 162. Gloria- No, we do. At night the sky is beautiful- very Christmassy. 163. Jay- That doesn't make any sense. 164. Gloria- Look, every country has their own traditions. In our culture, for example, the baby 165. Jesus is the one that brings the gifts, not the Santa Claus. 166. Jay- But that doesn't make sense. How could a newborn baby carry all those presents? They 167. don't even know where their hands are. 168. Manny- At least a baby can fit through a chimney. 169. Jay- How would you sit on the baby Jesus' lap? You'd squish it. Manny, next year we'll talk 170. about some of your little Colombian traditions. 171. Jay- We talk a lot about tradition this time of year. But as much as we love our traditions, 172. sometimes our best memories come from the times that are the most untraditional. We 173. remember the year Mom and Dad went crazy. We remember the year Santa punched out the 174. caroler. But for me, this was the year that the word "tradition" got a lot bigger.

Season one, Episode eighteen: “Starry night” 175. Cameron- Make sure your seat is exactly the way you want it, and feel free to play with any 176. of these controls up here. I have no idea what they do. But I want mi car to be su car. 177. Gloria- Cameron, are you okay? You seem nervous. 178. Cameron- Uh, nervous? No. I'm not nervous. I was nervous. 179. I mean, when Mitchell made plans with his father, I figured, why not spend the evening 180. with Gloria? I've always wanted to be good friends with her. On paper, we should be good 181. friends. Look at us. One spicy, curvy diva…

182. Mitchell- And Gloria. 183. Cameron- The problem is, I had a little minor setback that we had to overcome from a couple weeks ago. [Phil, Jay Chattering.] 184. Cameron- I cannot stand hanging out with his lvy League friends. Oh, they're the worst. 185. Claire- They're not that bad. 186- Cameron- They are the worst! Are you kidding me? Debbie can't go two minutes 187. without talking about Columbia University. And the little guy with the lazy eye from 188. Harvard. Brown. Honestly, I wish that tart would go back to Columbia and take her weird 189. little Brown friend with her. [Chuckles.] [Chattering Stops.] 190. Gloria- Cam, you need to relax. 191. Cameron- You know how awkward I get when things get awkward. So when I said 192. "Brown people," I wasn't talking about your, uh, brown people. I was talking about people 193. who go to a university? Um, not your people. N-Not that your people couldn't go to college. 194. Okay, now I'm hearing myself say "your people" a lot, so- [Chokes.]

195. Cameron- Um, just very excited because this is, um- you know, this is our first night out 196. together, so it's our little date. 197. Gloria- Where are we going? Make sure your seat belt is securely fastened and your tray tables are in the upright position because I got us into Palaiseau! 198. Gloria- Ah! Fancy! I know. 199. It's normally a four-week wait, but the main waiter there is an old Pilates brother of mine, so just one phone call. 200. Gloria- Ay, Cameron, you know what? I don't know if I'm in the mood for something so 201. fancy. Can we just go somewhere, like, more simple? 202. Cameron- Oh, uh, yes. Yes, of course. We can- What were- What did you have in mind? 203. Gloria- I don't know. How 'bout a little Latin place that I always used to go? 204. Cameron- That sounds fantastic. Okay. I would love to see how your people eat. [Reflection] 205. Cameron to the audience: "Your people"? What is wrong with me? Okay. I'd already 206. offended Gloria once. Not gonna do it again. [Back to the restaurant] 207. Gloria- Hola. 208. Waiter- Como estan? Hola Gloria! Como estas? Ya tienes mucho que no vienes, eh? (Hey, 209. How are you? You haven’t been here in a while,eh ?) 210. Gloria- Mi amigo Cameron (my friend Cameron). 211. Waiter- Ah, welcome. So, carnitas diablos. 212. Gloria- Ah, you remember.

213. Waiter- Claro. (Sure) 214. Cameron- Um, I'll just have the same thing. 215. Waiter- No, no, no. You should have the chicken enchiladas. 216. Cameron- Mm-hmm. No, I'll have the carnitas diablos. 217.Gloria- These are not for you. 218. Cameron- Excuse me? 219. Waiter - They're too spicy. Miss Gloria's used to it. 220. Gloria- Yeah, he's right.

221. Cameron- I can spice you under the table any day there, sweet thing. Dos carnitas diablos, por favor. 222. Gloria- Breathe. 223. Cameron- Breathing only makes the fire spread. 224. Gloria- Okay. Then drink this milk. Ay, Cam. Why did you have to order that spicy dish? 225. Cameron- Because I'm, um, a big idiot and I wanted to have this awesome night between 226. the two of 220. us where we end up best friends, uh, having lunch, buying shoes. 227. Gloria- Okay! Let's go have lunch, let's go buy shoes. 228. Cameron- Really? Yeah. 229. Gloria- Why are you so surprised? Well, I don't know. 230. Cameron- I guess I just always feel like I blow it with you whether it's the Columbian 231. comment or picking the wrong restaurant. 232. Gloria- The restaurant had nothing to do with you. I was just not in the mood to go 233. anywhere that fancy after the stupid thing I did this morning. 228. Cameron- What did you do? 229. Gloria- I bought a dress. 230. Cameron- You monster. 231. Gloria- Ay. It was a very expensive dress that I don't need. I felt so stupid that when I got 232. home, couldn't even bring it inside the house. I left it in the car. 233. Cameron- I totally get it.

Season Two, Episode Two: ‘The Kiss’

234. Jay- I'm home! Mmm. What smells so good? 235. Gloria- I'm making chunchullo, a traditional Colombian dish - for dinner with the family tonight. 236. Jay- Chunchullo? What is that, like tacos? 237. Gloria- Yes, like tacos. 238. Manny- No, it isn't. It's the small intestine of a pig. 239. Jay- Oh, geez. Why can't we eat regular food like normal people?

240. Gloria- I told you, Jay. My grandmother who rest in peace has been coming to me in my 241. dreams telling me that I'm losing touch with my roots. 242. Jay- See, this is awkward, because my dead Uncle Joe told me to have steak tonight. 243. Gloria- No, no, no, Jay. Have some respect. My grandmother can hear you. 244. Manny- What do you mean, she can hear us? Well, in our culture, we believe that the dead are all around us. 245. Jay- She's right, Manny. She could be right here, her bony fingers reaching out from the grave. 246. Gloria- Yeah, keep it up, Jay. There's already one dead person in this room.You wanna make it two? 247. Jay- I'm sorry. I've got a printer to install. Oh, Gloria. Have your grandmother run me up an iced tea in about 10 minutes. 248. Gloria- Yeah, she has a better chance of making that work than you. ______249. Gloria- Okay, everybody, let's gather around. Jay, come here. Tonight, we dine on the 250. traditional Colombian recipes of my abuela, my grandmother. And even though she's no 251. longer with me, I am very happy because I have all of you. 252. Everybody - Oh! 253. Gloria - To Ana Maria Rosa de la Inmaculada Rosalba Jimenez Morales. 254. Cameron - It's beautiful, Gloria, just like my Mitchell.

Season two, Episode six: ‘Halloween’

255. Gloria (on the phone)- Hola, Jay. 256. Jay- Where are you? 257. Gloria- I have Manny in the carpool, and we're going to the dropout. 258. Jay- Dropout You mean that Eddie kid? Yeah, he's a moron. 259. Gloria- No, the dropout, where you drop the kids in the school. 260. Manny- She means "drop-off”. 261. Gloria- That's what I said. 262. Jay- Listen. Did you ever do anything about costumes for Claire's thing tonight? 263. Gloria- I'm going to pick them up this afternoon. You're going to be a gargle and I'm going to be an evil village bruja. 264. Jay- I know less now than I did before I asked. 265. Gloria- A bruja is a witch, and a gargle is a gargle. 266. Manny- She means "gargoyle”. 267. Gloria - That's what I said. 268. Jay- As long as you got it covered because if Claire doesn't get her Halloween, she turns 269. into a real… rhymes with bruja.

______270. Jay- Did you pick up my gargle costume too? 271. Gloria- Are you making fun of me? First Manny correcting me, and now you? - If I have a 272. problem, I want to know, Jay. 273. Jay- Honey, look. English is your second language. You're doin' great. 274. Gloria- Yeah, you're not helping by protecting my feelings. I want you to be honest with me. 275. Jay- Okay, well, I may have noticed some tiny little mistakes you might want to take a look at. 276. Gloria- - Like what? 277. Jay- Just little mispronunciations. Like, for example, last night you said we live in a "doggy-dog" world. 278. Gloria- So? 279. Jay- It's "dog-eat-dog" world. 280. Gloria- Yeah, but that doesn't make any sense. Who wants to live in a world where dogs eat 281. each other? Doggy-dog world is a beautiful world full of little puppies. What else do I say wrong? 282. Jay- Well, it's not "blessings in the skies”. “It's "blessings in disguise”. 283. Gloria- What else? 284. Jay- "Carpal tunnel syndrome" is not "carpool tunnel syndrome”. 285. Gloria- And what else? - It's not "vo-lump-tuous”. 296. Gloria - Okay, enough. I know that I have an accent, but people understand me just fine.

Season two, Episode ten: ‘Dance Dance Revolution’

297. Claire- Whoa! – Why is this box here? 298. Gloria- I am sorry. We did because we were moving the tables. 299. Claire- Why are you moving the tables? 300. Gloria - So the kids have more space to dance. It's better this way. 301. Claire- Is it really, Gloria? Because right now it kind of just looks like a clump of tables 302. and a big open space. Look, I'm sorry, but we've always done it this way. And I think it's 303. gonna throw people off if you move them around. 304. Beth- Oh, my God. These tables look great. Who did this? 305. Gloria - I did. 306. Beth- I love it. 307. Gloria- Hello. We haven't been properly introduced. I'm Gloria. 308. Beth- I'm Bethenny. I don't know if anybody's ever told you this, but you're really pretty. 309. Gloria- No, Bethenny, no one's ever told her that. 310. Beth- I am seriously freaking out about these tables.

311. Gloria- You know what? Let's just put a pin in where we're gonna put the tables. Yes, we're 312. keeping the tables. So, what else can I do? 313. Claire- Um, you can help me with the chairs. 314. Gloria- Okay. 315. Claire- We need a lot of them. They're under the stage right here, so… 316. Gloria- It's like dirty and dark there, no? 317. Claire- Yeah, I know. Bummer, right? Ew! - Off you go. 318. Gloria- It smells funny, Claire! 319. Claire- So sorry. Keep going.

320. Gloria- Ay, es que esto esta lleno de hormigas… 321. Gus- Si, hay muchos, lo voy a matar manana… 322. Gloria- No, pero major hacerlo ahora porque ya vienen los ninos 323. Gus. Ta’ bien. 324. Claire- What are you guys talking about? No, nothing. 325. Gloria- He was just saying how much he loves the tables.

Season three, Episode twenty-four: “Baby on Board”

326. Gloria- They're here! They're here! 327. Cameron- Hi. Thank You so much for doing this. 328. Jay- Of course. 329. Mitchell- Okay, so her recital's at 6:00. That's the address. Here's her outfit. This is our camcorder. 330. Get the whole show and some backstage color. 331. Mitchell- Hello? Yeah, um H-hold on one second. I think it's the baby's family. They're speaking Spanish. 332. Cameron- I-- Hola, soy Cameron. Cómo está? Uh, b-- Excuse me. Could you s-- Could you 333. slow down just a little bit? What does frenético mean? 334. Gloria- It's when— 335. Mitchell- Or just let her do it. There you go. 336. Gloria- Hello? Sí, sí. Yo los puedo ayudar 337. Cameron- I was doing fine. 338. Mitchell- He thinks he's some sort of an expert because for the past two weeks, he's been 339. watching this ridiculous Spanish soap opera. 340. Jay- "Fire And Ice"? Don't say a word about the ending of last night's episode. G-Gloria 341. watches that. You'll ruin it. 342. Gloria- Sí. Van a estar esperando su llamada, muchísimas gracias. It was the mother's sister Juanita.

343. She said that she doesn't know the exact hospital yet, but that she will call you, like, in the next hour. 344. Mitchell- Oh, thank you, Gloria. I-I hate to ask this of you, but would you mind coming 345. with us? We need someone who actually knows how to speak Spanish. 346. Cameron to Mitchell- Frío. Muy frío. 347. Gloria- Ay, yes, of course! I would love to! 348. Mitchell- Thank you! Thank you! 349. Gloria- I'm gonna grab my stuff, and we go, okay? All right, sweetheart.

AT THE HOSPITAL

350. Mitchell- Hi. 351. Cameron- Uh, uh, buenos noches. Uh, uh, we're looking for Uh, English? Uh, well, Juanita. 352. We're looking for Juanita. 353. Juanita- Mitchell y Cameron? 354. Gloria translates- Ah, she says, "Hello, Mitch and Cameron. 355. Cameron- I think we got that. 356. Gloria- (Chuckles) Ay, you brought me here. 357. Juanita- El bebé nació hace media hora y se encuentra perfectamente de salud. Siete libras 358. con cuatro onzas. Es hermoso, tiene el pelo grueso y los ojos grandes y cafecitos. 359. Gloria- Ay, ¡qué bueno! (Laughs) Did you get that, too? 360. Cameron- Yeah, a lot of it. 361. Mitchell- Just (Sighs) Just tell us. 362. Gloria- The baby was born half-hour ago, that he's in perfect health. (Exhales) He was 7 363. pounds, 4 ounces, with thick hair and brown eyes. 364. Mitchell- (Chuckles) That's so good! (Whispers) So good. 365. Padre- Juanita! 366. Juanita- Padre! qué hace usted acá? Ven acá. 367. Padre- Vengo con un serio aviso, mi niña. Perdone. 368. Mitchell- Gloria, what's going on? 369. Gloria- I don't know. The priest comes with great warning. 370. Cameron- That can't be good. 371. Gloria- (Whispers) Shh! Something about the grandmother. She's sick. 372. (Both) Ohh. 373. Gloria- But now she's better. 374. (Both) - Oh. 375. Gloria- And now she knows! 376. (Both)- Knows what? 377. Juanita- Tú hiciste esto. Tú le dijiste a mi abuela acerca del bebé. 378. Padre- Por qué haría yo tal cosa?

379. Juanita- Porque Carlos me escogió a mí en vez de a ti como su amante.

(Slap) (Gasps) 380. Mitchell- What was that for? 381. Cameron- The nurse stole her grandmother's almonds. 382. Gloria- No, the nurse is mad at Juanita because Juanita stole her lover, and Juanita is mad 383. at the nurse because the nurse told the grandmother about the baby! 384. Mitchell- Our baby? 385. Cameron- Our baby? (Classical music plays)

Season four, episode eleven: ‘New Year’s Eve’

386. Gloria- Jay? Have you seen the grapes? 387. Jay- Yeah, I ate them. 388. Gloria - Why would you eat the grapes? 389. Jay- They were in a bowl, they were washed, I paid for them. 390.Gloria- They were for the New Year's. 391. Jay- Oh, right. What's that goofy thing again? 392. Gloria- It's not goofy. It's a tradition. At midnight, you eat 12 grapes, you make 12 wishes, 393. one for each month of the year. 394. Jay- And you really think that works? 395. Gloria- Five years ago, I was a single mother living in a slum. Today, I'm driving to Palm 396. Springs in my new car with my rich husband. You do what you want. I'm eating the grapes.

Season four, episode thirteen: ‘Fulgencio’

397. Jay- Hey, you're all awake. I didn't hear you. 398. Pilar, Gloria’s mother- Oh, look at my two handsome men. Mi niño, Fulgencio Umberto. 399. Jay- You know, about the name, we're not entirely sure 400. Pilar- Sonia, vámonos. Good-bye, Fulgencio. Say good-bye to Fulgencio. 401. Sonia, Gloria’s sister- Good-bye, Fulgencio. 402. Jay- His name is Joe. 403. Gloria- You tell her that we're not naming him after her dead husband or his father before 404. him. His name was— 405. Jay- Please don't say it again. 406. Gloria- Jay, I cannot go against my mother's will. But she likes you. Maybe if you convince her… 407. Jay- Fulgencio Umberto-- the initials are F.U. Pritchett. Which is exactly the way it feels right now.

______408. Jay- Pilar, I brought you a coffee. 409. Pilar- Oh. 410. Jay- I put a little something extra in it. 411. Pilar- Jay, you devil. Hey, by the way, look It's beautiful, no? It's the dressing gown for 412. Fulgencio's christening. All the men in our family wear this. 413. Jay- What's one more son in a dress? 414. Pilar- Oh, tradition. Oh, it's so important. I have a gift in here for little Fulgencio that has 415. been in my family for three generations. 416. Jay- You know, about this naming thing-- In America, it's not real common to hear the name Fulgencio. 417. Pilar- It's "Ful-hen-cio” 418. Jay- Hen? - Hen. I don't need to practice it because I can't name my son that. I'm just being honest with you. 419. Pilar- No. No, no, no, no, that's good. That's good. I should be more honest with you sometimes. 420. Jay- Well, we've known each other a few years. 421. Pilar - I don't like you, Jay. 422. Jay - Huh? 423. Pilar- Nah. We can act like everything is fine for the family, but, you know, I have never liked you. 424. The way you take whatever looks good to you-you know, like my daughter or the last piece 425. of meat. You're always too busy to pick me up at the airport. You send a total stranger with a cardboard sign. 426. Manny - Hi, grandma. 427. Pilar - Hey. 428. Jay- Hey, buddy. Get over here. 429. Manny- I sure do love the cross you got me. But do I have to wear it today? It's kinda hard to close my shirt over it. 430. Pilar- Oh, no, no, no, no, no. You do whatever you want, padrecito. I know that's the way 431. in this house. But if you wear it, ooh, you'll make me proud. It's been in my family for five generations. ______432. Claire- Wow. Pretty cozy with the new housekeeper, huh? 433. Gloria- She's my sister. 434. Claire- Pretty weird with your sister. 435. Gloria- She likes to keep busy. But I feel bad for her. I have so much, and she has nothing. 436. Claire- Okay. Well, people make their own choices. It's not like you're responsible. 437. Gloria- No, no. Maybe just a little bit. I was older and I had opportunities to travel, and I took them.

438. Claire- Well, it didn't prevent her from going anywhere. 439. Gloria- No, no. Maybe just one time. There was a letter that arrived from America about a 440. Job opportunity. And it was only for one person, and I went. 441. Claire- But it's not like the envelope was addressed to her, and you… You're evil. 442. Gloria- I had to get out of there, Claire. 443. Claire- You just strapped on those high heels and walked right over her back, didn't you? 444. Gloria- Maybe a little bit.

Season four, episode nineteen: “The future Dunphys”

445. Gloria- Quién es el hombre más hermoso de esta casa? Ay, perdón, ¿quién es el otro 446. hombre más hermoso de esta casa? Manny? 447. Manny- Huh? 448. Gloria- I am telling you how handsome you are. 449. Manny- Oh.Well, next time, tell me in English so I don't miss it. 450. Gloria- You're forgetting all your Spanish. You never practice. 451. Manny- Perdóname, mami, soy embarazada. 452. Gloria- You just told me that you're pregnant. Congratulations. You're glowing.

[Later that day, at a Vietnamese restaurant]

453. Mitchell- Okay, um, we need just a second. Lily, that was rude. 454. Lily- I wanna go home. 455. Cameron- No. It's important that you celebrate the culture of your ancestors. You are Vietnamese. 456. Lily- No, I'm not. I'm gay! I'm gay! 457. Mitchell- Honey, no, you're not gay. You are just confused. Oh, my God. What is wrong with me? 458. Mitchell- We should just go. 459. Gloria- No, nobody's going anywhere until she finishes the whole soup! 460. Cameron - No, Gloria, it's fine. We don't wanna push her. 461. Gloria - No, no, no, it's not fine. That's the problem with this country. Nobody cares where 462. they come from. They just want cheeseburgers and prep school, and they have forgotten about Colombia! 463. Mitchell- Okay, I can't help but feel that maybe you're bringing something to the table that's 464. possibly, uh, not at all about Lily. 465. Gloria- I think you're right. It's just that I feel like I'm losing my children to America. 466. They're just going to grow up and become boring old white people. 467. Mitchell- Hey, what's going on with you?

468. Gloria- Manny has forgotten most of his Spanish, and Joe--I'm sure he's not even going to learn it. 469. I know this is silly, but I just don't like feeling like I'm so different from the rest of my family. 470. Cameron- Oh, honey. 471. Gloria - It feels so lonely, yes. […] Maybe I'll just take Manny and Joe to Colombia this summer. 472. Mitchell- I think that's a great idea. I really think that keeping in touch with your heritage only enriches our culture. Season five, episode three: ‘Larry’s wife’

473. Gloria- I have bad news, Jay. Joe was thrown out of the gymboree. 474. Jay- Again? What happened? 475. Gloria- He pushed Mason. He made him cry. The teacher said that we cannot go back. 476. Jay- That's ridiculous. Mason's a big baby. 477. Gloria- Everybody there is a big baby. But Joe plays very rough. And we know why. It's the curse. 478. Jay- Not that I'd ever want to discourage you from whispering, but that's not a thing. 479. Gloria- There is a mark of the devil in my family. My great-great grandfather was given the 480. location of an emerald mine in exchange for his soul. 481. Jay- There's, like, paperwork or something that proves this? 482. Gloria- And they say that the day of his daughter's wedding, a great bird came from the sky 483. and snatched him with his claws and took him far, far away. 484. Jay- You're aware that a remarkable number of your stories end with a family member being carried off by a giant bird. 485. Gloria- I didn't tell Jay, but sometimes Joe even scares me. Lucky for me, there are 486. professionals that are trained to deal with such problems. Ay, thank you for coming, padre. 487. Padre- Oh, of course, Gloria. And this must be Fulgencio. What a beautiful little boy. He's 488. such a sweet nature. I can tell he's a gentle soul. 489. Gloria- Ah! Hey, Fulgencio, no, no. Sorry, padre. Ay, that's why I called you, father. I think 490. he's bad. There is evil in my family. 491. Padre- Ah, Gloria, he's just a little baby. 492. Gloria- Last week, his eyes got red, and the dog backed away. 493. Padre- He probably just had a cold. All mothers worry.

Season five, episode nineteen: ‘A hard Jay’s night’

494. Gloria- That's my old hair salon where I used to work. You can get drinks there, too. 495. The girls- Gloria! How are you doing, girls? You finally brought Jay so we can meet him! 496. Gloria- No, no, no, no. This is not Jay.

497. Girls- Ah, so you got yourself a lover. Give it to me when you're done with him! - So mean! 498. Phil - What's so funny? What's so funny? 499. Gloria- She thinks you're my lover. 500. Phil- That is funny! I don't know if it's "a room full of women laughing" funny, but Ay, Rita, no. 501. Gloria- Phil is a friend of mine, and we're just killing time before an appointment. 502. The girls- I hate to ask, Gloria, but my new girl hasn't shown up. Any chance you could help? 503. Gloria- Ay, of course! It will be so much fun! Oh! I don't want to ruin my nails. Phil, would you do my shampooing? 504. Phil- Well, I-I guess so. We've got the time. Just a warning-- I haven't shampooed 505. professionally since college, and that was only part-time to pay for my cheer gear. 506. Gloria- Wow. That was super-braggy. ______507. Gloria- Remember when I put a sausage in my bag when I was coming back from 508. Barranquilla? Oh, I miss you girls. Nobody in my white family thinks that I am funny. ______509. Phil- What a day, huh? Being back here must bring up a lot of memories. 510. Gloria- Oh, yeah. 511. Phil- Maybe even some emotions. 512. Gloria- Yeah. It feels weird. 513. Phil- No, weird is an adjective, not an emotion, but go on. 514. Gloria- Well, it's just that my life now is so different than before-- so much easier. 515. Phil- And that makes you feel? 516. Gloria- Good. 517. Phil- And also? 518. Gloria- And bad. 519. Phil- Why? 520. Gloria- I don't know. 521. Phil- Come on, now, Gloria. 522. Gloria- I don't know. I guess it just makes me feel a little ashamed. 523. Phil- Now, what in the world do you have to be ashamed of? 524. Gloria- It's just that, you know, before, when I used to live here, I used to work for every penny. 525. I would stand on my own two feet. Now I just stand on expensive shoes that Jay buys for me. 526. Phil- Is that why it's so hard to let go of the apartment? 527. Gloria- No, Phil, it's not that— 528. Phil- Gloria...

529. Gloria- Maybe. 530. Phil- Gloria… 531. Gloria- Yes. It's the last piece of the old me. 532. Phil- No, no! You're going too deep! Oh. I'm sorry, but I think you're looking at this all wrong. 533. The old you hasn't gone anywhere. I-I-I see it in the way you're raising Manny and Joe, the 534. way you care for Jay. You never take anyone or anything for granted. You worked hard for 535. years without knowing that things were gonna get better. And then the universe rewarded 536. you. There's nothing to be ashamed of. 537. Gloria- So, you're not mad at me because I don't want to sell the apartment? 538. Phil- No. You'll know when you're ready, and I'll be here. 539. Gloria- Aw, Phil. You're the best.

Season six, episode seven: “Queer Eyes, Full Hearts”

540. Gloria- That's your Spanish tutor. 541. Manny- I'm gonna say it one more time. I really think French will be a better fit for me. 542. Gloria- Your name is Manuel Alberto Javier Alejandro Delgado. How is French a better fit 543. for you? 544. Manny- Okay, I'm pretty sure you threw in a name I've never heard before. Hello. 545. Diego- Ah, ah! En español, por favor. 546. Manny- Okay, let's take it down a nacho. 547. Gloria- Hola, Diego! 548. Diego- You must be Mr. Pritchett. 549. Jay- And I'm just glad you're here. Gloria tried to tutor Manny. There was less yelling in "The miracle worker”. 550. Gloria- Because he wasn't even trying. 551. Manny- I'm sorry, but Spanish just doesn't seem natural to me. I don't like the way it hits my ear. 552. Gloria- What could be more natural than your mother's tongue in your ear? 553. Jay- Do you happen to know a good English tutor? ______

554. Jay- What's up, guys!? 555. Diego- Ah, señor Pritchett. Please, join us. 556. Jay- Nice as it is for you to invite me to swim in my own pool, I thought I was paying you to teach Manny Spanish. 557. Gloria- Manny's done with his lesson. But Diego here is also a swim instructor, so he's going to teach Joe to swim.

558. Jay- Must be a good teacher if Joe doesn't have to be here for it. 559. Gloria- Manny's putting him in his swimming diaper. There they are! Let's go swim! Come here. 560. Jay- You know, it's too bad you don't spend as much time on your Spanish homework as 561. you do online, finding passive-aggressive ways of using my hobbies against me. What's this? 562. Manny- Permission slip. Let’s me transfer into French. Only one parent signature required. 563. Come on, Jay. I can't take it anymore. I quit. 564. Jay - You're already starting to sound French. 565. Gloria- Did you sign something so that Manny could switch to French? 566. Jay- I did. 567. Gloria- You knew that I wanted him to learn Spanish. 568. Jay- I also know you can't force a kid to be interested in something that he's not. That's why 569. I have a picture of Mitchell and his prom date shaking hands. 570. Gloria- It would be nice for someone to care what I think for a change. 571. Jay- You should also know that I hired a new swimming instructor. But don't worry. She's 572. got the same broad shoulders plus a mustache. 573. Gloria- So, all this is because you're jealous? I can't believe that you're being so In fer ur-- What is the word? 574. Manny- Selfish, pigheaded. 575. Jay- Really? 576. Manny- Her words, not mine. 577. Gloria- Do you know how frustrating it is to have to translate everything in my head before 578. I say it? To have people laugh in my face because I'm struggling to find the words? You 579. should try talking in my shoes for one mile! 580. Jay- I think you meant… 581.Gloria- I know what I meant to mean. Do you even know how smart I am in Spanish? Of 582. course, you don't. For once, it would be nice to speak to someone in my own language in my own home. 583. Jay- Listen, I'm sorry I let Manny switch over to French without consulting you. I didn't 584. think how it must be for you having to speak English all the time. 585. Gloria- You have no idea. 586. Jay- Anyway, I just wanted to tell you I hired the tutor back. 587. Gloria- Manny's not gonna like that. He's too much into his French thing. 588. Jay- The tutor's not for Manny. It's for me. 589. Gloria- Ay, Jay, I love it!

Season six, episode twenty-two: ‘Patriot games’

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590. Jay- Gloria's about to take her citizenship test. This little jumping bean is about to become an American. 591. Gloria- Jumping beans are Mexican. 592. Jay- Once you're an American you won't see the difference. I got you a little gift to celebrate. 593. Gloria - Aw. 594. Jay- I know it's not much. 595. Gloria- It's practically nothing. 596. Jay- It's America. It's fun. 597. Gloria- Aw, thank you, Jay. I'm so excited. Do you know that once I pass, I can serve on a jury? 598. They still use the electric chair, right?

[Door Opens.]

599. Manny - We're back. 600. Gloria- Hola, Javier. How was Take Your Son To Not Work Day? How was life before radio? 601. Javier- Manny told me about your plans to abandon your Colombian roots. 602. Gloria- Really? You're going to lecture me on abandonment? You left to buy some diapers, and I saw you four years later. 603. Javier: If only you could let that go as easily as your homeland. [Speaking Spanish] 604. Gloria: Vete ya, que tu tienes menos cerebro que una, una… cow…(Go away now, you have less brains than a cow) 605. Javier: Cow! Cow? The woman who's abandoning her country cannot remember the 606. Spanish word for "cow”. 607. Gloria: It slipped my mind! 608. Jay: [Laughing] Vaca. There's a taco truck parked outside my office.

[Colombian music playing] 609. Jay: Hey! What's going on here? 610. Gloria: I'm making sancochol 611. Jay: Yeah, you got your little Colombian music going, huh? 612. Gloria: I know. It's so beautiful. 613. Jay: Javier got to you, didn't he? 614. Gloria: No. Maybe a little bit. 615. Jay: Gloria, don't listen to him. I guess it still bothers me that you have all these ties to Javier. 616. Gloria: What ties? What are you talking about?

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617. Jay: Gloria Delgado-Pritchett. You still have his last name. You're both Colombians. When 618. you and I come back to the country we have to wait in separate lines like we're not even in 619. the same family. I don't know. I guess I just thought that if you committed to America in some weird way you'd be 620. recommitting to me. That's the longest you've ever been quiet, and it's terrifying. 621. Manny: I know nobody asked for my advice 622. Jay: Yet you're talking. 623. Manny: I agree with Jay. 624. Jay: Let's hear him out. 625. Manny: Don't do this for him, Mom. 626. Jay: You're all over the place. 627. Manny: But you also shouldn't worry about what dad thinks. I think you should become a 630. citizen because even back when we were alone in our apartment this is what you always wanted.

Season Seven, episode five “The Verdict”

631. Jay- Honey? Would you buy a closet called… 632. Gloria-Shhhh, I am waiting to see if I get to go tomorrow 633. Jay- Jury Duty? You know you can just throw that away. There’s no way they can ever tell you got it 634. Gloria- Jay, you’re a bad American. It is a privilege to serve on a jury. For the first time I get to be part of it. Season seven, episode six: “The more you ignore me”

635. Mitchell- That is amazing. Mmm. 636. Gloria- It's a secret recipe that has been in my family for generations. My great-aunt 637. Miranda was the only one that could make it, and because I was the oldest girl that didn't 638. marry a Peruvian, the recipe passed down to me. Ay, I don't have many things that remind 639. me of Colombia here in the house, but now I do. We grew up eating this every Sunday, and 640. now Manny and Joe will, too.

Season seven, episode nine: “White Christmas”

641. Gloria- Christmas in Colombia was always hot and loud, people arguing betrayal, schemes. 642. So, I rented a mountain cabin for the whole family to celebrate my first Christmas as an 643. American. I want a white Christmas, you know… like white people have.

Season eight, episode one: ‘A tale of three cities’

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[Mariachi music plays.]

644. Gloria- We were in Juarez for my sweet 19-year-old cousin Marisol's third wedding. It was 645. so beautiful. Thank God that they finished that tunnel in time for her father to make it. 646. Gloria- Ay, Jay, stop with the phone. You're missing everything. 647. Jay- Hang on -- I'm trying to lock up some sausages for Father's Day this weekend. You 648. wait till the last minute, you wind up eating chicken and apple, like some damn hippie. Double click! [Gasps.] 649. Gloria- La Diabla. Manny, come dance with me. 650. Jay- Son of a bitch, that's good! 651. Sonia- Hola, Jay. 652. Jay- Oh, hey Sonia. 653. Sonia- I see Gloria's avoiding me. She's still mad because I forwarded her that mass e-mail. 654. Jay- Could be that, or it could be the last time you saw her, you tried to steal me and kill her. 655. Sonia- Hm. So, how is my sister? 656. Jay- Fantastic. Great. 'Course, with Joe and also her hot-sauce business, she got a lot on her plate. 657. Hey, have you tried one of these Mexican cookies? 658. Sonia- They just call them cookies. I'll speak with Gloria later. I have to drop this at the gift table. 659. Jay- Great. 660. Gloria- My seat is cold, and the flowers wilted. I see that my sister has been here. 661. Jay- Will you get over that? She couldn't have been nicer. We talked about Joe. I told her 662. how well your hot-sauce business was going. By the way, have you tried one of these cookies? 663. Gloria- Why did you tell her about the sauce? Everybody, get your things. We have to leave Juarez right now! 664. Jay- What?! It took me 45 minutes to get into this outfit! 665. Gloria- You know how crazy Sonia can be. She's gonna be so jealous now that she knows 666. that I am a very successful businesswoman. 667. Jay- Aren't you 400 bucks in the hole on that thing? You don't think this looks bad -- us walking out before dinner? 668. Gloria- Joe has a fever, and he -- he's sweating very much. 669. Joe- No, I'm not. [Doorbell rings.] 670. Gloria- - Who's here so early? Sonia, what are you doing here? 671. Sonia- You left Juarez so fast, I didn't get to say goodbye. We're sisters. We shouldn't fight. I miss you.

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672. Gloria- Okay, got it. 673. Jay-Gloria! Sonia. I'm sorry. Come in. 674. Sonia- No, I couldn't. 675. Jay- No, you came from so far away. Come on in. Stay awhile. 676. Sonia- Thank you, Jay. 677. Jay-The Mexican cookies. I never thought I'd see those again. Let me help you with those. 678. Manny - Hey, Aunt Sonia. 679. Sonia- Hola, Manny. I have some luggage in the car. Come help me. 680. Manny- Okay. 681. Jay- Help your aunt. Go ahead. [Laughs.] 682. Gloria- Why did you let her in? 683. Jay- You have to talk to her. I really think she's here to apologize. 684. Gloria- You don't know her like I do. 685. Jay- Ohh! Wait! What are you doing?! 686. Gloria- Great, Jay. Now she kidnapped Manny. [Tires squeal.] 687. Jay- Why are you so calm? Shouldn't we follow them or call the police? 688. Gloria- No, it's just a kidnapping. It's normal in my family.

Season nine, episode six: ‘Ten years later’

689. Jay- Gloria! I have a surprise for you! 690. Manny - I'm here! 691. Gloria - Okay. 692. Manny- I was kind of expecting a bigger reaction. 693. Jay- Yeah, I thought for sure Manny being here would tip the scales. 694. Gloria- No! I don't need anyone to do that for me! Just leave me alone. 695. Manny- What kind of sick game are you two playing? Do you have any idea what I gave up 696. to be here? Jay- What's going on with you, Gloria? [SOBS.] 697. Gloria- This dress doesn't fit me anymore! 698. Jay- That's it?! I drove all the way to Manny's dorm for nothing? 699. Gloria- You don't understand. I tell people that I work hard to stay fit and to stay young, 700. but the reality is that I barely do anything. But now my body is getting 701. Jay - Bigger? 702. Gloria – How dare you! But yes. 703. Gloria- But I've always looked a certain way. And now that I don't, then what am I? Just a 704. self-trained hairdresser with a hot-sauce business. 705. Jay- You still have that? Gloria, you're so much more than how you look.

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706. Gloria- That's what you say to people that are not that pretty anymore. 707. Jay- Are you insane? You could be my age and 30 pounds heavier, and you would still be 708. unbelievably out of my league. Listen, you gain a couple who cares? These have been the 709. best 10 years of my life. I'm in it for every pound, every wrinkle, every gray hair.

Season ten, episode thirteen: ‘Whanex’

710. Gloria- Look at that! An open casting call. Excuse me, what is this for? 711. Casting company- We are looking for real families to be the new faces of the Glen Valley 712. Mall. You guys are adorable. Want to sign up? 713. Phil- Oh, we're not a-a real 714. Gloria- Oh, we would love to! What a cool and a spontaneous thing to do! 715. I saw that poster last week. It kind of reminded me of a long time ago when I used to do a 716. little modeling. I guess I miss it. I tricked Phil into going to the mall because I knew that Jay wouldn't do it with me. [After the casting call] 717. Phil- I feel, uh, silly I got so invested in modeling for some mall poster no one's ever gonna see. 718. Gloria- You want to feel better? I'll show you something that is gonna make me look more pathetic than you do. 719. Phil- I think I said "silly," but, um yeah, okay. 720. Gloria- That was me 20 years ago. 721. Phil- That's amazing. But what are you so upset about? You're just as beautiful now as you were then. 722. Gloria- Aww. I know. It's just that it was a time in my life where I was out there hustling, 723. modeling, driving a taxi, selling bacon-wrapped hot dogs outside a nightclub. Seeing them 724. taking it down made me feel like that version of me is gone forever. So that's why you 725. wanted to start modeling again. I just miss being passionate about something again. The 726. way that you feel passionate about real estate.

Season ten, episode seventeen: “The wild”

727. Gloria- Hello 728. Hailey- Oh, hey Gloria! Thanks for coming. 729. Gloria- It’s gonna be such a fun girls’ night drinking wine, planning the nursery 730. Claire- Oh! How perfect is this? They delivered the crib, and I know just the crew of handy 731. honeys to help me put it together. 732. Hailey- Uh, not now, Mom. I've had the worst day. 733. Alex- Me too. 734. Hailey- Quick, start crying. We need to derail her enthusiasm before she’s…

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735. Alex- Ugh, too late, she’s dancing. 736. Gloria- way to rock it, girlfriend! […] I cannot deny it anymore. I am turning into a white woman. [While at the spin class]

737. Gloria- is there a problem, girlfriends? 738. Friends- Spin class was cancelled! What are we gonna do with our day? 739. “When in doubt Brunch”. Where’s the nearest place that serves kale and also has a pun in its name? 740. Gloria- There’s an Underground Kale-Road down the street. Let’s go!

741. Gloria- I’ve gotten soft lately. I think I’ve lost my Colombian edge.

Season eleven, episode five: “The last Halloween”

742. Jay- Now my son can experience the kind of quality confection our generation grew up with. 743. Gloria- "Our"? I am a Gen X. Don't make me a Boomer. 744. Gloria- Something horrible happened to me last weekend. (At the restaurant) 745. Gloria- I'll just have the seafood salad. 746. Waiter- Very good. And for your husband? [LAUGHS.] 747.Gloria- Oh, no, no. He's my husband. 748. Jay- That's what he said. 749. Gloria: The day I have dreaded finally came people assume that I am Jay's wife.

FRESH OFF THE BOAT

Season one, episode one: “Pilot”

750. Eddie: My parents were born in Taiwan, but my brothers and I were born in America. 751. Louis- I've been there for six months setting up the restaurant, and I've grown to love it like the daughter we wished Evan had been. 752. Eddie- Hmm? I don't know why we have to move. Why couldn't you keep on going back 753. and forth between Orlando and D.C.?

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754. Louis- Because I didn't come to America to work for your mom's brother selling furniture for the rest of my life. 755. Jessica- Your father is right. This is why we left Chinatown in D.C. This is why we left our family and friends. 756. Louis- Exactly. 757. Jessica- This is why we left everything we know to come to a place where we know 758. nothing and where the humidity is not good for my hair. 759. Louis- Right, okay. 760. Jessica - And for what? So your father can own a cowboy restaurant. 761. Louis- It's called Cattleman's Ranch Steakhouse, and I can't wait for you all to see it. It is beautiful. 762. It is big, brown, and beautiful. 763. Eddie- Like Shaq? 764. Louis- Exactly like Shaq. ______765. Louis- I was blow-drying my hair, and I figured it out how the restaurant can attract bigger crowds. 766. Jessica- Well, how? 767. Louis- I need to hire a white host. Instead of people coming in and seeing a Chinese face 768. and saying "huh? I thought this was an old west steakhouse," they see a white face and say, 769. "oh, hello, white friend. I am comfortable”. See? Exactly. Not welcoming. 770. That's why no to your face and yes to the white face! Nice, happy white face, like Bill Pullman. ______771. Eddie- Hey. 772. Jessica- So, how was your first… 773. Eddie- They said my lunch smelled! 774. Jessica- It smelled delicious? This is nice. Well, those kids, they just don't know, that's all. 775. It just take time to get used to something different. 776. Eddie- I hate it here! I want to go back to D.C. 777. Jessica- Eddie, that's not possible. We are here now. We have to make the best of it. Like I am doing with this neighbor woman. 778. You think I like pretending Samantha isn't carrying a baggie of dog poops in her hand? No! 779. I don't like this! We all see the poops there! It's rolling around! But I am trying! You have to try too. ______780. Eddie- Mom, no! I don't want Chinese lunch! I want white-people food! The kids at school 781. will get used to it! Ugh! You're never on my side. 782. Jessica- What are you doing? You're not gonna have any lunch to eat. 783. Eddie- I'll be fine.

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______784. Jessica- Eddie, why are you eating so much? 785. Eddie- I'm hungry. 786. Jessica- Didn't you eat your lunch today? 787. Eddie- Yeah, but I'm still hungry. 788. Jessica- Oh, okay. How you like the xiaolongbao I pack you? 789. Eddie- - It was really good. 790. Jessica- - Liar. I did not pack xiaolongbao! 791. Eddie- Okay. Fine. I threw my lunch away. 792. Jessica - I cannot believe you, Eddie! 793. Louis - Come on, Eddie. That's wasteful, man. 794. Jessica - This is good food I make. You love my food. 795. Eddie- I need white-people lunch. That gets me a seat at the table. And then you get to 796. change the rules. Represent, like Nas says. I'm not trying to eat with the janitor for the rest of my life. ______797. Jessica: This is not how I like to shop. This place looks like a hospital. [Sighs] I miss the 798. Taiwanese markets back in D.C. They make me feel so calm. Everything fits perfectly inside the box. 799. Louis: You want to fit inside a box? That's so American. This is why. 800. Jessica: This is why what? 801. Louis- This is why we moved here. I’m sorry for what happened to Eddie, but it’s going to 802. make him stronger. In fact, us coming to this new place is going to make us all stronger. I 803. came down here, and I opened a wild west restaurant because this is the wild west…a 804. lawless land for only the bravest of families! There is an opportunity to make a better life 805. for our family. Things were okay for us back in D.C., but I want more than okay for us. ______806. Eddie- My family was gonna create their place in Orlando, and we’re gonna do it our way, 807. because you don’t have to pretend to be someone else in order to belong.

Season one, episode two: “Home Sweet Home-school”

808. Jessica- You need to make school more challenging, or else my son will fall behind. 809. Principal- I'm sorry. There's not much I can do about a straight- "A" student. 810. Jessica- Well, is there extra school? Where is the closest CLC? 811. Eddie- Oh, no. 812. Principal- What's CLC? 813. Jessica- Chinese learning center an after-school program for reading, math, science, etc. 814. Eddie- I couldn't hear them through the reinforced glass, but I imagined it was the sound of

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815. childhood. Enjoy your stick, white friends. 816. Principal- I'm sorry. We don't have a Chinese learning center here ______817. Jessica- Dinner's almost ready. You finish your CLC? 818. Eddie- You know I didn't. 819. Jessica- Dinner after CLC. 820. Eddie- Dad, mom is crazy. Can't you talk some sense into her? 821. Louis- Uh, well, you know, it's, uh, tough for all of us. I'm dying without her at the restaurant. 822. Nobody's having a good time. Love you! 823. Eddie- Love you? My dad never said that. My family loved each other. We just didn't say 824. it. We showed our love through criticism and micromanagement, so if you said "love you," 825. you were probably hiding something.

Season one, episode four: “Success Perm”

826. Jessica- She’s just bitter because I have always been Mom’s favorite. That’s why she’s 827. coming. She wants Mom to see us struggling. But they will be in for a surprise…when they see how well we are doing. 829. Jessica- Let me explain. In addition to fake lemon trees…another thing Chinese people did 830. to show prosperity was to get a perm. I don’t know why, but to my people, curls were like dollar signs.

Season one, episode thirteen: ‘So Chineez’

831. Marvin- Oh, and, hey, we can be your first Asian-American members. 832. Louis- Ooh! Oh, I didn't even think of that. 833. Marvin- You know, sometimes I forget you guys are Chinese. 834. Louis- Oh, what do you mean? O-oh, you know. 835. Marvin-You guys are just like regular old Americans to us. ______836. Louis-Have you seen my good tennis shorts? The one with the turtle on it? 837. Louis- Are we Chinese enough? 838. Jessica- Yes. What? 839. Louis- Marvin says sometimes he forgets we're Chinese. Maybe he's forgetting because 840. we're forgetting. I mean, when did we start wearing shoes in the house? Shoes in the house from now on! 841. Jessica- My feet are crazy wide. They're like suction cups in those boots. Wearing shoes in 842. the house isn't the only thing that's different about us. Look, all Marvin meant was he sees

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843. us as Americans first. Isn't that what we want? What I don't want is for the boys to forget where they came from. 844. Louis- Look, Jessica, we're doing fine. We're so Chinese. 845. Jessica- I guess I'm overthinking it. ______846. Louis- Yes, don't worry. 847. Eddie- Hey, mom, I need help with my mandarin. I'm trying to talk off grandma. 848. Jessica- Oh. Oh, that's very good. Oh, my sweet boy. 849. Eddie- How do you say, "can you say that in English, grandma?" Big ups, y'all! Mom, I'm Jamaican.

850. Jessica- I want Eddie to be assigned China for world cultures day. 851. School principal- Well, we purposely didn't give China to Eddie because we thought it would be racist. 852. Jessica- So, you treated him differently because he's Chinese? - Switch Eddie to China. 853. School principal- Absolutely. ______854. Eddie- Mom, why did you get me reassigned? I had Jamaica. I was on easy street. Every- 855. ting gonna be "irie.” Jamaica's so much cooler than China. 856. Jessica- You know what's cool? A wall you can see from space China. Birthplace of kung 857. fu China. Gunpowder, the compass, gambling China, China, China! 858. Eddie- What is that? 859. Jessica- Chicken feet. It's for good fidelity. I don't want good fidelity. You know what else is cool? China. 860. Eddie- I can see its toenail. I don't wanna eat this. 861. Jessica - Eat your feet! 862. Eddie- No! Homework! I gotta do homework! Love you! ______

863. Louis- Great news! I joined the country club! We're all members. 864. Jessica- No, we're not doing that anymore. Cancel the membership. 865. Louis- What? 866. Jessica- We need to reconnect with our culture, not surround ourselves with white people 867. doing white things. 868. Louis- You know what's a white thing? Hanging up a Buddha picture. Jessica, you got me 869. all excited about the country club, and now I wanna do it. Our parents made sure we knew 870. where we came from. We need to do the same thing for the boys.

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______871. Jessica- I like all of it. "Melrose Place," rollerblading, Mac and cheese. It's so easy to make. 872. You just add water. It's cheese from water. It's okay for us to like this stuff. But I hate that I 872. like it, and I hate that I am too weak to give it up. I keep telling the boys to hold on to their 873. identity, but I can't even do it myself. They have me, Louis. I'm just a chipwich-eating American couch lady. 874. Louis- Jessica, we are not losing our identity.

875. Eddie- Mom, I don't care if you get mad at me. I don't wanna be China. I wanna be Jamaica! 876. Jessica- I see they have him, too. Okay, fine, be Jamaica. 877. Eddie- I am so glad I switched back to Jamaica. It's just so much cooler than China. I mean, even Greece would've been cooler. ______878. Trent- Yeah, China just has, like, pandas. And what's cool about pandas? They're all like HuGy-gurgy. 879. Eddie - What do you mean? 880. Trent- What? 881. Eddie- Does China amuse you? 882. Trent- I was just joking around. 883. Eddie- Oh, well, I like jokes. Explain to me what's so funny so I can laugh, too. 884. I think Trent just meant I think 885. Eddie- Trent can talk for himself. He said a joke about China, and I wanna know what he meant by it. 886. Don't be makin' fun of China! I'm Chinese, Trent. You know what's cool? A wall you can 887. see from space China. We got 5,000 years of history, dawg. What's your chief export, 888. Barbados? The chronic? 889. Trent- Actually, it's electrical components. 890. Eddie- Oh, word. You know who makes them into stereos? China! Same with those air 891. Jordans you love so much. Just do it? Just made it. In China.

Season two, episode six: “Good morning Orlando”

892. Jessica- What have you done? You’re supposed to go out there and promote the restaurant, not make a fool out of yourself. 893. Louis- [As Arnold Jackson] Whatchu talkin’ bout, woman? You love my impressions. [Normal voice] That was Arnold. 894. Jessica- Not on television.

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895. Louis- What’s the difference? 896. Jessica- Name one Chinese on TV. 897. Louis- Pat Morita 898. Jessica- Japanese, and you know it. 899. Louis- What’s your point? 900. Jessica- We don’t get opportunities to be on TV. That’s why when we do, we need to 901. present out best face, not clown around, like you did today. 902. Louis- They loved me. 903. Jessica- You know what it reminded me of? Your favorite character 904. Louis- No 905. Jessica- from “Sixteen candles” 906. Louis- don’t say it 907. Jessica- Long Duk Dong. The Chinese guy in that movie became what everybody thought 908. all Chinese people were. He made people think that was okay. That’s when we get 909. opportunities like this, it matters. 910. Louis- Look, I was just a person joking around on a morning talk show. This is not a Long Duk Dong situation.

Season two, episode eleven: “Year of the Rat”

911. Jessica- Chinese New Year is in a few days, and it’s tradition to clean our home to welcome in good fortune. ______912. Neighbor- You guys have your own new year? 913. Louis- Yeah, we get together with family, have a big dinner. There are decorations, dragon 914. dances, fireworks. I mean, you should see how crazy it gets in Chinatown. If you can 915. breathe properly the next day, you weren’t there. ______916. Eddie- I’m ready for my new year’s haircut. 917. Jessica- Oh that’s another new year’s tradition. You don’t want to cut your hair too soon 918. after the new year, because you might be getting rid of any good luck you just received.

Season two, episode twenty: “Hi, my name is…” 919. Jessica- Okay, the truth is, “I can't pronounce your name. You can learn how to pronounce 920. it”. Are you really gonna have this conversation with everyone you meet? With everyone who 921. reads you résumé? 922. Evan- It's my name. People should learn how to say it.

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923. Jessica- Yes, but they probably won't. It's like Butte Juice. It was always delicious, but people 924. didn't know that till it became Geyser Mist. It was the same drink. It just went by a different 925. name. That's what made it successful.

926. Evan- That is so funny. 927. Jessica- [Back to the previous] That professor was a jerk, but he had a point. Why was I 928. being stubborn and making it harder than it already was in a new country? I wasn't losing 929. my identity. I still had my Chinese name, but by giving myself a name that was easier for 930. people to pronounce, I was opening the door to more opportunities.

Season three, episode one: “Coming from America” 931. Stewardess: We are now arriving in Taipei, Taiwan. 932. Airport Security-Purpose of your visit? 933. Louis- Oh, it's a long story. [Chuckles] Basically, I've come to reconcile with my brother. 934. See, our father could only send one of us to America, and it was me. ______935. Louis-I went to our local AAA. These are things every tourist should know when visiting 936. Taiwan. You're a member of AAA? 937. Gene- I don't understand the question. You're not tourists. You're home. 938. Louis- But we've never been here.

939. Gene- Doesn't matter. This is still your home. 940. Louis- I can't believe you would hold on to your stupid grudge about me going to America 941. when you got this amazing life here. 942. Gene- Hey, you were the one who chose to leave. 943. Louis- I know! That's why I'm so mad! Why did I have to make it harder on myself and start 944. over in America? I was already started here! We're the white people of here! ______945. Louis- I'm sorry, Jessica. Why was the pot already painted? I'm sorry I couldn't give you a 946. life like the one Gene and Margaret have here. 947. Jessica- What are you talking about? 948. Louis- [Sighs] You've always said how much you missed Taiwan. Maybe we should move 949. back. Things would be easier.

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950. Jessica- No, they wouldn't. It's hot, crowded, there's mosquitoes... a sick obsession with the 951. movie "Ghost." Everybody here knows everybody else's business. [Sighs] Even shopping at 952. the night market isn't as fun as I remembered.

953. Louis- No, that's not it. 954. Jessica- I know I've been saying how different things are here, how they've changed, but it's 955. not true. They're the same. I'm the one who has changed. And I'm homesick for Orlando. You 956. know what I miss? Bagels. I want a bagel. I didn't even think I liked bagels, but I want a bagel. 957. Louis- [Chuckles] Well, I still think we'd be able to afford a better life in Taiwan. 958. Jessica- Through shortcuts and connections, yes. But you have worked hard for everything 959. you have. You've earned it. No one's given you anything. We did it, Louis. We moved to 960. America, and we made it. We are the success story. 961. Louis-I guess we are. I mean, we did fly economy plus. 962. Jessica- Besides, no one loves America more than you. As soon as we moved back here, you 963. would miss it over there. And as soon as we go back there, you know you're gonna miss it 964. here. Well, maybe we'll never feel completely at home in either place. Oh, my God. We are 965. "Ghost." We are Patrick Swayze in "Ghost." Stuck between two worlds, part of both, 966. belonging to neither.

Season three, Episode four: “Citizen Jessica” 967. Offices- Just fill this out to update your Green Card and restore your permanent-resident status. 968. Jessica- I thought "permanent resident" meant "permanent." I didn't know I had to keep renewing my Green Card.

969. Louis- I would have found this out sooner if you'd ever registered to vote. 970. Jessica- I'm a permanent resident. It's basically the same thing. 971. Louis- So, you just plan to have a Green Card forever. Don't you want to become a citizen? 972. Jessica- I tried, but the process was so... They interrogate you and they ask you a million 973. questions, like you're a criminal, like they're trying to catch you in a lie. Plus, you have to 974. take a test, memorize the Pledge of Allegiance. Why would I want to do all that? 975. Louis- To vote, to be on game shows...

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976. Jessica- It takes years, it's expensive, and it's all for a piece of paper that will make no difference in my day-to-day life.

977. Louis- Is that why you never wear the American-flag pin I got you? 978. Jessica-No, I don't wear that because I don't like holes in my shirt. Season three, episode five: “No-thanksgiving” 979. Jessica- I know what it is, but I want you to say it first so I know you know. 980. Eddie- It's a squash. 981. Jessica- Squash! I cook it every Thanksgiving, and no one eats it. Why? Because it's 982. disgusting. Can anyone point out our ancestors in this painting? No, that's right, you can't... 983. Because they're not there. Eventually, they will be way back in this field, buried underneath 984. the rail road tracks that they built with no food or water. And do you ever ask yourself, 985. "Why?" Why do we put ourselves through all this holiday nonsense, through all the headaches 986. of visiting relatives, through all the squash? All for a day that we have no cultural ties to. 987. Why do we do it? Why? Why? Because that's what we do every year. It's tradition. It's not 988. our tradition. We don't like it. It's a lot of hard work, and we get nothing out of it.

Season three, episode nine: “How to be an American” 989. Luis- This is a big moment for you. You're like an immigrant caterpillar, and now you'll be 990. an American butterfly.

991. Jessica- Why must every single moment of our lives be so sentimental? Getting my 992. citizenship, moving to Orlando, Eddie's first word. Which was "thug life," by the way. I'm 993. gonna need you to confirm that if anyone from school asks. 994. Eddie- I still don't understand how mom is not a citizen if I'm a citizen.

995. Louis- Because you boys were born here. And I'm a citizen because I applied for the green 996. card lottery and then I naturalized. And after that, I sponsored Grandma, who also then 997. naturalized to become a citizen. And now she gets to stay here forever. But your mom is a 998. permanent resident with a green card. Season three, episode eleven: “Clean State” 999. Barber- So, what will it be today, Louis? 1000. Louis- Well, with Chinese New Year coming up, we're gonna need extra fresh cuts. Better make it two usuals. 1001. Eddie- I don't get why we're going through all this trouble for a holiday.

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1002. Louis- Having a clean slate is an important part of the lunar New Year. All debts, disputes, 1003. and grudges have to be resolved in order to ensure good fortune for the coming year.

Season five, episode five: “Mo’ Chinese Mo’ Problems” 1004. Louis: Evan, are you okay? 1005. Evan: I don't know. I saw something. 1006. Louis: What happened? What'd you see? 1007. Evan: I saw... other Chinese people. 1008. Louis: So, you saw a Chinese couple? 1009. Evan: Yep. They must've just moved to the neighborhood. 1010. Jessica: We're so happy you're here. We've dreamed of this day. 1011. The family: Us, too. 1012. Louis: Us, too. 1013. Jessica: We're so happy you're here. Taiwan, two years ago. That's the last time 1014. we saw Chinese people that weren't family. 1015. The family: Mm. Three years ago, for us. Back where we lived in Georgia, we once saw a 1016. Chinese face in the window of a passing bus. ______1017. The family: You're living the dream. I love that you opened an American steakhouse. 1018. Louis: Well, you know, I'm Chinese through and through but I'm 100% American.

Season five, episode twenty-one. “Under the Taipei Sun”

1019. Eddie: Can't believe in a couple hours, I'll be in Taiwan. Since I'm going on this cultural 1020. exchange, quick Taiwan question... Is the boys' bathroom symbol the same? 1021. Louis: I'm not going to answer that, but take a seat. Now, since this is your first trip by 1022. yourself, your mother and I want you to be prepared. 1023. Eddie: That's a lot of Taiwanese cash. 1024. Louis: Consider this your emergency fund. Please don't use it to get into a Taipei disco. I 1025. want to be there for your first time. And just in case, we got you a pre-paid cellphone. It's 1026. programmed with Big Auntie's number in Taipei. 1027. Eddie: Sick! I'm gonna wear this on my belt, like a vacationing businessman. 1028. Louis: It's a neck pillow. It'll help you fall asleep on the plane so you can avoid 1029. the deadly effects of jet lag. 1030. Eddie: Deadly? 1031. Louis: Deadly. My first day in America, I'm walking across the street, 1032. feeling good, and then bam... jet lag. I get hit by a bus, and then I die.

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1033. Eddie: That sounds made up. 1034. Louis: Some facts changed for dramatic effect. All I'm saying is, immigrating here was 1035. hard. Oh, I thought I could handle everything when I moved to America. My first week 1036. here, I was working as a seafood delivery guy...when my mediocre English got me lost. 1037. We just want you to be careful. When you're in a new country and you don't speak the 1038. language well and you don't have any money, it can be dangerous.

Season six, episode nine: “Lou wants to be a millionaire” 1039. Eddie: Dad, check it out. I put some burger pieces inside the bao from Grandma's recipe. 1040. Half Chinese, half American. A fusion dish I call the Cow Bao. 1041. Louis: Nice name. Rhyme time is dine time. 1042. Eddie: You mentioned how much you liked me taking initiative. 1043. Louis: I love it. 1044. Eddie: I thought we could put this on the menu. 1045. Louis- No, absolutely not. 1046. Eddie- What's wrong with putting my Cow Bao on the menu? 1047. Louis- I don't want to mess with what's working. Cattleman's has been around for five years now. 1048. Eddie- Well, you know what's been around for longer than five years? China. Thousands 1049. of years of history, which, if you believe her stories, Grandma's been around for half of. 1050. Louis- Eddie, we're a Western steakhouse. An Asian fusion dish isn't our brand.

1051. Eddie- Pops, I thought about what you said and did some research on why the Cow Bao 1052. will work at Cattleman's. It's the year 2000. Fusion is hot right now. There's a 63% uptick 1053. in Asian cuisine popularity. People are learning that dumplings aren't just a term of endearment.

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