Modern Family’s Alex: The Dark Side of Being the Smart Girl

Alex the middle child of the dumpy household on Modern Family in many ways seemed like the perfect daughter she was incredibly smart followed the rules and always kept her mind focused on her grades Above All Else she's like a selfcleaning oven and while Alex was very proud of her Intelligence being constantly trapped in the smart girl box started to wear on her over the seasons until it broke her completely there is a 16-year-old science Prodigy studying cancer research at John's Hopkins 16 what am I doing I'm eating Y no no no Alex's story provides both a look at how awesome it can be to be the smartest one in the room and the immense pressure that can bring I've spent my entire life trying to be perfect and where did it get me I'm in a field with 6,000 idiots let's unpack Alex's life as the smart girl what actually caused her problems and how she overcame them plus the real reason she and Haley were always fighting here's our take Alex is a stereotypical smart girl girl in many ways she's an incredibly book smart overachiever who sees herself as above others because of her brain power it's not easy being the Smart Ones in this family don't compare us your last English paper came back with a Garfield sticker on it that said way to go in addition to her intense dedication to learning and her quest for perfect grades she's also in every extracurricular that might look good on her University applications from lacrosse to debate team to French Club Alex had a poem published in Highlights magazine when she was 5 years old it was called Mr lamb a h but really it was about the Holocaust she even chose to play cello over violin because she knew that it would be more likely to get her a spot on a university Orchestra and even though she admits she doesn't even enjoy playing she refuses to just give it up because she hates quitting things while she may lack social skills Alex is very confident in her own Brilliance she's not just smarter than her siblings she's brainier than the adults around her too it's pronounced ABA not ABA oh thanks honey that reminds me this weekend I want to see that baby panda at the zoo yeah I'm the idiot this often leads her to treat everyone around her as less than looking down her nose at them because they aren't smart in the same way as her sometimes this comes out in harmless things like playing pranks on her siblings or shooting a quit back at an unsuspecting adult family member but sometimes she can be pretty unnecessarily mean how impressed are you with your uncle right now so impressed I didn't want to ruin their Moment by telling them how many wordss I've gotten but let's just say I don't get out of bed for a trophy of that size this is obviously partly for humor on the show but it does also help showcase one of Alex's biggest problems she often lashes out because she feels like she doesn't fit in she doesn't really have any friends outside of her small group of nerdy fans at least and usually feels ignored at school while her older sister Haley is a social butterfly Alex has a difficult time connecting with her peers shouldn't she be playing Words with Friends With Friends grandpa is my friend oh of course he is that's not sad what she so laser focused on her grades and making sure she's absorbing all of the knowledge she can that she doesn't really make time for interpersonal connections though she gets some help with that over the years which we'll discuss in a bit even at home she's the odd duck out how don't she get so smart I've always assumed adoption or baby switch because she's so self-sufficient her parents often leave her to her own devices but sometimes this extends the degree that they kind of forget that she's still a kid she often feels like she's having to pick up the slack and parent herself whenever her family is reminded of this they're usually exasperated instead of regretful okay so maybe Alex's attitude doesn't help I'd like to point out I completed all my assignments on my own and on time and this pressure both from others and from herself really starts to get to Alex after a while like with her choice of cello over violin in Alex pretty much always makes choices based on what she thinks a perfect smart girl should do without really factoring her own feelings she puts an intense amount of pressure on herself to do the right things get the right grades be the right kind of person how are you already doing homework it's junior year I have to get good grades don't you know how competitive it is out there so pressuring me as she ages the stress of her school workor and preparing for University and you know being a teenager all begin to compound to an unhealthy degree because she seems to be doing so well compared to Haley and Luke this mostly goes un ignored once you start overachieving people expect things from you until that is Alex finally snaps on her 16th birthday Alex has finally reached her limit and blows up during her birthday party waa you're being a little up stous freal truculent I was going to say cray cray at first her family thinks she's just being her regular intense self but they quickly come to realize that something is really wrong Alex having to support herself even in the midst of a breakdown books herself in to speak with a therapist at first Alex keeps up her smart girl I can handle everything on my own Wall Part of me feels like the lyic system in my brain's a bit off that's a thing right I did some research you know I charge the same even if you diagnose yourself but eventually she's finally able to open up about how much pressure she's been under and we get a look inside Alex's mind at just how much she's been trying to juggle all by herself I have to get new index cards before Monday hope they don't run out of the blue ones because for some reason those help me study better maybe my prescription is getting worse I should probably make an appointment with the ey doctor also should I get a job this summer with an internship look better on my application hearing her own stream of Consciousness out loud really helps her to realize just how much her mind is always racing while she's proud of her smarts she's also come to feel like it's the only thing about her that really matters so that's why she's always so concerned with proving that she's the smartest is that what you feel a responsibility to win all the time to always be the best that's one way to put it but Alex isn't the only one that has this realization while Alex is in therapy her mother Claire attends the open house at Alex's school and comes to understand just how much Alex has been doing Claire had been so focused on helping her other two less self-sufficient kids and her husband sort out their lives that she never really took the time to pay attention to what was going on with Alex she always seemed fine and like she had everything under control and so Claire never really question questioned it but the truth was Alex was dealing with a lot well I only give 2 hours of homework a night 2 hours our students are highly Advanced it's nothing they can handle they have 2 hours in this class and they have an hour for AP Bio it takes actually experiencing everything for herself for Claire to really start to grasp what Alex's life was really like and allows them to have a new deeper level of understanding between them I had no idea that kind of pressure you're under honey I was just you for 2 hours I could barely hold it together I don't know how you don't have a meltdown every day while it took a walk in her shoes for Claire to get Alex there's someone else who was surprisingly always on her side to say that Alex and Haley don't get along might be a bit of an understatement you idiot hey hey let's try to get along I wish you was never even bored they were trying to make one with a braid no the sisters are complete opposites in pretty much every way Haley is an outgoing extrovert obsessed with clothes and boys everything Alex abor they're constantly sniping at one another on the show about everything all you had to do to get in your college was like their Facebook page but this is Princeton and you could be a bit more supportive you're right I'm sorry your outfit's perfect thanks if you're applying to Lumberjack School while Alex has always been jealous that Haley got more attention both from their parents and from people at large Haley was jealous that Alex always seemed to be able to do everything right their family also often p hits their skills against the other making fun of Alex for not being as cool as Haley and Haley for not being as bright as Alex this does lead to them being at each other's throats a lot of the time but their deep sisterly Bond means they're always looking out for one another if you were in trouble I would do anything for you we're not just sisters best friends each sister is able to use her special abilities that the other lacks to try to set her on the right course as the big sister Haley is especially prone to finding ways to help Alex through the tougher parts of life she knows that Alex struggles with her social skills and so tries to use her secretly pretty deep emotional intelligence to push her down the right path even if it's with some tough love give your stupid speech be an outcast but you're only doing it to yourself because you're smart and pretty and sort of funny in a way that I don't really get but other people seem to enjoy Haley gives Alex tips on things like how to be cool and flirt with boys though this doesn't always go quite to plan I would like for you to kiss me but Haley never gives up on Alex and is so proud when she hits any emotional Milestone I got this who's This brilliant no I didn't see it I get a lot of texts I have a sister and as annoying as she might find Haley Alex shows up for her when it counts too when Haley shares that she's pregnant and terrified that she won't be a good mom Alex could have kicked her while she was down but she realized how important it was to comfort her in that moment and found the right words to say horrible mother okay first it's just a doll and you've been taking care of us our whole lives and you're understanding and loving and a total badass even though they don't often okay really ever see eye to eye they both help one another grow and feel like they can survive in the world they show how important it is to have people people around you that aren't just like you who can see problems from a different perspective and help you come up with new solutions that you never would have thought up on your own even when everyone else in the family may have been disappointed in them or forgot about them or underestimated them they were always there for each other don't dork up our room don't up your college as Alex reached the end of high school she was hit with another terrifying realization just being a perfect student isn't always enough to get what you want after putting in so much work for years molding her entire life around what she thought would make her the ideal applicant she didn't get into Harvard get straight A for 10 years spend your Summers building houses drag your cello to school every day write the perfect essay and for what but instead of letting this break her she begins to open herself up to the idea that there is more to life than just school though that's not an easy Road her entire sense of self has been wrapped up in being the straight A overachiever that when it was finally time to graduate college and move on to the next phase of her life she was genuinely afraid she even tried to bail on her own graduation because she didn't want to have to accept this scary future full of unknowns but your whole life you've always known exactly what you're supposed to do study get good grades repeat now that's over and it's scary but with the reassurance of her siblings she finds the courage to take that big leap into the next phase of her life she starts exploring different facets of herself from her Bell streak to her feminine side and even though she didn't get into Harvard she does get into a different great school and while her time at Caltech certainly has its own stressful moments I spent four years there in sweats with greasy hair caring only about grades the only time anyone ever noticed me was when I pulled out all my eyebrows during finals week she continues to excel academically while also cultivating other aspects of her life as well and eventually goes on to do research in Antarctica I want to use science to improve the world like I did now Antarctica back off you disgusting snow chicken old Alex doesn't disappear like when she's nasty to her boyfriend for being too dumb but in the later Seasons she's clearly grown from her experiences and gained confidence in herself she uses her overachieving and dedicated nature to carve out a life she actually enjoys Alex is a perfect example of how modern smart girls are breaking free from the cliches of the perfect girls they're told they're supposed to be and learning to do things their own way don't Stop Believing get this party [Applause] started that's the take click here to watch a video we think you'll love or here to check out a whole playlist of awesome content don't forget to subscribe and turn on notifications and make sure to subscribe to our patreon for exclusive new videos

Channel: The Take

Views: 95,541

Keywords: the take, video essay, video essays, claire, modern family, husband wife, dunphy, melinda, jay, dede, prichett, mitchell, phil, haley, alex, luke, julie bown, motherhood, gloria, smart girl, trope

Id: 6OEOxlaOdSo

Length: 12min 54sec (774 seconds)

Published: Tue Dec 12 2023