On Modern Family, Gloria Pritchett is full of wisdom and motherly advice. As a single mom and a new immigrant to the country, Gloria's experiences have shaped her into a strong, independent woman. Although she lived a comfortable life when she married Jay, she still carried the advice from her family everywhere she went. The problem is that sometimes her advice is a little too aggressive for her family's liking.
From kidnapping to stripping a person's confidence to get one's way, Gloria can be a little rough around the edges when someone asks her for help. But that doesn't mean she doesn't have her softer moments. She is incredibly sweet with her loved ones when they're feeling a little lost.
Best: Love Is Just Around The Corner
Gloria has had a bumpy road in terms of female friendship. She either gets along great with other women or there's envy involved — which never ends well. But when Gloria meets Whitney in "Fifteen Percent," she's incredibly nurturing.
Whitney visited the Prichett household after forming an online connection with Manny. The only problem is, Whitney had no idea Manny was a child. She felt foolish and down on herself, so Gloria came to the rescue. She gave Whitney a makeover and instilled in her the confidence to get back out there and take on the world. Gloria's advice seemed to help Whitney because she left with a new look and a smile.
Worst: When The Neighbor's Dog Barks Too Much, Kidnap It
Sometimes words fail Gloria, so she leads by example. In "Unplugged," the neighbor's dog won't stop barking and it's keeping the Delgado-Pritchett household up all night. Gloria takes the reigns and marches over to her neighbor's house to give him a piece of her mind.
But when nothing changes, Gloria takes the advice of her family's: send a message in silence. She takes the dog — without its owner knowing — and gives it to another family that would actually play with the dog. That's... a crime.
Best: Working Together Creates A Bond
It took some time before Jay and Manny truly became comfortable with each other. In season 1, the two didn't trust each other and didn't have much in common. Gloria wanted to nip that kind of relationship before it became toxic, so she suggested that Jay and Manny do manual labor together. She advised Jay and Manny to put together Manny's ceiling fan as a form of bonding, and as much as they resisted, it did the trick. The two became closer after that.
Worst: College Is For Getting Into Trouble
When Manny was preparing for college, Gloria tried ignoring her own sadness to prepare Manny for what was to come. Manny was coddled his entire life and far too attached to his mother — and she knew it. The only way to prepare Manny for college was to make him uncomfortable. However, Gloria went a little too far.
While on a college tour with Phil and Luke, Gloria tied Manny's shoes together, placed a pig in his bed, and pushed him into the ladies' locker room... She was essentially preparing him for a "frat boy" life, even though that wasn't the kind of man Manny was.
Best: Gloria's Advice For Jitters Helped Joe & Claire
In season 10's "A Sketchy Area," Gloria was ready to give some much-needed advice to Joe after he had a bad day at school. She made him a sundae, had his favorite video games ready, and wrote him a pep talk. Funny enough, Claire came over and needed the pep talk more than Joe did. Gloria gave Claire the same advice she was going to give to Joe. She said that their family wasn't quitters and that "tomorrow could only be better." Her self-love speech surprisingly helped Claire and made her feel better.
Worst: Threaten Strangers When They Steal What You Love
After Gloria and Cam had a night out to get to know each other better, they were shocked when someone stole the tires off of Cameron's car. Instead of calling the police or a tow truck, Gloria's advice was to go after those who've wronged her. She started hitting the building and telling the thieves to show their faces.
Sometimes a person's actions show you the kind of advice they would give, and threatening those who've stolen from you is probably too dangerous to lend to family members.
Best: Stand Up For Yourself At Work
The entire family was proud of Haley when she got a job working for Gavin Sinclair. She was finally proving to everyone that she knew what she wanted to do in life. But when Gavin became a bully, Haley was losing her self-confidence and tough skin.
Gloria reminded Haley that she demanded respect and deserved better. She spent the afternoon helping Haley with her work and told Gavin to treat Haley better. Unsurprisingly, Gloria's advice worked and Haley's spirit improved.
Worst: Injured? Fix It Yourself
It's commendable how strong and independent Gloria is. Not everyone can be so wise on their own. However, sometimes Gloria's independence goes too far.
During a talking head with Jay and Gloria, Jay said that Gloria believed Americans to be babies. Gloria was raised to take care of the problem herself, which is the advice she gave to her family. In one scene, Gloria dislocated her shoulder playing table tennis. Instead of seeing a professional, Gloria runs herself into the wall to pop it back into place. If little Joe did something like this, things could get ugly.
Best: She Gave Alex Self-Confidence
Alex had made it clear since the first season that she didn't always feel comfortable going to her mother with problems. In one episode, Gloria took Alex out to lunch to get to the bottom of Alex's issue with wearing dresses. The two ended up having an uplifting conversation and Gloria's advice encouraged Alex to be comfortable in her own skin. Years later in season 10, Alex asked Gloria to go shopping with her because, yet again, she gave great advice when it came to fashion and confidence.
Worst: What To Do To Land Your Crush
In the 11th season, Manny is not over his breakup from Sherry and crumbles when he sees her again on the set of Jay's dog bed commercial. Luckily for him, Gloria was there to help him get his act together but she didn't necessarily lend the best advice. She told him, "If you want someone to like you, you have to make them want your approval." She showed how it worked with Jay but it ended up making her and Manny look like power-hungry bullies.