Modern JavaScript/TypeScript is fine. Especially when compared to Perl, of all languages.
There are differences in style and views on things from the way they were long ago that float around. These impact a lot of opinions.
Do you have any links to good examples/comparisons?
http://modernperlbooks.com/books/modern_perl_2016/index.html
I've mentioned it before, but reading this book and applying its concepts (along with judicial use Damian Conway's Perl Best Practices) changed my view of Perl from "well, I guess I'll use it since it's here," to "I really enjoy using Perl".
Mark Jason Dominus's Higher-Order Perl was another enjoyable read, for its advice on using Perl as a more functional programming language.