Modern Family: Difference between revisions
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American sitcom. 2009-2020. 11 seasons. 20th Century Fox Television. Produced by Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan. Multiple awards for Best Comedy-Series | American sitcom. 2009-2020. 11 seasons. 20th Century Fox Television. Produced by Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan. Multiple awards for Best Comedy-Series [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1442437/awards]. | ||
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'''Category''' | '''Category''' | ||
Modern Family can easily be categorized as a [[family sitcom]] because the series deals with the Pritchetts. Though as a contrast to many other family sitcoms it doesn’t focus on one nuclear family but on three very different ones, which is the family of Jay Pritchett, the family of his daughter Claire and the family of his son Mitchell. It still makes use of typical family sitcom features but the series does so on two different levels. So, for example, the plot still deals with the typical conflicts and sibling fights the children have because of their differences, but those problems don’t just arise between the actual children but also between Jay‘s children, so their parents. | Modern Family can easily be categorized as a [[family sitcom]] because the series deals with the Pritchetts. Though as a contrast to many other family sitcoms it doesn’t focus on one [[nuclear family]] but on three very different ones, which is the family of Jay Pritchett, the family of his daughter Claire and the family of his son Mitchell. It still makes use of typical family sitcom features but the series does so on two different levels. So, for example, the plot still deals with the typical conflicts and sibling fights the children have because of their differences, but those problems don’t just arise between the actual children but also between Jay‘s children, so their parents. | ||
'''Stereotypes''' | '''Stereotypes''' | ||
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''Jay Pritchett and His Family:'' | ''Jay Pritchett and His Family:'' | ||
Functioning as a stereotypical old wealthy white man, Jay Pritchett gets married to an attractive Latina that is half his age. His wife Gloria typically cares a lot about her looks and only walks around in high heeled shoes and clothes that highlight her ‘perfect‘ body. She has a thick accent and constantly talks about the dangerous town in Columbia that she comes from. Jay himself is almost as hot-headed as she is and is shown as the grumpy and uptight | Functioning as a stereotypical old wealthy white man, Jay Pritchett gets married to an attractive Latina that is half his age. His wife Gloria typically cares a lot about her looks and only walks around in high heeled shoes and clothes that highlight her ‘perfect‘ body. She has a thick accent and constantly talks about the dangerous town in Columbia that she comes from. Jay himself is almost as hot-headed as she is and is shown as the grumpy and uptight father. | ||
''Claire Dunphy and Her Family:'' | ''Claire Dunphy and Her Family:'' | ||
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''Mitchell Pritchett and His Family:'' | ''Mitchell Pritchett and His Family:'' | ||
Mitchell is homosexual and his husband Cameron is shown as a typical Southern American that can’t decide if he loves his farm animals more as friends or as food. They also have an adopted Vietnamese daughter and are shown as typically gay as they both love Broadway musicals, fashion and having the most stereotypically gay friends that are named Pepper Saltzmann, Longines, Jamarcus and L‘Michael. | Mitchell is homosexual and his husband Cameron is shown as a typical Southern American that can’t decide if he loves his farm animals more as friends or as food. They also have an adopted Vietnamese daughter and are shown as typically gay as they both love Broadway musicals, fashion and having the most stereotypically gay friends that are named Pepper Saltzmann, Longines, Jamarcus and L‘Michael.[https://modernfamily.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_Modern_Family_characters] | ||
'''Social Conflicts:''' | '''Social Conflicts:''' | ||
The stereotypical family structure is not used for comic | The stereotypical family structure is not used for comic effect only as it also mirrors the problems of our society nowadays. Therefore even though Jay and Gloria are a stereotypical 'old rich man and gold-digger' type of couple they are both in love with each other, which shows not to judge people without knowing them. This is also picked up on as Claire also calls Gloria a gold-digger in the first season. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GS28_BhfoIs] | ||
Even Claire‘s family picture is not that stereotypical as her husband Phil isn’t the strict overly masculine father but a goofy man-child that is actually very proud of having been a cheerleader in Highschool. Claire herself is also not just a mother and housewife but she went to college and later on becomes the CEO of Jay‘s closet company. Her change shows that a woman can be both housewife and CEO without being less ambitious or smart or less of a mother. | Even Claire‘s family picture is not that stereotypical as her husband Phil isn’t the strict overly masculine father but a goofy man-child that is actually very proud of having been a cheerleader in Highschool. Claire herself is also not just a mother and housewife but she went to college and later on becomes the CEO of Jay‘s closet company. Her change shows that a woman can be both housewife and CEO without being less ambitious or smart or less of a mother. | ||
Mitchell and Cameron are also both stereotypical and also not stereotypical at all. While Mitchell hates sports, fears birds and isn’t safe anywhere near tools he is also very high-strung and doesn’t like talking about his feelings at all. Cameron on the other hand is a football coach that loves being dramatic and showing off his daughter ''Lion King'' style. | Mitchell and Cameron are also both stereotypical and also not stereotypical at all. While Mitchell hates sports, fears birds and isn’t safe anywhere near tools he is also very high-strung and doesn’t like talking about his feelings at all. Cameron on the other hand is a football coach that loves being dramatic and showing off his daughter ''Lion King'' style. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytXd7ljLhg8]. Both of them show that being gay isn’t a characteristic trait but also that they constantly face the problems of gay perception and reputation. | ||
In certain episodes the series also picks up on other conflicts like homophobia, sexism, racism, the education system and also less talked about conflicts, like how white men fear being falsely judged as racist | In certain episodes the series also picks up on other conflicts like homophobia, sexism, racism, the education system and also less talked about conflicts, like how white men fear being falsely judged as racist [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4Xuxv1deFk] or how it actually is harder to be open-minded than given credit for. | ||
Revision as of 18:31, 16 June 2020
American sitcom. 2009-2020. 11 seasons. 20th Century Fox Television. Produced by Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan. Multiple awards for Best Comedy-Series [1].
Sitcom-Features
Category
Modern Family can easily be categorized as a family sitcom because the series deals with the Pritchetts. Though as a contrast to many other family sitcoms it doesn’t focus on one nuclear family but on three very different ones, which is the family of Jay Pritchett, the family of his daughter Claire and the family of his son Mitchell. It still makes use of typical family sitcom features but the series does so on two different levels. So, for example, the plot still deals with the typical conflicts and sibling fights the children have because of their differences, but those problems don’t just arise between the actual children but also between Jay‘s children, so their parents.
Stereotypes
Following the basic sitcom model, Modern Family‘s structure is based on the usage and the exaggeration of stereotypes.
Jay Pritchett and His Family: Functioning as a stereotypical old wealthy white man, Jay Pritchett gets married to an attractive Latina that is half his age. His wife Gloria typically cares a lot about her looks and only walks around in high heeled shoes and clothes that highlight her ‘perfect‘ body. She has a thick accent and constantly talks about the dangerous town in Columbia that she comes from. Jay himself is almost as hot-headed as she is and is shown as the grumpy and uptight father.
Claire Dunphy and Her Family: Claire is the only one with a traditional American family. She is a housewife with three children and her husband is a realtor and therefore the financial support of the family. Her oldest daughter Hailey is shown as the pretty popular teenage girl that unfortunately is also very dumb, while her younger sister is a genius nerd that doesn’t care at all about looks. Their younger brother on the other hand is just the goofy, clumsy kid.
Mitchell Pritchett and His Family: Mitchell is homosexual and his husband Cameron is shown as a typical Southern American that can’t decide if he loves his farm animals more as friends or as food. They also have an adopted Vietnamese daughter and are shown as typically gay as they both love Broadway musicals, fashion and having the most stereotypically gay friends that are named Pepper Saltzmann, Longines, Jamarcus and L‘Michael.[2]
Social Conflicts:
The stereotypical family structure is not used for comic effect only as it also mirrors the problems of our society nowadays. Therefore even though Jay and Gloria are a stereotypical 'old rich man and gold-digger' type of couple they are both in love with each other, which shows not to judge people without knowing them. This is also picked up on as Claire also calls Gloria a gold-digger in the first season. [3]
Even Claire‘s family picture is not that stereotypical as her husband Phil isn’t the strict overly masculine father but a goofy man-child that is actually very proud of having been a cheerleader in Highschool. Claire herself is also not just a mother and housewife but she went to college and later on becomes the CEO of Jay‘s closet company. Her change shows that a woman can be both housewife and CEO without being less ambitious or smart or less of a mother.
Mitchell and Cameron are also both stereotypical and also not stereotypical at all. While Mitchell hates sports, fears birds and isn’t safe anywhere near tools he is also very high-strung and doesn’t like talking about his feelings at all. Cameron on the other hand is a football coach that loves being dramatic and showing off his daughter Lion King style. [4]. Both of them show that being gay isn’t a characteristic trait but also that they constantly face the problems of gay perception and reputation.
In certain episodes the series also picks up on other conflicts like homophobia, sexism, racism, the education system and also less talked about conflicts, like how white men fear being falsely judged as racist [5] or how it actually is harder to be open-minded than given credit for.