“Modern Family” representing a Modern Family

Kate S.

“The Modern Family Tree.” The Modern Blog, The Modern Blog, 2 Oct. 2014, alliebitzer.wordpress.com/2014/10/02/131/. Accessed 23 May 2023.

In the past 14 years, Modern Family has built up a reputation as one of the most renowned sit-coms leading to the show getting 75 nominations for the Emmy Awards and winning 22 of the 75. So, what is a modern family about? To clear up, Modern Family is a sitcom that follows the lives of three families, who all live in Los Angeles, and who all are linked by patriarch Jay Pritchett. Throughout the series, it follows the slow progression and daily lives of all of the 3 families. The show mentions realistic topics such as drugs, romantic relationships, and mentions sex. Following this, it would be recommended for 13-14+, depending on how mature your kids are; however, some adults would say 11-12+. Although many adults discourage the use of TVs and electronic devices to watch television shows, sometimes it teaches you topics that parents cannot explain nor represent. Modern Family is a great example of a show that encourages people to learn about real-world problems.

But that aside, this show isn’t just a sitcom on which no lessons are learned, and it's just all comedy. The show promotes inclusivity for the LGBTQ+ community as well as immigrants and colored people. Additionally, the show also includes growth in certain characters. For example, Jay Pritchett, a white man, remarried a Colombian woman, known as Gloria. During the show, he starts out with a bad relationship with his two kids who are parents to the other 2 families, but as the show progresses his wife helps him strengthen his relationship with them. The show visualizes parents going through sudden experiences with their children that any parent may go through with their own child, such as one of his kids, Mitchell, being gay and adopting Lily with his husband, Cam. In the show, his father, Jay Pritchett, shows the process of him adapting to the sudden change and goes through a realistic reaction of a father.

According to the credible source commonsensemedia.org, this show is well-scripted, the cast is well-chosen and it doesn't hide any facts about the reality of big family life. The show balances stereotypes, life lessons, and prejudice; while at the same time, it represents the slow, but amazing growth of each character and the love and care of a devoted family. Experiences such as discrimination, divorces, and breakups occur in this series and give an interesting and realistic view of them.

“Pin on Modern Fam<3.” Pinterest, 2023, www.pinterest.com/pin/mordern-fam3--693272936401540714/. Accessed 23 May 2023. Picture of Alex and Haley Dunphy

When Haley and Alex, Phil and Claire’s daughters, went through puberty it showed a representation of what it's like for a female tween/teen to suddenly grow distant from her parents and start to care more about her appearance and social status. Claire and Phil had to adjust to Haley’s sudden personality as well as her interest in partying and constantly being on her phone. The adjustment slightly hurt Phil and Claire as their daughter had changed so much. However, later on in Haley’s life as she matures and grows older. She then has a realization of what she did wrong and she changes her attitude and tries to make amends for her attitude and spend more time with her dad and her mom.

Alex Dunphy, Haley's younger sister, was the complete opposite of Haley. As opposed to partying late at night and constantly being on her cell phone. She prefers to study day and night and she feels that she is pressured to be the successful one in the family as Luke, Alex’s younger brother, and Haley are not as smart. As she grows up and has to deal with exams such as IB or the SATs, she slowly drifts away from her parents, as she is persistently studying in hopes of getting into an Ivy League college or a renowned university. In the episode Yes-Woman (S10, EP19) Phil, her dad, realizes that he isn’t as close to her as he is to his other 2 kids, and he's afraid that after she graduates that they’ll grow even further apart. So he tries to attend Alex’s Kepler Award ceremony, but sadly it doesn’t really work and he doesn’t connect with her as Alex didn’t tell either of her parents about the ceremony until he showed up to her college and saw the promotion poster. While attending the ceremony, Alex feels that Phil has embarrassed her and tells him to go to her dorm and wait for a package, even though she's not expecting one, hinting that she wants him to go away. Unfortunately, Phil takes the hint and leaves. After a while, Alex starts to realize what she did and leaves to find him through a phone tracking app. She finds him sitting in a cafe/restaurant and suddenly a server walks up to him and says “Hot Wings Trivia is about to start, I have you guys registered as the Dunphys.” Alex then wonders how her dad knew she was going to come and he then replies “Let's not forget where you learned about that tracking app.”

Levitan, Steven, et al. “Fulgencio.” IMDb, 23 Jan. 2013, www.imdb.com/title/tt2517458/. Accessed 25 May 2023

In the show, Jay Pritchett’s character develops as he embraces his wife’s culture, family, and heritage. Throughout the show, we see that at the start Jay Pritchett's personality is stubborn and “old-fashioned” but as the show progresses, his wife, Gloria then influences her culture on him and helps him to become more open about his feelings, and experience new things. She also helps him to have a better relationship with his family. Especially, his two children and his ex-wife. In the episode “Fulgencio” (S4, EP13), Gloria’s Columbian mother and sister visit them ( Jay and Gloria) in LA, for the christening of their newborn baby. Gloria’s mother, Pilar Ramirez, insists on naming their baby, Fulgencio Umberto Pritchett, but Jay doesn’t want to because his initials would be FU Pritchett. He argues with Pilar and Gloria throughout the episode. But eventually, he lets them name his son, Fulgencio Joseph Pritchett, Joe for short, because Pilar wanted to call him "Fulgencio Umberto Pritchett" to tribute to her her late husband, Fulgencio, and Umberto after her late father. In the series, we see Jay finally adapting and accepting Gloria’s culture which comes with her ginormous family and their values and morals. This episode overall shows how Modern Family can represent great lessons and unique storylines that can teach kids to have a more open mindset when exposed to new things.

In conclusion, Modern Family has established itself as a highly-reviewed sitcom that has won and been nominated for numerous awards. The sitcom serves as an example of a sitcom that not only entertains but also encourages viewers to explore real-world issues and embrace diverse perspectives. By tackling sensitive topics and showing relatable experiences, the show gives important life lessons on empathy, open-mindedness, and a deeper understanding of stereotypes.

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