”When life gives you lemonade, make lemons. Life will be all like ’WHAAAT?’” – Phil Dunphy
There was a time when me and my family spent our nights scrolling down Netflix in hope of finding something decent to watch, but this one time there was a show that caught our eye. That show was Modern Family. From the first minutes I was completely hooked.
Modern Family is a situational comedy created by Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan. It centers around the lives of three families. Jay Pritchett is the father of Claire and Mitchell, who both have families on their own. Claire is married to Phil Dunphy and has three children, Mitchell has a daughter with his partner (and later on husband) Cameron. After Jay divorced his first wife, he married a much younger woman, Gloria, who has a son named Manny. Later Jay and Gloria also have a baby together. Are you confused already? Good.
We occasionally get a closer look of each family members thoughts through interviews in which they express their thoughts and motives. The show’s premise might sound a little clumsy, but trust me, it works.
The cast of Modern Family is full of amazing actors like Ty Burrell, Ed O’Neill, Eric Stonestreet and Sofia Vergara. The show may sound unoriginal at first, especially the Dunphy family reminds us of a typical sitcom family. The family seems to be full of stereotypes; the nagging mother (Claire), the dad who acts like a child (Phil), the nerdy daughter (Alex), the dumb but pretty daughter (Haley) and the son, who is not the brightest crayon in the box either (Luke). We have seen them all before, but when the character development marches on we will notice, that they don’t stay as two-dimensional caricatures.
The characters are the best part of the series. Everyone is sometimes, if not most of the time, likeable and every character has a different kind of relationship with each member of the extended family. The relationships are the other strong point; all three main couples are able to be sickeningly sweet. There are lots of fights in every relationship, but the main reason for that is the fact that in this show opposites have attracted a little too much.
Gloria is very hot-headed and passionate, whereas Jay is calm, stubborn and cranky. Phil loves a good laugh and wants to be a ”cool dad”, but Claire is very strict, obsessive and perfectionistic. Mitchell shares his sister’s perfectionism and is kind of a snob. He’s a no-nonsense kind of lawyer and a polar opposite for Cameron who is very theatrical and flamboyant farmboy.
Also non-romantic relationships are adorable. There is sibling rivalry, ”daddy issues” and absolutely fantastic friendships.
Some people have criticized Modern Family’s casting for being stunningly white. I agree that there certainly should be more people of colour, but otherwise I applaud some of the diversity of this show. It has a great portrayal for interracial and same-sex relationships.
Of course I still have to complain about a few things. One of the problems with the representation in this show is the lack of on-screen affection between Jay & Gloria and Mitchell & Cameron. Claire and Phil get to have full-blown make out sessions and open talks about their sex life, whereas Jay and Gloria have had only a couple of scenes like that. They have gotten better though. With Mitch and Cam it gets nearly absurd; four kisses within the whole series.
Still I’m happy that a mainstream comedy show like Modern Family has two gay characters in the main cast, since it’s really important for the LGBT+ community to be representated this way in television; as normal people who can love and raise children. Some gay teenagers have got the courage to come out to their families after watching Modern Family with them, so representation matters.
The humour is glorious, especially on the first season. There are running jokes, like Phil stumbling in the same loose step over and over and saying that he is going to fix it (but he never does), or that Mitchell is terrified of birds.
There is usually a pun or a culture reference in the episode title (few examples ”A Hard Jay’s Night”, ”Strangers on a Treadmill” and ”Run for Your Wife”). Jokes in the series sound entertainingly spontanious. I think the humour in this show is really genuine and fresh.
At the end of an episode there is often a clever and insightful life lesson. Instead of sticking some kind of message down your throat they really teach you something important. My favourite life lessons from Modern Family are probably ”People are who they are, give or take fifteen percent. That’s how much people can change if they really want to”, ”The dreamers need the realists to keep them from soaring too close to the sun. And the realists? Well, without the dreamers, they might not ever get off the ground” and ”Ninety percent of being a dad is just showing up”.
Modern Family goes through some important themes. It shows how important it is to be supported by your family and how everyone has the right to be weak sometimes. It teaches us about how people will usually be able to grow, at least a tiny bit. Modern Family makes you laugh but it will also bring tears to your eyes, especially when something the character’s feeling hits you a little too close to the home. Many fans were teary eyed when Phil cried about his memories with his mother when she had just died, or when Mitchell and Jay had a fight about Jay’s attitude towards Mitchell’s upcoming wedding, or when Alex cried from relief when somebody finally understood how much pressure she was putting on herself.
You get really attached to these characters. In a weird way they become a part of your family.
