In 2009, American Broadcast Channel changed the way America viewed families with the premiere of the hit television show Modern Family. The show follows three families, Jay Pritchett’s and his two children, from his first marriage, Mitchell and Claire. Jay is married to a much younger woman, Gloria, who has a child from a previous marriage, named Manny. Mitchell lives with his partner Cameron and they have an adopted Vietnamese daughter, Lily. Claire’s family is the most like the traditional family. She is married to her husband Phil Dunphy and together they have three kids, Haley, Alex, and Luke (Modern Family). The show exposes the families’ struggles to get along and survive with such a different way of living. With that said, their family picture demonstrates very well all of the strong personalities and roles of each family member.
The American identity is described as the motivation to succeed, the desire to solve problems, and the combination of different backgrounds. Modern Family deals with every single one of those attributions. Phil, on the far left in the picture, is a realtor. He goes to work to sell houses in order to provide for his family. Mitchell, in the grey sweater on the couch, does the same for Cameron, on the far right, Lily, in Cameron’s arms, and himself. Their desire to solve problems is displayed in just about every episode of the show. Whether it’s Luke, sitting on the floor on the far left, getting stuck under the house because Phil was too scared to go instead or Jay, the older man in red, trying to have a closer relationship with his Manny, in the orange shirt and standing in the middle, the family constantly are fixing the issues they create. As the picture shows, Gloria, in the red dress and in th...
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...er roles, however race is a big point in the show, and class is barely mentioned.
The families in Modern Family are a great example of how America is evolving. They have kept the American identity with their desires and drive to succeed and fix things, along with being of different races and backgrounds. Yet, they have morphed and evolved the so-called “perfect family” by Jay and Gloria’s obvious age difference and Mitchell and Cameron’s relationship. The gender roles within the families have somewhat stayed the same as in past ideal families, aside from Phil and Claire’s swap of power. Gloria’s race is a constant situation causer, whether it’s her thick accent or the stereotypical characteristics and actions. Class, on the other hand, is rarely brought up throughout the show. Modern Family shows just how much the idea of family is changing in present day America.
The main social issue the Brady Bunch really tackled was the idea of blended families after a divorce. While the show may have focused on Carol and Mike Brady bringing their six children together, it was inspired by a statistic in The Los Angeles Times that 30% of marriages in the US at the time had a child from a previous marriage (Merritt). Mike Brady “was one of TV’s first stepfathers, and his blended family of six kids was a far cry from mom, dad, 2.5 kids and a dog” (Goudreau). Modern Family also tackles the issue of divorces and blended families but with its own twist. The family’s patriarch, Jay Pritchett, remarries despite the fact that his children from his first marriage are grown. Except instead of the family blending together seamlessly as the Bradys do, they struggle with the fact that Jay’s new wife is the same age as his own children and his new step son is the age of his grandchildren. Modern Family also showcases many other modern day issues, such as biracial couples, as Jay’s second wife is Colombian, and homosexual couples in Jay’s son, Mitchell, and his husband Cameron. Modern Family reflects many of the social movements of the current day. As feminism builds, TV moms have began “overshadowing TV dads, who [play] the part of the well-meaning idiot” (Goudreau). With the way TV explores social trends in society, “there's a family for just about everyone on TV today”
As gender roles were enhanced, the nuclear family was birthed. This ideal family, mainly portrayed in popular culture, had a working father, homemaking mother, and children. Television shows depicting this type of household, Leave it to Beaver, and I Love Lucy, were not representative of the reality of America. Not all of Americans were white, and not all women were happy living as housewives (Boyer 101). Although most did not fit the mold
Full House is the opening plot of three men raising three girls, and it thought to be totally innocuous, the classic show opened the door to conversations about same sex parents on a show. Now Full House paved the way for today’s show Modern Family. Modern Family might be the most progressive show in the past 50 years. Because it takes on all the awkward nontraditional American family elements and crams them into a comedy show. As I said with Full House it brought same sex parents together on a sitcom with Mitchell and Cameron as the gay couple with an adopted Asian baby. Jay and Gloria both provide the divorcees, and Claire and Phil are a strong woman with a very submissive husband and to add on that it is a very dysfunctional family. Basically the show embodies a rich but diverse definition of family held by contemporary
In the course of this essay I shall be looking at the role of the
A. How can this group be described based on their presence OR absence in the text?
I often have a difficult time describing my situation to others, but I wouldn’t want it any other way. Three divorces have taught me what successful and not so successful relationships look like. My younger sister with autism has taught me empathy, compassion, and patience. My step siblings have been there for me when did not have to be and for that I am grateful. No matter the family situation, every family has an undeniable sense of pride. For example, my family, most of whom were born in Ireland, throw the loudest St. Patrick’s day parties and keep our Irish flags up all through March. We are proud of our incredibly fair skin and abundance of freckles and redheads. My family’s pride is similar to that of Aunt Alexandra’s and her obsession with heredity and the certain “family streaks” in the novel’s Maycomb county. Scout mentions said streaks in chapter 13. “Everybody in Maycomb, it seemed, had a streak: a drinking streak, a gambling streak, a mean streak, a funny streak,” (Lee 129). I again feel Scout and I could relate to each other through our unique family situations, hers of course being her family’s cook Calpurnia and her neighbor Miss Maudie as her mother figures. Another unique family are the Pritchett’s on the show Modern Family. I was elated when this show came out because, while dramatized for comedic effect, it is a break from the straight, white, “we all get along fine” families usually depicted on TV.
Times have changed since our parents were children and families today face different challenges than those of a decade or two ago. Over the past few decades the concept of family has been revolutionized. A "traditional" family no longer consists of two parents of the opposite sex in which the father is the "breadwinner," and the mother stays at home to raise the children. Today's family is as diverse as the world it must exist in. The important thing about today's family is that success does not just happen; a strong family takes effort.
Though not immune to criticism, Modern Family and Full House still claim glimpses of societal pressure when showing aspects of the “American family.”
Throughout the evolution of television shows, one thing that is evident in them is that the families follow some sort of sociological theory. By observing these shows, it is easy to perceive what the struggles and achievements these families may experience. Specific examples of television families that display a sociological theory is: Switched at Birth showing conflict theory, Full House presenting symbolic interactionalism, and finally, The 100 which showcases feminist theory. In all of these shows, the families involved each go through their own issues with themselves and each other as well as barriers that may get in the way of their success. Analyzing families through the sociological perspectives open up opportunity for people to better
As we have learned through Skolnick’s book, as well as Rubin’s research, the make up of the family is influenced by many factors. The economy, culture, education, ethnicity/race, and tradition all help to create the modern family. The last few decades have heavily influenced the family structure, and while some try to preserve the past, others embrace the future. Through it all, we find you can have both.
There are many types of family that exists in today’s society, each important to the upbringing of any children of which may be apart of it.
The television sitcom Modern Family produced by Steven Levitan and Christopher Lloyd shows the many different types of a modern American family. According to Andrew Hampp, “The show is among the most-viewed scripted programs in prime time in its second season, averaging 11 million viewers during original airings and often ranked as the most DVRed program most weeks” (2). The television show is a frequently watched show and is liked by many viewers. Modern Family's storyline helps the families of viewers by being an influential and relatable show to different types of families. The show is about the lives of three different families that are all related. In the show there are Jay and Gloria, an intergenerational couple with two sons-- Manny (from Gloria’s previous relationship) and Joe, their new baby. Jay’s adult son Cameron is married to his gay partner Mitchell, and they adopted Lily from Vietnam. Finally, Jay’s daughter Claire is married to her heterosexual partner named Phil and they have three children. The show is influential to our culture today because it shows these different types of families and addresses controversial themes such as gay adoption, the different family connections and communications, intergenerational coupling, and acceptance of diversity within an extended family. The family is easy to relate to while watching because it is based off of real family situations.
In order for society to meet the basic social needs of its members, social institutions, which are not buildings, or an organization or even people, but a system whose of social norms, mores and folkways that help make people feel important. Social institutions, according to our textbook, is defined as a fundamental component of this organization in which individuals, occupying defined statues, are “regulated by social norms, public opinion, law and religion” (Amato 2004, p.961). Social institutions are meant to meet people’s basic needs and enable the society to survive. Because social institutions prescribe socially accepted beliefs, values, attitudes and behaviors, they exert considerable social control over individuals.
When it comes to family roles, some people have only a few and some may have a slew. I, for instance, only have two roles. These roles came to me when I was about fifteen years old, when I was just starting high school. I would consider me as the youth leader and motivator in my family. These roles allow me to interact with my family to a great extent and more importantly pay attention to my elder relatives when they have something to say. By generating a youth leader and motivator role, it makes me eager to assimilate the family history the elders in my family give me.
Everyone seems to define family differently, however, the significance of family is the same. For you, family means everything. You can always count on your parents and siblings for help and love. Family is very valuable and important to you and should never be taken for granted. No one can deny that family is the foundation of our generation. A family is where we all start our life journey and helps us grow to be successful throughout our lives.