Modern Family - 2

One of the things I think is really interesting about Modern Family is how the kids on the show are portrayed.  Modern Family is a sitcom that has I think majorly an adult audience, yet the kids on the show play a pretty large part.  Each kid has their own different personality, yet in the end even they all view themselves as a large family.  It is especially amusing when the kid's end up knowing more than the parents.  Take the character of Luke, for example.  He is the youngest of the Dunphey clan and generally considered to be not very bright.  In one of the first episodes he gets his head stuck in a banister and he is constantly not understanding what is going on in various situations.  Yet, when his father really wanted an iPad for his birthday and Claire failed, Luke was the one who was able to obtain the coveted object for his father.  Luke can be the savior of the family, even when nobody really believes he can do anything.  Ironically, the actor who plays Luke is actually very intelligent and is a member of Mensa.

Of the other kids, the oldest Haley, is your typical popular teenager.  She is pretty, popular, obsessed with boys and herself, pays little attention to her schoolwork, and is constantly rebelling against what her parents say.  The middle child, Alex, is almost the exact opposite.  She is studious, usually does what her parents tell her to do, and a bit of a tomboy.  The two sisters clash in ways that you'd think two sisters so opposite would clash, yet the show also lets there be different sides to the characters.  In one episode Haley is worried her parents are going to break up (when in reality Claire is trying to convince Haley to break up with her current boyfriend) and Haley actually shows she cares about others.  There are episodes where Alex goes to Haley for advice about boys and shows that she is growing as a character as well.  The sisters fight, but you can really see the love between them as well.

The other child, Sophia's son Manny, is interesting because he is as unlike a stereotypical boy his age as you can get.  He's what you might call an old soul.  He likes to wear ascots, sip tea, and constantly speaks with a vocabulary beyond his years.  This becomes a source of conflict between him and his stepfather Jay (the patriarch of the family) as Jay is more of a traditionally masculine character.  Manny is never one sided, however, and is constantly helping Jay out of jams and in one episode even has a crush on Haley.  He goes through real emotional turmoil when his biological dad comes to visit and promises him things that never come to fruition.  Jay is a real father to Manny even though they are so different.

And that's what I like about this show.  In a lot of shows that have kids you find that the kids are very one dimensional.  They are there for the cuteness factor, or so that the parents have something they have to deal with like going into see the principal.  It is a little rarer to find a show that has kids with actual personalities going through their own drama, tying neatly into the drama their parents and other family members are going through.  (The Cosby Show comes to mind when I try to think of a similar show).  The kids really are a part of the family and the show, both on and off the set, which I think is important to the show.  We feel the love of these families because they are so close off the set as well.  For example, here is an interview from Entertainment Weekly with the kids and the adults.  You can really see how close they are to each other and how they feed of each others' energies.

TV Journal for 3/2 - Modern Family

The tv show that I think I will explore for the rest of the semester is Modern Family.  This is a show that is in its 2nd season and I think it is an interesting show because there are so many elements to it and so many characters to explore.  The show centers around three families who are all related.  Each family has their own way of living their lives and raising their kids so you get a really nice mixture of human characteristics.  Modern Family plays Wednesday nights on ABC and the latest episodes can also be found on Hulu online.

The three families in the show are:
-Jay, his second, much younger, wife Gloria and Gloria's son Manny from a previous relationship
-Jay's son Mitchell, his partner Cam and their adopted daughter Lily
-Jay's daughter Claire, her husband Phil, and their three children Haley, Alex, and Luke

The great thing about this show is that they represent so many different generations, yet all of the generations are very intricately connected. During each episode there is usually some common problem that each of the three families/couples are facing and of course each family handles their problem in a different way.

I think this show has definite educational possibilities in the sense that it shows the differences between people and it really shows that even though each character lives in a family that may not be considered "normal", they are all happy and loving towards one another.

The context of watching this show is definitely for entertainment. I don't think people would watch this show because of any educational value they think it might have, though hopefully people would be able to pull educational moments out of the show. I usually watch this show online off of Hulu because I have class when it airs, though I think it is one of those shows that people do watch live when it airs.  I usually end up watching this show by myself, but it is one that I think would also be fun to watch in a group setting as well.  This is a show that is billed for adults, yet because of the kids in the show and the situations they get into, younger audiences can find an interest in it as well.