The Article below was published in Vol. 136, Issue 4 of the Lake Forest College Stentor on December 4, 2020.
By: Ivana Budjarovska ’24
Staff Writer
budjarovskai@mx.lakeforest.edu
Due to obvious reasons, this year has been one uncomfortable roller coaster with seats made of cacti leaves, each with unpleasant surprises hidden beneath. Normally, many of us want to reduce the effect of this roller coaster in the last month of the year, which is trademarked by jolly tunes and ugly sweaters, so we are looking for ways to indulge in the comfort and laziness we have known from previous years. Well, look no further!
If you’d like once again to stress over non-pandemic related issues and laugh about jokes that do not involve forgetting your mask at home, the Pritchett-Dunphy-Tucker clan is here to the rescue. In May of this year, Netflix made a smart decision by adding the Emmy-winning sitcom Modern Family to their array of comedy TV series. The show follows three families—the Pritchetts, the Dunphys, and the Tuckers, which are related, in their everyday lives in Los Angles filled with hilarious misunderstandings and issues. Apart from that, the show has unique and quirky ways of dealing with the more serious contemporary issues of racism, teen pregnancy, and the bias of the school system among them.
Other Modern Family fortes include the one-of-a-kind, unexpected personality traits each of the characters has. One very clear example of this is Phil Dunphy, who is a devoted husband to Claire and a wholesome, caring father to Haley, Alex, and Luke. Apart from being a family man, he loves his job as a realtor and occasionally performs magic tricks for his family—when he is not composing songs or biking to Canada. Like Phil, Gloria Delgado Pritchett, a Columbian immigrant married to “the head of the clan” Jay Pritchett, is simultaneously a strong, brave woman who used to model and drive a taxi, and a sensitive person who is often nostalgic about the village she grew up in.
These three “modern families” are predominantly white, except for Gloria and her son Manny, quite wealthy, and indulged in a comfortable suburban life. However, the distinctiveness of the show lies in its ability to adequately represent different ethnicities, races, and sexualities from the first episode in 2009, as well as the opportunity to make every character relatable, no matter the viewers’ background. So, go ahead and grab your remote, your blanket, and your comfort food, and prepare to laugh through 11 seasons.
