Ariana Romio

 
                  After following Modern Family (2009) for the past several years and touching on themes and analysis in class, I felt that the show both challenges and displays traditional gay stereotypes and serves as a strong subject for analysis. While the general show is not solely focused on LGBTQ characters, as there is a mix of all different positionalities throughout the series, the characters I will focus on are Mitchell (Mitch) Pritchett and Cameron (Cam) Tucker.
About the Show
                  Created in 2009 by co-creators and producers Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan and aired on ABC, the show follows an untraditional family through their daily lives. Jay Pritchett is the patriarch of the family; father to Cam and Claire, husband to Gloria and step-father to Manny. Claire is married Phil Dunphy and together they have three children: Haley, Alex and Luke. At the beginning of the series Cam and Mitch are yet to marry, but have been in a long-term relationship for five years and just adopted a child, Lily. While all of the characters have conflicts and struggles of their own, they come together to make one modern family.
Modernizing Gay Characters in the Media
                  As a viewer of the show myself and through my research, I noticed how Cam and Mitch’s relationship is redefining gay representation in the media. Specifically, Cam and Mitch’s relationship challenges the promiscuous stereotype of gay characters because since the beginning they have been loyal and committed to each other. What I found particularly interesting was how both characters were introduced to the show already being in a committed relationship and having just adopted a child. This shows that the creators of the show consciously decided that this would be their most salient positionality because viewers were never introduced to their single identities. Being in a homosexual committed relationship dispels the traditional representation of gay males being promiscuous or being “unmarried with an unsatisfiable sexual appetite” (Rodriguez, 2017). Cam and Mitch deviating from normative gay representation in the media has a profound effect on audiences who rely on mediated examples to represent what is/isn’t accepted in society. When audiences see the success of their relationship and compare it to shows that display promiscuous gay identities like Connor in How to Get Away with Murder (2014), they see how commitment in a gay relationship serves as a foundation for their happiness and family-oriented life. Cam and Mitch’s relationship serves as an influential example and divergence from stereotypical gay relationships in the media.
                Another way that Cam and Mitch challenge mediated gay stereotypes is in their adoption of a Vietnamese baby, Lily. As a gay couple deciding to raise a child on their own, without a maternal figure in the family, they are exposing themselves to judgments of society as they go against heterosexual normativity. Brian Powell, a sociologist at Indiana University said, “If same-sex marriage does disadvantage kids in any way, it has nothing to do with their parent’s gender and everything to do with society’s reaction toward the families,” (Pappas, 2012). Cam and Mitch are aware even before they adopt Lily that they are going to face criticism from people, and they are prepared to stand up to it. For example, in the very first episode when Mitch stands up for himself and Cam when a woman makes a comment about Lily being with a couple of “creme puffs” he steps into the protective paternal figure, unafraid to show courage and stand up for his family (ABC). At the end it turns out the lady was commenting on Lily actually holding creme puffs, turning a serious test of character into more of a humorous setting. But regardless of the context of such, it shows the fluidity of homosexual parents being able to act as both the paternal and maternal figure. Further, the intersect of Lily’s racial identity as different from Cam and Mitch’s further progresses the untraditional depiction of a homosexual family relationship. Having both Cam and Mitch step into different parenting roles throughout the show advances gay diversity in the media because it shows how gay parents don’t have to be put into these boxes or labeled as being more of a mother or more of a father.
But is this really a (Gay) Modern Family?
                While Cam and Mitch do challenge gay stereotypes through their actions, the sole makeup of their characters reaffirm the stereotype of “‘white, affluent, trend-setting, Perrier-drinking, frequent-flyer using, Ph.D.-holding consumer citizens with more income to spend than they know what to do with’” (Ross, 263). It is apparent in the show that Cam and Mitch, especially Cam, like to live a certain lifestyle. They joke about it at times but in the way they dress, the way they hold their glasses, the way they speak and the things they do, they reaffirm this gay stereotype. Knowing that the show is produced on ABC, a traditional family-oriented television network, it seems obvious to me that this was the “safest” way to introduce gay representation in the series. Thinking about the mass media audience, tradition in America and the current state of society, transitioning to the inclusion of LGBTQ characters in the media is still a fairly touchy subject. It was only recently that the media started to include LGBTQ characters and they are still challenged with being “othered” and displayed in the margins of contemporary film and TV (Ross, 263).  It is for this reason I believe that ABC network and the creators of this show introduced these characters in the way that they did. While they do progress diversity and challenge normativity through their actions, like being in a committed relationship and adopting and raising a child together, the sole makeup of their characters reaffirm traditional gay stereotypes. In an effort to appeal to a wider and more traditional audience, they are compensating at the cost of a younger generation's fear of coming-out or being gay if they don't fit those character descriptors. They see how welcoming the Pritchett family is of Cam and Mitch, even if it may have taken the father Jay a while to come around, but that is a “(white) modern family.” Say if it had been more of a melting pot of ethnicities in the family and the gay couple was interracial or just not white, although it may have been less relatable to the “traditional” ABC audience it may have more of a profound impact on the lives of viewers grappling with the same identity.
Conclusion
                So, does Modern Family really reinvent a modern family? While producers of the show do advance gay representation, and dispel some traditional stereotypes, there will always be certain limitations. But it is no question that the show sheds light on LGBTQ issues and does so in an entertaining way.
 
References
ABC. (n.d.). Modern Family: Pilot - Watch Season 1 Episode 01. Retrieved April 09, 2017, from http://abc.go.com/shows/modern-family/episode-guide/season-01/101-pilot

Pappas, S. (2012, January 16). Gay Parents Better Than Straight Parents? What Research Says. Retrieved April 09, 2017, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/16/gay-parents-better-than-straights_n_1208659.html

Rodriguez, N. (Ph. D). Queer Media Analysis. Lecture. March 22, 2017.

Ross, K. (2014). The handbook of gender, sex, and media. Chichester: Wiley Blackwell
 

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