Analysis of the U.S Sitcom Modern Family from Three Theoretical Perspectives - Report Example

Analysis of the U.S Sitcom Modern family from three theoretical perspectives Introduction Modern family is a famous American sitcom that debuted in 2009. The film that adopts a mockumentary style analyses the structure and relationship of three families that live together and interact in various stages thereby presenting the contemporary American families and their relationships. The term sitcom is a shortened representation of situation comedy, a type of a comedy in which characters share various features of the environment such as a workplace, home and shopping malls and often engage in comical dialogues. Modern family maintains such a structure as the three families share their homes among other environmental features of the modern day American society (Auerbach 12). The characters and the plot of the comedy strive to develop a realistic representation of the modern day American family thereby achieving various theoretical analysis of the modern American society. The television series adopts a progressive flow of the story a feature that sustains that audience following. The sequential flow of the story provides the developers with an effective opportunity to develop a conflict in an episode and resolves it in the next. Each solution of a conflict in the comedy forms an effective background for yet another conflict, which the developers push forward to the next episode thereby achieving the serial flow of the story. The fact that the film debuted in 2009 implied that the developers capture realistic and prevalent social features in the plot. The story addresses social and cultural factors that affect the structure of the modern day American society as the developers capture such in realistic themes in the several episodes (Barthes 55). The comedy therefore provides a realistic representation of the contemporary American family structure and the conflicts such families face on a daily basis. Main body Cultural theory on modern family Culture refers to a society’s way of life and the values to which such societies adhere. The comedy provides a realistic representation of modern day urban American families and the values such families hold. Culture is however, a dynamic concept and changes as the interaction among the members of the families intensify. The different members of three families interact at various levels thereby provide a clear distinction of the values of each age group. The developers of the comedy adopt a realistic structure which presents the action in an episode basis thereby provide an appropriate structure for the analysis of the various cultural theories that manifest themselves in the modern American society (Adorno 41). Among the cultural theories that apply to the modern American families as portrayed in the comedy include functionalism and ecological theories. Structural functionalism theorists explain the role of different institutions and the influence that such institutions have on the development of families. Among the relevant institutions in the modern-day, American societies include schools, governments and families all of which play fundamental role in the interactions in the society. The comedy provides a relationship of numerous institutions including the family institution, schools and the government that influence the mindset and the development of the characters. In season four episode 23 for example stresses the interaction among families and the transfer of values from one family to another. Different families in the comedy have specific structures with the members of such families relating at various levels. When two or three of the families share a platform, the difference of the structures of the family readily manifest themselves thereby presenting the kind of conflicts in the contemporary urban American society. In the episode, Phil buys a new van with which he hopes to take his family on a trip to Florida. This implies that the unity of a family is a fundamental social feature in the urban American society, as the family remains the basis social institution. Phil just as any other American family man strives to keep his family united by providing his family with safaris occasionally (Althusser 77). However, the van would not serve its purpose owing to the visiting family that also insists that they must accompany Phil’s family in their family expedition. As explained earlier, culture is a dynamic social concept that explains different family values. Family trips is an essential factor in most American families, Phil strives to provide his family a coveted family trip but just as explained families trade such values as the interaction among them intensifies. Phil’s new RV becomes inappropriate owing to the blotted family as their visitors also compete for a space in the van in order to travel with the family. At the same time, Jay and Gloria obtain a perfect opportunity to snoop around Claire and Mitchells houses in the guise of helping Manny find her misplaced rucksack. Despite their crowded settlement arrangement, the three families enjoy their own privacies. Privacy remains a fundamental cultural feature in the modern day American society. People therefore make appropriate settlement arrangements in order to overcome the challenges that may arise from such social arrangements. The American population values their privacy despite the myriad social and cultural challenges to such including dedicated government surveillance of the street in the guise of eliminating terrorism threat. Despite the complicated arrangement, Claire and Mitchell among the many other American couples succeed in developing their own private space, which Jay and Gloria investigate as they seek to unearth any controversial information about the couple (Beauvoir 21). Phil and the several men in the comedy typify typical American men who strive to sustain their families. The men make various sacrifices in order to keep their families holistic and happy. Among the sacrifices, that Phil makes is the purchase of the van in a bid to provide his family with a convenient trip to Florida for a holiday. Phil understands the need to develop a happy and cohesive family. Children are the youngest members of the family they contribute to the happiness off the family. However, they require dedicated attention in order to keep them happy. While Jay and Gloria portray a value of mistrust as they snoop around Claire and Mitchells houses, they readily offer their services in helping the young Manny find her bag. Critical theory on modern family Modern family provides a realistic representation of the urban American society; however, some features of the comedy retain hetero-normative behaviors of the characters. The film maintains a traditional presentation of the family institution and the relationship among the members of the family. The gay couple, Mitchell and Cam portrays the traditional gender roles as Mitchel plays the male role and Cam the female roles. Mitchell is the breadwinner of the family while Cam remains back home to play the role of a housewife despite being male. Traditionally, the male provided for the family, kept the family safe and was the head of the institution. The female on the other hand remained at home and took care of the children among other household chores. Mitchel and Cam epitomize such an arrangement thereby corroborating the hetero-normative behaviors. Additionally, the two portray the modern society’s rejection of the gays, which is yet another hetero-normative behavior. The modern American society has retained a liberal structure as the people understand and accommodate the sexual diversities. The society has accepted and respected homosexual a feature that the comedy does not portray. In the episode, Bicycle Thief, the gay couple is taking their adopted daughter Lily to daycare (Bakhtin 212). Cam as the female parent in the relationship dresses in a pink a color attributed to women. Mitchel notes his dress code and urges him to change the shirt saying that he only wants them to fit in the society and not to scare the people. The conversation portrays the society’s rejection of the special group a feature that is purely hetero-normative. As explained in the above paragraphs, homosexuality is a contemporary feature in the American society with the government appreciating the rights of the gay. The comedy on the other hand views the group as a special interest group as Mitchel urges his partner to dress “accordingly” in order to fit in the society. The sitcom manages to collaborate features of both the modern American society and the hetero-normative features of the traditional society thereby achieving gratification to some of the features it attributes. Homosexuality is a modern feature prevalent in the modern urban American society. By portraying such a couple, the sitcom achieves a contemporary view but the developers are smart enough to develop a functional structure even in the modern social feature thereby achieving greater success. The gay couple has a structure similar to that of the traditional American family thereby developing an effective family with a functional ma who provides and protects the family and a female figure who performs all the female roles. Such a balance contributes to the stability of the family comprising of two men. Portraying the two as fully functional males would jeopardize their understanding thereby rendering the marriage intolerable. The ability of the developers to fuse the modern social feature with a hetero-normative attributes results in their successful and appropriate placement of the institution of a family despite the complicated arrangement. Lily therefore obtains a mother in Cam and a father in Mitchel. Textual theory on modern family Media literacy provides a platform for the analysis of the use of specific features of the film to communicate appropriately. Films use such elements as costumes, colors, lighting and characters among many others to communicate appropriately. In the selection of the above elements, thee developers of the comedy select appropriate costume colors in order to provide an appropriate representation of the society. In the episode the bicycle thief for example, the gay couple is taking their adopted daughter to a say care facility. Mitchel notes that his partner Cam is wearing a pink color. The selection of a pink shirt for the character is a strategic literary feature and a portrayal of the female gender in the society. Pink color represents the feminine gender. Mitchel therefore fears that with the shirt, people would easily identify them as gay. The developers of the sitcom communicate effectively without having to explain the character’s costume. The pink shirt would readily portray Cam as the female in the relationship thereby startling the people with whom they are about to interact. Mitchel therefore coerces him to change the shirt in order for them to appear normal thereby avoiding the inquisitive society. Several other episodes portray different gender roles through the selection of either the color of make of the equipment the characters use in the sitcom. When Phil comes home with his new black van in readiness for the family trip in season four episode twenty three, the color and the type of the car readily communicate to the audience the gender and the responsibilities Phil has in his family. In the episode entitled My Hero, the developers Manny and Luke deliberate on the possible topics for an essay writing competition in school. In the episode, the developers imply that people learn some of the basic skills early in life. Writing and reading are two primary life survival techniques besides speaking that the children must acquire (Gates 22). Teachers in school therefore develop appropriate writing and reading competitions for the children. The two children for example provide examples of the topics to write about depending on the experiences and the stories their parents had previously read for them at bedtime. Educating the children is therefore a concerted effort by both the parents and such fundamental social institutions as schools. Conclusion The American media plays an essential role in the development of the society. As the comedy portrays, the American media does not only provide a representation of the social and cultural developments of the society but also criticizes the same thereby influencing both the development of the society and portrayal of specific developmental features of the society. The sitcom, Modern family adopts such a structure in developing the plot. The developers of the media content do not only provide a systematic portrayal of the modern American society as it is but changes some of the features in a bid to influence the development of such features. Among the basic media, functions that the sitcom performs are agenda setting, watchdog and surveillance among many others. It does these by analyzing and influencing the development of the popular culture (Benjamin 77). Popular culture commonly referred to as pop culture refers to a set of common contemporary beliefs and actions. The development of sitcoms as a media content is one of the popular cultural practices that has further increased the influence of the media on the popular culture. The development of homosexuality is a major attribute of the popular culture. the comedy portrays the position and relevance of gay marriages in the contemporary American family (Fish 17). However, the film allows for the strategic placement of the special type of marriage in the society by infusing various traditional features of a marriage into the special contemporary feature. The developers of the sitcom analyze the nature of the relationships thereby implementing such in a traditional manner with a fully functioning man and a wife in the arrangement in order to develop a uniform portrayal of the family institution. Such portrayals of homosexual relationships helps influence the people’s belief and understanding of such modern features of the society a feature that helps the creation of peaceful relationships as each partner has specific roles in the relationships (Dubois, 14). Works cited Adorno, Theodor. The Culture Industry: Selected Essays on Mass Culture. Ed. J. M. Bernstein. London: Routledge, 2001. Print. Althusser, Louis. Lenin and Philosophy: And Other Essays. Trans. Ben Brewster. New York: Monthly Review Press, 1971. Print. Auerbach, Erich. Mimesis: The Representation of Reality in Western Literature. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1953. Print. Bakhtin, Mikhail. The Dialogic Imagination. Trans. Caryl Emerson and Michael Holquist. 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