A Look into the Modern Family

- Shamira Azlan

The twenty-first century American family has undoubtedly transformed to become undefinable. The inability to fit these new family dynamics into neat little boxes is in no way negative, but rather it represents new opportunities to erase established stereotypes and put in place new ideas of the modern family: a family not based on racial or even social factors, but on love and community. This progression is evident today, with most media outlet highlighting these new values in television shows, movies and even in modern art.

If we look back to the 1970’s, we can see sitcoms and television shows such as the Brady Brunch and Diff’rent Strokes representing the different family dynamics that were deemed as relatable at the time. Twenty years later we see the laughable, yet dysfunctional American family in shows such as Married with Children. Their dysfunctional dynamic was more relatable than the typical overplayed stepford family allusion that had been previously deemed as “ideal”. Fast forward to the late 90’s and the early 2000’s we see shows like Will and Grace and Queer as Folk showing an alternate lifestyle, representing the gay and lesbian community. Other shows that represented different families during the time included My Wife and Kids, Gilmore Girls and Everybody Hates Chris. Presently, family-focused television shows such as Modern Family- a sitcom focusing on the very different lives of three families- and Two and a Half Men, the dysfunctional makeshift family, has joined the myriad of shows that depict family lives in our community. These sitcoms and televisions shows are mere representations of stereotypes of what families are today and it is up to the public to deem which shows are relatable.

In addition to sitcoms, we have seen another genre emerge to tell stories of the American family: reality television. Today we see many reality television shows showing the lives of very different families, families most of us would probably have never encountered. Granted, some aspects of it are skewed to please the masses and increase ratings but… continue reading