Satire - Modern Family

Stereotypes have had a prominent role in American comedies, particularly sitcoms, practically since their introduction. ABC’s newest hit comedy Modern Family is no different. The cast is diverse in every way, and the writers use that to diversify the characters and get away with using obvious stereotypes placed upon gender and sexuality. The show is presented in a mockumentary style and focuses on three families who are related through marriage. Phil and his wife Claire represent the nuclear family; Jay and his new wife Gloria represent the inter-generation family; and finally Mitchell and Cam represent the homosexual family structure. Modern Family cleverly uses gender, racial, and sexual stereotypes to make the audience bond with and identify with the characters on-screen, and by combining these stereotypes with the mockumentary style Modern Family is able to give off a feeling of realism that makes the characters even more relatable.
Modern Family gives off a feeling or realism not found in many sitcoms, and that is due in a large part because it is presented in a mockumentary style. A mockumentary is a type of film or television show in which fictional events are presented in the form of a documentary. By using this style the show is able to give off an aura of realism not found in normal sitcoms. It makes its characters and their interactions that much more believable and relatable despite the sometimes crazy situations the characters find themselves in. Another valuable addition the mockumentary style allows Modern Family to take advantage of is interviews. Character interviews are worked into the situations to give a particular character’s opinions and thoughts out in the open, yet the other characters they may or may not be talking about do not know what is being said about them. This allows the audience to get inside the minds of the characters where in normal sitcoms the characters have to state what they are thinking in conversations with other