The Perfect Reflection of an American Family

Have you ever wondered how a typical, "perfect" American family looks like? I say "perfect" because nothing is ever perfect. However, there are plenty of things that are very close to perfection. The family portrayed in the TV show "Modern Family" is an example of closeness to perfection. A happy family that remains united despite the common issues that arise among the people that surround us. Those people that we love and will be by our side no matter what. Modern Family is a TV show that reflects how most American families are and its accurate reflection of reality is hillarious.

"Modern Family" tells the story of Jay Pritchett and his whole family. All of them live in the suburban area of Los Angeles. He is married with a Colombian woman called Gloria, who has a son, Manny. Pritchett also has a daughter, Claire, and a son, Mitchell. Claire married Phil and they have three kids. Mitchell is gay and lives with his boyfriend, Cam. They adopted a vietnamese girl who also lives with them, Lily. I find very interesting from here that this whole family is what USA is today in one word: Diversity. You have regular Americans, two latinos (Gloria and Manny), two gays (Mitchell and Cam), and a vietnamese (Lily). In a country as diverse as USA, many families have members from all these minorities. That's why I say it is such a great portrayal of the American family and society. However, I would like to see more from the African- American community. There is barely any representation of this community in the show.

Another thing I like about "Modern Family" is the way they create humor. Their exact representation of reality makes the show being as funny as possible. Mitchell and Cam's naturalness are a great representation of how gays act in real life. Gloria, whose role is represented by Sofia Vergara, speaks English the way she wants: With a Latin accent and several mispronunciations and mistakes. For example, she doesn't know how to say helicopter in English, so she refers to it with its sound. Instead of saying the helicopter, she says the "Tacatacatacataca" because that's how the airscrews sound like. Many latinos speak the way she does in the series and we feel identified with it. Sometimes, even I feel I talk like that. Though they really know how to represent latinos, the show does create misconceptions about the Latin-American community. In one episode, they inferred that people in Colombia wash their clothes in rivers instead of washing machines. The episode was about Gloria's sister visit to LA. One of those days during her visit, she went to the kitchen and asked: "Gloria, where is the river?" while she held in her hands a laundry basket full of clothes. The problem is that some Americans do believe that. It is not right to reinforce that wrong idea about latinos. It creates more confusion and ignorance.

If you like comedy and you're looking for a hilarious TV-show to watch, then Modern Family is for you. Even though it has few, very few mistakes, you will laugh so much, especially if you are American. You will probably see your life reflected in this show. Besides that, it has unexpected outcomes. You never know what might happen throughout the seasons, so go ahead and give it a shot!