Television has always been a mirror to society, it has reflected our triumphs, struggles, and evolving norms. However, I felt like Modern Family was one show that didn’t just reflect but reshaped how the viewers felt about the LGBTQ+ community.
To me, one of the most lovable aspects of the show was Ty Burrell, who has spoken about how the sitcom contributed to gay rights. Perhaps Disney could take notes from the creators because their approach of representation is often heavy handed.
How Modern Family normalized gay relationships
When Modern Family premiered in 2009, it featured a gay couple, i.e., Jesse Tyler Ferguson’s Mitch and Eric Stonestreet’s Cam, raising a child. But what set these two apart wasn’t their s*xuality, but their relatability. They were portrayed as just another married duo, navigating the ups and downs of parenthood, and I found their relationship to be quite organic.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Ty Burrell shared an anecdote about his conservative family member.
I have family members that I don’t necessarily need to name, that felt one way [about gay rights] five years ago and feel a different way now. And I do really think that has something to do — not just our show, just our general, of seeing, day in and day out, gay people living the same lives as everybody else. And I think that, sort of weirdly enough, that banality, is revolutionary.
The showrunners understood this, and they didn’t try to make any statements through the gay couple but just told a simple story. This resonated deeply with people, even those who might not have been exposed to LGBTQ+ families before, and that’s how Modern Family proved that authenticity works better than trying to send a message.
Why Disney should learn from Modern Family
Disney has also made many strides for LGBTQ+ representation, but I feel that their efforts have fallen short. There was no performativeness or over calculation in Modern Family, which is something that I could sense in Disney’s portrayal of queer characters. Even though they might mean well, it comes across as tokenism rather than genuine inclusion.
It’s as if they’re trying to tick off a checklist without being subtle at all. Like Ty Burrell said about Mitch and Cam’s relationship on the show, “Everything is, other than a few small things, essentially the same.” Their struggles and triumphs had universal themes, so it was impossible for viewers to think about them as “different” people.
Modern Family didn’t just entertain, but it also educated, normalized, and humanized gay folks. It was a quiet revolution, not in your face at all, and it didn’t seem like they were trying to influence anyone in the first place.
That’s precisely why I hope for Disney to understand that the future of representation is not in the grand gestures or fleeting moments but the small, everyday, mundane stories that remind us how we’re all just trying to figure it out!
You can watch Modern Family on Hulu.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
