All in the Family vs. Modern Family

http://kfrc.radio.com/shows/kfrc-weekends/

The television family has come a long way. In the 70’s in many shows, it was only acceptable to show the mother, father and children picture. Today, people encounter every type of person in television characters.

All in the Family, a sitcom from the 70’s, in one episode attempted to take on the issue of homosexuality. The goal was to critique people’s one-sided views of the gay community. Archie Bunker, the typical American, was homophobic and in this particular episode encountered one of his son-in-law’s possibly gay friends. He refers to him as a fairy and many other offensive names. Though the episode was an attempted satire, many identified with Archie.

http://www.sidereel.com/Modern_Family/season-1/episode-1

Even though the episode’s aim was not to make fun of gay people, the way it approached the critique was questionable. I cannot imagine a show like that airing today. Modern Family, as the title suggests depicts the modern family unit in its many shapes and forms. The show follows the lives of three different families, the typical mother, father and children unit, the gay couple and adoptive daughter, and the older man with the much younger wife. The show shows these not so typical family units and the normalcy and love that they possess. Though both shows aimed to shoot down stereotypes, they went about it very differently. Today, shows take a more straightforward approach and present the positives in situations that aren’t the norm.

Television in many ways now opens up the world to see things they have never seen before. Many shows push the limits today and go where not many have gone before. ABC’s modern family shows how not every happy family has to consist of a husband and a wife. All in the Family earlier on tried to push the limits of what people would accept.