There have been many TV shows over the years, but none have quite been so satisfying and happy as ABC's Modern Family. The show is shot as a mockumentary recording the lives of three families that include Jay, his second wife Gloria and his stepson Manny, his other gay son Mitch and his husband Cam and their adopted child Lily, and his other daughter Claire, her husband Phil and their family of three kids Hayley, Alex & Luke. It is a sitcom that reached millions of hearts within months of it's September 23, 2009, premiere (12 million to be precise).
The show focuses on how the families, though different by leaps and bounds, have their shortcomings and difficulties come through every time to show that there is nothing dearer than the members that make up a loving family. The show has won numerous awards, to name a few, 21 Primetime Emmy Awards, Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series in 2012, 5 Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series in its first 5 years.
It is a show that people have been loving and learning from. All in all, Modern Family brings a lot to the table when we talk about family values and life lessons, so to speak. Let's see what we can learn from the series that has also admittedly been Michelle Obama's favorite on TV.
1. Being accepting of each other
The whole idea behind Modern Family is to show that different kinds of people can get together to make one big, happy family. There is the war-veteran/self-made millionaire Jay Prichett, his wife Gloria from Columbia, her son Manny, his gay son Mitchell and his husband Cameron. All these people though from different backgrounds make one happy loving family.
2. Family comes first, no matter what
On numerous occasions, we have seen on this that the family members always have each others' backs. Be it when Jay was accepting of Mitchell's homosexuality, backing his daughter to lead his closets company, or when Phil supports his children no matter what. It is always that the welfare of the family takes precedence over anything else.
3. Love your spouse to death and reap rewards
Jay loves Gloria, Phil loves Claire and Mitchell & Cam love each other to death. They have never cheated on their spouses even when they had the chance, have moved heaven and earth to please them, and as always had their backs. This, in turn, has earned them their love, respect, and admiration.
4. Cheer for your child and support them
Phil & Claire, Jay & Gloria, and Mitch & Cam can be considered as the paragons of parenting. Even though they have flaws, they always back their kids, know what's best for them and have shown love and have also been harsh when it needed. That's how you raise kids.
5. Enjoy the little moments in life
The show focuses on many things in life that one regrets if he doesn't do with his family. Like the time when Phil books a single hotel room to spend time with his family or is ever ready to play with his kids or the frequent family vacation, the entire group takes (and overcomes mishaps) to spend time with each other shows that it is the little moments that count in life.
6. Do what really makes you happy
Each character enjoys doing their own thing, and they are happy to be themselves. Cam's love for music and football is shown, Phil's love for cheerleading, Alex's secret band, Hayley's love for fashion pays off, Jay's love for old, model airplanes and ships etc show that you always stay happy doing what you love.
7. It is important that you remain young at heart
Phil is the perfect example of being a child at heart. He loves jumping on trampolines, is like a teenage parent to his kids, pulls random gags at his family, is always smiling, loves an adventure, jumps at every opportunity to play with the kids. That is how one should lead his life.
8. Drastic times call for drastic measures
There have been instances when things got a little out of hand, but the family has always managed to pull things back. Be it when the kids went berserk and Phil had to be the bad cop, when Gloria went all 'no-makeup' on Jay, or when Mitch and Cam pulled new parenting tricks to teach Lily a thing or two.
9. Be open to change, it can be great!
The series shows us that the characters undergo a lot of changes and most of the time they come out of their comfort zone to show how much they love each other, like when Jay starts taking Spanish lessons for Gloria, Manny tries a pickle or when Jay accepts his son to be gay and his husband to be a member of the family.
10. Truth alone triumphs
There have been many instances where the characters have tried to wriggle their way out of a problem, but in the end, have had to say the truth to the whole family and more importantly, the family has forgiven and accepted the wrong-doer! This shows that no matter how grave the mistake is, your family has your back and will always be accepting of you at the end of the day.
11. Love trumps everything else
The show focuses only the values of a family and how they impact the members in it. Although the three families shown are related by blood, it is love that binds the old man-young lady and her son family, the gay couples with a Vietnamese child family and the straight couple with three kids family. No matter what happens in each situation, at the end of the day they love each other too much to hold a grudge or a blame each other.
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