‘Modern Family’ Season 11: Mitch and Cam’s transformation into three-dimensional people is praiseworthy, but what about their lack of affection?
Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan’s genius creation ‘Modern Family’, through its representation of unusual kinships, has grown to be one of the most liked sitcoms on American television. It came as a trendsetter in an era of traditional media, which never dared to show anything beyond what was conventionally accepted; the vivid characters of ‘Modern Family’ opened an avenue to new possibilities with their multi-cultural acceptance. Among all the households we explored through the show, Cameron Tucker (Eric Stonestreet) and Mitchel Pritchett (Tyler Jesse Ferguson) combo intrigued us the most. But, could the creators keep up to the viewers’ expectations?
When the series first aired in 2009, we were truly thrilled about having been given the opportunity to watch a gay couple’s day-to-day life on national television, simply because the whole affair remained hush-hush in the American culture. Although the sitcom mostly used the stereotypical archetypes associated with gays to establish Mitch and Cam’s characters, as the show progressed, we saw them grow into well-defined three-dimensional people (somehow more realistic).
It was always the creators’ goal to represent Mitch and Cam as yet another family and not treat them differently. This was further established when the Tucker-Pritchett family expanded with an additional member; their adopted daughter Lily. At this point, they proved that it isn’t necessary to only be a man and a woman to be able to raise a child.
However, there are a couple of loopholes in Mitch and Cam’s dynamic on the show, which has bothered the audiences all along. Needless to say, there is a major dearth of affection between these characters! We have always wondered why makers of the show refrained from showing the gay couple indulge in anything remotely sexual, when the other couples, Claire-Phil and Sofia-Jay were often seen canoodling on camera.
Mitchell’s reluctance to engage in PDA to an extent justifies the lack of physical love between him and his partner. But, why is he so discreet about his sexuality? There have been instances when his rather homophobic father has tried addressing his son’s coming out of the closet moment, but Mitchell for whatever reason just couldn’t stand it.
We feel, Cam and Mitch’s characters could have employed a few more realistic aspects in their lives, for viewers from the queer community to relate with.
