In praise of… Modern Family

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jun/16/in-praise-of-modern-family

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By making us laugh, writers have long sought to provoke deeper thought as to what we are laughing about. The British writer Johnny Speight, with his grisly invention Alf Garnett, provoked debate about racism and sexism. Ray Galton and Alan Simpson created rag men, Steptoe and Son, to write about family and class. But their ability to shape perceptions pale next to Modern Family, the world's favourite sitcom. One day it may be clear how an America tacking right simultaneously embraced the Pritchett-Dunphy-Tucker clan, three haphazardly transgenerational, multi-ethnic families including Mitchell and Cameron – a gay couple with an adopted Vietnamese daughter. On Monday British viewers saw Mitchell and Cameron prepare to marry, an event billed in the US as the TV marriage of the decade. An inclusive show, it may even have shifted US attitudes to gay marriage – while letting America gaze on a pleasing mirror image of itself.