Modern Family: Gloria Prichett, Framing & Stereotyping
Modern Family is a TV-series that aired on ABC in 2009. Jay Pritchett is an American man who is the head of the large family, and remarried for the second time. Gloria, Jay’s new wife, is from Colombia and has a son named Manny from a previous marriage. Both Jay and Gloria have a son together who appears in later episodes.
Mitch and Claire are Jay's biological children. Mitch is married to Cam who both have an Asian daughter named Lilly, and Claire is married to Phil. Both Claire and Phil have three children named, Haley, Alex and Luke. The television series depicts the daily lives of this modern-day family.
1. The reason why I chose this media is because it is important to see that the show has done a great job on showing blended families, which is becoming more common in the U.S., on television. However, portraying this blended family may have potential negative effects to our culture and society. Additionally, I chose this particular media because it demonstrates both positive and negative stereotypes.
2.a. The show can be framed in multiple ways. Framing is defined as, “basic cognitive structures which guide the perception and representation of reality” (Goffman, 1974 as cited in Mastarone lecture). The four functions of frames are: Define problems, diagnose causes, make moral judgments, suggest remedies.
Define problems means to “determine what a causal agent is doing with costs and benefits” (Mastarone lecture, 2015). Secondly, diagnose causes means to “identify what is creating the problem” (Mastarone lecture, 2015). Thirdly, make moral judgments means to “evaluate the agents and their effects” (Mastarone lecture, 2015). Last of all, suggest remedies means to “offer and justify treatments for the problems and predict effects” (Mastarone lecture, 2015).
For instance, it could be framed as a show that is great for television viewers to see how blended families are more common in the modern world. Also, it can be framed as we recognize that these stereotypes are bad, however it is a comedy so people should not make a big deal about it, and just have a laugh.
In contrast, it can be framed as this awful show that is not any good because it is filled with stereotypes, and it causes negative impact on our society. Some aspects of the show is the reason which have created problems. The type of media frame that was used for the show was human interest because audiences are interested in learning about other people. In the case of this show, the audience are interested in learning about other people within blended families.
The stereotypes that are seen in the show are Mitch and Cam, a gay couple who adopted an Asian baby. There are many stereotypes that are featured in the show associated with gay men, adopting international children, plus Asian people in general.
Moreover, there are stereotypes associated with the women of the show because both Claire and Gloria are housewives, and are there to fix emotional problems. The men are seen as hard-working breadwinners, and Phil is portrayed as the “Dumb Dad.” He is seen as being a clueless guy; but at the same time he is seen as a successful and skilled real estate agent.
Moreover, there are the stereotypes seen with Jay and Gloria. Jay is portrayed as this old, rich guy who was lucky to land himself a young, Hispanic wife. I’m sure there are many more stereotypes that can be found in the show, but the main focus on this blog will be on stereotypes associated with Hispanic women.
There are many negative stereotypes seen against Gloria. For one, Gloria is married to an older, rich American man, which assumes that she married him for the wrong reasons since she is a younger woman from another country. One of the common stereotypes associated with Hispanics is, when a Hispanic is with an American, it is solely because they want help obtaining citizenship or for their money. Another stereotype seen on the show is that Gloria is Hispanic so that means she must have an accent, she must barely speak English, and have dark features.
In addition, another common stereotype found on the show is that since Gloria is a Hispanic, she is quick to anger and extremely loud.
However, there are also positive stereotypes seen with this character. For one, she is portrayed as a strong woman who was able to raise her son Manny on her own before she even met Jay. Secondly, she is seen as a compassionate, loving, assertive, humble, and smart woman.
2.b. Furthermore, a possible positive outcome of using this frame can be that it can educate viewers of how modern families look like today and how blended families are increasing in today’s society. The positive outcome of viewing positive Hispanic stereotypes is for viewers to understand the culture and for more Hispanics to be seen as a part of our society as well, instead of seeing them as only ‘minorities’.
However, the negative outcome of using this frame for the show and the negative stereotypes for Hispanics is it can cause implications on our culture and society because it can misinform viewers about blended families and make people see blended families in a negative way. Also, it is hard to recognize stereotypes when the show can be framed as humor that is innocent and does not intend to harm anyone.
On the other hand, a negative outcome is that it can create more stereotypes, which can cause viewers to believe these stereotypes to be true. Moreover, it can cause viewers to not be able to know that in reality these stereotypes can still be damaging to people, whether or not it comes from a humorous context. It can confuse people into thinking that stereotypes are becoming more accepted and it is okay to sweep this under the rug and not make stereotyping a big deal anymore.
It can cause viewers to believe that these stereotypes associated with Hispanics are true for everyone or true at all. For instance, Gloria is seen as a strong woman who is quick to get angry. Does that mean she can only express anger because she is a strong woman and strong women do not cry? Meaning, it is a negative outcome because it can put standards for Hispanic women. Overall, positive or negative stereotypes can have consequences in representation of certain groups.
3. One media literacy skill a person should have to consume this media is, Social Responsibility. Social responsibility “is characterized by people having critical appreciation of all kinds of media messages, but instead of having primarily internal perspective (as with the previous stage), the perspective here is external.
The person at this stage not only asks, “What is best from my point of view and why?” but also, “What types of messages are best for others and for society? (Potter, 2014, p. 28). It relates to the media because the show tried to incorporate positive messages for others and society by showing blended families on television.
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Mastarone, G. (Director) (2015). Cognition, Heuristics & Bias. Lecture conducted from Portland State University.
Potter, W. J. (2014). Media Literacy Chapter 2. Retrieved January 20, 2015, from https://d2l.pdx.edu/d2l/le/content/50349/viewContent/1900360/View?ou=503449
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