Modern Family has had some issues regarding the relationship between the real world and the fictional characters on their show. For instance, when the ACLU launched a campaign for the characters in their show, Cam and Mitchell, two loving parents of an adopted girl, to marry, they felt the ACLU’s “heart was in the right place,” but that ultimately, it was “intrusive” to expect them to change their scripts due to public pressure. Nevertheless, the fictional world of the show seems to be responding to the real life decisions being made in the Supreme Court and with DOMA being struck down, legalizing gay marriage in California.
Now that gay marriage is more publicly acceptable, and less of a political statement, the makers of the show say “It’s a real possibility. It’s certainly something we are contemplating on the show in ways we wouldn’t have in prior seasons.” So said the show’s co-creator Christopher Lloyd to Entertainment Weekly, after the court’s ruling.
“We’ve had a number of conversations. As you can imagine in Cam and Mitchell’s life, they would be feeling that a door has opened that was closed to them. Wouldn’t it be pretty tempting to think about walking through it? We imagine a lot of gay couples today are deciding whether to get married now that it’s open to them. From our standpoint, that’s something to explore.”
The comedy “didn’t want to make an overt political statement” and risk alienating viewers. The show wanted to be a comedy, not political. “It’s not that we are absolutely unwilling. It was more of a tonal thing. It didn’t seem like our show to do that.”
“To the extent that people are interested in what happens on the show and how they really take these characters to heart, it’s a compliment,” Lloyd said. “But if they want to campaign to influence how we deal with the characters, that starts to be intrusive. We resist that. The ACLU had their heart in right place, but there was a silliness to the whole thing. They don’t exist, you know! They really are fiction.”
Nevertheless, fiction is a way of seeing the real world, and now that the Supreme Court has decided as it has, the fictional universe of the comedy is responding in kind, with enthusiasm. As Lloyd said, “It’s a funny thing, sitting around and celebrating for your characters on a day like this. We are happy for Mitch and Cam today!”