Fan Fiction Analysis: Mitchell Pritchett

I have been watching Modern Family for the past few weeks, and this week I will be closely examining Jesse Tyler Ferguson’s character in the show; Mitchell Pritchett. Mitchell is openly gay and his partner is Cameron Tucker (Eric Stonestreet). They have adopted a daughter from Vietnam together, whom they named Lily. Mitchell is Jay Pritchett’s (Ed O’Neill) son, Gloria’s (Sophia Vergara) step-son and Manny’s (Rico Rodriguez)step-brother. Claire Dunphy (Julie Bowen) is his sister, Phil Dunphry, brother-in-law; Hayley (Sarah Hyland) and Alex (Ariel Winter), his nieces and Luke (Nolan Gould) is his nephew. Also, the show takes place in Los Angeles, California.

Mitchell is known for being a serious, high-strung but fairly low-maintenance guy. In Cameron and Mitchell’s relationship, though Mitchell is sensitive, he takes on more of the role of the “man” while Cameron portrays the more “feminine” one. Regardless, both of them are open about their sexual orientation and are not ashamed of being gay. Cameron stays at home with Lily and takes care of the home and cooks and cleans while Mitchell works as lawyer to support their lush lifestyle. Mitchell is often uptight, but Cameron always helps him to find a balance in life to help him remain grounded. Cameron and Mitchell argue sometimes because their personalities are polar opposite for the most part, but most of their arguments stem from not wanting to make the other unhappy – which shows how much they do care about each other. Mitchell and Cameron have been in a relationship together for 5 years.

Jay is slightly uncomfortable with the fact that his son is gay, but has learned to accept it. However, every time he goes over Mitchell and Cameron’s house, he makes sure to knock extra loudly so he announces his presence and doesn’t walk in on them kissing or anything. Also, something I have noticed is that Mitchell and Cameron have yet to kiss on the show. I’m not sure if this is because the producers fear controversy, but there have been other controversial issues in previous episodes. In the beginning episodes, Mitchell struggled with telling his family that he and Cameron had adopted Lily. This is most likely due to his uncertainty with how they would react. But, they welcomed Lily into the family with open arms knowing that Mitchell is would be an overprotective, loving, caring father.

With Mitchell’s bright red hair, slim, lankly build, put-together look and good fashion sense as well as sensitive, high-strung, worrisome personality, he is one of my favorite characters in the show. He is realistic and a relatable person and is very likable because of these characteristics. He is an attorney and graduated from Cornell University and Columbia University Law School.Mitchell often talks about his competitiveness with his sister, Claire as well as his passion for music and ice skating, and also his love and devotion to his family.

1. Cultural production is defined as: concerning “the creation, diffusion, and consumption of cultural products.” (http://mtq.sagepub.com/content/6/1/11.abstract). I think that watching Modern Family has been a very pleasurable cultural production experience. I have thoroughly enjoyed watching the characters grow and develop progressively throughout each episode. Globalization is a primary factor in cultural production, and this process of communication and interaction is prevalent in Modern Family. Because Lily was adopted into an American family, it is inevitable she will become Americanized. Cameron loves dressing Lily up as famous divas (Madonna, Diana Ross) as well as in typical outfits a young American girl would wear. She also eats American food and is exposed to American culture daily, not to mention is constantly exposed by Americans in the Pritchett/Dunphy families, with the exception of Gloria Pritchett and Manny Delgado’s strong Columbian roots. I enjoyed watching her become integrated into a completely different culture, but realized that there would not be much culture shock because she was only a baby when she was adopted.

2. Fan fiction is defined as: stories about characters or settings written by fans of the work rather than the creator. This genre of fiction allows for the viewer to take control of the original work and give an opinion about their perception of the work. Though, it is called fan fiction, which presumably means that the person writing about the work would be a fan, or someone who enjoys the work, versus a critic. Fan fiction gives the fans and viewers a chance to give their two cents about the story, setting, characters, etc., and allows communication between fans because of common interests. This type of writing primarily explores what the author has already put out for the world to see, fan fiction writers do not typically come up with an alternative plot to what already exists. Facts are explored as being true within the specific form of media, such as details about how a name is spelled or the location of the where the characters are within the show. Fan fiction is useful for fans because it creates a community where the fans can interact without bias from the creator. Fans are able to dissect the material within the show without truly any exterior context.

3. As a fan, student of and peer to, many cultural producers, my relationship to the media has been greatly altered. I understand the in-depth processes behind the creation of many aspects of media and have been able to comprehend the process of cultural production through instruction from professors and through learning individually because of my own research. I am better able to understand why certain things occur within the media and why others are left out. I have become more aware of lingo within media and how a specific form of media has come about. Being an actively involved learner in the process of cultural production, has allowed me to better comprehend why things are the way they are in media today.

4. I feel that a more common place for resistive pleasures can be found within blogs. However, YouTube has gradually become more integrated within blogs. Incorporating these videos pairs written word with visual context and lets the reader make the connection simply through viewing. YouTube contains videos of original content to parodies and spoofs of the original show. Something I learned about more in-depthly in my Media Theory class is that online blogging has become more popular throughout the years, with many of these videos uploaded on a regular basis to YouTube. The video blogs can range from personal information to fan fiction as well as any other content that deems appropriate within the terms and conditions YouTube has. Fan fiction has definitely taken off on YouTube, because it allows a community for fans to interact and discuss specific aspects of a particular medium. Apple products have often been the butt of many YouTube jokes, as well as the ever-popular Twilight series.