All in the Family vs. Contemporary Television

All in the Family's "Judging Books By Covers" episode deals with the judgement of homosexuals and the stereotypes that are common in modern culture. All in the Family dealt with issues far ahead of its time which today still causes controversy. The television show can be compared to contemporary family shows such as Modern Family. Both television shows deal with social issues such as the acceptance of gay people, while using different approaches.

Modern Family is more welcoming to the idea of a gay couple because in society it has become more acceptable. The show depicts how an unconventional family is becoming the "modern" family and the nuclear family is becoming more rare. Even though the main cast includes a gay couple, there is still some controversy over how they are portrayed. It took an entire season and a Facebook group to finally get the show to air a kiss between the two men. While on television gays are becoming more welcomed, there are still social issues over what is aired.

All in the Family takes a different approach to dealing with the issue of gays in society, using satire. Archie Bunker's intolerance is put on display for the audience to hopefully disagree with him and recognize the absurdity of Archie's stance. Archie is portrayed as bigoted and ignorant in the episode in attempts to dissolve stereotypes about homosexuals and tackle homophobia.

While the approaches to the subject are different on the two shows, both deal with the way gays are depicted. All in the Family tried to illustrate the idea that not all gay men are as flamboyant and feminine as they are made out to be, they are just as everyone else. Even though this idea was being spread on TV in the 1970s, gays on TV are still used as a form of comedy and not treated equally. Modern Family also attempts to show the world that stereotypes aren't always true, as one of the gay characters, Cameron, shows off his masculine and hangs out with straight men.

One issue dealt with in All the Family that is not seen as much today is the discrimination of homosexuals. Although it still exists, there are laws that prevent such discriminations as seen on All in the Family. You would not see someone who was suspected of being gay denied service at a bar on television. While All in the Family was revolutionary for its time, the idea of two men raising a child was never portrayed as it is today. Contemporary television shows illustrate the issue frequently, something that could not have happened in the 1970's.