Maybe it’s the moodiness, but teenage characters seem to shine far better in drama than in comedy. In teen dramas, teens are often allowed the space to grow and emote and carve out a fully fledged identity in the midst of all the expected adolescent angst. It’s the act of taking something simple (like a teen stereotype) and adding complex layers (like a personality, or hopes and dreams).
The problem with sitcoms is that they invert that function. They take something complex (like human relations) and make it simple so we can laugh at it. Stereotypes are funny after all, since the familiar is funny… or something like that. So the teens found on sitcoms almost never amount to more than re-hashed types.
The fact is that sitcom characters are jokes. They are created to be laughed at. When all’s said and done, what’s easier to laugh at, a goofy, two-dimensional, sex-crazed, dumb or nerdy, self-involved kid, or a complicated, emotionally fragile, moody individual exploring their identity as a human being?
But let’s take, for example, Modern Family, a popular and generally pretty good contemporary sitcom. In this family we first encounter one teenager, Haley. She’s pretty, but dumb. She’s self-absorbed. She’s a ditz. She says stupid things with confidence and cares far more about her looks, clothes, and relationship with boys than school or family obligations.
It’s unfortunate that in a show that makes an obvious attempt at diversity, the only representation of a teen is such an unflattering one. Because while the joke may start out funny is gets old really fast. Stereotypes don’t grow or change, they just repeat.
But the real problem seems, to me, to be the show’s complete inability to grasp the concept of a different type of teenager. Their own stereotype of a teen girl (with counterpart dumb musician boyfriend) becomes the template for “teen” when Haley’s little sister, the brainy, sarcastic, cello-playing member of the family enters adolescence a few years later.
The irrationality of Alex’s transformation has me dumbfounded. Meeting Haley at 15, it was fair to assume she’d grown naturally into this ditzy beauty queen persona. Fine. But with Alex we all know better. We know she’s smart so when she starts acting stupid all of a sudden because she’s 14 it just doesn’t make sense. Intelligence doesn’t disappear at puberty. I’m pretty sure that despite any pup culture myths to the contrary women don’t actually bleed sanity.
I understand the need to rely on stereotypes in sitcoms. It’s regrettable, but I get it. I get that Alex must get moody and feel like rebelling in some way. But I do not understand why she now cares about her clothes and wears make up, or why she clams up around boys and tries to make friends with the stupid popular girls – that’s Haley’s thing! What happened to the girl who refused to wear a dress because she didn’t want to look like her sister? Somehow a kid’s personality seems to have been traded in for teenager shorthand somewhere along the way, and Alex has been robbed of her identity and any reason I had to connect with and care about her as a character. Way to go dumb stereotype.
Relying on stereotypes for some easy laughs leaves no substance with which an audience might identify. Of course young people can be funny, and can be the butt of many jokes. But I’d much rather laugh at a respectful, thoughtful joke than a cliché about frenemies. Ultimately, stereotypes show a lack of respect (and understanding), which is disappointing. So here’s the upshot: I don’t find your jokes about teens funny, Modern Family.
