In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, I thought I would touch on how Hispanic Heritage is brought to the TV world.
One of my favorite TV shows of all time is the hit series, “Modern Family.”
The show ran from 2009-2020 and was about three homes that built up a family.
One of the houses was Jay and Gloria Delgado-Pritchett and their two sons, Manny and Joe.
With each family having a different, unique backstory, Jay Pritchett is the father of Claire and Mitchell Pritchett and met Gloria after divorcing their mother, Dede.
Gloria Delgado-Pritchett is a young Columbian woman who had a son, Manny, before meeting Jay.
If you couldn’t already tell, Gloria is one of my favorite characters.
When they met, Jay was a very conservative man. He grew up in a different time and is the patriarch of the family and the show.
It was hard for him to accept Mitchell when he came out as gay, but over time, he came to understand and still love Mitchell just the way he is.
After marrying Gloria, he definitely came out of his shell more.
Gloria lived a poor life in Columbia and came to America for a better life, the modern American story.
She mostly raised Manny alone, which was hard for her when she was also holding down a job.
What I love about her is no matter how rich her life is now with Jay, she never forgot her Columbian roots.
Even though the show is supposed to be light-hearted and funny, there is still a big education aspect to it.
Gloria Delgado-Pritchett constantly educates the entire family about Columbia but also the struggles that Hispanic women face in America every day.
When people make fun of her for her accent or call her a “hothead,” she proves to them that she is stronger than that and that she is more than that.
Some viewers may just see these as little funny bits of the show, but it can inspire women that also deal with these stereotypes and judgements every day.
She also educates the family on Columbian culture, such as foods and traditions.
Even with her short-run sauce business, she brought that amazing piece of her culture to her area for everyone to be able to enjoy.
Being a family-oriented woman, Gloria often misses her family in Columbia and after educating Jay on why it’s so important for her to go back, he agrees to even go with her.
This aspect of the show is also light-hearted and fun, but it’s also a beautiful thing to be educated every day on a culture you may not even know much about.
If you have the chance, watch “Modern Family” and if you do, pay attention to the little details you hear about Columbia because you may just learn something new!