Modern Family: Criticism Of Lily Doesn't Sit Right With Fans

If you had to list all the professions that receive the most criticism from the public, actors have to be near the top. After all, TV shows, movies, and anything that provides scripted entertainment all get scrutinized up and down with the performers often receiving either recognition for quality work or public bashing for not pleasing some judgmental viewers. As tough as it is for these professionals, imagine what it's like for the performers who are kids. This type of criticism is what young actor Aubrey Anderson-Emmons needed to deal with when she played Lily Tucker-Pritchett on the hit ABC sitcom, "Modern Family." And this underage scrutinization doesn't sit well with many fans.

When Reddit user u/Jabbles22 presented the question, "Anyone else find Lily annoying?," most viewers leaned to the positive side of the argument. In fact, many fans were quick to defend the young actor. "I actually disagree I think she plays her part perfectly without being over the top (sassy)," replied u/captain_edson. U/leiner63 thinks the character works great because of her interactions with the rest of the cast posting, "I disagree. I think the writers do a great job peppering her snark lightly enough where it's not overbearing." Some fans defended more than just the performance as u/hypnobooty pointed out the real person behind the character with, "This fan base is surprisingly toxic & like to project their ideal families onto what the show should've done. Lily is a phenomenal character."

When fans first met the character Lily in "Modern Family's" beginning season, she was just a toddler, and actually wasn't played by Aubrey Anderson-Emmons. Married couple Cameron Tucker (Eric Stonestreet) and Mitchell Pritchett's (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) adopted daughter was originally played by twins Ella and Jaden Hiller. When it was clear to the twins' mother that they weren't enjoying themselves on set and wanted them to enjoy a normal childhood, they were replaced by four-year-old Anderson-Emmons in Season 3. From there, the young character developed into a sassy, dry, icon of one-liners. Her subtle background storylines, which included a delightful rivalry between her and her parents' old friend Sal (Elizabeth Banks), helped her become a fan favorite.

However, some fans weren't able to lock on to the purposefully monotone performance that Anderson-Emmons put forth during her "Modern Family" stint. They were quick to criticize, like u/magnetichypnotic who exclaimed that Lily is "unbearable and gets on my nerves. I skip all her parts." But for every negative critique, there are plenty more fans who defend the performance. One of them, over on YouTube, is @ariannailici8069 who stated, "I think Lily's personality is a perfect contrast to those of Cam and Mitch. And Aubrey is a fantastic actor for that age. She's one of my favorite characters on the show." In agreement is @davinatest8467 who exclaimed, "She was just wonderful and they should have had more lines for her especially when she got older."