More Relevant Contemporary Context

From the Pajamas Media blog, and also from the pages of Bridget Jones's Diary, "It used to be kids in TV families who caused the problems and the parents who solved them. In the brave new world of reality television, parents are the problem."

There was a time in American television when parents and children alike would gather in front of the TV to watch Leave it to Beaver or even The Cosby Show, programs that affirmed the importance of the family structure and reminded us that loving parents can guide their children through even the worst of childhood’s problems. Those days are long gone, baby....At the end of It’s Complicated or Living Lohan we are not left with the belief that a family, headed by a wise and loving parent, will somehow come through its struggles better off and stronger for having worked through them together. Rather, we are left shocked at the complete and utter absence of a true parental figure and certain that, somehow, any problems those families encounter are largely caused by the parents themselves..

More evidence, I think, of Fielding's artistic insight.