Carcelli 1

Ella Carcelli

Ali Alkhalifa

WGSST2230

11/27/2023

Shameless (2011) Across Relevant Themes

Shameless (2011) is a bingeworthy sitcom now home to Netflix after ten years of

runtime. The show contains relevant themes of living in poverty, broken homes, and addiction.

The six Gallagher siblings and friends all have various personal issues that are manifested by

complex elements of their identities. Shameless effectively brings visibility to racist, classist, and

homophobic struggles of its characters.

The most repeated motif throughout the show is the Gallagher family’s socioeconomic

status. The six siblings, and sometimes their addict parents Frank and Monica, live on the south

outskirts of Chicago. The show perpetuates several stereotypes regarding disadvantaged families,

such as drug and alcohol habits, stealing and scheming, and unplanned pregnancies. With there

being no stable parental income, the early seasons depended on the oldest, Fiona, to be the

breadwinner. Fiona dropped out of high school to support the family after their mother left.

Much of the show revolves around the characters working different jobs and performing schemes

to obtain food and money. The show directly challenges the idea that anyone can simply escape

poverty with hard work. The Gallaghers work demeaning jobs and find ways to make quick

money, yet barely make ends meet. It is rare that an episode fails to mention the family being

unable to pay utility bills or buy groceries. This is one of “many instances where the poor are

excluded from housing as a result of policies that are motivated by stereotypes” (Peterman

1316). The family resents the gentrification raises the cost of living in their neighborhood. By
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the end of the show the second oldest, Lip Gallagher, plans to sell the family home. Their

neighborhood was suddenly known “up-and-coming”, and the family could barely afford to live

there.

The theme of racial oppression arises often in the show. The South Side of Chicago is

made up of multiple different ethnicities and backgrounds. Typical racist comments and jokes

are made throughout the show. Racial tension realistically occurs in communities where so many

different types of people are living in close quarters. The “minority group threat” or when an

“area’s dominant racial group segregates itself, and excludes other groups, out of fear” often

occurs within poverty-stricken communities (Kimball). The history of American redlining

practices that have already segregated urban environments persist in ideology, as xenophobic

tendencies which criticize what is perceived as outsiders.

The Gallaghers’ neighbors are married couple Kevin, a white man, and Veronica, a black

woman. Sexual comments made especially by the regulars at Kevin and Veronica’s dive bar

pertain to “fantasies in which black people are protagonists [and] are always vulnerable to claims

of racism” (Wanzo 3). A time when their marriage is strained due to race issues is when Kevin

reunites with his biological family in Kentucky. Veronica is paranoid that Kevin’s conservative

family with Confederate ancestry might try to hurt her due to the color of her skin. Though this is

a disheartening topic, the portrayal of Veronica as an individual who struggles with systematic

oppression is a positive aspect of the show. Shameless is allowing race to be a “meaningful

aspect of identity,” rather than assimilating and invalidating the experience of its black characters

(Warner 74). Veronica conflicts over her racial identity and the nearby black community. She

struggles to teach black culture to her daughters and fears that she is out of touch with tradition.

She works to advocate for a rent control bill but is frustrated to find a lack of black voters ready
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to support the cause. Additionally, Veronica’s is saddened when her mother moves away,

claiming there is no black community left for her in their neighborhood.

Liam, the youngest, is the only black member of the Gallagher family. DNA tests

revealed that Frank and Monica are his biological parents, as well as his five other white siblings.

As a result, Liam faces adversity that the rest of the family does not. First, Liam attends a private

school said to be for “rich, white kids.” Staff at Liam’s school constantly pull him out of class to

put on a diversity façade for potential students touring. They purposefully photographed him for

an advertisement, as he was the only nonwhite student currently in attendance. Liam has an

identity crisis and feels like his black heritage is not appreciated or affirmed by his family. Liam

is struggling with respectability politics, and the “expectations associated with Blackness”

(Payne 3). In one episode, a distant relative helps demonstrate how to be a young black man in

America. In others, Liam and Veronica depend on one another to connect to their black heritage.

Ian Gallagher takes the main plotline for his sexual identity. Due to the conservative

nature of their neighborhood, he was often ridiculed for being gay. The father of Ian’s first

boyfriend, Mickey, brutally assaulted the two for being together. At one point, Ian dated a

transgender man named Trevor, who taught Ian about queer identities. They spent time doing

community outreach for LGBTQ+ youth. Ian conducted public demonstrations against religious

conversion therapy institutions. Queer characters in the show “brought visibility, momentum,

and a sense of community to the work” (Ruberg 548). The idea of queer oppression is an

important theme to have in popular culture pieces. This brings more awareness to the heightened

mental health issues and self-harm rates among queer youth.

Debbie Gallagher experimented with her sexuality. Debbie’s first girlfriend insisted that

Debbie was “bad at being a lesbian.” She struggles to behave within society’s lesbian
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stereotypes. This directly invalidates the fluidity of exploring sexuality and gender, which

frustrates Debbie. This is highlighted as “sexual minorities are not immune to heteronormative

processes” and expectations (Pollitt et. al). Though it can be said that Debbie does some

masculine things such as working a blue-collar job, Debbie chooses to take the advice that your

sexuality is only based on who you are attracted to, not the way you act or look.

Shameless does not shy away from sensitive subjects typically ignored by large

broadcasting companies. The racial, classist, and queer themes are common in the everyday lives

of the Gallaghers. By telling the stories of their struggles, privileged individuals many directly

understand how they are advantaged to avoid systematic oppression based on certain aspects of

their identity. Their story is one demonstration of kids from lower class or broken homes simply

trying to survive, as well as their intersectional differences which impact them.

Works Cited

Jill Kimball, Brown University. U.S. cities segregated not just by where people live, but where

they travel daily. Providence, R.I. , 11 February 2021. Article

Payne, Ashley N. “The Cardi B-Beyonce Complex: Ratchet Respectability and Black Adolscent

Girlhood.” Journal of Hip Hop Studies, Special Issue Twenty-First Century B.I.T.C.H

Frameworks: Hip Hop Feminism Comes of Age, Volume 7, Issue 1, Summer 2020, pp.

26-43, DOI: https://doi.org/10.34718/pxew-7785.

Peterman, Danieli Evans. “SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS DISCRIMINATION.” Virginia Law

Review, vol. 104, no. 7, 2018, pp. 1283–357. JSTOR,

https://www.jstor.org/stable/26790710. Accessed 7 Nov. 2023.

Pollitt Amanda M., Mernitz, Sara E., Russell, Stephen T., Curran, Melissa A., and Toomey,

Russell B. Heteronormativity in the Lives of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Queer Young

People. Research Report. Bethesda, MD: National Library of Medicine, n.d.

Ruberg, Bonnie. Queerness and Video Games: Queer Game Studies and New Perspectives

through Play. Morning Image Review.

Wanzo, Rebecca. “Black Love is Not a Fairytale,” Sexing the Colorlines: Black Sexualities,

Popular Culture, and Cultural Production, vol. 7, issue 2. Washington University, 2011.

Warner,