Baylee Akins

The same-sex relationship between Ian and Mickey in Shameless (U.S.) is broadcast on television and subscription sites alike. It’s directed by Mimi Leder, John Wells III, John Dahl, David Nutter, and Mark Mylod. It was created by Paul Abbott, and produced by Michael Hissrich and Terri Murphy (T. [n.d.])
                  I chose to analyze Mickey and Ian’s relationship because it has a tragically beautiful quality to it, and has so many different variables involved that I thought it would make for a good analysis. Both Ian and Mickey have many life experiences and struggles that simultaneously make up their intersectionality, and also affect their romantic relationships.
Mickey was raised in a homophobic household with an abusively strict father who instilled values that Mickey couldn’t do anything that would make him gay. Mickey’s father continually instilling in him the shame men should feel for being gay is part of the reason Mickey can’t accept his own sexuality. He only hooks up with Ian in private despite Ian’s obvious attempts at public displays of affection, and despite a semi-exclusive relationship with Ian, Mickey still hooks up with women publicly to keep up appearances.
                  The climax of Mickey’s emotional torment comes to a head when his homophobic father catches Mickey and Ian having sex. His father then proceeds to force mickey to have sex with a Russian woman in order to “fuck” the gay out of him, meanwhile, making Ian watch at gunpoint. This furthered the repression of Mickey’s sexual identity, where he even agrees to marry the same Russian woman he was forced to have sex with. This process is known as corrective rape, and is something still used in the world today. The term originates in South Africa, a country where the corrective tool is a serious nation-wide problem (Jain 2015). Often it’s performed with members of the victim’s own family, making an already traumatizing event, even more traumatizing and disturbing.
                  In the case of Mickey and Ian, it wasn’t a member of Mickey’s family, but still traumatizing none-the-less. Following this event, Mickey marries the same Russian woman and Ian has a psychotic break, revealing his manic-depressive bipolar condition. This depicts a tragically unstable LGBT relationship. While one could applaud Shameless for highlighting that corrective rape still exists in the world today, it doesn’t show a healthy, stable LGBT relationship—rather an unhealthy and traumatizing one.
                  Later on in the show’s production, we see Mickey and Ian’s relationship grow, but Ian puts the pressure on Mickey to come out to his father confidently. Between the time of the corrective rape and now, we see the pressure shift onto Mickey. The audience begins to feel frustrated with Mickey’s reluctance to accept not only himself, but Ian as well. This is something often seen in shows like Shameless, where the pressure shifts onto the victim of homophobic abuse, rather than resting on the abuser. This resulting pressure is usually the driving force that brings a dramatic/theatrical coming out scene (Ross 313). For Mickey, his dramatic coming out scene to his father was at a bar, which resulted in an all-out brawl between Mickey, his father and Ian. Mickey’s father get’s arrested for violating his parole, and Mickey and Ian are free to be in a public relationship without fear of ridicule from his father.
                  A positive note to the traumatic background of Mickey’s coming out story is that it has an educational element. It educates heterosexual and homosexual people that corrective rape is still a global issue that needs attention. It also depicts a relatively positive end to Mickey’s emotional/physical abuse from his homophobic father.
                  The negatives worth noting are that Mickey combats his abuse with violence, pushes his significant other away, and has an identity struggle within his self. While all these results may depict real-world reactions to homophobic abuse, it doesn’t give LGBT community members a positive role model, but rather provides an issue-based narrative to follow on an exciting television drama series (Ross, 314).
 
References
Jain, R., & T. (2015, May 31). Parents use ‘corrective rape’ to ‘straight’en gays – Times of India. Retrieved April 10, 2017, from http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/relationships/parenting/Parents-use-corrective-rape-to-straighten-gays/articleshow/47489949.cms
 
Ross, K. (2012). The Handbook of Gender, Sex and Media . Malden, MA: John Wiley and Sons Ltd.
 
T. (n.d.). Shameless. Retrieved April 09, 2017, from http://www.tv.com/shows/shameless/cast/
 

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