Alexa Michaels

     The American remake of the British sitcom “Shameless,” was first aired in 2011 and continues to top International Movie Database’s “Most Popular TV Series” list at number seven as fans await an eighth season to air. The Showtime series, created by Paul Abbot, is about the Gallagher family—six siblings who work together to take care of each other, all-the-while dealing their destructive, alcoholic father. First produced by Michael Hissrich, followed by Terri Murphy, the series includes characters that openly identify, or are portrayed, as queer. Although there is no public information regarding Murphy’s personal life, I believe that due to the creator’s and original producers’ positionalities as heterosexual males, the show’s minority characters are portrayed in a negative or stereotypical light (“Shameless,” n.d.).
Gay Males
     According to Larry Gross’ model of sexual minority production, representation, and distribution, I believe that “Shameless” is an adequate example of what it means to have a show that’s produced for heterosexuals as the majority audience when it comes to the series’ inclusion of gay characters (Sender, 2014). For example, there are three gay characters featured throughout the duration of the series thus far—one primary, one secondary, and one tertiary. However, all three characters display dishonorable personality traits. Primary character, Ian Gallagher, one of the Gallagher siblings, is the first in the series to be revealed as a homosexual. Shortly after this unveiling, however, he begins to go through many manic episodes, leading up to the revelation that he—like the Gallagher mother—suffers from bipolar disorder. Aside from having a mental disorder, Ian is also portrayed as a man with weak morals. Throughout his high school years he is shown to be engaging in sexual relations with his married, adult employer. Throughout his young adult life, he prostitutes himself and stars in a pornographic film for extra cash. He also doesn’t display feelings of remorse as he cheats on his boyfriend who is in jail.
     The second main male character revealed to be gay is Mickey Milkovich, the neighborhood troublemaker and eventual boyfriend of Ian Gallagher. Similar to Ian, the show follows Milkovich’s teenage years into adulthood. He is portrayed as an angry, violent man whose rule breaking keeps him going back to juvenile hall and ultimately jail. Aside from his violent tendencies, he is also shown to have corrupt values, as he becomes the owner of a prostitution ring.
     The final gay character is Kash, liquor-store owner and employer of Ian during his time in high school. Kash is depicted as a sexual offender, and cheating father and husband. In addition, he is illustrated to be the stereotypical gay man in that he is easy to be pushed around and never defends himself. For example, he won’t stand up to the neighborhood teens who steal from his store, is extremely fearful of his wife and refuses to admit his sexuality. Eventually, he gives into his fears and leaves town to pursue a new life.
Just a Hint of Bisexuality
     Alexander (2007) explains that when bisexual characters are included in a script they are often used as an “erotic grist for the heterosexual male target audience” (p. 117). This idea is represented in “Shameless” in the way that the only bisexual characters are female and both are played by large breasted, blonde women. Similarly to the gay characters in the show, both women are portrayed in a negative light. For example, the first bisexual character to be introduced into the show is Monica Gallagher, estranged mother of the Gallagher family. Backstory indicates that she, like Ian, suffers from bipolar disorder. She originally left the family to pursue a relationship with another woman but sporadically re-enters the lives of the Gallagher family, with her on-and-off romantic relationship with the Gallagher father. After seasons of wreaking havoc on the family with her drug and alcohol addiction, Monica is ultimately killed off of the show due to brain damage in the seventh season.
     The second bisexual character in the show, Jasmine Hollander, is portrayed in a way very
similar to Monica Gallagher. She, too, is an illegal drug user who parties hard and always puts herself above her family. Additionally, Hollander is a young mother who frequently cheats on her husband and uses his money for personal gratification. Although the show indicates that she has sexual relationships with men, it only vaguely insinuates her bisexuality when she reveals her love for one of the female Gallagher siblings.
Implications
     One may argue that the creators of “Shameless” are doing their part to be inclusive due to
the show’s presence of characters belonging to sexual minorities. However, all of the minorities are shown to suffer from mental health and/or character flaws. Holz, Gibson, & Ivory (2009) explain how the portrayal of characters on television may directly impact viewers’ beliefs and opinions. “This has especially negative implications for judgments about gay men and lesbians, as mediated images may be the most accessible in the minds of people whose exposure to homosexual relationships is limited” (p. 176-177). Therefore, along with the stereotypical portrayals of these characters, viewers’ perception of sexual minorities may be influenced to believe that all or most homosexual men are angry and unfaithful, while bisexual women are selfish, fickle and promiscuous.
Additionally, “Shameless” has an absence of both lesbian and male bisexual characters. The implications of this lack of representation is that viewers may assume that lesbians and bisexual men are either uncommon or don’t exist.
Conclusion
     Due to the popularity of “Shameless,” the show might have been able to change stereotyped perceptions of minorities by including lesbians, as well as depicting the bisexual women and gay men in a different manner. However, this missed opportunity to break stereotypes may only solidify viewers’ perceptions of these groups and lead malleable viewers to make un-justified assumptions about sexual minorities.


References
Alexander, J. (2007). Bisexuality in the Media: A Digital Roundtable. Journal Of Bisexuality, 7(1/2), 113-124.

Holz Ivory, A., Gibson, R., & Ivory, J. D. (2009). Gendered Relationships on Television: Portrayals of Same-Sex and Heterosexual Couples. Mass Communication & Society, 12(2), 170-192. doi:10.1080/15205430802169607

Sender, K. (2014). No Hard Feelings: Reflexivity and Queer Affect in New Media Landscape. In K. Ross (Ed.), The Handbook of Gender, Sex and Media. (First ed., pp. 207-225). Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.

Shameless (TV Series 2011-). (n.d.). The Internet Movie Database. Retrieved April 05, 2017, from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1586680/
 

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