The hit television show, Shameless, is a classic example of both intersectionality and systemic barriers that contribute to people from the same area having drastically different life experiences. In the first season of Shameless, the dysfunctional Gallagher family is introduced. This family resides in the South side of Chicago. The eldest daughter, Fiona, is the main parental figure, as her father is an alcoholic and addict.
The first season mainly focuses on Fiona’s struggles trying to support her brothers and sisters as a high school dropout, working multiple jobs to make ends meet. Fiona is a cunning and hard working woman, and struggles to deem herself worthy as the show progresses. Being born into a poor family, Fiona was not given the opportunities others her age were, she was focusing on surviving and paying bills, not on setting herself up for future success. Due to their low socioeconomic status and systemic poverty, Fiona did not have a support system from a young age, and had others depending and leaning on her.
Intersectionality is explored in multiple ways throughout the show through Fiona’s next door neighbor, Veronica. Veronica is a strong black woman who helps the Gallagher’s in a multitude of ways. Fiona and Veronica identify with one another as they are both struggling economically, but Veronica faces racism and has unique struggles herself being in an interracial relationship.
The Gallaher’s youngest child, Liam, is African American, and he has unique experiences that his siblings did not undergo. Liam eventually attends a private school that offers him free tuition. The Gallagher’s later discovered Liam was offered free tuition in exchange for being on all of the school’s billboards and posters, a blatant act of tokenism. The family decides Liam will continue to attend the school, as the educational opportunities of private education are much greater than that of the Chicago public schools. Seeing as though none of the other family members have experience of being a black person in America, they could not personally relate to Liam in this aspect, and struggled helping him find his identity as a black male in society. Liam reaches out to other black people in the show and learns from their experiences and wisdom. This confusion regarding culture relates back to adoption and how this could be detrimental for the child involved.
Overall, Shameless does an excellent job of letting their audience examine complex issues through a funny lens. The show also displays gruesome and real aspects of being poor. I believe the creators of the show were trying to showcase how detrimental poverty is to communities. I also believe the writers wanted us to question how lack of opportunity contributes to addiction and failure, as many of the characters on this show are sharp witted and cunning, but end up with drug and alcohol problems. Shameless leads us to question our own morality, and how far we would go if we were to be in a situation where we are simply trying to survive.
