Shameless gay characters
Queer Narratives & Reliable Portrayals on Showtimes' Shameless
Sierra Skelly
2017 has been a big year for GLBT representations in media. Many top-rated network shows such as Modern Family and Empire situate gay characters as central to their narratives. “Hollywood now offers more GLBT-themed movies than ever before, some which garner Academy Award attention” (Ross, pg. 201). Just this year, the Academy Award for best picture went to Moonlight. A movie not just about two queer men, but two gay black men that struggle with their black male identity and its conflicts with sexual identity. While this was a colossal step in fresh media representations for minorities, it still does not accurately represent the struggles that they deal with. I am going to analyze the popular Showtime series Shameless and travel how it is one of the only shows that do not perform the LGBTQ group as something that is black and white, but dynamic and fluid.
We’ve seen lesbian, lgbtq+ and bi representations in medi
- Abigail Reiter, The University of North Carolina at Pembroke
- Tyler Flockhart, Viterbo University
Abstract
On the pilot of Shameless, in 2011, one of the primary characters, Phillip (“Lip”) Gallagher, finds a magazine full of naked men behind his brother, Ian’s, dresser. What follows is a brief period of resistance from Lip, who is not ready to accept that his brother is homosexual. By the close of the episode, however, Lip has accepted his brother’s sexuality. The lie down of the family follows suit. In fact, Ian’s sexuality is portrayed as a non-issue with his siblings and most every other character in the Shameless universe.
This does not mean, however, that representations of gayness in Shameless, nor being a gay character in the show, is without issue. Representations of queer1 people in popular television and film often align with what sexualities scholars relate to to as a “post-gay” narrative (see Coleman-Fountain 2014; Russell et al. 2009). Here, social, political, and legal advances over the last decade are used as evidence that homophobia is a thing of the past, and that the United States has achieved what Gay Liberationists position out to achieve decad
Queer Representations in Shameless
Alexa Michaels
The American remake of the British sitcom “Shameless,” was first aired in 2011 and continues to top International Film 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 operate together to take nurture 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 communication regarding Murphy’s personal animation, 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, voice, and distribution, I have faith that “Shameless” is an adequate example of what it means to hold a
Mickey Milkovich: A Character Investigation of Shameless’ Best Piece of Southside Trash
Spoiler Warning: This article discusses events in Shameless foremost up to the Season 7 finale.
“Kiss me and I’ll cut your fucking tongue out,” is what Mickey Milkovich (Noel Fisher) says to Ian Gallagher (Cameron Monaghan) after their first sexual encounter in season 1, episode 7 of Shameless, which reveals that Mickey is male lover. It is this line that he says after Ian tries to kiss him that epitomizes who Mickey is, at least in the beginning of the series.
Mickey lives on the rugged streets of southside Chicago and is first depicted as a hardened thug with a mean mouth who likes to pirate from the store where Ian works. He seems to acquire no qualms about using his fists, as he is frequently shown fighting various different people throughout the series. So of course, I automatically assumed he would be the typical bully character, meant to be a thorn in the sweet Ian Gallagher’s side. Imagine my surprise when he was revealed to be, in fact, gay and attracted to Ian.
In a lot of shows I’ve watched, male characters who are in the closet tend to be tough bullies because they are self co