Shameless

Representation of Gender in Shameless

Shameless, a series set in the heart of Manchester, follows the lives of the Gallagher family. The series shows many aspects of a brit-pop inspired show through its use of location, costume, props and characters. Being set in Manchester, Shameless emerges from the heart of brit-pop music where bands such as Oasis were formed and the English rock ’n’ roll scene configured. This rock ‘n’ roll attitude is evident in the characters of Shameless as they are purely rebellious. The fact that the series is set in the North of England connotes a typical social-realist drama feature as this is the poorest area of the UK, which means it will gather more rebellion and trouble.

Firstly, the representation of women in the series shows a semi-positive side of the female gender. Lynn, the sister of the family, is shown to fit the typical ‘housewife’ role in the beginning of the extract as she is seen cleaning. However, her blonde hair suggests connotations of femininity. Furthermore, her hoop earrings and blue eye shadow suggest that she is a part of the ‘chav’ culture in the North. Hoop earrings are a typical feature of chav culture, along with brightly coloured eye shadow to suggest cheapness. However, the connotations of blue eye shadow include purity in Lynn’s personality and that she has a ‘good heart’. Also, the use of blonde hair and blue eyes may suggest that she is the ‘perfect woman’ to the audience as this is typically seen as two perfect features. Additionally, Debbie, the young girl of the family, is shown to be innocent as she is seen smiling with a blue shirt on. The colour blue connotes purity in this character, which is also evident in her young age. Brown, being the colour of her hair, connotes that she is very intelligent and has educational superiority over the boys in the family.

The camera shots surrounding women in Shameless represent their gender to be much dominated. This is shown as Debbie is introduced to the audience, which shows a high angle shot of the camera zooming in on her face as she looks up at it innocently. This connotes that Debbie is extremely vulnerable as the camera is overpowering her whilst it sits above her.

The use of sound surrounding the series is a very important factor of the show. The non-diagetic voice-over that is evident in the clip I have chosen describes each of the characters individually. This reveals the personalities of the characters to the audience. Whilst Frank is describing Debbie, he mentions that she was “sent by God” and an “angel”. This suggests that she is extremely innocent and fits the intelligent, youthful role in the series. However, there is a contrast to this statement as the camera cuts to Debbie holding a knife, which suggests that she might be an ‘angel in devils shoes’. Furthermore, the description of Lynn says that she

The representation of men in the clip is shown to be extremely dominant and ‘jack the lad’ like. This is seen in Charl’s description as he has a skinhead and is wearing a red jacket and chequered clothes. This suggests that Charl’s image was inspired by the British punk/skinhead culture, which was a very violent cult who wore cheques and shaved their heads. This suggests that Charl is extremely violent and dominant. Additionally, Charl’s red jacket suggests anger as red is typically the colour of rage. Liam, on the other hand, is shown to be very innocent as he is seen smiling in the introduction of his character. Liam’s brown hair and blue eyes connote vulnerability and innocence, which is also shown through his young age. The dog toy that is seen in the background whilst Liam is on the screen suggests youth in his character, which connotes virtue. However, Liam is seen having a tantrum which suggests that he may be developing a ‘jack the lad’ attitude like his brothers. Lip, another brother of the family, is shown in a dark tracksuit as he is introduced. This suggests that he is also part of the ‘chav’ culture, which may suggest violence in his character as this cult is typically violent. His body language suggests ‘jack the lad’ features also as he slumps whilst he walks, suggesting he is of a careless nature. Lastly, and most importantly, Frank (the narrator) is shown to be a careless alcoholic. This is seen as the audience is brought to his long, brown, greasy hair with a pale face drinking alcohol. This suggests that Frank is careless of the upbringing of his family and leaves it to the oldest woman in the family. The nurture of his children is not as important as his family, which is a negative aspect of men in this extract. Frank’s long greasy hair shows that he is too lazy to wash/cut it and may not even be capable of this due to his excessive drinking/drug taking. His green ‘Happy Mondays’ inspired jacket suggests that he is a drug user as this look suggests that brit-pop scene that evolved in Manchester surrounding bands such as Happy Mondays, who were heavily in to drugs. Overall, the men of this extract are suggested to be rebellious and dominant as towards the end they are seen throwing beer cans in to a fire with the arrival of the police. This suggests that the male characters in this community are careless of authority and see themselves as the authority of the place. The lighting surrounding male representation is very dark, suggesting that the place is run down and not very nice possibly due to the characters that live there taking place in rebellion and anarchic activities.

The representation of Charl through camera angles and movement is shown to be very superior. Charl is shown in a shot as the camera moves backwards and he moves towards it, without any fear. This shows that Charl is dominant over the camera and the audience, which is a fearful feature of men in this extract. Furthermore, there is a birds eye view shot of Frank Gallagher laying on the floor drunk, which suggests that he is lower than the audience in terms of class etc. Additionally, a low angle/point of view shot is shown from Frank’s point of view where his children are standing over him. This suggests that Frank is lower than them and they have to look after him – he is seen to be the child of the family.

The voice-over done by Frank suggests that he is the main character of the series, which means that he is the most dominant character as he controls what the audience believes about the other characters. His rough Manchester accent connotes that he is from a bad area of the UK, which brings fear to the audience. This is evident as he says that “Manchester isn’t the Garden of Eden”, emphasising the rough aspect of the area. In addition, as Frank is describing each of the characters it is clear that his male children are extremely rebellious, like himself. This is shown as he decides that Phillip is not called Phillip, but Lip due to his ‘gobby mouth’. This suggests that he is easily getting in trouble and does not know when to stop.

The fast transactions that are used in the editing of this piece suggest that there is chaos in the area and the characters are creating this chaos. This suggests that the male gender is extremely rebellious and careless of authority. Furthermore, the cuts between each explanation of each character show that despite their gender, the family is a whole and are very close with one another.