Representation and Stereotypes - Shameless

How are Regional Identity and Sexuality represented in the opening sequence of Shameless episode one?

As a class we discussed stereotypes for gay and straight people, and then the differences between people from the north and south of the country. We came up with a few ideas, for example; gay men are camp and flamboyant, have a mincing walk and a limp wrist. A straight man is insensitive and drinks beer, read lads mags and are metro-sexual as they take care of their appearance. 

We then discussed regional identity and decided that people from the north are generally poorer, have strong accents and swear a lot, are heavy drinkers and old fashioned, and they are funny and uneducated. For people from the south, we came up with the ideas that they are rich and posh, intelligent and into golf, have expensive houses and a high disposable income.

We then watched the first episode of Shameless series one, this programme is about the Gallagher family who are from the north and this is very clear even from the first scene. From this opening to the episode it is clear to see that the characters fit the regional identity stereotypes we came up with very well as they are uneducated and swear a lot, along with a few other things.

To start with, I looked at the character of Lip. He is a very stereotypical straight male teenager. Lip has a sexual encounter in the opening sequence of which he later boasts about to his brother which, again, is a stereotypical thing for a straight teenage boy to do.

I then looked at how Ian, Lip's brother, fitted in with sexuality stereotypes. Lip finds out that his brother is gay after finding his porn stash, however this could have been said to be obvious already as Ian had a 'Kylie' poster on his wall. Ian does fit the gay stereotype when we see him crying as this shows his emotional and feminine side. There are also other things though, for example his appearance that doesn't fit a gay stereotype.

Steve and Fiona are two other characters from the opening scenes. They meet at a club and are both clearly straight due to the stereotypes we came up with earlier, and they end up having a sexual encounter that they both believe will be a 'one night stand'. It is apparent to the viewer that Steve and Fiona are both straight as they are obviously attracted to each other and when they are alone, there is romantic music that has purposely been put to play in the background to make the scene more intimate.

Stereotypical aspects of regional identity are shown throughout the opening scenes. This is mainly done by the characters broad northern accents that they all have. It is also apparent to the viewer that they are a poor family. This can be assumed by the clothes they are wearing and where they live. Their clothes look worn and dirty and they live on the 'Chatsworth Estate' which, judging on appearance and using stereotypes, looks like somewhere that a poorer person would live.

Shameless represents stereotypes well and they generally fit in with the ones that we came up with as a class which shows that it is possibly a programme that uses stereotypes to portray its characters.