I have chosen the Channel 4 TV Drama, Shameless, to analyse the representation that is included every episode. Shameless is a television series set in the fictional Chatsworth council estate, in Manchester. Written by Paul Abbott, Shameless indulges in portraying the typical stereotypes of today by how the characters and scenes are represented.
The realism of the programme is represented as the present. It has portrayed the present well as it has the characters dressed in the latest fashions, the characters speak the latest slang, they've produced every day situations as well as including episodes of almost every new year, new elections etc. It has even included world situations like the recession, poverty, weather disasters etc. It was first aired in 2004 and has continued, it is now on it's 8th series and even continuing with a 9th series, it will continue to represent the current year/s.
The TV Drama series portrays the typical stereotypes that we have every day. The main characters are your typical benefit claiming, council house owned, violent, drug fueled, large family. An example of one of the main characters is Vernon Francis "Frank" Gallagher is the father and head of the Gallagher household who is an unemployed alcoholic chain smoker that tends to have drunken rants on a wide variety of literary, historical and philosophical subjects and how decent, hard-working people, which he also counts himself as, are discriminated against. Frank has seven children (Ian, Debbie, Fiona, Phillip, Carl, Liam, Stella) to his first wife, Monica, is the father of twins (Nigel and Delia) with Sheila Jackson and has fathered Monica's half sister. He has also said, in one of his drunken rants, that he got several girls pregnant when he was in high school, so we do not actually know how many children he has fathered. They have given this character long, greasy hair, yellow teeth that look as if they haven't been looked after, constant red-ish eyes from his continuous drinking and he pretty much wears a similar outfit of worn out trainers, jeans and shirts every day, especially his green parka coat. This portrays an assumed stereotyped alcoholic and a man that is unemployed and on benefits, meaning we automatically notice stereotypical representations.
More or less, this character is in most scenes and tends to be the main character out of all of them. Frank's ex-wives are no longer in the series, as well some of his children like Ian, Debbie, Fiona, Phillip, Nigel and Delia but the rest of his children are still present. Fortunately, they aren't like their father and do their best to work and earn money or are at school still as well as wearing the latest fashions or whatever they can afford. Although they still get into trouble with police, gangs etc and are still stereotyped. With the help of Frank's new fiance Libby Croker, a narcoleptic librarian, they have managed to work around social services, keep their council house and earn just enough money.
Another family that are your typical stereotypes is the Maguire household. The Maguire family, the most feared and respected of the criminal families in Stretford, consists of father Patrick "Paddy" Donal Maguire, an irish criminal who is 'head of the family business'. He treasures his wife, Katherine "Mimi" Maguire, a drug-dealing, loud-mouthed scouser, and they have seven children; Mandy, Mickey, Jamie, Fergal, Joey, Donny, and Shane, all of which are or have been criminals too. Their 'family business' is illegally lending money to people, they own the local pub and drug deal. They squeeze money out of people and if they can't/refuse to pay back, they tend to go on a murderous rampage or threaten with all their might. This family is another example of stereotypical representations judging by their actions, their appearances, money and even their accents. On the other hand, any stereotype of 'an intelligent or hard-working average person' is either only in one episode or is absent throughout each series.
Throughout the series, every present character has an episode of their own as to which shows their current problem/situation and have a voice over at the start and end of the episode. This is a representation of all different views and not just a constant dominant view of the world. We see the inner side to the stereotypes as well as the typical side to each situation.
The reason as to why this category of people are hardly ever in the episodes or are absent is because it is to reinforce the use of stereotypes. Intelligence, hard-working or normal-like people would have no place in the series and the show wouldn't be consistent with the stereotypical image that it gives, as well as losing the audience as they would eventually get bored of the show but not having this type of community could also cause offense to several people just because they are classed under that certain stereotypical category. Despite the fact it is humourous and enjoyed by many of each category class, some people could also feel offended due to the absence of similar people to themselves. It could also work the other way and offend people who are on benefits, who are recovering drug addicts, alcoholics or people with medical conditions that are mentioned, people who own council houses, in similar situations etc because it portrays people too stereotypically despite it being the whole point of the show.
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