Working Class?

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On Jimmy Kimmel she described the show as being "raw"(right!) and "working class" (WHAT????)

I think she might have meant that it features characters with very little money as opposed to other popular TV shows that depict the lives of the ultra wealthy and/or powerful (regardless of whether or not that wealth and power was come by in an honest way). Look at shows like Boss, Boardwalk Empire, Scandal, Revenge, etc. They all feature con artists just as much as Shameless (in some cases the characters do far worse!) but the characters reap the benefits of that crime, living a wealthy, powerful lifestyle. In spite of their cons, the Gallaghers struggle to get by.
The Gallagher's are the "NON-WORKING CON ARTIST SCUMBAG CLASS".
Her character is awesome and she does work REALLY hard, but the rest of the family are born and bred to be people scamming off of the rest of us.
Well as you say, Fiona is definitely a worker.
Ian is too. He worked for a while at the Kash 'n Grab, and then joined the army (under a false name, but that was only because he was under 18).
Debbie runs the day care during the summer (whether or not a 13 year old should be doing that is another matter entirely...) and frequently babysat for Hymie in S3. But she is still a little young to hold a job.
Ditto for Carl and Liam.
The major con artists in the family are Frank (who is depicted as being an all around sorry excuse for a human being); and to some extent Lip- who conflicted with Fiona last season because she wanted to make money via entering into business, while he said the only way to make money was to steal it or scam it. His character is interesting in a way, because of all the family, he probably has the most potential to pull them out of this lifestyle but is resentful of the expectations that he do so. To give him credit though, he does end up finishing high school and in the S4 premiere he is attending college via work study.

I actually see Fiona's character as trying to move the family beyond "scumbag class" as you say, and toward working class. That was why she was so insistent that Lip stay in school, and why she worked so hard to get her GED. She doesn't want her siblings to grow up to be like her parents.

"raw"(right!)
What does "raw" mean to you? I usually take it to mean gritty, depicting harsh reality, without shying away from some of the ugliness of life.
There are moments when it can get pretty gritty and realistic. Remember when Monica first came back in Season One? Debbie and Carl (who were still quite young at the time) embraced her? Carl still embraces and cares for Frank. Young kids will do that. It takes so many disappointments, betrayals, and broken promises before a kid will realizes parents like that for what they are. Fiona, Lip, and Ian see it, because they've had more time to be let down by their parents again and again. But the younger ones still want to have a mommy and daddy take care of things and will overlook terrible things for the promise of that. Even Fiona is somewhat guilty of this thinking: remember when Monica comes back (again), said she's ready to help out with the family and that Fiona should do her own thing. Fiona believes her because she wants to- desperately. She abandons what she intellectually knows and because of the hope that this time things will be different, even though on some level she does know that her parents are leeches. She uses the time to look into going back to school and getting a better job (we're also given a chance to see her potential and what she could have done with her life had she not been saddled with raising five kids) only to come home to a disaster. She has sort of a mini-breakdown and beats the craps of a kitchen appliance because she's so mad that she's fallen for her parents BS again, when she "should" know better.

I consider that stuff "raw" because it's realistic of families living in that situation. Children of parents who are addicts and/or mentally ill, do respond to their situations in those ways.

Yes the show has plotlines where it's over the top and raunchy. But those are emotionally grounded by the more "raw" stuff. And the dramatic stuff doesn't usually descend into melodrama, because it's balanced out by the comedy. However, Fiona usually has the more "raw" and real storylines, rather than the comic stuff so it makes sense that's what Emmy would associate the show with that side of things a bit more. That's the stuff she's playing most of the time.

She needs a little education on the real world though.
Of course it was a one sentence summary on a 5 minute chat show segment. I really don't think that Emmy used either phrase as a commentary on society in general. Just a quick way to describe the characters (not wealthy) and the tone of the show (gritty, unflinching at times).

Whoops! You spent most of your time incorrectly commenting on my (right!) declaration. I meant RIGHT!, I totally agree that it is raw.
I appreciate all the time you spent commenting, but you can not re-define the word "working". Do you WORK? If so, do you consider yourself a working class person? If so, I would hope that you do not identify with the Gallaghers.
How much money you HAVE does not define whether or not you work!
I never said that people with money couldn't be con artists. Your examples of that are correct and pretty much unnecessary.
"Under a false name, but ONLY because he was underage". Still illegal. Sorry.
A 13 year old running a day care center. Illegal. Sorry.
Oh and Carl....he's too young to work, but he can try to kill someone. I realize that his upbringing and home environment has a lot to do with that, but that is my whole point. The Gallagher household. Keep in mind, I DO love the show, and I am pulling for them all the way. But I think you accidentally made my point for me when you said:
"I actually see Fiona's character as trying to move the family beyond "scumbag class" as you say, and toward working class". So after all of this defense of her statement, you acknowledge that they have to move beyond where they are to working class. I agree.

Someone can be VERY wrong in one sentence. She was. My point was that I am afraid that her real life upbringing has made her jaded as to what WE (the working class) do as opposed to the Gallaghers. I love the show, her character and I think she is a great actress and I like what I saw of her personally on the show. I don't think she MEANT to be insulting to the working class. As I said, I think she needs some education on the Gallaghers vs the Working Class.
Thanks again for your thoughts!

Whoops! You spent most of your time incorrectly commenting on my (right!) declaration. I meant RIGHT!, I totally agree that it is raw. I thought you meant that sarcastically. Sometimes it's hard to tell on the internet!

I appreciate all the time you spent commenting, but you can not re-define the word "working". Do you WORK? If so, do you consider yourself a working class person? If so, I would hope that you do not identify with the Gallaghers.
How much money you HAVE does not define whether or not you work!
I never said that people with money couldn't be con artists. Your examples of that are correct and pretty much unnecessary.
"Under a false name, but ONLY because he was underage". Still illegal. Sorry.
A 13 year old running a day care center. Illegal. Sorry.
Oh and Carl....he's too young to work, but he can try to kill someone.

Yes I work. I don't consider myself to have a social class but if I did I suppose I'd be "working class". No I do not engage in the kind of behavior that the Gallagher kids do. No I don't condone it on a moral level.

But I'm not trying to change the definition of work. A 13 year old running a daycare center is illegal, absolutely. But it doesn't mean that it's not work. Child laborers work.

Likewise just because Ian is lying about his age doesn't mean what he is doing won't be work. Sometimes working people lie. Having a job doesn't make you morally superior and people often lie or exaggerate on their resume to get a job.

Not all working people are all honest. Someone can have a full time job and still lie and cheat. The Gallaghers (with a few notable exceptions) try to work hard, but if it's between not getting a job and lying, they're willing to lie.

I think you're confusing morality (and to an extent legality) with working.


But I think you accidentally made my point for me when you said:
"I actually see Fiona's character as trying to move the family beyond "scumbag class" as you say, and toward working class". So after all of this defense of her statement, you acknowledge that they have to move beyond where they are to working class. I agree. I didn't "accidentally" make it: I do agree that a lot of what the Gallagher do is wrong. Yes I understand why they do it in the context of the show but that doesn't mean I condone criminal activity. What I meant by that statement is that Fiona is trying to move the family towards honest, aboveboard work and away from the work ethic (I use the word very loosely!) that their parents set out for them. It's one of the central themes for her character- that struggle toward "working class".

Someone can be VERY wrong in one sentence. She was.
Well she could have said that "it's about a family who, due to bad parenting often do illegal and immoral things in order to survive, trying to rise above their circumstances and become honest members of the working class." It may have been more accurate. But that's not a good sound bite.

I also think she used the term to differentiate it from a variety of popular shows about extremely wealthy characters. "Working class" sounds better than "poor" for a number of reasons.

Regardless I really don't think a great deal of thought went into the description.

"Regardless I really don't think a great deal of thought went into the description".

Gee, that sounds like exactly what I was saying in the first place.

Your whole argument about morality, what is and isn't work and the nuances of the whole definition is silly at this point.

All I was trying to say is that there are a lot of people who consider themselves working class who would be offended by Emmy defining the Gallaghers as working class. Instead of understanding that you actually supported my argument by saying "that struggle toward working class" you once again tried to EXPLAIN how they are struggling toward working class.

LOOK! If you say they are STRUGGLING TOWARD WORKING CLASS, then they are NOT there BY YOUR OWN DEFINITION. She called them working class and that is all that I am saying.

My point is that it is not necessarily easy to work your whole life and I would think that most of us who do, would like the term "working class" to mean at least something of some merit. Calling the Gallaghers working class takes that away from us.

Feel free to quote everything I said and expand on it all over again. You are incorrect. I am done, so don't bother. I won't be back.

I just think you're overreacting to something that means very little. I'm done too.

OP sounds like their life has been way too easy,and you might "work" but i doubt you are mining coal or anything so back breaking so get over yourself you conservative,tea part d-bag.
fat pink mast!

Another idiot leftie that thinks he knows something due to ignorance.

Mining coal isn't backbreaking anymore,and hasn't been for a half-century or more. Machines do most of the work.

There are plenty of jobs that are backbreaking and also pay big bucks,though. Jobs like commercial fishing,logging,laborer at cement factories setting up and breaking forms,and many,many others.

Some even pay more than most white collar jobs.