Why Shameless is a Must Watch

*Shameless is rated R, please take this into account before watching the show as it displays violence, nudity, and bad language!

I recently started watching Shameless on Netflix and I can't stop. The show is set in the south side of Chicago, and features a big family where the oldest sister, Fiona (Emmy Rossum), is the parent in a household in which their mom isn't present and their dad, Frank (William H Macy), is battling alcoholism. The show displays the bond between the 6 siblings and how Fiona, who is in her early twenties and constantly working multiple jobs to pay for food, supports them. The show lets us experience the heartbreak, pain, and suffering that this family goes through every day to either put food on the table or have enough money to pay bills, while their father's addiction is costing them thousands at the nights he spends at the bar. We watch 11-year-old Debbie (Emma Kenney) mature extremely fast for her age as even she has to chip in to pay the bills every month and grow up watching her father lose to his addiction to drugs and alcohol. This show allows us to see farther than our own community and see others experience things we might have never been exposed to. I live in one of the most expensive areas in the United States where I am sheltered from poverty, as it has never really affected me or my friends, but this show has really opened my eyes. It's not fair that I am able to travel wherever I want, while hundreds of thousands of people struggle to put food on the table every day in America. This is a must-watch show that some may be able to relate to, while others can be exposed to what happens to a big percentage of Americans.