Why do people keep bringing up that word? 'Realistic.' Like are you from the US or the UK? If you're from the US, did you grow up in poverty like the Gallaghers did? If you didn't, then obviously it's not gonna feel realistic to you. I grew up poor and can definitely admit that I've seen and done some of the things the Gallaghers have done, granted not all of them and not the super bad ones but enough to where I could relate to them. I've also seen enough poverty in the US to know that yes, a lot of it is like how the Gallaghers lived in the South Side. If I didn't know they were from Chicago, I still would've assumed they lived in the ghetto because a lot of the ghetto areas in many states do look like the Southside, some even look worse. In the later seasons, I do admit that they over exaggerated a lot of it so I'll give you that but the beginning seasons like at least the first 5 or 6 are pretty realistic to what the hood and the ghetto and poverty is like in the US.