In every episode, Gilligan somehow manages to ruin another chance for the castaways to be rescued. Still, in the next episode, everyone will rely on Gilligan for some critical act. Schwartz forces us to ask, "Why do they continue to trust Gilligan when they know he will fail?"
Some speculate it is the Skipper's guardianship that leaves the islander's powerless to remove Gilligan's influence. While it is true that the Skipper is usually supportive of Gilligan, he is also often very critical -- especially following some significant mishap. The Skipper's protection is not the real reason Gilligan is left to perform crucial duties.
The answer, of course, is that the islanders have become complacent. Gilligan performs almost all of the menial chores on the island. Because he is so often relied upon for the unpleasant or mundane, it seems strangely natural to everyone that this dependence extend to the vital. No one wants nuisance Gilligan or blundering Gilligan, but no one is willing to do away with utility Gilligan.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
GILLIGAN'S CANDIDE: An excellent analysis of the sociopolitics of Gilligan's Island:
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Replace "Gilligan" in the first paragraph with "Jack," and I'm on board.
ReplyDeleteI helped a student this semester who was writing a paper comparing and contrasting the use of archetypes on Gilligan's Island and Lost. Sometimes, my job is fun.
ReplyDelete...there's a metaphor for democracy in there somewhere. Every few years we start hollering and swatting our elected representatives with our hats, but then once we've cooled off we forget all about it and give them another $1.5 billion to finish building that coconut submarine.
ReplyDeleteThese people brought luggage on a 3 hr tour. They trust Gilligsn b/c they are dumbshits.
ReplyDeleteFor more extensive pop-culture-studies analysis of Gilligan & Co., see Paul Cantor's Gilligan Unbound: Pop Culture in the Age of Globalization, especially the chapter, "'The Courage of the Fearless Crew': Gilligan's Island and the Americanization of the Globe." Cantor's a curious fellow: a politically conservative literature scholar who decided relatively late in his career that he wanted to study the pop culture that his students were always talking about. I don't buy all of his arguments, and his politics often drive his analysis (though the same could be said for many liberal cultural-studies folks), but you have to give him credit for trying something new.
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