Could be.
At 08:28 AM 7/19/2011, you wrote:
Maryann
On Jul 19, 7:56 am, MJ <[email protected]> wrote:
> What Gilligan's Island Was Really AboutJuly 18, 2011 byJeffrey Tucker
> The creator of Gillgan's Island, Sherwood Schwartz, died last
week, and the Washington Post asked Paul Cantor for his own
interpretation of the television series, since Professor Cantor had
written an entire book on the subject. Theresultis hilarious and
interesting. Substitute the word Democracy for Freedom and we are
getting somewhere.
> xxxWhat 'Gilligan's Island' creator Sherwood Schwartz was saying
about democracyBy Paul A. Cantor, Published: July 15Sherwood
Schwartz,who died Tuesday at the age of 94, will not be remembered
as one of television's innovative geniuses. But he did create two
of the most popular shows in TV history,"Gilligan's Island"and"The
Brady Bunch."And he did something rare: He made people laugh, even in reruns.
> But what did the sitcom king have in common with the French
thinker Alexis de Tocqueville? Answer: They both were interested in
democracy in America.
> In 2001, I published a book called"Gilligan Unbound: Pop Culture
in the Age of Globalization."I wrote that "Gilligan's Island"
reflected the political confidence of 1960s America in the midst of
the Cold War. A representative group of Americans could be dropped
anywhere on the planet and they would rule, creating a small-scale
model of U.S. democracy and fending off a sampling of its enemies,
from Soviet cosmonauts to a Japanese soldierstill fighting World
War II to a Latin American dictator.
> Gilligan is the perfect democratic hero because he has no claims
to superiority. The Professor has wisdom; the Millionaire has money
and social status; the Skipper has a kind of military authority as
captain. Gilligan is the pure common man. And, of course, the only
time the castaways hold an election, he is chosen as president.
Throughout the series, Gilligan represents the triumph of the
ordinary over the extraordinary.
> Schwartz learned about my book and wrote to me to get a copy. He
explained that he had always thought of "Gilligan's Island" as a
show about democracy. His favorite episode, he said, was the one
about the exiled dictator "because it's the most meaningful" and
demonstrates how democracy can go wrong. He was particularly proud
of the "dream sequence in which Gilligan realizes he's simply a
puppet dictator of the real dictator."
> Much to my gratification, Schwartz said all this before reading
my book. Academics like me are always accused of just making up our
interpretations. But mine was being confirmed by the highest
authority the writer himself.
> Once Schwartz had read the book, he wrote me another long letter
explaining that it had always bothered him that people criticized
"Gilligan's Island" for being silly; they didn't understand it, he
said. "Not a single critic got it, with the basic concept of
democracy staring them right in the face." He viewed my book as a
vindication of his work: "I never thought I'd see the day when an
English Professor of some note would use 'Gilligan's Island' as one
of four pillars on which rest the liberal democratic view of the
recent past in America."
> I wrote back, thanking him for taking time out of his busy
Hollywood schedule to correspond with me. I added: "I've written
three whole books on Shakespeare and Mr. Big Shot Elizabethan
Playwright won't even give me a call." It's not a great idea to
trade jokes with a comedy writer, but I hope I gave Schwartz a chuckle.
> In my correspondence with him, I was struck by his intelligence,
his learning and his seriousness of purpose. Above all, he clearly
knew what he was doing in "Gilligan's Island" and could articulate
the thinking behind it.
> Most people would never guess it, but maybe, of all the
characters on the desert isle, Sherwood Schwartz was closest to the
Professor. At least this professor thinks
so.http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/what-gilligans-island-creator-sherwood-schwartz-was-saying-about-democracy/2011/07/14/gIQAVVrXGI_story.html
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