ANGLOSPHERICS IS ESPECIALLY WELL-SUITED TO ISLANDS:

This uncharted democratic isle (Boston Globe, July 19, 2011)

In hindsight, the show was much more than its silliness and zany plots. Paul A. Cantor, a professor of English at the University of Virginia, suggests that "Gilligan's Island'' was a parable of American democracy. As he wrote in a 2001 study, "Gilligan Unbound,'' the show's premise was that a random group of Americans could fetch up anywhere in the world, and their democratic instincts would hold them together.

In this spirit, "Gilligan's Island'' repeatedly reinforced the classic American faith in the innate wisdom and fairness of the common man. For all the Skipper's naval authority, Mr. Howell's wealth, and the Professor's expertise, Cantor wrote, it was Gilligan - agreeable, moderate, honest, public-spirited - who in episode after episode came through as the island's model citizen. Naturally, when the castaways in one episode decide to elect a president, Gilligan wins.

Posted by oj at July 19, 2011 5:05 PM
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