For his time, William Shakespeare wasn't considered all that hot
a writer. His plays were thought to pander to the vulgar masses
being at the same time the modern day equivalent of either Soap
Operas or Sit cons. Bob Denver's passing made me wonder if in
three or four hundred years time Gilligan's Island won't be
considered the pinnacle of the Dramatic Arts, much as the Bard's
plays are considered now.

Think about it: In three or four hundred years time, no one will
really understand twentieth century English, anymore than we
understand Elizabethan English. We think Shakespeare is so great
mostly because we don't know what the hell they're friggin'
talking about, you know, all those 'Hither's' and ' thee's' and
'yon's". So, we all pretend we do and nod solemnly and praise
the 'beautiful' language when we really don't want to look
stupid. Centuries from now it will be the same with Gilligan's
Island. Our descendents will be 'oohing' and 'ahhing' over the
beautiful language of this show.

As envisioned by creator Sherwood Schwartz, Gilligan's Island
was meant to be Social Commentary using the metaphor of
cast-a-ways trapped on an island, each one of the cast-a-ways
was iconic of an American segment of society. The interaction
between the characters would be symbolic of the interaction in
our cultures. Thus, you have Mr. Howell and his wife
representing the American Upper classes, The Skipper
representing the working classes, The professor representing the
intelligentsia, Ginger the entertainment sector, Mary Ann the
rural Midwest and Gilligan ... all of us. Gilligan was the
American Everyman.

As with The Tempest, the island setting represented the deep
psychological underpinnings of the story. Here you have a world
unto itself separated from civilization, a Hobbesian state of
nature where life is nasty, brutish and short. Thus it is human
nature itself.

By the way, if you're a High School or College student looking
for stuff to steal for a term paper ... go ahead and steal this.
None of these ideas are mine, anyways. And it's not really
plagiarism if it's already been copied from somewhere else in
the first place, so feel free to use this all you want. What's
that? Just a second .....

Oh. I just found out it is plagiarism. I'm sorry. My Bad.

There also is the Religious interpretation of Gilligan's Island.
This interpretation has each of the cast-a-ways representing one
of the seven deadly sins in a sort of morality play. The Howells
represent Greed, of course. The Skipper represents Gluttony,
that one's obvious, too. Gilligan is Sloth ... I think. Ginger
is Vanity. The professor is pride, because he's so pround of how
smart he is and Mary Ann .... she doesn't seem so sinful, but I
know there was one that was supposed to represent her.

Bob Denver by all accounts was a very intelligent and talented
actor. You'd have to think that it would take a genius to play
the part of such a boob to perfection. Denver's career, I have
to believe, must have been forever crippled by brilliance of his
character portrayal, such that he was never offered another
acting role of merit because he had forever captured that one
role to perfection, and was condemned ever after to live in that
twilight world of Conventions and Super Market openings.

Now, please remove your hats and sit right back and you'll hear
a tale, a tale of a fateful trip...

About the author:
Steve Sommers is the author of Breakfast with the Antichrist

Author : Steve Sommers
Site : www.goarticles.com

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