Gilligan Unbound: Pop Culture in the Age of Globalization

Rating:
Summary: best work of literary criticism in the 21st century
Review: Every fan of the Simpsons or X-files should own this book. Paul Cantor is a true genius and perhaps the best at placing American pop culture in the context of our literary, historical, and political tradition.

Rating:
Summary: Good summer read
Review: I really liked this book, perhaps it is my love for the simpsons and gilligan's island that made me feel this way.

Now when i have heavy philosophical discussions with my friends, i won't feel so insecure when applying simpson's references to them...thanks

Rating:
Summary: just sit right back, the truth is out there?
Review: No, I did not buy this book. (I love my local library and I am old-fashoined) Yes, I was seduced by the subject matter and title photo of Gilligan and the skipper. 3 of the 4 stars I give this book is for the discussion and choice of the two comedy shows--Gilligan's Island and the Simpsons. Growing up with the castaways as a surrogate family, and then as a smart-aleck 30-something revelling in the magic of Springfield, I applaud Cantor's choice of these two shows for scrutiny. But his political conclusions seem forced, and reductionist. And his analysis of the two purported "dramas," Star Trek and the X-Files are soporific, lacking the bite of the comedy sections. The real message may not be political, but interpretive: TV is what we want and need it to be, both when it is first produced, and in the immortality of syndication. None of these shows will ever die. And moreover, Krusty the Clown and Thurston Howell III are permanent residents of my twisted psyche.
What I most crave are cogent analyses of the Andy Griffith Show and Green Acres. Both '60's shows dealing with rural life in the South, but from distinctly different vantages. Andy taught us all much about wisdom and fatherhood in the era of segregation. Oliver Douglas taught us that city smarts cut no ice in the land of down home zaniness. Who is crazier--a transplanted New York lawyer with a Hungarian wife who can't grow corn, or a man who consults his pig before making business decisions?