Customer Reviews

Gilligan Unbound: Pop Culture in the Age of Globalization

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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

In Gilligan Unbound, Paul Cantor argues that the content of American popular culture tracks important changes in the national experience of globalization during and after the Cold War. He largely focuses on four American television franchises to make this case. These are Gilligan's Island (1964-67), Star Trek (1966-69), The Simpsons (1989-) and The X-Files (1993-2002).

Cantor makes a case that during the Cold War, Americans saw globalization in a global imaginary of democratization and Americanization. In essence, America bestowed an essential kernel of freedom and equality to the farthest reaches of the Earth. This is evident in Gilligan's Island in which an economically, occupationally, and gender-balanced group of Americans become stranded incommunicado on a pre-industrial island. They are able to reproduce the convenient trappings of contemporary American life. More important is that although the characters represent scientific expertise, cultured wealth with business acumen, and physical prowess, it is the unremarkable Gilligan whose actions and insights are consistently pivotal. For Cantor, Gilligan is the hero of a classless society. Despite being amidst specialized aptitudes, it is the agency of the common man that is liberated by American global expansion. For Cantor, Gilligan's Island suggests that not only is industrial abundance an outgrowth of American character but its dividends are an essential egalitarianism that underlies any conspicuous difference in station or status.

The island as a project of American expansion is complimented by the cavalier actions of Captain Kirk in Star Trek. Here, Cantor notes more obvious economic undertones (the ship is called "Enterprise") as the captain remakes the society of many planets to "eliminate any vestiges of aristocracy or theocracy in the universe (41)." He also engages the movie Star Trek VI as an allegory of the end of the cold war. For him, the end of the Klingon threat in the Star Trek universe models a crisis of American national identity with the fall of the Soviet Union. He sees this crisis mirrored in a different global imaginary that rises in the popular culture of the 1990s. This is symbolized in The Simpsons, which reflect a disillusionment with national politics by centering political agency in the local. Cantor sees this agency, reflected in the direct influence that members of the Simpson family have in leadership and policy in their fictitious town of Springfield, as nostalgic for an earlier time in American history. This harkens to a global imaginary of encroachment on the local, a shift in which Americans are the recipients and not the purveyors of global expansion. The book also sees this shift in The X-Files, in which the government is a culpable conspirator in abstract global and extraterrestrial alliances. Rather than Americans growing more America from their privileged flesh on an island, Cantor models the experience of post-Cold War globalization as the American island being overrun by a globe of overwhelming plots that are the endless subtext of normalcy.

While Gilligan Unbound finds success in its project to document the changing culture of globalization, this project is damaged and obscured by the author's defensive political editorial. He is adamant that his politics are not liberal and he is also explicit that though his essays study culture, he does not associate with the field of cultural studies. Sound confusing? It is. Scholarly analysis commingles with unreferenced claims, like "Television generally acts as if religion played little or no role in the daily lives of Americans, even though *the evidence* points to exactly the opposite conclusion [emphasis mine] (78)." No such evidence is cited. Other opinions couched in scholarly language--like "the television community itself is largely secular in its outlook (78)"--result in a manuscript that is spastic at best. While it is unusual for a cultural studies text to avoid modeling social power (and whatever way he spins it this is a cultural studies text), Cantor's work is nonetheless a serious contribution to this field if one graciously exhumes his project from the grave of arbitrary polemics. I give four stars for scholarly significance, not for presentation.

"Issues such as civil rights and the counterculture created bitter divisions in American society" is a pretty odd sentence to disagree with. It's also a little difficult to disagree with the idea that the Simpsons is a modern nuclear family. Maybe the reviewer doesn't understand what the term 'nuclear family' means. Also,"Cantor's conservative bent prevents him from accurately interpreting his material" is just insulting. How about "The liberal bent of 'Publishers' Weekly' prevents them from accurately reviewing all but a small list of authors with whom they share a similar worldview." I think I'll buy this book based on the review! Thanks 'Publishers' Weekly!

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?

This product was spotless and better condition then discussed on page. Would order again adn again from this provider if needed.

While one can appreciate the idea that Mr. Cantor puts forward in the sort of thesis of this book, his ideas of what causes this cynical outlook is sadly skewed by political ideology. While I was very much enthralled by the catchy title and wonderful cover art, I was disappointed that Mr. Cantor was just another standard bearer of the culture wars. I wouldn't recommend this book. Try Affluenza: The All-Consuming Epidemic (Bk Currents) if you are looking for a better social critique on modern pop culture.