Gilligan unbound
Subtitle: popular culture in the age of globalization
By: Paul A. Cantor.
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Published: 2001
Place of publication: Lanham
Language: eng
Number of pages: 255
Subjects: Television programs -- United States; Television and politics -- United States; Popular culture -- United States -- History -- 20th century
Description: "In Gilligan Unbound, a distinguished Shakespeare scholar and literary critic proves once and for all that popular culture can be every bit as complex, meaningful, and provocative as the most celebrated works of literature - and a lot more fun. Paul Cantor analyzes and interprets a wide variety of classic television programs with the same seriousness, care, and creativity he would Hamlet or Macbeth to reveal how dramatically America's image of itself has evolved from the 1960s to the present.".

"Cantor demonstrates how, during the 1960s, Gilligan's Island and Star Trek reflected America's faith in liberal democracy and our willingness to project it universally. Gilligan's Island, Cantor argues, is based on the premise that a representative group of Americans could literally be dumped in the middle of nowhere and still prevail under the worst of circumstances. Star Trek took American optimism even further by trying to make the entire galaxy safe for democracy.

Despite the famous Prime Directive, Captain Kirk and his crew remade planet after planet in the image of an idealized 1960s America."--BOOK JACKET.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 213-250) and index.
Table of contents: title: "The courage of the fearless crew" : Gilligan's island and the Americanization of the globe; title: Shakespeare in the original Klingon : Star trek and the end of history; title: Simpson Agonistes : atomistic politics, the nuclear family, and the globalization of Springfield; title: Mainstreaming paranoia : The X-files and the delegitimation of the nation-state; title: Conclusion : "There's no place like home".