Television Programs - General & Miscellaneous, Television Broadcasting - General & Miscellaneous, Television Broadcasting - Social Aspects
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Overview
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 as 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. With the end of the Cold War and the onset of unprecedented globalizing forces, faith in the American way of life has wavered. Contrary to the claims of those unacquainted with the cartoon, Cantor shows why The Simpsons is actually a powerful defense of the nuclear family and local communities, which has grown out of our growing disillusionment with national politics. In The X-Files we witness the treacherous workings of a government conspiracy, conveying the geopolitical anxiety that has emerged with the collapse of the clear-cut ideological polarities of the Cold War. By observing such trends in American popular culture, Cantor concludes that what had originally appeared to be the ultimate triumph of liberal democracy may in fact signal the beginning of a new phase of history, in which traditional forms of political organization have become obsolete and are being replaced by new global networks. Gilligan Unbound is a celebration of the profound possibilities offered by the study of pop culture. Cantor, without condescending to either his readers or his subject matter, rescues the serious study of popular culture from academic jargon and incomprehensible prose. See for yourself why his award-winning essays on professional wrestling and The Simpsons have attracted worldwide attention, and why the National Enquirer calls him a 'top prof.'
Editorials
Calendarlive.com
One of the Best Books of 2001—Nonfiction Cantor has accomplished something so rare that it seems phenomenal: he has written a conservative book on pop culture that is smart and felicitous. Cantor has laid out a blueprint for how conservatives should engage the culture in the future.Los Angeles Times
Paul A. Cantor is a strange creature: a conservative professor of English at the University of Virginia who specializes in Shakespeare, loves pop culture, and is flat-out funny. . . . What makes Cantor's reflections impressive and credible is that, like a thimbleful of other conservatives such as Thomas Hibbs and John Podhoretz, Cantor absorbs the culture. He understands that it houses the bad and the good.— Jonathan V. Last
The American Enterprise
A smart, light-hearted analysis of American TV's attitudes toward globalization. Cantor writes with humor and wit whether discussing Shakespeare references in Star Trek or analyzing the cultural significance of Simpons Kwik-E-Mart owner Apu Nahasapeemapetilon and shows that TV's treasures and trash alike can offer serious commentary on the state of the world.— Eli Lehrer
Cercles
An absolutely fine book, well-researched and well-written, convincing, and entertaining. Readers can take pleasure in the essays and be edified even if they have never watched Gilligan's Island, Star Trek, The Simpsons, and The X-Files. Of course, they will enjoy them even more if they are regular viewers of such shows, and be positively elated if they are 'fans.' I unhesitatingly recommend it.— Georges-Claude Guilbert
Los Angeles Times
Paul A. Cantor is a strange creature: a conservative professor of English at the University of Virginia who specializes in Shakespeare, loves pop culture, and is flat-out funny. . . . What makes Cantor's reflections impressive and credible is that, like a thimbleful of other conservatives such as Thomas Hibbs and John Podhoretz, Cantor absorbs the culture. He understands that it houses the bad and the good.— Jonathan V. Last
Publishers Weekly
Thanks to cultural studies, television was never more interesting. Here Gilligan's Island that most insipid of 1960s sitcoms is "a patriotic show, celebrating America and its democratic way of life," and The X-Files "reflects a growing cynicism in the American people about their government." Cantor, a contributor to the Weekly Standard, looks at how The Simpsons, Star Trek, Gilligan's Island and The X-Files reflect the impact of increasing globalization on U.S. culture. At his best (as when Cantor discusses the meaning of Shakespearean quotes in Star Trek), he resembles cultural studies guru Margery Garber (Academic Instincts), but too often Cantor's conservative political bent prevents him from accurately interpreting his material. After attacking what he sees as television's neglecting "the importance of the nuclear family," he praises The Simpsons as "the return of the nuclear family" that "celebrates the spirit of small time America" a curious assertion given that most of the show can, and usually is, read as the opposite. He is better with The X-Files, when he delineates how the show reflects the position of the nation-state at this historical moment. Cantor's traditionalist interpretation of U.S. history forces readers to question his judgments, as when he asserts (in a discussion of Gilligan's Island) that "issues such as civil rights and the counterculture created bitter divisions in American society" rather then the other way around. While Cantor's overriding theme provides a fascinating frame for discussions of popular culture, his examples fall short of his grand thesis. (Nov.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.Library Journal
Popular television shows are commonly a reflection of national principles. Shakespeare scholar Cantor (English, Univ. of Virginia) here analyzes four of the most famous prime-time series in the history of television with particular attention to how these shows portrayed American ideals and influences. Cantor shows us how the castaways of Gilligan's Island re-created America in their isolation and how Star Trek reflected Cold War fears and sensibilities. He also speculates about the post-Cold War, cynical, introspective Springfield of The Simpsons and how society's distrust of Washington is evident in the skepticism that characterizes The X-Files. Perhaps a little too cerebral for average TV viewers, this book is an upbeat if scholarly treatise on nationalism in popular culture. Recommended for academic media and communications collections. David M. Lisa, Wayne P.L., NJ Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.Kirkus Reviews
Cantor (English/Univ. of Virginia) turns a semi-serious series of lectures on contemporary television into a more comprehensive volume. By his own account, Cantor's descent into the deconstruction of popular TV shows was accidental. Playful applications of a literary critic's tools to shows like The Simpsons and The X-Files drew interested responses and soon found a niche, then the present volume, in which Cantor contrasts The Simpsons and The X-Files with Gilligan's Island and Star Trek by arguing that the latter two reflect a more insular America. Rather than embrace their surroundings by "going native," Gilligan and friends do their best to recreate American society on their island, and all their encounters with foreigners affirm American values and superiority. Gilligan stands as the bumbling but affable democratic everyman. In the same way, the crew of the Enterprise, led by the more virile Captain Kirk, spreads Americanism beyond the Pacific into outer space. Despite a "prime directive" not to disturb native life, time and again the Star Trek crew interferes in favor of democracy and freedom. In both The Simpsons and The X-Files, by contrast, America, far from spreading outward, is bombarded by aliens of all types. Cantor suggests that the Simpsons, rather than being concerned with national affairs as their family sitcom predecessors might have been, have little use for the nation-state. Government is uniformly derided; emphasis is either local or global. Nor can the government be trusted in The X-Files. Indeed, America is under siege by creatures difficult to assimilate into contemporary culture. Cantor's arguments-that art imitates life and that America has changed-evokes littlemore than a nod of assent. More fun is his analysis of specific episodes-Gilligan is compared to Robert Musil's "man with no qualities" and Tocqueville is cited on Bart Simpson-but it's all rendered with too finicky a precision and too little humor. Unimaginatively reductionist.The Washington Times
A provocative book about the changes in pop culture during the last four decades.The Weekly Standard
Brilliant book. Books on television written by academics are always terrible. Gilligan Unbound is the exception that proves the rule. Cantor's book succeeds despite the fact that it is about television. His insights about life today are so intelligent that they sparkle despite being expressed in the context of pop-culture criticism.The Roanoke Times
In this interesting book, Paul Cantor wants to see how globalization has itself become a theme in specific TV programs, and how they express changing attitudes toward the process. Cantor does not hide behind the scholarly jargon and methodoly so many popular culture scholars employ—scholars writing about the interests of the common man in terms the common man can never understand. In short, he takes popular culture seriously, but not too seriously. This book asks for a new respect for our popular culture and its role in our society.The Virginia Advocate
With the publication of Gilligan Unbound, Mr.Cantor has presented a complex and involved thesis lucidly and entertainingly.Discourse & Society
Cantor's discourse has an elegant seriousness that is at the same time inherently laid-back and passionately vivacious.ForeWord Reviews
Providing an in-depth analysis of Gilligan's Island, Star Trek,The Simpsons, and The X-Files, the author examines what each series reflected about America in its era. Gilligan Unbound is well-argued.Calendarlive.Com
One of the Best Books of 2001—Nonfiction Cantor has accomplished something so rare that it seems phenomenal: he has written a conservative book on pop culture that is smart and felicitous. Cantor has laid out a blueprint for how conservatives should engage the culture in the future.Claremont Review
A refreshing exception to the rule of academicians writing about popular culture.Magill's Literary Annual
An amazing work of scholarship that details how these four shows reveal a change in Americans' sense of their place in the world.Commonweal
Far from being another exercise in exotic pedantry, Paul Cantor's new book is timely, readable, and provocative.Sherwood Schwartz
Professor Cantor has taken the Castaways from Gilligan's Island, and he has used them to show how my characters and their way of life would impact the real world. And he has accomplished this in a very fascinating fashion.The American Enterprise -
A smart, light-hearted analysis of American TV's attitudes toward globalization. Cantor writes with humor and wit whether discussing Shakespeare references in Star Trek or analyzing the cultural significance of Simpons Kwik-E-Mart owner Apu Nahasapeemapetilon and shows that TV's treasures and trash alike can offer serious commentary on the state of the world.Harvey Mansfield
A brilliant professor turns TV critic, and finds literature, politics, and philosophy in four favorite series from the 1960s to the 1990s. Paul Cantor makes wonderful sense in simple prose of America's slide toward globalization, as seen on TV. An innovative book bursting with wit, a treat for the mind. It may make you believe that watching TV is not a total waste of time.William Kristol
Gilligan Unbound is a fun read and a deep analysis—altogether an amazing achievement. As a lively and perceptive student of our culture, Cantor can't be beat.Francis Fukuyama
Paul Cantor is a serious theorist who takes popular culture seriously—but with a light touch. What he gives us is a book with genuine insight into the nature of our times, one that shows how examination of the everyday can lead us directly to the deepest questions of human life and philosophy.Wilson Carey McWilliams
As a student of American popular culture, Paul Cantor is the best. His scholarship is wonderful, learned, generous, and luminous. Cantor sees the serious dimension of ostensibly trivial things—and the trivial in the ostensibly serious—and he gives his readers remarkable access to the American soul. Gilligan Unbound is a grand book, indispensable for anyone who wants to understand contemporary American life and thought.author of "Cultural Literacy"
What the hell is he talking about?Laurie Johnson Bagby
Gilligan Unbound was an ideal vehicle for eliciting class discussion on issues of globalization. It also got my class involved in discussions about television as a major part of our common culture. Cantor's book is an intelligent, well researched, and incredibly engaging look at changes in American attitudes towards the world.Los Angeles Times -
Paul A. Cantor is a strange creature: a conservative professor of English at the University of Virginia who specializes in Shakespeare, loves pop culture, and is flat-out funny. . . . What makes Cantor's reflections impressive and credible is that, like a thimbleful of other conservatives such as Thomas Hibbs and John Podhoretz, Cantor absorbs the culture. He understands that it houses the bad and the good.Cercles -
An absolutely fine book, well-researched and well-written, convincing, and entertaining. Readers can take pleasure in the essays and be edified even if they have never watched Gilligan's Island, Star Trek, The Simpsons, and The X-Files. Of course, they will enjoy them even more if they are regular viewers of such shows, and be positively elated if they are 'fans.' I unhesitatingly recommend it.Jack Mitchell
My introduction to Mass Communication course seeks to cause 400 Freshmen and Sophomores to see with different eyes media with which they think they are very familiar. Paul Cantor's Gilligan Unbound has performed that function spendidly. One need not think Cantor identifies the most important messages in these programs to be persuaded that even the most mindless television contains messages students have never noticed before.Book Details
Published
August 31, 2003
Publisher
Lanham, Md. : Rowman & Littlefield, 2003.
Pages
304
Format
Paperback
ISBN
9780742507791