Wow, it’s been a long while. Sorry about that – I’ve been meaning to write a whole bunch of things, but I’ve been a wee bit overextended of late and sadly you, my loyal 5-7 readers, have suffered as a consequence. Good thing my fellow bloggers have stepped up and filled in the gaps, eh? Oh. Well, something popped into my head yesterday morning, and if I don’t get it out now, it might be another long while until I can make that happen.
I’m not sure why, but the theme song from “Gilligan’s Island” was playing in my head at about 5:45am. A lot has been made over the years about this song, namely pointing out the amount of luggage people had for what was supposed to be a “three-hour tour” (though they still wore the same outfits almost all the time, right?). Another common theme I’ve heard extends throughout the series: don’t The Skipper and The Professor have real names? (According to Wikipedia, yes they do. I kinda wish I never looked at that though.) I consider all of that old news though, for something different struck me about the song this time. “If not for the courage of the fearless crew, the Minnow would be lost,” we’re told in the song. Granted, I haven’t seen the first couple of episodes of that show for…I don’t know, maybe 25 years, but that’s a very important line. I can’t recall a single instance of the other castaways thanking The Skipper and Gilligan for their heroism. Yes, they were stranded on an island with no sign of rescue, but the crew saved their frickin’ lives. I would hope that they could express a little gratitude for that. But no, all I remember is poor Gilligan getting made fun of and/or belittled with nary a “thank you” to be heard. The island was not a fate worse than death, so that type of behavior isn’t just wrong – that’s bullshit.