Posted by
SciFiCCGuy on Monday, January 15, 2007 8:57:28 AM
“Mr. Schwartz, we don’t have that kind of medicine,” the doctor told Sherwood Schwartz, creator of Gilligan’s Island, proving that Alan Hale was a generous man who loved people and children. In real life, he used his celebrity to play a part bigger than his character.
In Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal Lechter called Clarice after his escape and said he wouldn’t be paying her a visit because, as he explained, the world was better with her in it. Although I could say the same thing about a lot of people, I’d also have to say it about some of the cast from Gilligan’s Island. You heard me. I’m talking about that show the critics have always loved to rake over the coals as being completely trivial and ultimately unimportant (and most people on this website would do the same, for in fact, this show and these actors really have nothing to do with securing financial portfolios or making a political commitment). Yet this show, and some of these actors, had merit. They cared about the world in a different way because they really cared about people. They understood, as Tina Louise and the critics on the whole did not, the appeal of Gilligan’s Island, the wholly positive force it was and could be, and the good to which it could be put. It was innocent, from a world gone by, something you can’t say about today’s sitcoms. Gilligan’s Island was mirth and laughter, and that’s all it ever had to be in order for it and its cast to work their healing magic upon the world. It always amazes me the way critics could praise the likes of Charlie Chaplin and The Marx Brothers and yet rake Gilligan’s Island over the coals. Could it be they just don’t get it? Could it be they don’t like humor after all, and liked Chaplin just for some of the social issues some of his short silent movies addressed? I’m not even saying Gilligan’s Island is completely devoid of such things, yet what about humor for the sake of humor? What about Gilligan and Skipper falling all over themselves as they try to use hammocks? Is there value in that? The answer? You bet. Just listen to this story from Sherwood Schwartz about Alan Hale, Jr., which he relates in the commentary track for the original pilot episode:
"Alan Hale was such a warm, wonderful man, and I used to go with him to Children’s Hospital where I have a dedicated room there… But these guys, particularly Alan Hale, well, I’d go there with him and since…most of the kids are pretty sick, you couldn’t gather them around in one place, so we’d go room by room and just visit the kids. And… we went to a room where there was a kid that had just come from recovery having a kidney removed for some medical reason… and the doctor said, “Okay, he’s coming around now…” And his eyes opened and he looked down at the base of the bed and…he saw Alan Hale - he was always dressed just like this - and he said, “Skipper?” and I said to myself I think he thought he died and went to Gilligan’s Island. And this kid smiled, ‘cause then Alan Hale said to him, “The Skipper’s here with you son, and everything is going to be okay now.” And the doctor said, “Mr. Schwartz... we don’t have that kind of medicine. He has now put this boy a day or two ahead of his recovery, just by being here and talking to him.” And the kid was now asleep with a big smile on his face. Performers should understand how important they are, whether it’s sports figures or whatever they are."
I wholeheartedly agree, and it’s something many celebrities don’t quite understand or have time for. It’s something Tina Louise and the negative critics of Gilligan’s Island have never understood. The jury’s out on Natalie Schaffer and Jim Backus because I haven’t researched it, but there’s no question that these other four understand – Alan Hale, Bob Denver, Dawn Wells, and Russell Johnson. Russell Johnson wrote a book about the magic of this show, and I’ve heard stories about Bob Denver and Dawn Wells traveling the country bringing joy to their fans in much a similar fashion. They all understand the power of celebrity to bring people together in love and heal not just sick individuals, but a sick nation. They understand that if there’s any kind of a purpose at all for something like Gilligan’s Island, it is something of this nature, to bring love and laughter to the world. All the hate talk in the world, for however correct it may be, will never do that. Only love and laughter can, and that’s why I’m not at all ashamed to have people like these Gilligan’s Island cast-members on this list of role models alongside most of the well-meaning, politically motivated and even admirable haters-of-the-left over on Townhall.com. In the end, what these actors did matters just as much in some cases because it’s not always about all the wars and the liberals or the conservatives being right or wrong. It’s really about love, and perhaps laughter is a big part of that, more than we even realize. It’s the reason Ann Coulter is a personal favorite, and one of the most popular conservative writers. Along with all of her jaw-dropping facts, she peppers her writing with humor. A lot of other writers here are so serious, and they’ve got good reason to be, but I tend towards the ones that make me laugh out loud. True, Coulter's humor is extremely biting, but still, perhaps if the world had a bit more mirth and laughter, if we took the time to see the humor in the events of the world, we wouldn’t be in such a diabolical mess right now. Even when talking about the most serious of subjects, Ann Coulter still manages it.