Gilligan Unbound : Pop Culture in the Age of Globalization

Here critic Cantor proves once and for all that popular culture can be every bit as complex, meaningful and provocative as the most celebrated works of literature.

He analyses and interprets a wide variety of classic television programmes 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 globalising 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 defence 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 organisation have become obsolete and are being replaced by new global networks.