Gilligan Is Satan? You Decide

Gilligan's Island was a show that haunted my childhood. I remember seeing the show in prime time when I was a wee lad. Then came the Superstation out of Atlanta and suddenly Gilligan and the Castaways were on everyday. I always thought of Gilligan's Island as nothing more than just a funny sitcom that left a lot of questions unanswered, then I discovered a deeper more sinister meaning to the show.

I was perusing the web and came across an interesting piece by Lindsay Totty on the NPR website. I saw a picture of Gilligan, played by the actor Bob Denver, so I stopped to read. That is when the underlying theme of the show was made apparent to me. Gilligan was TVs metaphor for the Devil!

You're probably thinking, Bruce has had one too many cups of coffee this morning but hear me out. For those that believe in the concept of heaven and hell, what is the Devil's main job? To keep us from our eternal reward right? What did Gilligan do on every episode of Gilligan's Island? He prevented, usually by accident, the castaways from escaping their hell which was the uncharted isle.

Wait, it gets much deeper than just Gilligan. What if each of the castaways actually represented one of  the Seven Deadly Sins! Think about this concept for a moment.

The sin of greed that would be Mr. Howell the billionaire. How about lust? Immediately you thought of Ginger Grant the Hollywood actress who was always using her feminine charms to get her way. Pride, that would have to be the Professor. The professor could make everything but a boat with the raw materials on the island couldn't he. Why didn't he make a boat?

Anger would have to be Jonas Grumby, also known as the Skipper. He was forever yelling at Gilligan and often physically abusing the poor boy wasn't he? Sweet little Mary Ann Sommers, played by actress Dawn Wells who had her own problems behaving in real life, would be Jealousy. She always wanted to be Ginger didn't she?

Mrs. Howell would be Sloth, she never did anything for herself did she? Then finally Gluttony I think that falls on Gilligan himself, how did they get Gilligan to do anything he didn't want to do? They would bribe him with a coconut creme pie wouldn't they? Now one more crazy twist before you call the funny farm to come and get me.

If Gilligan wasn't the Devil, then how come he always was dressed in red? Did creator Sherwood Schwartz intend for this TV show to be a metaphor for the Seven Deadly sins or am I just adding this to my list of conspiracy theories? Tell me what you think as always I love to hear what you have to say.