**Presenter dude is talking about diseases and how diseases can be physiological**
Presenter dude: you can’t just cut open a brain and point at a section and say, “ah yes that’s where the depression was formed, in that section of the brain”.
Me in my head: pfft, if u open up my brain I think you’ll be able to find it.
Doubt is an uneasy and dissatisfied state from which we struggle to free ourselves and pass into the state of belief; while the latter is a calm and satisfactory state which we do not wish to avoid, or to change to a belief in anything else.
MAG vs. MAP - Reasons why I don’t ship Mary Ann and Gilligan
I made a faux pas when joining the Gilligan’s Island fandom online. In one group, I asked if anyone else likes the Professor and Mary Ann together. According to a few of the responses, my opinion is ‘invalid’ and that Gilligan is the only acceptable mate for Mary Ann. Who would have guessed this was a touchy subject?
“IT’S NOT IN THE SCRIPT!”
Word for word? No. Mentally? Yes. Physically? Yes. Intentionally? Yes and no. You’ll have to hear me out.
Don’t get me wrong. I like Gilligan and Mary Ann. They are a sweet couple — especially in the early episodes when Mary Ann is so adorably crushing on him.
But...
Mary Ann matures as the series progresses. Gilligan… he has his moments, but he will always Gilligan. We wouldn’t want him any other way. More on this in a minute.
At the time of the shipwreck, we see Mary Ann fresh off the farm and tossed somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. She is the most sheltered of the bunch, as in she’s had little to no life experiences outside of Kansas. She is not without a contribution to the group. She plays a vital role in making sure the castaways are eating proper meals and not just grazing. However, her skills don’t override her naivete. In his own way, Gilligan is also naive. If not naive, then happily oblivious. This is a quality she can relate to, and hey, Gilligan is super cute and the closest to her age. Given her upbringing, she is naturally going to gravitate toward him. They also have common interests such as butterfly hunting, taste in music, etc. They are a good pair and in many ways, Gilligan is any ‘Mary Ann’’s dream. He’s innocent and incapable of hate.
But he’s also insanely uncomfortable expressing any kind of romantic affection, going as far as to state in one episode he never wants to get married. Unlike Ginger, Mary Ann respects this. She has moments of pushing a kiss on the cheek but never tries to seduce him or force him into anything that makes him uncomfortable (’The Second Ginger Grant’ aside...). By the end of the series, Gilligan appears to accept Ginger’s overzealous flirtations and once or twice falls into her trance. With Mary Ann, he still retracts. Mary Ann is his friend. His best friend after Skipper. Romance doesn’t come into play for him.
Back to character growth… by season two, we already see noticeable differences to Mary Ann’s personality. Yes, she has maintained her innocence. Yes, she has held on to some of her youthful qualities. No, she is not the little bumpkin who needs to be protected. She was never weak, but all of the castaways are protective of her. Again, only natural given she’s the baby of the group. But overall we see a shift in her personality. A lot of the MAG implications drop, and a new prospect is introduced: The Professor.
Going through old posts and archives, I’ve seen so many MAG fans write off the MAP storyline in ‘Beauty Is As Beauty Does’ with comments like, “He only chose her because he felt sorry for her,” and, “The episode is only that way because Gilligan had to be the tiebreaker.” There are truths to this. I don’t deny it. However, The Professor prides himself on his intellect. He seldom shows romantic interest in Ginger. Though not quite as uncomfortable as Gilligan is with her advances, a romance with her is, at best, a superficial passing thought. She isn’t capable of a serious romance. Acting and Hollywood are her true loves, and she makes it known that she’s had more than her fair share of boyfriends. A strong platonic relationship is the only probability. Moving on… Mrs. Howell, of course, isn’t a prospect. So yes, in a sense, he was ‘stuck’ with Mary Ann when it came time to announce his vote for the most beautiful woman on the island (or world, to use his exact word). Obviously, the writers aren’t going to write out Mary Ann from the running. But as viewers, we shouldn’t only be thinking about why an episode is written a certain way. We see the plot presented to us and it is part of the overall story of the characters. However perceived, the Professor wouldn’t have said these things about Mary Ann lightly. As the most level-headed of the lot of them, he truly is able to see her inner beauty as well as the outer. He’s paid special attention to her from the start (keeping her safe in one way or another, generally spending time with her), so he is more aware of her growth than anyone else. And yes, we know Gilligan had to be the tiebreaker. We also know that he isn’t the kind of person to choose one friend over another. He appreciates all of them for who they are, no one better than the other. Another admirable quality, but I digress.
The plotlines for MAP are mostly unspoken. But they are there. For example, interactions between the two can be quite intimate. They’re almost always standing near each other and grabbing each other’s hands and arms. We can assume an overlapping morning routine (i.e. their good morning exchange as he’s shaving) in which they are comfortable, Mary Ann helping the Professor dress as a woman in ‘Gilligan The Goddess’, swimming together, dancing together whenever there’s a party, and other similar moments. Then there’s the matter of the Professor’s horrible acting. He is stiff and uncomfortable rehearsing with Ginger, but much more natural and relaxed rehearsing with Mary Ann. The theory can be stretched, too, by noting in Gilligan’s dreams, his love interest is almost always Ginger. Mary Ann is his buddy, usually. The one defending him. Ginger knows how to draw out his sexuality more, it’s as plain as that, even if it is buried in his subconscious. She can only relate to him in an adult way. If Gilligan were to end up with either of the girls, my vote would have to go to Ginger for this reason. Likewise, I think Gilligan would be good for her.
Come season three, Mary Ann is on a whole new level intellectually. She expresses interest in the Professor’s experiments, is able to take charge in some instances, can hold her own, and for all intents and purposes, grows up. In season one she states she has nothing in common with the Professor. This is true here. By season three, they develop common interests. In addition to a growth of knowledge, her outward appearance changes a bit. We see the pigtails much less as well as a more mature wardrobe. She is fully adapted to the situation life presented her. Gilligan is more or less in the same place in which he started. Clumsy, big-hearted, and boyish. They are no longer compatible romantically. At some point in the second season, Gilligan and Mary Ann form a brother/sister-like relationship. (“Think of me as your sister,” Mary Ann says in Rescue From Gilligan’s Island.) And it works. They bicker and play together and love each other.
Censors or no censors, psychologically, if something romantic were to happen between Mary Ann and Gilligan it would have by the end of the first season. They were both young and in a new, adventurous surrounding. One or both of their personalities would have set something in motion, especially with the nudge of Mrs. Howell. Fact is that Gilligan just isn’t in a romantic mindset. He loves his job and he loves his friends. A wife doesn’t come into play. With Mary Ann, we’re left to assume she wants to settle down and have a family. While Gilligan would undoubtedly be a good father, he would in many ways be another child for Mary Ann to take care of. Dawn Wells has said herself that a romantic relationship between Mary Ann and Gilligan is improbable.
Another comment I’ve seen more than once: “MAP shippers only write FanFiction because they’re just writing themselves with the Professor.”
Well… yes. Isn’t that what writing is? Perhaps I’m taking it too literally as an aspiring author, but you have to put yourself in the place of your characters. Even in FanFiction. Especially in FanFiction. Why else would we write for someone else’s character? For the money? For fame? Our favorites, be it a single character, a group, or a ship, are our favorites because we connect to them. There’s a passion there. Some we connect to more than others or on more than one level. As a writer, it is your duty to put yourself in the place of the character you’re writing, even if you wouldn’t necessarily go after a Professor or go after a Gilligan. So yes, perhaps someone writing a story about Mary Ann and the Professor would like to and is imagining what it might be like to find someone like the other. When writing, it’s only natural that an essence of ourselves go into our words. It’s not a bad thing. Sometimes it’s extremely obvious, especially when the character strays too far away from their canon personality, but the solution is simple. Hit the back button. All of this can be said for MAG stories as well. Stated before, Gilligan is in many ways a dream match for the ‘Mary Ann’ personality type. He represents the innocence that has been lost in modern times. So really, there’s more fantasy surrounding him. A Gilligan isn’t as obtainable. He is a rarity that should be cherished. And there is nothing wrong with that. Overall, my biggest question about this comment is, why are you reading the story if you don’t like the pairing? Why are you wasting your time making someone feel bad for something they put their heart into? Move on.
For me, the chemistry was never there for Gilligan and Mary Ann. A deep, deep, friendship? Absolutely. Romantically, she is much better suited for the Professor, and vice versa. Mary Ann has a desire to learn things, the Professor has the wisdom to offer. And she retains it. Subsequently, he can protect her and she can nurture him. In a way, it makes sense Mary Ann would end up with someone older, though that is an entirely different matter I’ll save for another time. Finally, the actors’ real-life chemistry brings this pairing to life. As far as Dawn and Russell are/were concerned, the love between the Professor and Mary Ann was real. It was in their script.
I believe MAG was the intent of Sherwood Schwartz, however, aside from the musical (which, I’m sorry, I do not personally accept as canon, partly because I am a self-proclaimed theatre snob and there is no reason this or any other tv show needed to be brought to the stage), he didn’t take the opportunity to make this relationship a reality. Lord knows he had more than one opportunity to do so. I know Bob Denver liked the prospect of Gilligan marrying Mary Ann, but again, not much came of it aside from a comment here and there. Dawn has single-handedly created a MAP mentality and has been backed up by Russell, and for me, that’s half the fun of this ship: Watching these two friends make inside jokes about the love affair their characters had off-screen. It’s hard for me not to fall in love with the pairing myself.
“When people ask how I survived on Gilligan’s Island, I always tell them, ‘A lot of coconuts and Mary Ann.” - Russell Johnson
I didn’t write this whole thing out as an attempt to convince MAG fans that their ship isn’t accurate, ‘invalid,’, or that MAP is superior. I wrote it because I wanted to share my personal reasons for not being a fan of MAG (romantically) and to hopefully provide some reasons as to why people like MAP and/or what they see in them. (I also found it to be a good psychology piece. It’s amazing how many profound themes are hidden in a show that consists of dozens of pie in the face gags.) Will I have the guts to post this outside Tumblr? Probably not right now. I’m a newbie in the community though I’ve been watching the show off and on for about ten years. The MAG vs. MAP debate has been weighing on my mind and I thought I might as well put my thoughts into words. It seems strange to me that there is such a war between fans over something like this. Remember this show is first and foremost a goofy sitcom from the 1960s (that had almost no romance in it). Quite frankly, I’m appalled by a few of the comments I’ve seen on old message boards. I’m choosing to believe those dark days are over and fandom culture has evolved since the mid-2000s to be more respectful of other fans’ opinions… the aforementioned people I encountered recently aside. Gilligan’s Island is the definition of escapism... and the island is plenty big enough to home MAG, MAP, Pringer, and the rest.
So, I have officially turned in my two exam papers that counts for 60% of my grade in this subject, with almost three hours to spare. It’s now in the hands of the gods and I just got to trust that it’s enough.
And... start preparing for the second half of the exam that counts for the remaing 40%, due Tuesday... and for the three hour long exam in another subject on Friday.... Yay...
But for now! Just now, just today I’ve done my work as needed. I have succeeded in that and I think i shouid be proud! I think that’s how healthy people would think about it. So, good job to me!!!
I am searching for the psychological term for the survival mechanism your brain triggers when you experience something too traumatic for it to be able to process all at once and you end up feeling half numb (usually until one day…)
Please share with your know-it-all buddies, PhD friends and other smart asses or reblog in general for anyone out there who may know the answer!
This is…vitally important!
The life I lived went from trying to hide my multiple personality disorder from my parents. To having an over-wheleming amount of stuffed animals and having an entire closet mostly pink dresses. She doesn't have to hide anymore and that makes me happy.
