Ginger

[lm]

What exactly is Ginger's acting status? Is she a well-known actress or just a wanna-be? Is she a well-known who wants to rise to the top of her game? Sometimes it seems as if she is famous back home and sometimes (especially when she cites some of her movie titles) she seems clearly "B" movie material. It is possible that that may refer to the start of her career (but then again, she is not that old). They announce they are going to produce her life story--famous??? But then again, they sometimes do that for celebrities who are not necessarily Oscar or Grammy winners but are known somewhat and have a tragic story--they think Ginger is dead, of course. They mention her "promising" career (just starting or really good?). Does anyone have any thoughts on this? Someone yesterday told me they felt Ginger was untalented and probably had to rely on the casting couch. I beg to differ with at least the first part of that (I haven't thought much about the latter)--every time she acts for the castaways on the show, she is really very good--there is no joke about her stinking as a performer in there really. It's interesting that "Rescue" seems to play Ginger two ways--casting couch ("some producers are[strenuous]") and all pure and moral (refuses to do the nude scenes and dirty words) although these two are not necessarily mutually exclusive. Any thoughts? How famous an actress do you think Ginger is back home?

[kooky12]

When Ginger refers to the parts that she had played, they have lots of hugging and kissing. So she was either cast in cheesy teenage drive-in style romps, or dramatic romantic roles.

[mrs.gingerhinkley]

Oooh... interesting topic. I'll give it more response maybe tomorrow; to tired right now.
But too kooky's comment; you got to take into consideration that the early sixties featured tons of 'beach' movies. So, it's possible. *shrug*

more thoughts tomorrow!

[lm]

On this same topic, someone else suggested that she is like Marilyn Monroe, whom he claimed was noted for being a sex symbol and therefore a "star" but not particularly the greatest actress (I can't really say I know much about her movies firsthand). I think this is a difficult question--the answer might be there in the show (or maybe not--maybe it's an inconsistency throughout) but bears discovery.

[mrs.gingerhinkley]

I'll start with your latest post, Im. Along somewhere in my reading of things related to GI, I thought I read somewhere that Tina Louise was told that Ginger was supposed to be a combination of Marilyn Monroe and Lucille Ball/Lucy Ricardo.
While Sherwood Shwartz did not confirm this idea, it still presents further thoughts/discussion. Lucy's character was always desperate to break into showbiz; Marilyn Monroe, on the other hand sucessfully established her career making numerous movies before and up until her death. So where does that lead us? Maybe somewhere in the middle; perhaps Ginger was a star of the B-grades but when it came to bigtime movies, she only recieved minor roles.

And as far as the Ginger-Marilyn comparrison goes, I think they're similar but they aren't the same. First, their acting styles are different. Marilyn's roles usually consisted of a lot of hype over Marilyn and the characters were never extremely developed (IMO). The roles that we've heard Ginger speak of seem more dramatic (ex. Cleopatra) and less helpless. As a side note, Im, if you've never seen it, check out "Some Like it Hot"; it's one of my favorites of Marilyn's.

Concerning the "strenuous producers" bit; I think it's somewhat unreliable. After seeing Ginger so blatantly refuse to do the scene nude and her reaction to the director, I think am doubtful as to the first apparent meaning of strenuous. Instead, I think she merely meant difficult, as Harold Heckuba obviously was.

On the subject of the casting couch, like I said my verdict is nay. We see to many examples throughout the episodes to contradict this idea. Her reaction to Duke Williams' advances, when she thought Dubov wanted her to pose as a belly dancer ("I happen to be an actress; not a stripper"), and when she slaps Gilligan after misinterpreting his reason behind giving her 10,000 dollars (or whatever the amount was). If we decide that she's a good actress, but then observe she's mostly just been in B-grade movies, it sort of rules out the idea of anything going on behind the scenes; don't you think?

But of course, we still don't really have a deffinate conclusion. Several occurences point either way but some of the strongest (IMO) point towards her being a big name star. In the diary episode, we see Gilligan's view on the matter, "A real live moviestar". Plus, he whenever Ginger talks of her movies, most the time Gilligan has scene it or somebody has. In the opening credits, Ginger isintroduced as 'the moviestar' so maybe that was the original perception on the matter. And finally, Ginger doesn't carry herself as a B-grade star; of course this could just be a matter of vainity, but it also suggest yet more points to think about. Maybe if she's had sucess in better movies, she still has the hope that one day she'll make it big. Perhaps that's the reason for walking around in evening gowns on a tropical island all the time. And she was going to be the star of the Broadway production of "Pyramid for Two". Maybe this would have launched her into stardom. Who knows? I'm sure it's a question Ginger asked herself over and over again whilst on the island.

Alas, yet another inconsistency of the island that we might never know the true answer to... but, it is interesting and fun to think about. Cool thread/topic Im!

By the way, currently I'm working on a fanfic that explores what would have happened had the castaways not been stranded and I assure you I'll cover this topic.

[GeorgeWBushGOP]

who hasn't heard of Ginger.

[lm]

I still haven't made up my mind about the Ginger success question but re: the "strenuous producers" line in "Rescue," it seems to be a punchline kind of joke and if Ginger merely meant "difficult" here it wouldn't really be much of a joke. I, in general, don't see Ginger as a casting couch actress, but this comment seems to be of that kind. It's possible that even some casting couch actions might not be incompatible with the refusal to do a nude scene, etc. She might still have her demands. It is also possible that the Ginger who made the "strenuous" comment on the hutboat did not yet know her power and popularity, which she might have learned about after the rescue--she'd be an "in demand" actress because of her fantastic circumstances and possibly her fans missing her. It is also possible that this is just an attempt at playing double with the character or an inconsistency. Also, "Rescue" Ginger does not equal the series Ginger--although she resembles the very early Ginger a bit in her attitude. All in all, though, I don't see Ginger as a porn star or anything; she seemed smart enough to realize where she wanted her acting career and image to go--sexy, perhaps, but not a stripper on screen.