Other than @aiovo there wasn't much interaction directly about my post from yesterday. Maybe I was wrong guessing that for most people one of the first times they saw hypnosis was watching a Scooby-Doo cartoon? The ages of the users can be a spectrum for an internet community after all. That's O.K. I'll post more about hypnosis and mind control portrayed in popular media. Sooner or later I'll get around to writing a post about London Tipton accidentally getting hypnotized by a stage hypnotist. Maybe one of the younger users of this community will make a post about that first. We'll see.
tl;dr for this post: Since one of the castaways has a sudden psychological condition and they're isolated from the rest of society; a high-school science teacher conspires with the others to play along with the ailing woman's delusional fantasy and then plays psychiatric doctor with the afflicted woman while trying to hypnotize her.
In the Gilligan's Island episode "The Second Ginger Grant" Mary Ann Summers (Dawn Wells) watches Ginger Grant (Tina Louise) perform a song number. After the performance is over Mary Ann trips over a rock while walking backwards and hits her head on the ground. After Mary Ann comes to she thinks she is Ginger. It was decided amongst the other castaways that until a solution could be found to Mary Ann's condition they would play along with her fantasy. Ginger would pretend to be Mary Ann. Personally I would have preferred Dinger and Mary Ann's roles reversed in that situation.
Ginger breaks character by not wearing the Mary Ann wig the next day while doing chores and Mary Ann thinking she's Ginger sees the real Ginger and faints. After Mary Ann wakes up from the shock she is in a stupor. The Professor (Russell Johnson) and Skipper (Alan Hale Jr.) debate whether to now try hypnosis. They decide making the attempt is better than leaving Mary Ann/Ginger in a state of shock and confusion.
After the Skipper leaves the hut the Professor sits down in front of Mary Ann/Ginger. After the Professor snaps his fingers Mary Ann as Ginger becomes responsive again and expresses her confusion. The Professor assures "Ginger" that seeing herself was all in her imagination and that he can use hypnotism to help her.
The Professor pulls out a pocketwatch and starts swinging it back and forth in Mary Ann/Ginger's view. Mary Ann/Ginger is brought into a deep hypnotic sleep. While in the hypnotized state the Professor gives "Ginger" the suggestion that after she comes out of the trance she will become Mary Ann after hearing the name "Mary Ann".
Did it work? Kind of. Mary Ann still believed that she was Ginger but Gilligan (Bob Denver) was affected while eavesdropping. I'll cover that in my next HypnoChain community post.
Image Source: Gilligan's Island
Note: Unfortunately the actress who portrayed the Mary Ann character died at the end of last year due to causes related to the COVID-19 virus.
