Tunneltalk/Issue v.2 n.4/5
Tunneltalk is a Beauty and the Beast (TV) letterzine edited by Barbara Storey, Victoria Clark and Sharon Himmanen.
There were 17 issues.
This zine began after the letterzine Passages ended.
From the August 1991 issue: "This publication is intended as an outlet for fans; it will not be sent to either Witt-Thomas or Republic, or anyone else connected with the show, so don't be afraid to say your piece."
v.2 n.4/5
Tunneltalk v.2 n.4/5 was published in June/July 1991 and contains 104 pages.
- con reports for South of Oz, see that page
- a con report for The International Beauty and the Beast Convention, see that page
- a con report, focusing on a disruptive panel discussion, for MediaWest*Con, see that page
- comments on Acquainted with the Night, see that page
- this issue contains An Open Letter to all Readers of "Adult" fanzines by Sharon Wells
v.2 n.4/5: Excerpts from the Letters
[Barbara S]: Many of you noted that the May issue was very late in being mailed out, and I wanted to explain that the reason why was a major repair bill for the copier that dealt a severe blow to our budget (having your own machine is not always what it's cracked up to be!)- I'm sorry for the delay, and we're almost back on track again. Also, you have noticed that you are holding in your hands a double issue of TT, something I swore we would never do. Well, this is not entirely our fault—the truth is, we actually did not receive enough letters to do a June issue! What's going on out there? Are people getting tired of writing letters? We really hope this is not a trend; if it is, we will be forced to consider going to a bimonthly schedule permanently. Let us hear from you — literally — on how you feel about this. TT really can't exist without all of you.
[Barbara S]:When Linda Hamilton said, on the Larry King Live interview, that she did not want to go back to B&TB, I think all our hearts stopped for a moment in disbelief. (Which is not really fair, since Ron has also stated (once, a while ago) that B&TB was in the past for him, and no one was ready to jump all over his head for it—as some people are now ready to do to Linda.) I would actually refer you to Lynette Combs's letter in this issue—which I agree with wholeheartedly - for a thoughtful analysis on the subject.
The point is—this is not the time for us to start ripping each other to shreds again, please! No, her words were not what we were expecting to hear. I still feel that her words are no reason for me to change my mind about how I feel about B&TB, Vincent and Catherine, or what I expect from a B&TB movie. None of those things have changed for me; what is far more likely to happen is that Linda will change her mind. Why would she say "yes" to a project that still exists primarily in people's hearts and minds, is not actually even down on paper yet (no matter what anyone may try to tell you)? There's nothing for her to say "yes" to! And the only thing I know, for certain, at this point, is that Ron Koslow has become convinced that Linda is essential to the success of a B&TB movie-—not just Catherine, but LINDA as Catherine. (You could say she has kind of bad timing, I guess!)
... I believe that our best efforts (for those of us who agree with him) should be directed towards convincing Ron Koslow that we are behind his convictions about Linda, and that we are counting on him to write a script that will convince Linda that Catherine Chandler is a character she wants to play again. Since B&TB's future is not set in stone at this time, this is the perfect time for us to make our feelings known—politely, rationally, firmly—and to try to influence B&TB's fate. If we truly believe in the Dream . ..in love and hope—there's nothing else we can do. Take care, reach out to one another, be well.
[Sharon H]:A more benign form has manifested itself in appeals for a recasting of the role of Catherine. I wish the individuals behind this only luck with their campaign. For my own part, I will not go to see a B&TB movie that does not include Linda Hamilton (playing an alive and well Catherine, at least at the end). What Linda said has not changed that in any way, shape, or form. As far as I'm concerned, The role of Catherine Chandler was written for her, and she invested a lot into it. On the basis of those two facts alone, I doubt we will ever see a movie with Catherine but without Linda. I can't see Ron Koslow allowing another woman to play the role he wrote specifically for Linda. And I frankly can't see Linda allowing someone else to take over a role she had so much to do with creating. Ron Perlman has also said in interviews and at conventions that he couldn't play opposite anyone else as Catherine but Linda.
Finally (and I say this not to be nasty to any of the talented actors/actresses who were on the show), but Linda is, at this point in time at least, the only potential box-office draw. This movie, if it ever happens, will need to attract more than just fandom in order to be successful. The suits, and Ron Koslow, are going to have to keep this in mind, because the bottom line is money, and they would be stupid to do a movie without her.
So I don't worry about there being a movie without Linda, because I just don't think it will happen that way.
On the other side of the coin, I truly believe that Linda means what she says. I believe that if you ask her the same questions in a week, a month, maybe even a year, she will still say the same thing. But I also believe, with a faith I don't possess in any other aspect of my life, that if she is given the right script, she will at least seriously consider it. That's all any of us can ask of any actor, be it Linda Hamilton, Ron Perlman, Jay Acovone, or anybody.
This is the point where we figure into the equations. We must write to Ron Koslow and tell him what we want to see in the script so that he can write one that will convince Linda that she wants to do it. There is something that I just figured out a while ago, in a conversation with [Dot S] about the rift in fandom, what caused it, how to help it, etc. It occurred to me that this rift need never have happened at all. What can someone who doesn't want me to write to "the powers that be" possibly do to me should I choose to write in with my opinion anyway? It is absurd to even think mat I ever felt threatened and intimidated by them. In the end we are responsible only for ourselves, for our own actions and words. If you want Linda Hamilton to be in a movie, then by all means write to Ron Koslow and tell him! There is absolutely nothing wrong with doing this!
[Sharon H]: It is true that I think I must have fallen in love with all the potential that was inherent in the show more than I did the actual show itself. Ifs kind of disappointing in a way to realize this. I hear what you are saying about the flaws in both Catherine and Vincent, but in all honesty I must admit that while I saw them, they never bothered me as much with Catherine. I suppose it is because I attributed her flaws to the writers, and Vincent's and the other character's flaws to the characters. Why I did this I have no idea.
[Lynette C]:I'd watched Linda earlier that week on "David Letterman" — whom I dislike because of the ridicule he showers on his guests (under a misleading guise of goofy harmlessness). He's the last person in the world you'd want to open up to about B&TB — or anything serious—and I was glad Linda tried to fend him off. When he did finally ask what seemed like a serious question about Vincent and Catherine, she answered seriously; she explained their empathic relationship, and said that when Catherine was in danger, Vincent would come to her.
"And could he fly?" asked Letterman. "Oh, never mind — that's just me, being dopey!"
"That's okay, I expect it," Linda retorted — and for a moment he didn't even get it! She was already well into the next sentence before he went, "Huh?" (I loved her for that. VERY sharp.)
[Lynette C]:Now I understand she's getting a lot of hate mail (again)—directed not only against herself, but against her long -awaited baby. That's not only a little crazy, but from a purely strategical viewpoint, ifs incredibly shortsighted. Like they say, sugar's more effective than vinegar; and in two or three years, when Koslow & Company may actually come up with a script, do you want her to say, "Well, the B&TB fans have always been kind to me; they deserve something back" — or, "Are you kidding? Those people are a bunch of lunatics!" Personally, a l this point I'd be surprised if she ever DID come back. Another point I want to make is that we can't use this as an excuse for fickle defection. To see this, for example, as the signal or opportunity to "get Vincent a new woman" is a violation of that eternal bond, and all the he is. What an actress decides to do in the "real" world has nothing whatsoever to do with what Vincent needs; and he needs his Catherine, however we might like to soother him (or ourselves) with easier remedies. There's a certain Magic involved. (One need only examine the theme of every successful B&TB con; or ask any zine editor which love stories sell, and which create dissent among their readership.
This should also not be the signal for some of us to tell the rest of us what we now have the right to hope for, or believe in. If B&TB isn't about hope, then I don't know what it IS about; but we've got to stop investing that power in others—i.e., producers, actors, fan editors—and waiting for them to TELL us what to dream toward. We've got to start generating some of the energy within ourselves, or this is going to be one of the shortest-lived fandoms in history. Just thin!-:—STAR TREK fandom lasted for over a decade, with a lot less hope than WE have, before they got their first film!}
One last thought... I wish I didn't feel that SOME of us are going to take Linda's interviews and beat the REST of us over the head with them ... but they probably will. (I suppose my cynicism is a little unTunnelish too.) I'm sure a lot of people are going to feel that now's the time to CROW. You'd think that, given the philosophy that's drawn us together, we'd just naturally be kinder to each other. But I've never seen a fandom so willing to rip itself to shreds. Have you? It's time I remembered that "we create this journey for each other." We need to start taking responsibility—each of us—for the kind of "journey" we're creating for those around us.
A close friend of mine, a latecomer to both B&TB and the fandom, worries about third-season rifts and this new setback. She called me up to ask, "Is fandom destroying itself? Is there going to BE a fandom this time next year? ... If s just that you people are so important to me."
You're important to me, too. But I don'tknow how to answer a question like that except to say that I'll be here next year.... Whether or not you are, is up to YOU. It seems to me (after talking with several writers and artists throughout this country and in Canada this week) that those of us who are most positively creative are best able to "ride this out." They will go on writing, drawing, making friends instead of enemies... putting fires OUT instead of feeding the flames. These people carry the Dream inside them.
P.S. — Thank you to the South of Oz steering committee for the return of Kim Taylor's popular music videos, which disappeared for a week from the video room at the convention. However, as it took over four weeks for the promised "overnight" mailing to reach us here in Virginia Beach, we are understandably disillusioned; and it is unknown whether Kim Taylor will entrust them to anyone to be taken to future conventions.
[Gloria D]:Yes, I really did mean "Bankruptcy." BECAUSE one could then draw the logical assumption, from such an outcome, that there is only a small, limited taste for 3rd season or "mixed "zines — which I believe, and hope, is the case. (I can dream, can't I?)
[snipped]
I suppose I should've spelled out my meaning more exactingly in my infamous letter of the March issue, but I never dreamed I would be so misunderstood and taken to task. Especially since, earlier in my letter, I thought there could be no doubt that my remarks indicated that 3rd season, and the substitution of Diana for Catherine, was an anathema to me. Why would that be repellent to me, if not for the fact that (like Winslow) I believe in the love between Vincent and Catherine? I'm in love with their love, in love with them, as a couple — not anything else.
That anyone would impute any other motive to me, based on next to nothing, was a painful shock to me.
[snipped]
Anyway, I was mortified by Barbara Storey's editorial comments on that portion of my letter, and that she would interpret it that way. And I was very surprised, later, that you would accept her interpretation, even knowing me as you do. (Or that anyone would.) I felt such humiliation and embarrassment, that I just wanted to curl up and die; I wanted the earth to open up beneath me and remove me from the scene. (Who would want to be thought of in such a way?)
[Sue K]:Let us assume for the moment that ALL letters in ALL letterzines dealing with controversial subjects were removed. The one letterzine that attempted to censor all "debate" over Third Season, or any thing "controversial" in the editor's opinion, did not gain by this decision. Eventually this position was reversed, to judge by the letters currently appearing in it. Can we, as fans, go back to some common ground of discussion that does NOT touch the Third Season /"Classic" controversy? Can we all join in in discussions about Diana when half of us have no interest in the character? Can we ALL discuss Catherine's future life with Vincent when some of us believe she is dead and gone forever? Naturally we do have these sorts of discussions, but they, of necessity, will be limited to those with a direct interest in the topic. I don't think I con Id work up much interest in discussing Tunnel plumbing or Mouse's background, etc. For many of us who were in fandom from early on, discussion of the first two seasons' episodes (often as they appeared) were a staple of letterzine LOCs. We could go back to such discussions, but I'm not sure it would be enough to keep a letterzine going. And many of us don't have much interest in discussing Third Season episodes at length (though I'd never censor anyone who wants to do such an analysis in TT). Debate generates discussion. New viewers of the show will continue to add "fresh blood" and fresh topics. But frankly, whatever flack I may engender in so saying, if we eliminate the controversial topics, there may be no letterzines. Perhaps that's the way of fandom in any case; to every thing there is a season. Clearly, those who have no desire to read controversial topics will not participate. If s a rather major dilemma.
[Gloria D]:Third season completely contradicts everything that went before. We were led down the garden path, and then they mugged us!
[Sue K]:My husband, who while not a great fan of B&TB, did watch it with me (we share a love of fantasy in general and both had read the science fiction works of George R.R. Martin prior to the airing of the show). He thought third season was stupid. Period. He didn't bother to analyze it much beyond that, but he had zero interest in it from "TLBL" on. But then again, he's not a "typical male," either. The three or four vocal male fans I've heard something of, in letters and LOCs and editorials, seem to like Season Three, Diana Bennett in particular. I wonder if this represents most male fans. We can only judge by what we hear from them!
Speaking for myself and my husband, I can state emphatically that our views about the status of women (we are both 'feminists.'") led us to regard "TLBL" as a most misogynistic movie. In my husband's case, his sex has nothing to do with this opinion.
[Vicki M]:No! The dream is not over [just because of Linda Hamilton's then-recent remarks on "The Larry King Show" about how she was not interested in reprising her role as Catherine in a B&TB movie! We, the fans of Beauty and the Beast are the only ones (at this point in time) who can keep "our dream" alive. How, you ask? Simple. Get involved. Not just with letter- writing campaigns, but by keeping the spirit of B&TB alive in your heart. Do volunteer work within your communities, start a food and/ or clothing drive for less fortunate individuals, or teach people how to read. Beauty and the Beast taught all of us that we are "Our Brother's Keeper." This was the message that B&TB gave to all of us, so why not try to live by that message? Dot Sconzo and LOW is doing just that; why don't we all join her now? The B&TB fandom is supposed to be both loving and humane; let's be that way towards our respective communities in our everyday lives.
[Rita P]:I'm tired of this roller-coaster ride! I fell bad that one or two people can screw the dreams of so many good people. My head keeps telling me if s stupid to care so much about what was only a television show. What were only fictional characters. But it's my heart that still rules. I always remember the recurring theme of STII. "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one." I hope the needs of the many fans like myself who want this resolution will be fulfilled despite the needs of one actress or producer. And if they can't be fulfilled, I hope that those of you who only want Vincent back and don't care if it is with Catherine, Diana, Beauty ID, or alone will have your dream fulfilled. I won't try to stand in the way. I just probably won't be joining you. It's sad that last night was more devastating for many of us than watching TLBL. I'm just sorry at what was destroyed for so many. Well, I had to get this off my chest before I could even think about getting to work. If s going to be interesting to see how the rest of you feel. Take care everyone; maybe somehow, something good may yet come of all this. Still sharing a broken dream.
[Claire S]:If I saw someone like Vincent walking around in real life (Oooh, what a thought!), I would unhesitatingly conclude that he was a n alien from another planet. He could not possibly be the result of natural mutation, which is totally random and — 99.9% of the time — fatal or disabling to the organism. Vincent's differences are too numerous, coherent and complementary to be the result of one miraculously lucky genetic change. His genetic differences from standard Homo sapiens have to be just as numerous, coherent and complementary.
Now, if he is from another planet, sadly, Catherine and he could never have children, and little Jacob would have to be part of a fever dream. Catherine would have more in common, genetically, with an elm tree than someone who is the result of another planet's evolution. Dolphins and fish may look much alike because they fill a similar environmental niche, but they are light years apart biologically, and they come from the same planet I've always assumed that Amanda Grayson and Sarek of Vulcan made use of a very advanced genetic laboratory in the engendering of Spock. But their technology is 300 years ahead of ours.
[snipped]
If Vincent is not from another planet, the only other explanation I can think of is that he is a genetically redesigned human being. In which case, he has to come from the future. With the way scientific knowledge is increasing geometrically, I have no doubt that someday we will be able to design someone like Vincent.... in a few hundred years. {OK, girls — get your orders in now!) Such a feat is totally beyond any possibility today, let alone 35 years ago. I don't care what kind of genius "alchemist" you posit. The scientific community is only now beginning the monumental task of mapping the human genetic code — that is, recording the code, not translating it or redesigning it.
I prefer this explanation because it makes Vincent more one of us. But time travel is harder to accept than the possibility that another lifeform, of the many that must share our enormous galaxy, has discovered a practical form of space travel. Remember, I'm talking reality here — not science fantasy.
If Vincent and Catherine were to have a child it would prove that Vincent was a Homosapien by the very definition of species. Animals are of the same species if they can breed fertile offspring together. The exception is if two specie sare as closely related, genetically, as a horse and a donkey are. In which case, little Jacob Wells is an infertile, hybrid "mule."
[Julie S]: A very good friend of mine recently compared this fandom's waiting for a movie to what occurred in Close Encounters of the Third Kind. People seemed to be compelled to follow a dream or vision of something wonderful, but as the movie progressed, those less strong in belief dropped off one by one. The few who stuck it out received a beautiful reward. I'm hoping that this will be the way it will happen for us. As [Lynette C] said in the last TT issue, "eyes on the prize." Hopefully, there will be a prize in not-too-distant future for us all.
[Karen T]:I've watched the videotape of Linda Hamilton on The Larry King Live show, 6/27/91, over and over. I've transcribed it for my newsletter. For those of you who didn't see it or haven't heard about it (there MAY be one or two of you who've been vacationing in Outer Mongolia), in reply to the question (paraphrased) "Would you do Beauty and the Beast again?" Linda replied, "No! No, I've finished with it and it would be going backwards for me. It was a very wonderful time, but, you know, that part of me is finished and I'd like to do other things. There's too much else to do than to go backwards, you know."
Yeah, I know, Linda. Best of luck to you in your future career. Don't worry about us, wallowing herein the past, clinging to a romantic fantasy. Backward of us, really. Silly and selfish of us to think there might remain depths to plumb in the character of "Catherine," or that the role holds more than a backseat in your heart. (Oops! Now where did that sarcastic little toad come from? It just slipped out!) So ... how's everyone feeling about this?
DENIAL: The question was ambiguous. A B&TB MOVIE wasn't specifically mentioned. Maybe she only meant she wouldn't do a revival of the SERIES.
ANGER: (I've spent A LOT of time in this phase.) She doesn't give a rat's rear end for B&TB, the Dream, or the Fans! May Hollywood forget she exists so she'll be BEGGING to do a B&TB movie!
BARGAINING: No matter what she SAID, she'll do the movie if she's offered enough MONEY.
DEPRESSION: If s all over. There won't be a Movie. The Dream died with "Catherine." Gimme a box of Kleenex, a box of chocolates, and let's see what's on Star Trek tonight.
ACCEPTANCE: This is where I am now. In fact, it's back where I was before June 27th- Maybe there will be a B&TB Movie, and maybe there won't. Maybe it will be Beauty and the Beast with the "Beauty" personified by the beau ty in Vincent's soul and his memories of Catherine. Maybe the beauty will be in his love for their son. Maybe it will be another woman who's willing to accept second best, second place, in Vincent's heart.