Notice to All Naysayers

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Title:	Notice to All Naysayers (title used here on Fanlore)
Creator:	Stephanie A. Wiltse
Date(s):	January 1990
Medium:	print
Fandom:	Beauty and the Beast (TV)
Topic:
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Pipeline v.3 n.1 (January 1990) was published very shortly after the news of the show's cancellation and that the network would only broadcast some of the episodes that had been filmed.

It contains remarks by Wiltse which scold fans who are, and had been, out-outspokenly distraught about the third-season changes in the show.

Wiltse addressed fans regarding their words and actions (both in the past, and recent) in many places in the newsletter.

The two extensive remarks came from two sections. The first was embedded in "Beauty and the Beast Cancelled!" and the second (and the one most fans remember due to its use of the phrase "naysayer) is in a second section at the end, the last bit of "Readers' Forum."

Some Topics Discussed

• unhappy fans have been too vocal in "loudly denigrating this 3rd season at every opportunity"
• describing one's negative feelings is criticizing the show
• these negative fans make other fans look bad and damage their own credibility in the eyes of "the personalities"
• these negative fans are a "lunatic fringe" and a "contagion" and "Cullens" and their comments only put the show in "a chamber pot"
• despite all these inflammatory words, better fans must condescend to be kinder and smarter in order to do some "damage control"
• Wiltse mentions that if the show doesn't survive and people don't support this newsletter, then both will be taken away
• Wiltse says she has two letters written by fans in her possession ("It is my editorial "privilege" to receive copies of these letters"). One had been to the network and one had been sent to Ron Perlman. The letters contained "cover-notes" but it is unclear if the original writers were the ones who passed on these letters to Wiltse. Wiltse describes the first letter as a "overwrought tirade." The second letter, Wiltse says is eloquent and well-written, but she describes it as a "hate letter." Wiltse then quotes this letter without apparent permission. Wiltse states that these letters "presumed to speak for 'millions'," but reminds readers that even the Neilson Ratings can't reliably do that. Wiltse tells fans that she has received 248 orders for renewals and subscriptions to "Pipeline" and that this "gives one a better perspective on the majority's preference"
• Wiltse tells fans it is "unconscionable" to use words in letters to "spread prejudice and intolerance in the guise of righting a great wrong."

Wiltse's Remarks in "Beauty and the Beast Cancelled!"

We all al least know by reputation the ex-Beasties still among us who made a point of loudly denigrating this 3rd season at every opportunity. It must be understood now, that an impassioned negative letter to the network, a sponsor, or the press was still a letter about "Beauty and the Beast." And any public controversy these dark-siders managed to create was actually to the show's benefit, and worth its weight in angst to us. If there was any damage done, it was to our fandom's credibility with the personalities, the people this inevitable lunatic fringe tried to blame and vilify. If we are to survive as a fandom we must not fall into the same trap, by making these ex-fans feel any worse than they do already.

As in the episode "Fever" (1st season). Beauty and the Beast is a treasure that we can neither spend nor hoard. We can either put it to good use, or throw it into the abyss — but there will always be someone among us who will point a finger and cry, "Thief." Other communities have all but died out from such contagions. Perhaps it will be the test of ours how we deal with our "damage control." And how we help our "Cullens."

The survival of "Beauty and the Beast" has always seemed in question, a fact of life for "a creature that has never been" struggling in a world of commerce. For what it's worth, "Pipeline" will exist so long as there are readers enough to want it. Who can know what the new year, or the next decade, will bring. Only the present will have to do for now...

Wiltse's Remarks in "Readers' Forum"

2 letters came to the Workshop on December 20th that this editor will not publish — for the most part because they were not addressed to "Pipeline." They were copies of letters, one sent to "CBS and The Producers and Writers of Beauty and the Beast" and the other to Ron Perlman. The former was an overwrought tirade, the kind of letter one sends to the manufacturer of the lemon you paid too much (or one whose brakes failed, rolled down the driveway, and ran over your neighbor's prize-winning show-dog. An unintentionally ironic cover-note read: "Save the true spirit of B&B! I hear you publish a newsletter. Please send information to me."

The latter, a letter to Ron Perlman, was written by a long-time subscriber in the mistaken belief that it would never be read. In her cover-letter, the writer mentioned the self-same Winterfest whose reputation has already become somewhat infamous; she summed up: "I will not be watching any more of the shows, though I will tape them just in case someone somewhere comes to his senses and edits in a happy ending. I don't expect it — I guess in spite of everything I still want to believe. And that's why it hurts so much." The letter to Mr. Perlman itself was eloquent, well-written, but I can only find one definition to describe it even though I think the writer would deny it — hate mail.

Both these letters presumed to speak for "millions." Which recent "Reader's Forums" (not to mention the Neilsen ratings [sic] system} demonstrate is impossible. It would seem from the above Forum that fandom is divided for & against the 3rd season, but like the Neilsens [sic] this column can't necessarily speak for the silent majority. The fact that in this same time period some 248 orders were also received for subscriptions, back issues, and/or renewals of "Pipeline" that made no comment at all save for a signature on a check, gives one better perspective on the majority's preference.

This editor does not want to exacerbate what is obviously, genuinely painful. But since It has been my editorial 'privilege' to receive copies of these letters (do I sound a trifle testy?}, I will presume to answer them.

It is unconscionable to use such a sharp sword as the pen can be, to wound ...nor is it conscionable to spread prejudice and intolerance in the guise of righting a great wrong. In any case, war, hunger, environmental destruction — these are great wrongs — not what's done with the format of a television series. Agreed, people? With this in mind, then, let me also presume to speak for the majority of "Pipeline's" readers and to gently, but firmly, post the following...

Notice to all Nay-sayers:

Our enjoyment of "Beauty and the Beast" as it now stands does not infringe upon your right to turn of! the television set. But your misery —in seeking our company— does infringe on our right to continue to look forward to new episodes with unmitigated relish. Cease and desist the acrimony! Your opinions are valid as such, but vengeance and vendettas in the name of one's 'being right' have always been futile ...and it will leave many friends permanently parted.

Break then with the past rather than with your fellows. Gauge your words and actions not by their emotional worth to you, but by the good or ill they will do others. Whether they agree with you or not they are still worth your consideration. It is a sad thing to feel disenchanted, but inflicting that hurt on others is not to your credit nor will it prove your point. For all our sakes, give this new-born phoenix just now miraculously arisen from the ashes a better christening than the contents of a chamber pot.