Of Destinies and Dreams: The Gist of Beauty and the Beast (1987-1990)
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| Title: | Of Destinies and Dreams: The Gist of Beauty and the Beast (1987-1990) |
| Creator: | Zara Wilder |
| Date(s): | October 11, 2012 |
| Medium: | |
| Fandom: | Beauty and the Beast (TV) |
| Topic: | |
| External Links: | Of Destinies and Dreams, Archived version |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Of Destinies and Dreams: The Gist of Beauty and the Beast (1987-1990) is a 2012 Beauty and the Beast (TV) essay by Zara Wilder.
It is an overview of the show and what it means to many fans.
Some Topics Discussed
- the tropes and aesthetics of the 1980s
- the show was set was the twentieth century's version of the Baroque Period
- how the show did not really fit any genre well
- the show's fairy tale elements
- much character exploration: backgrounds and motive
- the optimism of the show
- how it spoke on many levels to many fans in many ways
Excerpts
Once upon a time—on the evening of Friday, September 25, 1987, to be precis e— a televised fairy tale of unparalleled beauty, compassion, and romance was first broadcast across the airwaves by CBS. The tale was an urban fantasy. It unfolded in the City of New York. It also lived and breathed in the hearts and imaginations of thousands of astonished viewers throughout the world. Beauty and the Beast was and is a story that changes lives.
The power and appeal of this story should not surprise us. The original fairy tale is important to our constitution as human beings. Many variations of the tale appear in folklore worldwide. The Grimm brothers' story "The Frog Prince," Tchaikovsky's ballet "Swan Lake," Apuleius's "Cupid and Psyche," Celtic and Norse myths of the selkie, the Arthurian ballad of "The Marriage of Sir Gawain," all these and more explore the theme of the lost and enchanted lover. Some renditions also delve into the primal mysteries of the animal bride or bridegroom. In "Beauty and the Beast," we are specifically entranced by the extant quest for union between a feminine embodiment of all that is understood to be beautiful, and a masculine embodiment of all that is not considered beautiful. As this tale proceeds, we encounter challenges to our definitions of beauty, as well as inspiration for our ideas about what it takes to become fully human.
So considering this auspicious foundation to the 1980s Beauty and the Beast, what does its audience — then and now — receive from the show?
In a word: hope.
Every episode takes seriously a pressing personal or societal issue. The episodes do this not through shocking exposé or heavy-handed moralizing, but by allowing us to witness heroic characters overcome every obstacle they encounter with love. If this sounds cheap or silly, it's because too many stories in our contemporary world have portrayed love itself as cheap and silly. Koslow's Beauty and the Beast is one of those stories that redeems the old adage, "Love conquers all!" — but then takes it a step further.
In the world as it exists for Vincent and Catherine, love does not need to conquer, for love by its very existence inherently triumphs. The lovers' story gives us a chance to believe that their truth is an all-too-often overlooked quality of the real world in which we ourselves live. All parts and pieces which construct the story give us patterns of hope we can use to live better lives of awareness and empathy in the here and now.
Truly, those many story parts and pattern pieces are arranged into very unconventional combinations. Koslow's Beauty and the Beast is a strange chimera. It contains legal procedural elements because its heroine becomes an assistant district attorney — but it is not a procedural drama. It contains action-adventure components because its setting is an unavoidably dangerous place to live — but it is neither a shoot-em-up crime show nor a hack-and-slash thriller. It contains all the ingredients for a sexy, passionate romance — yet it never parses the connection between its title lovers as a typical sexual relationship. It contains a subversive critique of mainstream culture because its hero is a consummate outsider — and yet it never strays from an ethic of unwavering compassion for the human race. Rather, this story is a graceful fantasy, magical because it dares to establish itself beyond the domination of the trivial, enduring because it asks fearless questions about timeless truths.
The show of the 1980s tackled such questions with an honesty and courage rarely seen before or since. It explored themes of ability and disability, trauma and healing, wealth and poverty, power and vulnerability, isolation and connection. The show subtly revolved around children and the world we are creating for them. It defined love as an insoluble concern for the abundant well-being of the beloved. It celebrated everything in our lives that is good, and noble, and true. It showed us that Beast and Beauty reside together within each one of us, and that both of these aspects need acceptance and recognition. Beauty and the Beast is a generous mirror. It reveals to us What Is even as it reveals What Can Be. Providing this kind of mirror is a service that the best of fantasy performs for the human heart. And this service is the gift bestowed upon us by the original television show.
Admittedly, the series is in many ways a product of its times. The decade in which the story is set was the twentieth century's version of the Baroque Period, after all. Crimped hair, huge hair, clothes that seem to us now too tight or too baggy in all the wrong places. Failed experiments in rap and synthpop, a profusion of ruffles and neon coloration, truly terrible early music videos featuring painfully self-conscious choreography. Everything was wrapped up in ostentatious cosmopolitan flair and topped with the gaudiest proto-technological bow imaginable. Ah, the '80s.
Yet all things considered, Beauty and the Beast ages pretty well. Remember, it strives for beauty above fashion. And where fashion does show through it becomes more of a historical footnote than a major plot point. Yes, it can require a little imagination to "see through" what we now believe to be quaint or cliché or "cheesy." Such effort on the part of the audience becomes necessary whenever we are looking at a prior rendering of a cultural theme that has become commonplace because the earlier incarnation was good enough to bear repetition. We commonly call these themes of plot and circumstance "tropes," these days. Tropes are the snarky descendents of the more authoritative "archetypes" found in ye olde fairy tales. The 1980s Beauty and the Beast has fed the tropes in contemporary media. But the show itself was all about revisiting archetypes for a new generation. These fresh interpretations of ancient patterns deserve our special attention.
It is this story that has meant so very much to a great many people over the past quarter of a century. We all come to the tale from different places, with different needs. Beauty and the Beast is so intricate, so layered with ancient meaning and modern-day magic, that it is able to nourish and heal on multiple levels at once. This is one of the most essential functions of a good story, and one that has nearly become lost in an era of ubiquitous entertainment. We who have been changed forever by a tale well-told enjoy the many variations that currently exist, and welcome new perspectives that may spring into existence as time goes on. But to be sure, the irreplaceable story that appeared in our world in 1987 will remain preeminent in our hearts.