Only a Commercial Necessity
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| Title: | Only a Commercial Necessity |
| Creator: | Kassandra |
| Date(s): | 1991 |
| Medium: | |
| Fandom: | Beauty and the Beast (TV) |
| Topic: | |
| External Links: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Only a Commercial Necessity is a Beauty and the Beast (TV) essay by Kassandra.
It was printed in Fantasies Domain #2.
Some Topics Discussed
- being personally heartbroken about the changes in the show
- Diana Bennett isn't a bad character, but Vincent can't love her
- Beauty and the Beast (TV) is only a television show
- it's okay to have strong opinions, but don't try to control other people's opinions
- the writers and showrunners did the best they could under the circumstances
- the third season show isn't really a fairy tale anymore, and it isn't Beauty and the Beast
- the third season is a "bit of a chocolate teapot"
- "Let's hope they get the film up and running," so this can all be resolved
From the Essay
To all of you who have stopped short at the title [to my poem about Diana], a great sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach: Catherine would say to Vincent: trust me. Often things are not what they first appear to be: this is a 'She's Not Dead' piece, so you can peel yourselves of the wall. I happen to believe that all the best fairytales end 'happily ever after.'
But if I may take a moment to add a word.I think sometimes some of us forget that this is after all a television programme and all the characters therein, no matter how real they seem are fictitious. There has been so much falling into two halves among us over the third season, which was -- even though it hit a raw nerve for most of us - after all only a commercial necessity. I can understand the divergence of feelings over the ubiquitous 3rd season, what saddens me more is the apparent inability of many to accept that others may have different opinions. Since the advent of video no one is compelled to watch anything that they find unacceptable.
Lovers of the programme wrote in and bought them breathing space. They then did what they thought was the best with what they had within the parameters set, because contracts had been signed. Whether you choose to ignore it, or rave about how brilliant it is, is between you and your conscience. Trying to be objective, I think they made a reasonable job of what they had. It wasn't Beauty and the Beast. It wasn't what most people wanted. But if you can stand back, it hangs together better than a lot of American TV. Subsequently many who were involved seem to have grudgingly admitted that the third season was a bit of a chocolate teapot.
Personally, the third season is not to my taste. I happen to think that Vincent and Catherine are joined at the hip and that there couldn't be anyone else for either of them. With Catherine dead I think Vincent would have either lived with his memories, or curled up and died. But that is only my opinion. I would not dream of denying anyone an opinion different from my own. But that was the dream, the fantasy. So what hurts so much about real time third season is the way they dispatched Catherine,and then expected everyone to substitute Diana as Vincent's new love. That is commercial time, the Company needed to make money.