Passages (Beauty and the Beast letterzine)/Issues 001-002
| Zine | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Passages |
| Publisher: | |
| Editor(s): | Karen Bates |
| Type: | letterzine |
| Date(s): | March 1988 to at August 1989 |
| Frequency: | monthly |
| Medium: | |
| Fandom: | Beauty and the Beast (TV) |
| Language: | English |
| External Links: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Passages (March 1988-August 1989) is a letterzine with eighteen issues. It hailed out of Nebraska, US and was the first letterzine devoted to the Beauty and the Beast universe.
The letterzine had the attention and support of TPTB. In issue #16/17 (July 1989), the editor wrote: "I would like to thank Mr. Roy Dotrice and Mr. George R.R. Martin for their gracious support of this publication. A thank you is so little in return for their timely gestures."
From Datazine #54: "A forum for comments, critiques, discussion and exchange of ideas for anyone interested in The Beauty and the Beast universe."
The letterzine ceased just as fans were getting information that the last season was going to have a different direction and tone. These fans did not yet know the extent of these changes, and their optimism that TPTB would "do the right thing" was combined with their wariness. See the progression in the comments in individual issues. Also see Things Began to Heat Up: February 1989.
See List of Letterzines for similar fanworks.
The Issues
See these subpages for details about individual issues, including quoted opinions and summaries of fannish views on topics current then, and now.
| Passages (Beauty and the Beast letterzine) Issues | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Issues 001-002 | Issues 003-004 | Issues 005-006 | Issues 007-008 | |
| Issues 009-010 | Issues 011-012 | Issues 013-015 | Issues 016-018 | |
Issue 1
Passages 1 was published in May 1988 and contains 9 pages.
It contains three letters of comment, some episode credits, some reprints from magazines,
Excerpts from fan letters:
How do I love Beauty and the Beast? Let me count the ways.
[...]
This is romance as it used to be, as it was meant to be. The poetry, the candlelit sets and medieval costuming, all combine to create the wonderfully romantic and mysterious atmosphere that envelopes Vincent and Catherine. Their relationship is sweet, sad, tender and strong, all at the same time. Its innocence fills me with sighs and yearnings for such beauty. It is the pure romance of a fairy tale, wistful, charming and wonderful.
I admire Catherine; she is strong, intelligent and independent, the sort of person I would like to be. As for Vincent, he's the sort of person I'd like to meet. He, too, is strong, (and he has such a great build!), yet is gentle and understanding. His horizons stretch far beyond his tunnel dwellings. He is completely unselfish, placing Catherine's happiness above his own. His devotion to loved ones is boundless, his sincerity endearing.
Lastly, I would like to make a comment to those dubious viewers who find the show to be just too far-fetched. Well, it's supposed to be far-fetched! It's a fantasy! What did you expect? I'm sure there's a logical reason for all (or at least most) of the show's eccentricities, but unless they're directly concerned with the current plot, I don't really care what they are. I don't want to sit and listen to Father give a technical discourse on exactly how electricity is tapped from underground power lines, or exactly what causes wind in the Abyss. I get enough of that at school I watch Beauty and the Beast not only for the reasons described above, but as a temporary escape, a break from my work. I don't need to know the scientific reasons for every little oddity; at this point it's enough for me to know those oddities exist in the world of B&B. They provide many opportunities for new plot lines. If every phenomenon was explained away the moment it was revealed to the audience. Beauty and the Beast would lose that aura of mystery which is so vital to the show.
[The cartoon "Berry's World"] refers to these two popular folk heroes standing on either side of a woman. The caption reads "Hey, Guys, Try Sensitivity, It's the Way to Go in '88". This statement presumably refers to the concept where a woman chooses a man over all others based on his 'sensitivity.' Implying, of course, that despite disfigurement, exile from polite society, and/or other flaws usually considered fatal in continuing romantic relationships, sensitivity might well prevail. Has it really taken until 1987-88 for the idea of romance as portrayed by this cartoon to make a "comeback." Think of "Wuthering Heights", written over a hundred years ago, or "Gone with the Wind", both which set screen standards almost fifty years ago. Think of how popular romance novels of almost every quality continue to flourish.
Suddenly the Moguls of Television and Stage have somehow recognized what many of us would like to see. I believe their surveys realized that there is a real demographic group (yes, probably mostly women) who are fed up with the graphic violence and 'sex-with-love-as-an-afterthought' theme inherent in many of recent television and screen properties.
The idea of a complicated relationship (without sex!) between a male and female character is probably a great challenge to a script-writer. (Treatment of this subject certainly has not been handled well or frequently on television).
One may ask, has some of this trend back toward romance and away from casual sex resulted from changing mores as a result of the AIDS epidemic? I, for one, certainly hope so. This unfortunate situation has probably contributed greatly toward allowing us exposure to high quality production such as B&B and POTO. These seem to legitimize the old, perhaps corny, and often poorly written notions of romance.
Issue 2
Passages 2 was published in June 1988 and contains 10 pages.
This issue contains clipping reprints and five letters of comment.
Excerpts from fan letters:
Vincent's determination to protect Catherine from the hardships and privations of his world are in direct conflict with his noble defense ("China Moon") of Lin's right to decide her own future, to follow the path she can share with her true love, rather than marry a more "successful" man, and achieve a higher station in life. Vincent to Father: "Lin is a woman (he makes a little, purely masculine move, thrusting his hips forward as he says "WOMAN", that just melts me) responsible only to herself!!" Then, when Father tries to defend the grandfather's point of view, saying, "Dr. Wong only wants what is best for Lin." Vincent counters with, "Only Lin knows what is best for Lin." Does this 'liberated" attitude apply to all women but Catherine??? In her case, he knows what is best for her, right? Ah, love is blind. (Are you listening, Ron K. and Ron P.?)
Greater physical intimacy for them is a must, next season (V & C).
Tender, loving kisses will only serve to fuel the fire of desire for Vincent and Catherine, and anything less will compromise their characters. I feel sure that Vincent would take the needed quantum leap in understanding Catherine's needs, and gradually learn and grow into the knowledge that he is worthy of her appraisal of him...a pearl of great price. That is IF Ron Koslow and Ron Perlman would let him do so. Listen guys, 22 shows of teasing and frustration cannot be assuaged by one or two (let's see some lovin'!) gentle kisses every show. I haven't targeted Linda H. because I think she's in favor of kisses, too.
Seeing that powerful, ultra-masculine, sensitive, beautiful and shy Vincent tossed into the depths of passion where Catherine can surely take him, only to have to stop with a few kisses and try to deal with his white hot need of her will have the women of America in puddles on the living room floor every Friday night, NO PROBLEM. They'll still have to get married, after Catherine makes arrangements for their living quarters, of course (I've got 60 pages detailing how to do it.)
One of the usual topics is: "why do we like this show enough to participate and fork out money for a zine about it?" There are any number of reasons I like B&B, It has a lot of enjoyable facets. The lighting and cinematography are as spectacularly watchable as MV, though in a different style. The costumes are nifty as heck, I have no idea why the gang Underground should happen to be so preferential to capes, ruffled shirts with lace cuffs, and leather and wool, but hey, I'm sure not complaining. The continuity has been very good, with continuing characters like Elliot and Paracelsus that at first seem like one-shots, but then come back again. It's a little unusual. In a show these days to have a continuing set of antagonists (the last ones I can think of were the Penguin and Catwoman) and It's a nice touch that lends more verisimilitude to the universe. We keep running into the same people over and over again in Real Life, but hardly ever on TV, unless they're one of the cast.
Back to that one-or-the-other choice they face, which I don't think has to be seen as that kind of a decision. So why couldn't Catherine spend nights and weekends Underground? She's got an answering machine, she'd just be unavailable to the world during a lot of her free time. And Vincent makes pretty regular visits to her balcony, why doesn't she ever invite him in for hot chocolate by the fireplace? Rent a few tapes, show him some of the world that way. There isn't so much traffic through her place that he couldn't stay over a day or two.
Beyond that, why stay in New York at all? If they want to cavort in the sushine, she could probably make it with a small office in Moosebreath, Montana and there wouldn't be a lot of neighbors to contend with. Heck, move to LA and nobody would even care. In fact, he'd probably get a lot of compliments and a couple job offers. Try San Rafael, where he'd blend right in with the off-duty gang from LucasFilms. There are LOTS of solutions that don't involve her having to give up everything and move into the tunnels. All she has to do is discover fandom - who's been to a WorldCon and not seen a lot of strange characters wandering the Hilton halls and hanging out in the hotel coffee shop? He'd win Hall Costume awards at any con, and could probably clean up the masquerades at most of the smaller ones. What would any of us do at encountering him in the con suite, eh? Scream and run, or swoon and wonder if he was single? I rest my case.
A lot of the articles about B&B that I've seen wonder why Vincent is so appealing to women, and end up concluding it's for some deep, dark Freudian reason having something to do with the female equivalent of the Oedipus complex. Phooey. In my book, romance and pure adoration do not equate with unfulfilled prepubescent sexual longings, and I'm pretty sure I don't even have any of the latter. Who wouldn't fall for a dude with a build like that, a penchant for wearing Terminally Romantic Shirts, and a voice of that timbre reading Shakespearean sonnets? Get real! The whole thing looks pretty obvious to me. But then I'm still trying to figure out why anyone with more than two connected brain cells would want to have anything to do with Bruce Willis.
And on that note, I think it's time for me to call this a wrap and go kiss my cat goodnight. Practice -- I live in hope...