Sharing the Lights of Winterfest

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Title:	Sharing the Lights of Winterfest
Creator:	Dot Sconzo
Date(s):	December 1991
Medium:	print
Fandom:	Beauty and the Beast (TV)
Topic:
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Sharing the Lights of Winterfest is a Beauty and the Beast (TV) essay by Dot Sconzo who was a Dominican nun.

The topic is the fan activism of Lights of Winterfest.

It was printed in Beauty and the Beast Concordance.

Some Topics Discussed

• Lights of Winterfest, what it is, what it means, what it accomplishes
• God is working through Beauty and the Beast (TV) and the generosity of its fans
• many, many descriptions of fans influencing and being influenced by this fandom and good works, and these "God moments"
• a mention of a positive TV Guide article by Tim Carlson (January 13, 1990), which differed from all the other TV Guide articles "which seemed to go out of its way to humiliate B&B fans"

From the Essay

I have a response [for non-fans about being fannish about the show] that may take explaining, and upon which the Lights of Winterfest Project is based. I admit, quite seriously, to those who ask, "I've achieved a kind of cathexis with B&B." Back to Webster [Dictionary]. Cathexis: "investment of libidinal [emotional or psychic] energy in a person, object or idea." I'm positive, if Mr. Webster had known any B&B devotees, he would have added, "or TV show." For isn't this what we have done?

OK, OK, so here’s a fancy way of saying, “I’ve fallen in love with a TV show.” True, but cathexis is a different dimension of love. We don’t simply admire B&B, we’re more than just devoted to it. We’ve made it a part of ourselves. We’ve allowed its message to penetrate our inner psyches, our “hearts.” Those who have cathexis B&B have opened themselves to changing and growing through the philosophy that’s been promoted by the story, its characters, its setting, its very essence. At least to a degree, we are who we are today because of this. I hat’s why we don’t just watch an episode, we experience it. That’s why we’ve tried so valiantly to influence the creative minds behind it to lead us in what we feel is the proper direction for the show. That’s why, ultimately, so many of us were so terribly hurt by Season Three. What other fictional creation has ever had this power over our emotions?

Lights of Winterfest is one manifestation of the attitude of generosity that's been perpetrated by the show. I feel the LoW Project is significant enough to show the world that B&B is far more than just another cancelled TV drama. I believe that this series has been and will continue to be used by God to aid in bringing people back to a sensitivity that, in recent times, is often lost in our culture. And so, this inner, inextinguishable flame this extraordinary spirit, continues to be passed, as it was when the Winterfest flames expelled the darkness of the Great Hall.

You say you’ve never heard of a nun like me before? How many nuns do you know — or are you simply relying on your stereotypical view of what nuns should be? I must admit, I rather atypical, but I am very grateful to my Congregation for respecting my ideals enough to allow me the freedom to fight for them. Remember the scene in The Wizard of Oz, when the wizard tells Dorothy, “I am Oz, the Great and Powerful.” She humbly answers, “I am Dorothy, the small and meek.” Before I found myself confronting TV executives and producers, that was certainly this Dorothy. Now, however, there isn’t anyone I can think of who hasn't been informed about LoW, at least once. This includes TV big-shots, plus their stations and specific TV programs such as Entertainment Tonight, newspapers both local and our-of-state. Viewers for Quality TV, innumerable magazines, sponsors, gossip columnists (a recent message from Liz Smith confirms what we’ve heard: she wrote to tell me that she LOVES B&B), etc., etc. If you, my esteemed reader, have any idea who would be willing to help promote the LoW Project, I’d appreciate a note to inform me. I must add, that now, I see myself more as the Dorothy on the Hallmark greeting card. It says, “You’ve already got the brains, courage and heart, now all you need us a pair of red shoes and a feisty little dog.”

I suppose I do feel as if I’ve evolved from being the Cowardly Lion to being more like Vincent. This leads me to the psychology behind LoW. The qualities admired in Vincent, his inner strength and his ability to love, for instance (yes, I realize there are many others) are qualities we’d most like to see developed in ourselves. In the pilot, for example, Vincent encourages Catherine when she tells him, “I don’t have your strength.” When he answers, he’s telling all of us, “Yes, you do.” We may not see these traits in ourselves, but we can see them in him. We do have these gifts, although most of us fail to recognize them until someone we trust says, “Yes, you do.”

Because of cathexis, we believe what Vincent tells us and we allow his attributes to grow within us. We become better at giving freely of ourselves, and accepting from others, as Vincent does over and over again— in spite of possible pain, including the kind of pain caused by Rolley, Laura, Devin—the pain of rejection, of being misunderstood or of being “left behind.” Vincent never stops loving those who reject him, but continues to give generously of all he is (remember his answer to Elliott’s question in “Beggar’s Comet”?) As Vincent and his people reach out to those in need, so do we. It’s as if they are mirroring our own goodness back to us and those of us who are aware—or sensitive to it—catch the reflection! God never stops loving, either, and it’s possible that we may consciously or unconsciously grow to a deeper awareness of a Higher Love. I have had people write who have informed me that their sense of “religion” suddenly meant something to them—that because of B&B, it’s not just “religion” anymore, but a personal relationship with a loving God.