The Beauty of the Beast: An improbably romance blooms, and a cult is born
| News Media Commentary | |
|---|---|
| Title: | The Beauty of the Beast: An improbably romance blooms, and a cult is born |
| Commentator: | Diane Hofsess |
| Date(s): | late 1988, early 1989 |
| Venue: | |
| Fandom: | Beauty and the Beast (TV) |
| External Links: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
The Beauty of the Beast: An improbably romance blooms, and a cult is born is a an article in an unknown newspaper in Michigan by Diane Hofsess.
It was printed as a clipping in A Romantic of the Leonine Persuasion #2 in 1989.
Some Topics Discussed
- Beauty and the Beast (TV)
- why women are fans of the show
- fandom as a cult
- the show as a chaste romance that women can relate to
- men are generally not fans, find it too mushy and lovey-dovey
- the article's author finds a male professor (Erik Rabin) to explain it all to women, who says are not recognizing that the show "is loaded with sexual symbolism -- even if the characters never consummate their love."
- Rabin points out that women love the show in a naive, sweet way that is similar to children building blanket forts, but men can relate to it for its "strong literary themes"
- the writers and other showrunners, including Ron Koslow read "all the" fan publications
From the Article
The TV series and the newsletters produced by a growing number of fan clubs have helped turn a simple children’s tale into a social phenomenon enjoyed by TV viewers around the globe. Gladys Hart, 64, says she watches it by herself at home each Friday while her husband “tinkers around in the basement" in their Farmington Hills home. "I don’t think it’s violent like some of those shows,” she says. "It’s sort of a romantic show. Not a lot of blatant sex.”
Detroiter Dina Ascenzo, who is 29 and also an ardent Beauty and the Beast fan, says she appreciates the show for the superior love between the main characters. "It’s not a mooshy love,” she says. "You don’t need all that sex and lovemaking to make it special. You can respect it.”
She says she quit watching Knots Landing because she tired of watching characters jump in and out of bed with one another. Beauty and the Beast, she says, is above that.
Rabkin [the professor] says female viewers probably like the show because Vincent is such a powerful sex symbol Catherine's romance with him allows women to vicariously live out the romantic fantasy of loving such a sexual being.
"Vincent is the most appealing kind of man you can ask for,” says Rabkin. "He’s gentle, educated, and yet at the same time naive about how the world fractions, so Catherine can feel wise, - and he gives her a wonderful sense of power.
The professor says Vincent represents a kind of bestial power that men would like to possess and women would like to control, as Catherine does so well in the show.
“Although Vincent is powerful, he is not a threat to Catherine,” says Rabkin. He protects her whenever she needs help. The worst he can do to her, because he loves her, is to dissuade her from marrying someone else, says Rabkin. And women love this about Vincent.
Rabkin points out that even Vincent's voice is sensual. "He virtually never speaks in a normal tone of voice. He either whispers — usually an artificially softened voice that one might expect to be uttered into the ear of a lover — or on rare occasions when he feels he has to protect Catherine, he roars: the voice of a beast. That cute little pussy cat face with the soft locks around it is drawn back, and you see the beast”
Rabkin, who has taught at U. of M[ichigan] for 12 years, says it’s easy to understand why women would find the show appealing. But he believes the show also has strong literary themes that men can relate to. “There's a kind of adolescent fantasy in the show about having an invisible powerful friend,” says Rabkin. In any predicament, no matter what, he finds a way to get there. Superman was like that, says Rabkin, and so is Vincent. Men, as well as women, identify with this fantasy.
Beyond that, the show incorporates the fantasy of returning to the womb, a kind of nest where everything is safe. The underground world where Vincent lives is like that, says Rabkin.
“I don't know about you, but when I was a kid, I loved to make forts — take a blanket and drape it over the dining room table,” says Rabkin. “That represents a desire to return to a kind of nest, a nest as space that gives one a sense of security.
The show has fueled at least 35 newsletters that are circulated among loyal fans who want more than just an hour a week of Beauty and the Beast. The newsletters contain show scenarios, interviews with the characters, letters from viewers and sometimes poetry quoted in the show. Some of the newsletters are even computerized, so that they can be transmitted electronically to fans.
Show creator Ron Koslow says he was surprised Beauty and the Beast appealed so strongly to women, when he envisioned a more cross-sectional audience: "The show also seems to have been embraced by a group of people who are appreciators of the fantasy genre,” he says. “Many of these were the supporters of the Star Trek television show. They are a literate and intelligent group.”
He says the writers on the staff read all the fan publications very carefully. “Most contain detailed and literate letters, almost dissertations on various aspects of the show. For us, it's quite enlightening.”
Through letters and fan publications, viewers have asked for less action, greater development of the romance between Catherine and Vincent and more quoted poetry.
And they’ve gotten it.
Beast producers so far haven't recognized any particular fan club as the official club. “We feel everybody should have an opportunity to express themselves without the responsibility of being sanctioned,” says Koslow.