The Helper's Gazetteer Proposal
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| Title: | The Helper's Gazetteer Proposal |
| Creator: | Stephanie A. Wiltse |
| Date(s): | October 1990 |
| Medium: | |
| Fandom: | Beauty and the Beast (TV) |
| Topic: | |
| External Links: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
The Helper's Gazetteer Proposal is a 1990 essay by Stephanie A. Wiltse.
It was printed in Wiltse's for-profit newsletter, Pipeline v.3 n.10.
The topic was Wiltse's thoughts on launching a new zine, one which would be a sister zine to her newsletter. It was to have the title, "Helper's Gazetteer," named after a long-time feature (with a different comma treatment, "Helpers' Gazetter") in "Pipeline." This publication would be more of a traditional zine with expanded fan discussion and letters of comment. Wiltse saw this zine as a vehicle for not just fans, but with her connections to Koslow and company, a way for TPTB (especially in light of the movie rumors) for show runners to "establish a vocabulary" and "the writers of the movie could learn more about what we all would universally enjoy and value."
The proposed subscription rate: 3 bi-monthly issues for $12.00 ($17.00 Overseas, $14.00 Canada).
Wiltse closes the essay with
Taking on another publication may be a little like curing the problem with the proverbial 'hair of the dog,' but if you'd like I'll take a whack at it. Ok guys, I'll put the bushel basket outside my mailslot again, what'dya think?
Failure to Launch
Ultimately, "The Helper's Gazetteer" did not make it off the ground in this form. Some of the reasons for this many have been:
- Wiltse had signaled to fans in later issues of "Pipeline" (which had grown increasingly shorter) that she was over-extended and exhausted and needed some fresh ideas
- fans were demoralized and upset about the direction the show had gone and what it had done to their fandom, reduced interest in the show itself
- for many fans, the bloom was off the rose regarding their interactions with TPTB, and they were possibly weary and distrustful of being seen as guinea pigs, offering up what was in their hearts and brains for other people a profit
- other letterzine editors and their participants may have felt threatened by the power of Pipeline's number of subscribers, were leery of Wiltse's influence, and didn't want Wiltse poaching their own letterzine subscribers
- the focus of the letterzine was no longer mainly Beauty and the Beast (TV), but other fandoms as well
- fans were perhaps just too darn mad at each other to want to start up another discussion zine, and they preferred to be in discussion only with fans they agreed with
Became a Different Zine
This proposal was altered and became the zine The Gathering Place in January 1991.
This new zine did not include other fandoms, the persona letters, and de-emphasized the visibility and Wiltse's connections with TPTB.
Some Topics Discussed in the Essay
- a need for fan communication with each other
- this proposed newsletter acting as a depository for fan opinions and likes/dislikes regarding other films and media, which in turn could be used by TPTB in formulating the Beauty and the Beast movie fans had all been waiting for
- the letterzine would provide the service of being a intermediatery for fan communication as pen pals
- fans could communicate in the letterzine "in character" or write as personas
- the recognition of letter writing as a fanac
Excerpts
Hundreds of subscribers WANT "Pipeline" to be a monthly, far outnumbering the writers-in that preferred bi-monthly, or those who simply said "Honey, whatever works best for you." After an entire summer of 8-page bi-monthlies however, four pages just don't accommodate everything any more. One look at my filing system (stop laughing!) revealed that the Readers' Forum and Helpers Gazetteer slots bulged with letters and stuff that I simply couldn't throw away unpublished, but never have had room to put in. Looking ahead to our 4th year, this couldn't go on. Time to use it or lose it The solution? A sister-publication, of course!
"Pipeline" will still offer the latest news about B&B and B&B people, photos, Biofiles, Tappings, Convention Updates and Classifieds on as monthly a basis as possible. (Speaking of snaps, I'm sorry but I cannot offer a reprint service for production photos used in "Pipeline." I only have the use of them for press purposes and I'm not authorized to make or distribute copies. Many are available from authorized dealers like Creation, etc. An even wider selection is available from ah, underground sources.)
The new 'zine, "Helper's Gazetteer" will offer more in-depth, but less time-sensitive 'community' services on a roughly bi-monthly basis. Those contributions that "Pipeline' never seems to have space for — anonymous Reader's Forum and/or 'signed' LoCs (included and/or edited at our discretion), sections on topics by, for and about Beasties ...as well as the oft-requested camera-ready ad section (Dealers take note!).
If you haven't already put pen, brush, needle, ...or crayon to paper, canvas, cloth, ...or computer screen, or have yet to find a medium with which to journey), letter-writing may be for you. Somehow I know you've already had some experience...
A first topic? What are your favourite movies and which ones might have been favourites but turned out not to be? Though a B&B theatrical feature has yet to be added to our lexicon, we have many films in common that are already at our disposal to explore. It can be just a general list of movies or as ponderful as you like. By way of example: Sequel movies are certainly apropos: a couple of correspondents have already written in about the first Star Trek movie being too self-conscious, special-effects laden, or suffering from too much ultimacy, i.e. the meaning of life, the universe and everything all in 2 hours flat. "Dark Shadows" creators chose to retell their vampire story in a more realistic' setting for its feature film rather than do a continuation, which was interesting but not satisfying somehow.
This is not soliciting yet another "vote' as "to Catherine or not to Catherine,' or "to happy ending or not to happy ending." Amassing a collection of plot suggestions that each individual fan would like Koslow & Co. to either copy or avoid, is not what I'm suggesting — to follow in Cocteau's footsteps must be a daunting enough prospect in and of itself.
Taking note of the films we have loved — or not — and why, will establish a vocabulary outside of the joint experience of "Beauty and the Beast," not to mention open a non-sectarian dialogue among those of us not inclined toward oils, clay, or fan-fiction writing.
And I think the writers of the movie could learn far more about what we all would universally enjoy and value ...from the films we have already taken to our hearts (or perhaps wished we could have). Above and beyond (so to speak) obvious parallels with B&B, watching these films again or for the first time, we will all get to know each other a little better. What often amazes new Beasties is how much outside of B&B everyone already has in common. Perhaps that is a strength that we can now draw upon.
Compiling the results of this and other 'research projects' is a service all our letterzines could painlessly provide. Many are still read by B&B functionaries. In this non-invasive way maybe we all can still have a part to play in that movie-to-be now burbling merrily on you-know-who's back burner.
We'll also be offering a very different kind of classifieds as well, one based on that famous magazine for letter writers of all interests — LEX (short for The Letter Exchange, PO Box 6218, Albany, CA 94706). Similar to LEX, by assigning a code number to each listing, the Workshop can then forward un-opened reader responses (for a small fee) back to the listing's author. People looking for pen-pals can use this safe, discreet service to get to know one another without exchanging either addresses or names.
Another type of listing is written "In Character" and responded to in kind. For example, some LEX readers have sent in these listings in the past — [ex: "Vincent, Please contact me. Remember, although we cannot be together, we will never be apart. — Catherine." Or from another genre... "Data, You don't get rid of me that easily, dear brother! The crystal and I are waiting for you. — Lore. Or... #•••*• Lord Peter I crave the opportunity to read your piffle. — Harriet Vane."] Great imagination exercise, eh? And neither listing author nor respondent need ever know each other's true identity. Sound like fun?