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We have long ago rejected to being called "Beasties"...
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| Title: | We have long ago rejected to being called "Beasties"... |
| Creator: | Darlene S. wrote the original letter, Janis Allyn had a response |
| Date(s): | January 1991 |
| Medium: | |
| Fandom: | Beauty and the Beast (TV) |
| Topic: | |
| External Links: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
We have long ago rejected to being called "Beasties"... is a letter by a fan in the newly-formed Beauty and the Beast (TV) publication, The Gathering Place.
The letter took the editor of "The Gathering Place" (and by default, Pipeline) to task for terminology and mission.
Janis Allyn printed the letter in The Gathering Place #1, and included her own response.
Allyn also printed a second letter by a fan, one that asked point-blank if this "The Gathering" was a way to "re-establish yourself." From Allyn's response to the second letter:
I am doing this to “re-establish myself” but not in the way you meant it. I freelance for printers and typesetting houses, mostly, and in time I will make enough contacts here to feed myself again but “making a living” isn’t enough. [...] furniture for the living room can wait. It would benefit no one but me and lose its appeal in a few weeks anyway. This newsletter is a lot more fun and it doesn't have to be dusted!
Some Topics Discussed
In the First Letter
- disliking the term, Beasties
- feeling manipulated by marketing and one's love of a fandom
- profit and fandom
- a fan's suspicion that they are being used as a means to an end
In the Response
- the editor, Allyn, admitted she didn't watch a lot of television, that she read books instead
- she was unaware of Beauty and the Beast (TV) fandom norms and didn't realized the term was offensive to some fans
- Allyn explained that she wasn't publishing the new newsletter to make money, but instead because it supported her business plans; it fit with her "personal goals," allowed her to use her "typesetting" skills, and because she was good at networking and wanted to put her talents to use providing a service to fans of the show so that they could be friends
- Allyn "'splains" fandom to fans, and suggests that they need her help in forming relationships and sharing their fanworks with each other
The First Fan Letter
I am writing in response to your article about the "Helper's Gazetteer" [1] in the Dec/Jan issue of Pipeline.
I want you to know how insulting your writing is to this fandom. We have long ago rejected being called "Beasties" and we have let it be known for three years that we will accept the name "Helpers" if we have to be named at all. "Beasties" was coined by lazy, Level I thinking media members who, as usual, grabbed for the easiest and most obvious name and one which also would have a connotation of contempt reflecting their opinion that this fandom is comprised of silly females hung up on the show. If your publication "...will begin under Steff's watchful eye so that it will reflect her original vision..." then both of you should know how grating it is to see "Pipeline" use this appellation for the B&B fandom members. You repeated this name five times in your article. I suggest you drop this term for the fandom now because you are not ingratiating yourself with us.
About the publication you are offering. It has nothing whatever to do with the "Beauty and the Beast" television show. It is another addition to the growing mountain of junk making money for its hucksters because they claim "Beauty and the Beast" as the source of their inspiration and then work the fandom as source of profit. If you choose a title that in any way infers any relationship to the program or its characters, you are playing on the gullibility of people whose innocence when the name of "Beauty and the Beast" is invoked would lead them to trustingly send money for a publication which is merely an extended format of a lonely hearts/pen-pal/advice column. If you want to make yourself some money by selling subscriptions to something which should be advertised in the pages of the "Enquirer" and its sister rags, you should at least be honest enough to offer it as a stand alone publication and not try to make a profit by riding on the coattails of the "Beauty and the Beast" television program.
The Editor's Comments to the First Letter
Janis Allyn also included her response to this letter in The Gathering Place.
Thank you for expressing your feelings about my Pipeline article.
I watch very little television because I have a serious addiction to books so my appreciation for Beauty and the Beast is much newer than yours and I was not aware that the term "Beastie" would be offensive to those who have a long term devotion to the show. My apologies!
Certainly I will make many mistakes with this new project and I hope that when I do, concerned readers like you will take the time to respond. If my publication ever becomes part of the "mountain of junk making money for its hucksters", please feel free to line a bird cage with it because I will have failed utterly if that is all I appear to be doing. I am very good at networking people and I would like to put that skill to work in service to the Beauty and the Beast community because it fits with my personal goals. I am trying to find ways to use my typesetting business to make a difference, not just make a profit. (If I were aiming solely at making a profit, I would be intelligent enough to find a more sensible investment.)
On my desk are letters from Honolulu, Germany, Africa, England . . all of them sharing something of their love for B&B but you have to look at the return addresses to know that these are American or German or African people, otherwise they are just people sharing and that’s what I’m working towards, bringing people together to share something of themselves. People need a common ground to begin communicating and I’m just trying to supply a place for that to happen, because all that is of value in this world is found in our relationships with each other and relationships are difficult to get started. Sometimes we need a little help.
It would be a wonderful world if we could all see into each other’s souls with eyes as innocent as Catherine’s but however much we may aim for that virtue in ourselves, we fail. When a letter or a poem or a drawing is created, that creation stands on its own; it is appreciated for its own merit and the creator is faceless. Just as Vincent’s beautiful voice touched Catherine when her face was bandaged, allowing her to see his soul before she saw his face, the many ways in which B&B fans express themselves speak of what is inside them, long before they meet at conventions or fan gatherings. By offering fans a forum for their expression, I hope to help bring some of the “beauty” of B&B into the real world. I’m giving this my best shot. When you believe I have missed the mark, as I did with the term “Beastie”, write to me again. I appreciate the time and effort that went into your response.
The Second Letter Excnange
The topic of profit and the business plan was also addressed by a second letter, this one by a fan named Mary Jane. B.:
Dear Janis, ... My friends and I are curious -- are you a fan of Beauty and the Beast or just doing this in an effort to reestablish yourself? Your section in Pipeline didn't make it clear....
Allyn's response:
Yes I’m a fan but I almost feel like I have to apologize for being such a new one since so many of you have been actively loyal for such a long time. My interest is mainly in the ideals of B&B since I tend to be a very idealistic person (both feet firmly planted in mid air.) Do you remember the episode "Remember Love" when Vincent sees what the world would be like without him? Catherine says, “We’re all on the same journey. We create that journey for each other.” It’s so easy in this enormous and complicated world to feel very small and wonder if we make a difference, if it even matters that we exist. I've wondered that more than once. The tunnel dwellers had each other, a family to remind them that they did matter. They were of like mind, living their lives according to a shared value system and that system appeals to B&B lovers. I would like to encourage its existence “above” in this world. That’s why I didn’t want this newsletter to just be a Helpers Gazetteer spin off. That would have been easier but it wouldn't have been me. It wouldn’t have given me a way to “create the journey” for anyone else.
I am doing this to “re-establish myself” but not in the way you meant it. I freelance for printers and typesetting houses, mostly, and in time I will make enough contacts here to feed myself again but “making a living” isn’t enough. I want to make a life. And this time that life will be created according to my own values, not my parent’s, not my husbands, MINE! So in that way, I am reestablishing myself, yes, but I have no illusions about this project supporting me. Printing and postage costs will be eating up my piggy bank. But furniture for the living room can wait. It would benefit no one but me and lose its appeal in a few weeks anyway. This newsletter is a lot more fun and it doesn't have to be dusted!