Whoosh! Issue 53 - February 2001
Letters to the Editor


To write to the editor regarding your comments, observations, and questions about Whoosh!, send an e-mail to ktaborn@lightspeed.net and mark the subject "Letter to the Editor" to expedite the process. All letters received by the editor are subject to publication and may be edited. Due to the volume received, some letters may not be answered individually or receipt acknowledged and may be published at the editor's discretion. Letters received after the 15th of the month may be reserved for a later issue.




2001 Recurring in the Xenaverse Calendar
Ares as Daddy
Ares as Sugar-Daddy
Lao Ma: Good or Evil?
Overly Obsesses
The Decline of Xena
The Decline of WHOOSH!
The Future of WHOOSH!
What Should Kym Do?
An Interview with Robert Tapert
Joxer Corner
Coming Out of the Closet
Eli Corner
Renaissance Pictures Mail
Oz Needs Merchandise!



Letters To The Editor



2001 Recurring in the Xenaverse Calendar

Date: Mon, 08 Jan 2001
From: Helen/mmorgaine
Subject: 2001 Calendar

Re: Hope's entry in the 2001 calendar:
> Children: Chuppy, the Porcupine Boy (father: Ares)

LOL!! Now, do you think we could convince the folks at the Oxygen website that that's the character's real name? (Hey, they *did* list him as Dinsdale/The Destroyer.)

Great job, as always. Awesome site, tons of hard work, wow, you're amazing.

Oh, for next year, you might try the following suggestions: Favorite Obscure Character, Favorite Character to Never Have Appeared in an Episode, or possibly Wish We'd Seen More of You (aka Most Unrealized Potential). Oooo. How about a Favorite Episode Calendar? I think that might be cool.

But maybe I'm getting ahead of myself.

Thanks again for all you do.

Helen/mmorgaine





Ares as Daddy

From: Valerie Foster
Date: Sat, 6 Jan 2001
Subject: Letter to the Editor

I thoroughly enjoyed Nusi Dekker's "Who is Xena's Father? A Controversy Revisited." I thought it incredibly clever how Nusi set it up by comparing Xena's "super-mortal powers" (a line from Ares in "The Reckoning") to other characters who've had similar powers, but in only limited areas (i.e. Najara could catch arrows, but could she levitate like Lao Ma -- Xena can do both and more), and addressing the possibility that either Zeus or Hades could be "daddy" before going into Ares.

I also thought that Nusi's discussion of the specific early XWP eps and the lines from the transcripts that she chose to further bring home her paternity point were very keen. Not being a watcher of H:TLJ, I thought it was also great that Nusi established some important points about the Ares/Hercules brotherhood in driving home the "family" connection. I didn't know that Ares and Herc often fought to a "draw" before reading her article. And it was worth noting that, yes, after The Furies, Ares became THE major a**hole of the third season, doing all kinds of devious doo-doo, and was absent for practically all of the fourth season (that's partially why I loved the fourth season so much), but that none of the seductive Samson and Delilah game was going on until that wretched fifth season.

I also enjoyed how Nusi segued into the sixth season's "Coming Home." I enjoyed that episode, but was beyond tired of the whole Ares/Xena thing. And Chris Manheim...what was she thinking? Why was it so important for her to give Xena a boyfriend? Would having a dude tied to her whip make Xena more of a woman? Is a woman not truly a "woman" unless and until she has a man? The fact that Xena isn't constantly fawning over some bloke is what has traditionally set this show apart from Buffy and Nikita and all of the others of the genre. Sure glad Manheim's gone from the XenaStaff!

My hat's off to Nusi!

Valerie Foster





Ares as Sugar-Daddy

From: Ludditea
Date: Tue, 9 Jan 2001
Subject: evolution of the xena-ares relationship by mj marin

Although I'm a subtexter, maybe I can explain why the Xena-Ares relationship wouldn't make it for the long haul. Ares, as stated in the article, is a bad boy. In other words, he's the kind of guy you have a fling with. Gabrielle, on the other hand, is the kind of gal you take home to mother. Personally, I would be happy to see the Warrior Princess have a small fling with Ares; it would be exciting & titillating. It would also be safe because Xena would go back to Gabrielle before the final fade out. I always wanted to see Xena lock lips with Callisto before her dramatic change -- there was always a layer of sexual tension between those two adversaries as there is between Xena & Ares. Likewise, I 've always been disappointed that Nebula stayed in the Hercverse & never moved over to the Xenaverse. (But maybe a clash between Xena & Nebula would have generated too much heat for TV. ) At any rate, in spite of all the excitement created by these imagined pairings, Gabrielle was Xena's soulmate before the TPTB decreed it. It was obvious in the first several episodes and was noticed by the fans which is why the subtext was consciously added to the series. If Xena took up permanently with the ultimate bad boy, Ares, the series would end with Xena going back to the dark side, negating the previous 6 years. Surely, this is not the fate we all want for the Warrior Princess.





Lao Ma: Good or Evil?

Date: Sat, 06 Jan 2001
From: Nusi Dekker
Subject: Letter to the editor

I would like to commend Virginia Carper on her intriguing and eye-opening essay on Xena's beloved mentor, Lao Ma. Like, I expect, more than a few viewers, I had been lulled into the belief that Lao Ma was one of those "good" mentors who had a positive influence on Xena. Reading this article provided a lot of food for thought.

Ms. Carper exposes some very disturbing attributes of Lao Ma, such as the fact that, under a tranquil facade, she kept her husband, Lao Tzu, in a vegetative state, most likely under the influence of accupressure and mind-numbing drugs, so that she could satisfy her desire for power and status. Lao Ma told Xena that Lao Tzu had been a tyrant, in order to justify her actions against him. But there was no proof that Lao Tzu had in fact been a tyrant, only Lao Ma's say-so. To further assuage her guilt, Lao Ma wrote the Tao philosophies and generously attributed the writings to her husband. She then twisted these sentiments to fit her own agenda. Her favorite saying (and later Xena's) was "To conquer others is to have power; to conquer yourself is to know the way," was used as a touchstone to justify her motives.

Lao Ma conquered her husband, securing her power over him and all of his subjects. She did not have power over Ming Tzu, and in fact Ming Tzu rubbed her nose in it, so to speak, by freely trespassing on and using Lao land as his "hunting" territory, effectively "peeing" on it and exhibiting his great disdain of her regency. This disdain and contempt for her was shared by his son, Ming Tien, who was taught to look upon his mother as if she was one of the Ming palace dogs.

Lao Ma greatly desired to conquer Ming Tzu to gain that power over him, and since she could not use the same tactic on him as with her husband, her only way to achieve her goal was with Ming Tzu's death. And since she strictly adhered to her personal edict to not kill, she needed someone with the proper motivation to do it for her. It can be speculated that Lao Ma rescued Xena from Ming Tzu's clutches only because she saw in Xena an opportunity to defeat Ming Tzu without violating her edict. Further, Lao Ma's purpose in making Xena a "servant" to Ming Tzu was to manipulate and goad Xena into killing Ming Tzu for her. The fact that Xena didn't do it the first time prompted Lao Ma to further bind Xena's loyalty to her by healing her crippled legs. At the very next opportunity which was carefully orchestrated by Lao Ma, Xena followed through and killed Ming Tzu. Lao Ma prevented Xena from also killing the small child Ming Tien because as long as Ming Tien was alive, Lao Ma could rule Ming lands as Regent, just as she ruled Lao as Regent to her indisposed husband.

As for Lao Ma being a "neglectful" mother to Ming Tien, the circumstances of her pregnancy were never made clear. We know that Lao Ma was a courtesan, probably "purchased" as a wife by Lao Tzu. As a courtesan, Lao Ma knew all about avoiding pregnancy since it would destroy her livelihood. It is conceivable that Lao Ma planned this child, thinking that if she produced a son and heir for Ming Tzu, he would make her Queen of Ming and a woman of high status and power. Ming Tzu most likely fathomed her scheme, so he instead took his son away from her soon after birth and had him wet-nursed in his own palace by a slave. Lao Ma was then likely sold to Ming Tzu's rival Lao Tzu with the assurance that she was fertile and would bear him the all-important sons. However, Lao Ma's aspirations for power and stature evaporated when she bore (oh, the horror) twin daughters (as revealed in the episode PURITY (96/506)). This no doubt reduced Lao Ma to the status of slave in the Lao household. Perhaps Lao Tzu was preparing to purchase another wife who would bear the sons he so desperately needed, which thus prompted Lao Ma to use her unique skills to render him helpless, while still maintaining her power and status.

Ming Tien was raised from infancy to view all women as slaves who were there only to obey the orders and whims of their male masters, and nothing else. He saw his mother Lao Ma as just another female, a slave, and had no respect for her and certainly there was no emotional connection between them whatsoever. He had been witness to the whole brutal saga played out by his mother, father, Borias, and Xena, and probably figured out Lao Ma's responsibility in engineering his father's death. Ming Tien never accepted her or responded to her as a son, and he refused to let her be a mother to him.

With the above scenario in mind it is also conceivable that when Ming Tien came of age to rule the kingdom of Ming, Lao Ma refused to give up the regency to him. The only way for Ming Tien to gain back his rightful throne (after all, he was the direct heir to Ming Tzu) was to defeat Lao Ma. Knowing that he couldn't kill his mother directly or without cause, he brought her to trial for her heinous treatment of her husband Lao Tzu, which resulted in her being sentenced to death.

Sometime after her arrest, Lao Ma, knowing that the jig was up, sent a runner to find Xena and relay the message, "The Green Dragon has become too large, and must be made small." Xena interpreted the message as meaning that Lao Ma wanted Xena to kill Ming Tien for her, and set off to accomplish her assignment without question, and with no knowledge of the circumstances involved.

Ming Tien carried out his mother's execution himself because, although Xena was the technical killer, the one most responsible for his father's murder was Lao Ma, and he felt the need to avenge his father's death.

Lao Ma was a master at manipulating people to do anything for her, including kill. Her influence embedded itself into Xena's psyche so completely that Xena still killed Ming Tien, which would pave the way for Lao Ma's daughters to rise to power. And in BACK IN THE BOTTLE (97/507), Lao Ma in spirit lent her powers to Xena so that Xena could slaughter 100,000 men, their horses, and anyone else forced to be branded with the Green Dragon symbol just to keep her legacy alive and her palace in one piece. Lao Ma is certainly not an heroic figure, and yet, anything that Xena did in the name of Lao Ma was shown to be heroic. Gabrielle's attempt at stopping Xena from killing Ming Tien was shown to be wrong and stupid, even though it could be argued that Gabrielle was right in her decision since even she knew that Xena didn't know the whole story (the jealous shrew scene in FORGET ME NOT (63/317) not withstanding). And Ming Tien certainly did not look like the tyrannical megalomaniac that Xena made him out to be.

It is interesting that TPTB chose to go the route they did with the Lao Ma story. Ms. Carper's article makes the deviousness of Lao Ma to be almost the equal to that of Najara. Too bad Najara couldn't do something to Xena like healing her crippled legs and thus make Xena her advocate and friend for life.

Nusi Dekker



Virginia Carper replied:

Hi, thanks Nunsi for your detailed response to questions raised in my WHOOSH! essay.

While I was thinking about Xena and Lao Ma, two things struck me as strange.

One is that Xena usually allows the accused, some sort of due process. She just went and killed Ming T'ien on Lao Ma's say so. Gabrielle was more interested in seeing that Ming T'ien had due process.

Two was that Xena usually tries to atone for her wrong doing as in "Locked Up and Tied Down AKA Shark Island Prison" or in the current version of the Ring Cycle. However, with Ming T'ien, she referred to her duty to kill him as 'cleaning up one of her messes'. No acknowledgment of the wrong she did him as a child.

These are the opposite of what TPTB usually like to present Xena as.

Lao Ma must really have brainwashed Xena into believing what she said was 'just'.



Nusi Dekker replied:

Um...that's Nusi.

>While I was thinking about Xena and Lao Ma, two things struck me as strange.
>
>One is that Xena usually allows the accused, some sort of due process. She
>just went and killed Ming T'ien on Lao Ma's say so. Gabrielle was more
>interested in seeing that Ming T'ien had due process.

You know, this brings up yet another parallel to Hope. Xena got it in her head that Hope was evil, even as a baby, because of who her father was, and despite the fact that her mother was the beloved Gabrielle. She pegged the boy Ming Tien as evil, because of who his father was, the hated Ming Tzu, and it didn't matter that his mother was the beloved Lao Ma, because he was influenced completely by his father, and not his mother. So Ming Tien never had a chance with Xena. He may have been a beloved ruler in Chin for all we know, but Xena's tunnel vision would never acknowledge that. And Gab had been through the Hope process so she could well understand Xena's single-mindedness.

>Two was that Xena usually tries to atone for her wrong doing as in "Locked Up
>and Tied Down AKA Shark Island Prison" or in the current version of the Ring
>Cycle. However, with Ming T'ien, she referred to her duty to kill him as
>'cleaning up one of her messes'. No acknowledgment of the wrong she did him
>as a child.

But that is because she had totally convinced herself that Ming Tien was evil and had to be destroyed. It is really hard to say, from the events in THE DEBTS, that Ming Tien was so horrendously evil. He sure treated Gabrielle well. Yeah, he hated Xena, after she tortured him as a child and killed his father in front of him, but did that make him evil?

>These are the opposite of what TPTB usually like to present Xena as.

That is very true. Especially seeing how Xena threw her own sense of justice out the window protecting her previously quite evil grown daughter Eve.

>Lao Ma must really have brainwashed Xena into believing what she said was
>'just'.

Lao Ma saved Xena from being a cripple (and for a warrior, that's a huge thing). Xena was hers.



Virginia Carper replied:

(Sorry, My dyslexia got in the way.)

For me, Lao Ma has great intra-personal intelligence. She is self reflective and emotionally aware. However, Xena is her exact opposite. Xena is an emotional illiterate who needs others to help her understand her self. Caesar was the first to use Xena's emotions against her. Lao Ma and Alti followed in his footsteps.






From: Melody Chartier
Subject: Letter to the Editor
Date: Tue, 9 Jan 2001

In defense of Lao Ma

While Ms. Carper is certainly entitled to her opinions about Lao Ma, after reading her article in Whoosh, Issue #52, I am compelled to respond.

1) At no time does the author consider the context of Lao Ma's situation. Lao Ma was a Chinese woman. Ms. Carper's article assumes a western sensibility first and foremost. Women did not bear children for themselves as individuals. Confucian filial philosophy dictates that sons are valued above all for the purpose of bringing honor to the family and caring for the family in old age. Women in Asia at that time had no status as entrepreneur, politician, consumer, or even as a person. The fact that Ms. Carper refers to Ming Tsu as the "custodial parent" demonstrates very little understanding of Chinese family systems and discounts Lao Ma's socio-political non-status as a woman in China. That term denotes a relationship between Lao Ma and Ming Tsu and I believe there was no such relationship. While we are never told this, I can only assume Ming Tsu raped Lao Ma and took the child. In many cases such as this, the mother is never given an opportunity to even see her child again, let alone be a mother to him/her. The fact that Lao Ma protects Ming Tien as much as she does is testament to her determination and will to be a good mother or at least as good as she can be given the circumstances.

2) The contention that Lao Ma is an abuser, which therefore puts her morality in question, is at best misguided. Again, Ms. Carper's superimposition of western culture and sensibility on Lao Ma actually weakens her arguments. I want to directly quote the article below and exegete it's truer meaning.

[07] "She excused keeping her husband Lao Tsu (sic) in a coma because it enabled her to (do) the 'greater good' for her people. She refused to work in partnership with him or convince him of her advanced ideas. Lao Ma's morality enabled her to rob her husband of (his) free will to choose, as well as keep him in a vegetative state."

There was no partnership. Lao Tzu was a despot by all accounts. Such a dictatorial tyrant would surely not have shared power, least of all with a woman. The assumption that Lao Ma would be able to "convince" him of anything is unlikely at best. Ms. Carper also fails to remember that according to the storyline, Lao Tzu was literally on his deathbed, i.e. he would have died if not for Lao Ma's ministrations. Lao Ma did not rob Lao Tzu of his "free will," she in fact, provided him with palliative care and through this enabled a more humanitarian state within China.

3) The primary question Ms. Carper chooses to ask is "Why did Lao Ma choose to heal Xena, a stranger, over her small son?" In asking this question, the author has concluded that Lao Ma was morally and maternally questionable. Instead of asking this question in isolation, the viewer is better served to examine Lao Ma's profound ability to empower herself and others within the confines of her socio-political milieu. We might better ask, "Why did Lao Ma continue to do good given her subjugation as a woman of her times?" In fact, Xena is impressed again and again by Lao Ma's morality with the most obvious example being Lao Ma's insistence that Xena literally serve Ming Tsu. It is apparent that Lao Ma is among the seminal moral guides in Xena's life.

I'm glad Virginia Carper wrote this article because I believe Lao Ma is a misunderstood character due in part to the fact that she is Asian, which to many westerners seems exotic and mysterious. She's also, in my opinion, grievously overlooked. I'd love to see Jacqueline Kim at a convention! I have nothing but respect for the actress, who refused to do the part in pidgin English, and I revere the character of Lao Ma as one of the strongest women in the Xenaverse. Thanks to Virginia Carper for writing about Lao Ma and thank you for offering this forum where fans can exchange lively discourse about the best show on TV.

Melody S. Chartier
Director of Affinity and Multicultural Programs
Alumni Relations
Box 1859
Brown University
Providence, RI 02912



Virginia Carper replied:

Ms. Chartier is correct in that I assumed a Western sensibility in writing my article. The show X:WP plays fast and loose with historical events, context, and cultures. Its depiction of Ancient Greek and Roman culture is off concerning women, who were treated as chattel. The show is steeped in modern Western sensibilities even though it is set in a fantasy Ancient Greek backdrop. I regarded the Ancient China milieu as depicted in The Debts as fantasy as I have the Roman milieu that has been depicted.

My exposure to East Asian culture has been living in Japan and attending Japanese high school. I read and write Japanese, too. What I learned from my experience is that the Japanese culture values the group over the individual unlike American culture, which is the opposite. Of course, if I was writing about someone from another culture, I would need to set aside my American ideas of 'how life should be,' to fully understand them.

The following excerpt from the WHOOSH transcript, The Debt II, delineates the problem of how to regard Lao Ma. The words within the brackets are mine.

[She introduces Xena to Lao Tsu.]


LM: "My husband."
X: "I heard that you keep him in a coma. I didn't believe it, but it's true."
LM: "Oh, yes. If he were actually dead, word would get out-- and his imbecile cousin would become king. No, I make sure he stays alive, but in this--half-conscious state. You understand pressure points, don't you? I make sure he's seen every once in a while, in the garden. It helps to convince doubters."

[I interpret this to be that Lao Tsu was quite healthy until Lao Ma decided otherwise. Or he fell sick and she decided to keep him that way.]

X: "So you rule in his name."
LM: "The only way a woman could rule in the kingdom of Ch'in. It's my gift to him. He was a vicious tyrant. I'm going to make him the most loved of rulers."

[We only Lao Ma's word of whether her husband was a tyrant. We have no proof of what type of ruler he was.]

X: "Don't you get sick of him getting the credit for everything that you do?"
LM: "Not at all. As long as good is done."

[This supports the argument Lao Ma was a moral character who tried to impart her goodness to Xena.]





Overly Obsesses

Date: Sun, 21 Jan 2001
From: Andrew Shaughnessy
Subject: Letter to the Editor

Readers of Renee Sorrell's article "Top Ten Reasons for Knowing You're Overly Obsessed with Xena" in Issue 51 should be made aware of another insidious affliction suffered by some fans. I am referring, of course, to Excessive Gabrielle Adoration Syndrome (EGAS for short). In order to help ascertain whether you are so afflicted, I have listed the 10 most common symptoms in order of increasing severity:

10. "Gabrielle" is your most commonly used security password.

9. You intend to name your firstborn daughter Gabrielle, and you're not even seeing anyone at the moment.

8. You lie awake for hours every night, wondering what on earth she ever saw in Perdicas.

7. After all this time, you suddenly remember that you've NEVER gone for blondes.

6. You whimper whenever you see Gabby's go-go outfit in LYRE, LYRE... or her Egyptian ensemble in ANTONY & CLEOPATRA.

5. You curse every episode which recounts Xena's dark past, because the flashbacks reduce Gabby's screen time.

4. You wear your "Gabrielle" T-shirt inside out, in order to bring her closer to your heart. (I don't even OWN one, so there!)

3. You find it too painful to watch GABRIELLE'S HOPE, or any other episode in which she is physically or emotionally abused by Xena.

2. You begin to suspect that the deconstruction of Gabrielle's character in Seasons 3 and 4 was a deliberate act by TPTB, who realised that the sidekick was more 3-dimensional, emotionally stronger, and a whole lot nicer than the hero.

1. You refuse to even CONSIDER the possibility that you may suffer from EGAS.

If you exhibit 5 or more of these symptoms, I advise you to seek immediate professional help. Of course, if you suffer from Symptom No.1, there really isn't much point, is there?

Yours non-obsessively (really!)
Andrew



The Decline of Xena

Date: Sun, 14 Jan 2001
From: Andrew Shaughnessy
Subject: Letter to the Editor

Further to the letter from fwj60 in Issue 52, I agree that bad time slots cannot be blamed for the decline in XENA's ratings. Season 6 proves this - worse time slots, better ratings. Why? Because the show's quality has improved.

I am not sure that I would have liked to see Hudson Leick playing Eve, however. I always had a sneaking sympathy for Callisto, but I simply LOATHED Eve, a character with no redeeming features whatsoever. I doubt if even Ms. Leick's undoubted talent could have saved her. Callisto herself was overused in the series. After a tremendous debut and some effective comebacks she should have departed the Xenaverse in A NECESSARY EVIL. Instead, Season 3 saw her reduced to a mere plot device. As a goddess, Callisto was simply too powerful for her subsequent defeats to appear anything but contrived, rather like STAR TREK's once awe-inspiring Borg.

It is hardly surprising that such a popular character should be so misused when you consider the treatment meted out to the two principals. In Seasons 3 and 4 we were subjected to a number of flashback episodes which hammered home the "Xena was once a bad person" message. Hello, Mr. Tapert, we already knew that! We really did NOT need to see her as a child abuser in THE DEBT, a betrayer and murderer in ADVENTURES IN THE SIN TRADE, or a sadistic torturer in LOCKED UP AND TIED DOWN. These episodes may have been intended to make the "reformed" Xena look better in comparison, but simply left me wondering if she actually deserves redemption.

While this was going on, Gabrielle was suffering an alarming retrograde evolution in her character. The first two seasons showed that she could operate independently of Xena, notably in THE PRODIGAL and THE QUEST. TIES THAT BIND and THE PRICE saw Gabrielle saving Xena from her darker self, but these achievements were forgotten in later episodes, as she became increasingly wrong-headed and incompetent.

The insight which enabled Gabrielle to see the good in Xena and to spot a "bad egg" at 100 yards deserted her in THE DELIVERER and THE DEBT (the jury is still out on Hope, in my opinion). Her plans went awry in KING OF ASSASSINS, requiring Xena to bail her out. She gave in to hatred in THE BITTER SUITE, and FORGET ME NOT revealed her to be petty and vengeful. In A GOOD DAY she missed with the spear cast that would have saved Phlanagus, after disarming a warlord by throwing her staff at him in THE GREATER GOOD. Finally came Gabrielle's adoption of the pseudo-Christian Way of Love, which seems to have been as great a misjudgment as The Rift. Why the "dumbing down" of such an intelligent character?

Perhaps it is too easy to blame the writers. As Executive Producer, Rob Tapert has to shoulder much of the blame for the mistakes which put a great show into a long, slow decline. Of course, he can also take the credit for addressing the remaining fans' misgivings in Season 6. This leaves me with one further question - why did it take 3 years for the message to get through?





The Future of WHOOSH!

Date: Mon, 01 Jan 2001
Subject: Happy New year
From: Jonathan Law

Happy New Year to you all. I am writing to say ... how much I love Whoosh! and all it's articles. I can't wait for each new edition of Whoosh! to come out and I also eagerly wait each new Episode Review to be posted.

2001 will be an extremely sad year for all of us Xenites because in a mere 4 months or so Xena will cease production. I realise all good things will come to an end and with Xena it will have been a wonderful 6 years.

I am also pondering the future of Whoosh! Will it also fold? I definitely hope not and believe that there is enough material and talented writers to keep Whoosh! going for many years to come.

May 2001 bring peace, joy, prosperity and happiness to you and your family.

Kind Regards,
Jonathan.



Kym Masera Taborn replies:

We'll probably be around as long as papers are submitted.





Decline of WHOOSH!

Date: Mon, 08 Jan 2001
From: Kim Holman
Subject: Letter to the Editor

I'd like to provide some feedback on a few things:

I have been seeing several negative comments lately on different topics. Now, I realize there is the freedom to express one's opinion, but it just really disturbs me to see someone "bashing" others' work.

I read the "Letter to the Editor" from Chris about December's issue of WHOOSH! being the worst in recent history. Well, who forced Chris to read the articles, etc. that turned him/her off?!! Not all articles/topics are for everyone; but every article/topic will surely interest someone!

I also read an article berating Lucy's performances in comedy episodes of Xena. That person has no idea of the hard work, time, effort, etc. that Lucy (or any other actor, for that matter) puts forth for each and every episode, week in and week out, day after day after day. Who are we to criticize someone else's hard work. We should be grateful for the heart that the cast and crew have for this, their "baby", that they work their butts off -- for us!!

Now, to you, Kym, and ALL your staff at WHOOSH!, I am grateful for your efforts to provide any and all information that might be of interest to someone out there; even if not all of it interests me personally. I cannot imagine the hours spent on each issue. I appreciate the desire you have to continue this adventure on your own volition -- for us!!

Yes, I have my opinions; not all are favorable. But if I think that I am going to be highly entertained or profoundly pleased by everything I take in, then someone should slap me up alongside my head. How selfish! Because, whatever I take in, someone has made themselves vulnerable, exposing a little of their soul, to provide that media, for me. I thank them. I don't criticize them.

Thank you for allowing me to vent.





What Should Kym Do?

From: Cathy Silva
Subject: what should kym do
Date: Thu, 4 Jan 2001

I thought some of the responses to your webmaster contest were a bit harsh, implying that you were a bad person for not continuing to sweetly accommodate your online harasser. Maybe you should change your motto to that line from Ogami, Cogito, ergo doleo. (I think, therefore I am depressed.) I don't know the Latin for "Hey, I don't get paid for this." Very interesting interview with Rob Tapert. Congrats to Whoosh! for getting the scoop. I can just imagine the tidal wave of responses. As for Mr. Tapert, if I were planning to pick on an archangel, I'd be extra-careful to avoid tall trees during thunderstorms. Let's hope Michael has a sense of humor.

Battle on...
Cathy S.









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