But no one expected that Vincent, the
Beast of this romantic fantasy-drama, would become TV’s most unlikely sex
symbol.
Fan mail for Vincent has recently been flooding
the production office at a rate of several hundred per week. The
show, which opened the season ranked 44th in the networks prime time ratings,
has recently inched up to 36th. It has won it’s time slot every week
against regular series programming, though it has occasionally lost to
specials aired opposite it.
“Beauty and the Beast”, first unveiled at the annual
meeting of representatives of CBS - affiliated stations here last summer,
was met with suspicion by the mostly male group, some of whom called it
‘that weird show.’ Network executives soothed them by explaining
that the series could have the same appeal as the bizarre 1978 hit “The
Incredible Hulk”. Instead of comic book aficionados, however, “Beauty
and the Beast” a Ron Koslow Films and Witt/Thomas production in association
with Republic Pictures, has strongly attracted women - women who have willingly
forsaken the monosyllabic Don Johnsons, the slick Harry Hamlins, the sensitive
tough-guy Tom Selleck types and the roguish Bruce Willises because they’re
dazzled by the beauty of the Beast.
Who is this guy, anyway?
The actor behind the Beast is Ron Perlman, a family
man best known for his portrayals of a prehistoric tribesman in the feature
film “Quest for Fire” and the tragic hunchback in “The Name of the Rose,”
adapted from the brooding Umberto Eco novel.
Koslow, Perlman and Baker all love Vincent enough
themselves to offer their own unscientific theories on why women have fallen
for the 6 foot 2, 205-pound, excessively hairy gentleman with cascading
blond locks, the feline face, the superhuman strength, the heart of platinum
and the dulcet voice that seems created solely for reading Browning’s “Sonnets
from the Portuguese”.
And though it may not have been the first notion to
occur to the network’s research department, experts on the psychology of
relationships call the outpouring of feminine passion as natural as rain.
First a few details of Vincent’s history:
The Beast is a freak of nature, born grotesquely deformed and left to die,
but miraculously rescued by a man he calls Father, (Roy Dotrice.)
Father, a scholarly recluse who had created
his own world in a maze of steam tunnels beneath New York City, gave Vincent
a classical education, a noble spirit and shelter from the pain and ridicule
he would have experienced in the world Above.
Vincent is in love with Catherine Chandler,
a wealthy socialite lawyer played by Linda Hamilton. In the Pilot
episode, Catherine was attacked in the street, her face brutally
slashed. Like Vincent, she was left to die until rescued and
nursed back to health by the Beast; she did not see her saviour until the
bandages came off.
Shocked at first, Catherine came to appreciate
Vincent
for
his heart rather than his appearance. The two continue a secret,
chaste and tragically impossible romance. Moreover,
Vincent
can
sense Catherine’s emotions and instinctively knows when she is in
danger.
Psychologist Lonnie Barbach, a member of the clinical
faculty of the University of California, San Francisco, and author of the
recently published book “Erotic Interludes : Tales Told for Women” and
seven other books on relationships and sexuality, said the Vincent -
Catherine relationship perfectly fits most women’s romantic ideal.
Barbach said the beauty-beast relationship is a classic
one in which two lovers are separated by an insurmountable barrier - in
this case, being from different species.
Some writers have suggested that the chaste romance
might be particularly apt in the era of AIDS: Barbach disputed this theory,
saying that such appeal is historic and timeless.
“That’s why the romance novels are so popular,” she
said. There’s often a great deal of disparity between the two people;
a poor woman and a wealthy man (for example.) It’s purer than pure.
The women who are looking to these novels are looking to be rescued, to
be taken care of, to be nurtured, to being treated as if they were some
precious jewel.
Barbach added that the fact that the romance cannot
be consummated only adds to it’s appeal. “He adores her and cherishes
her. Who cares about the sex?” she said.
Jerald Jellison, a professor of psychology at the USC
who specializes in personal relationships, said Vincent possesses
two of the top five attributes that research indicates women want more
in a man: understanding and an idealistic sense of romance. He said
the need for nurturing is particularly strong in people who hold low positions
of power, a group that includes many women. Jellison said the Beast’s
plight taps into a need common to men and women to be appreciated despite
their appearance, or to be loved for giving that gift to someone else.
There is a very, very strong appeal to the person who
is misunderstood, the loner,” he said, “And part of the appeal is you can
see their real worth, you can see beyond the surface, you are fighting
to get in there and touch the person. It’s kind of a saviour complex.
Conversely, Jellison said, people want that respect,
and tune in to “Beauty and the Beast” because their spouse may be too busy
watching football to provide it.
“We want people to treat us with more understanding:”
“You shouldn’t worry about me because I’m a little overweight, because
I smoke, because I’m not as pretty as someone else,” he said.
Barbach said that, despite the universal need for such
respect, the show would not work if the sexual roles were reversed.
“You probably wouldn’t have the same thing if the Beast
were a woman,” she said. “It’s just not the way men are wired.
Men are much more aroused by visual stimulation than by the way someone
is just going to care about them and whisper soft nothings. It’s
just not going to work.
Though crediting women with appreciating the more spiritual
side of romance, Barbach said that in this case the attraction is partly
physical. The Beast may not be human, but he’s definitely not ugly.
That was the intention of make-up designer Baker.
“The major concern was where to draw the line between animal and human,”
he said. “He had to be beastly, but elegant and attractive.
In the story the lady has to love this character.
Baker said he combined the ‘ferocious but attractive’
qualities of a lion with those of a tall handsome man, and added a long,
rock star mane of hair that might be appropriate to either one.
Koslow calls his “Beauty and the Beast” a classical
love story in contemporary terms, and said he believes the Beast’s ability
to sense Catherine’s feelings provides a consummation that is in
some way deeper than sex.
He modestly attributes much of the Beast’s appeal to
Perlman’s acting ability. “Aside from his voice, which is pretty
magical, he is really able to plumb the depths to get to the core of an
emotion and just strip-mine it,” he says.
And Perlman, with equal modesty, attributes the phenomenon
to Koslow’s conception of the Beast. “This character is so incredibly
attractive in who he is, humanistically,” he said. “It’s as classical
a role as I’ve ever had, Shakespeare included. I think now is the
best time for it (the show.) I have complained for years that the
media, on every level, have given the world more than it wants to know.
What this show is, is a return to Gothic romance - the main thrust of the
drama is unspoken, not acted out. That consummation is supplied by
the viewer, and I think the viewer is grateful without ever knowing why.”
