Online article on TV vampires mentions all BUT Barnabas! Stick it to the writer

[Charles_Ellis]

This article mentions the current 'mellow' vampires on TV and how they've become more like vigilantes and detectves in recent years.  However, there is no mention of either DS or the character of Barnabas Collins!!!  Unbelievable- it's like writing about TV sci-fi without a single Star Trek mention! After all, Barnabas was the original 'vampire with a soul' before Angel, and he was solving crimes done against his family!  Please don't let this cvreep get away with it.  I'm posting the article below, and everyone reading this should send e-mails to this 'witer' demanding an apology for his snub of DS and its fans  Don't let him get away with it!!!  Send your e-mails to tirdad@phillynews.com, and let him know what a major disservice he has done to DS fans everywhere!!!!


http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/10409887.html

[michael c]

i was quite surprised recently when America Online did a poll of television's top eighteen witches and our girl angelique didn't get a mention.

naturally samantha,endora and tabitha from "bewitched" got much deserved nods but most of the other ones i had never even heard of.

[BuzzH]

Might I humbly suggest that if anyone DOES decide to write to this reporter that they POLITELY point out the exclusion of Barnabas in his/her article?  Last thing we want is to come off as a bunch of psycho DS fans.  

[BuzzH]

Well, unfortunately, several of you apparently did NOT heed my suggestion of a polite, articulate email to this reporter.  Some of you even, according to him, lowered yourselves to racial epithets.  Shame on those of you who did!!      Below are the two email responses I received when I POLITELY pointed out his 'supposed' exclusion of Barnabas and DS in the article.  I get the impression from his second email that he would prefer not to be bombarded at work w/any more emails regarding this.


Email #1:

Thanks for your note.  I do appreciate the feedback.  I guess someone has asked every member of a DS fan club to write me.  It's nice to see that you and other fans are being loyal; but you may not be in full posession of the facts.  This has been my response to other emails.  I suggest you send it around to others.  My story had NOTHING to do with establishing who was THE ORIGINAL ensouled vampire, nor did I ever claim any of the ones I mentioned were "original."

First, I wrote about RECENT manifestations of the "good vampire" idea; second, my piece was a (synchronic) analysis of the concept of a "good" or "ensouled" vampire and NOT a (diachronic) history of the phenomenon.  That said, Barbaralla PRE-DATES Dark Shadows, even though DS is far superior as a story in every way.

Secondly, and this is moot, but I DID mention Dark Shadows in my story; that section got cut for space -- I eventually agreed to the cut because the DS material wasn't absolutely necesssary for the story. However, the two DS TV movies are mentioned in the little box of recommended films that ran with the story.

thanks for your attention,

Tirdad Derakhshani

Email #2:

Hi

Well, to be quite frank, I've received quite a few very rude, insulting notes; it's clear some of the people who sent them have never actually read my story.  Racial epithets seem easy to use via email since you don't have to face the other person or even hear his voice.  I have also received a couple of very thoughtful and generous emails, but those are in the minority.

I am very sorry fans are upset. Most don't realize that some of us who write about these topics also are fans ourselves. In fact, I love Dark Shadows and I always have.  But I cannot mention every iteration of a phenomenon in a story which doesn't claim to look at its history or origins. Clearly: I now wish I had kept at least some mention of DS in the story. It's regretable that it wasn't there.

I do wish you or someone else could forward this and my previous note to whatever fan site or email list you were using.  It'll be an easier way to get my response to everyone interested in the issue.

thanks
td

If ppl still want to write to this guy PLEASE be polite and respectful!!  When ppl are rude it makes ALL of us look bad!  And I personally do not want to be looked on by others as a rude DS fan because I'm a member of this fandom.  Below is the email I sent to him, I post it here only as an EXAMPLE of the type of email that should be sent rather than rude ones.

Dude, you missed the ORIGINAL defanged, crusader vampire.  Dark Shadows' own Barnabas Collins! 

[Nancy]

Interesting.  Thanks for sharing this.  I find it scary that any fan would react so rudely over a supposed slight over the inclusion or exlcusion of a tv show in an article.  The author wasn't writing a piece on how to slice up your mother.  What warrants such outrage? If those who got so angry over that piece would donate even a quarter of that time and energy to assisting those living in a homeless shelter, mentoring a child or adult learning to read or some other charitable cause, the world around us would be a little better.

Let's keep things in perspective, people.

Nancy

Well, unfortunately, several of you apparently did NOT heed my suggestion of a polite, articulate email to this reporter.  Some of you even, according to him, lowered yourselves to racial epithets.  Shame on those of you who did!!      Below are the two email responses I received when I POLITELY pointed out his 'supposed' exclusion of Barnabas and DS in the article.  I get the impression from his second email that he would prefer not to be bombarded at work w/any more emails regarding this.

[ClaudeNorth]

This is the sort of thing that has caused me to distance myself from fandom.  After all, I'm a DS fan and not a DS activist.

[Mark Rainey]

No kidding. Calling the writer a "creep" for some perceived snub is immature and undermines any credibility the poster might otherwise have.

(You should have heard some of the crap I got from overly rabid fans because Julia Hoffman didn't appear in DREAMS OF THE DARK. Hoo boy.)

However, any writer whose work is put in front of the public must be prepared to take what comes his way. It's part of the job...

[Midnite]

Well, unfortunately, several of you apparently did NOT heed my suggestion of a polite, articulate email to this reporter.  Some of you even, according to him, lowered yourselves to racial epithets.  Shame on those of you who did!!

Perhaps you're privy to information I don't have, in which case I'll withdraw my comment, but I don't think it can be assumed that your messages posted here directly address "several" people who sent the emails that upset the author.  Do you know for a fact that the person or persons who wrote racial slurs have read this topic, or have ever even once visited these Forums?

Mark and Nancy made excellent points!  And since acting out anonymously with the goal of inciting outrage is a common modus operandi of internet trolls, in the event that even one of the negative emails was intentionally over the top, it's been my experience that making repeated pleas to a troll to stop making the rest of us look bad does not work and may even have an opposite effect, and actually, isn't it to a troll's satisfaction that s/he see these results (an upset author and outraged fans)?  You cannot control the behavior of other fans, but you CAN control how you react to it.

When ppl are rude it makes ALL of us look bad!  And I personally do not want to be looked on by others as a rude DS fan because I'm a member of this fandom.

With all due respect, I believe that the behavior of trolls and rude fans does not make me look bad; as Mark said, it makes them look bad.

[BuzzH]

Well, unfortunately, several of you apparently did NOT heed my suggestion of a polite, articulate email to this reporter.  Some of you even, according to him, lowered yourselves to racial epithets.  Shame on those of you who did!!

Perhaps you're privy to information I don't have, in which case I'll withdraw my comment, but I don't think it can be assumed that your messages posted here directly address "several" people who sent the emails that upset the author.  Do you know for a fact that the person or persons who wrote racial slurs have read this topic, or have ever even once visited these Forums?

Um, would you like me to forward his emails to you Midnite, to PROVE that he sent them to me!?  I'd be happy to!  NO PROBLEM!!  Just PM me your email address and I'll be HAPPY to oblige!!  The original post, as Mark pointed out, suggested we "write to this creep" to "straighten him out!".  What evidence do we have that he's a creep!?  Because he happened to SUPPOSEDLY exclude our favorite vampire from his article??  And do you HONESTLY believe FOR ONE MINUTE that the ppl he refers to DID NOT READ THIS POST???  If so might I suggest you are woefully naive!  You think it's a COINCIDENCE that these emails were received and ppl didn't read this post???  Give me a friggin' break!!!!

Mark and Nancy made excellent points!  And since acting out anonymously with the goal of inciting outrage is a common modus operandi of internet trolls

Are you actually suggesting that I'm a troll because I felt it necessary to inform fellow fans of what other fans did???   How dare you!!!???  YOU have NO PROBLEM reading us the riot act when you think WE'VE misbehaved, but I guess we are not allowed to do so??  Nice double standard! Must be nice to be a MODERATOR!!!  Also, VERY interesting that you didn't feel the need to blast Nancy, Claude and Mark.  Only me!!  I guess you and I are longer COOL!!

[Midnite]

Geez, BuzzH, you're responding emotionally to things I never said.  I didn't say anything at all about the writer, his article or the email campaign called for in the main topic.  I didn't doubt that he wrote to you.  I didn't say you were a troll.  I didn't accuse you of misbehaving.  I didn't blast you or try to tell you what feelings you are allowed to express, and I didn't take any moderator action against you.

I did disagree with a couple of things you said.  It was my opinion, thus the use of phrases like, "I don't think" and "it's been my experience."

I also understand why you posted the emails (he asked you to).  And I agree with your point that civility is the best tact.  I just don't understand the need to admonish the readers who visit this topic, and I feel that publicly overreacting to anonymous emails can have a negative impact.

And do you HONESTLY believe FOR ONE MINUTE that the ppl he refers to DID NOT READ THIS POST???

I did say that, sort of.  I said it was possible that they didn't.  I honestly don't know either way.  I don't know if the call for emails was posted on other websites or e-lists or if anybody was contacted directly.  I don't know that fans didn't find the article on their own.  And honestly, I don't know that the negative messages were sent by several people; for all I know, the more negative comments could have been authored by 1 or 2 persons-- an online scenario I've witnessed far too many times.

If so might I suggest you are woefully naive!  You think it's a COINCIDENCE that these emails were received and ppl didn't read this post???  Give me a friggin' break!!!!

I'd be naive if I believed that all Dark Shadows fans read these boards and that the visitors we do get read every topic here, and in a timely manner, or that the only way that DS fans find out about articles of interest is through these Forums.  Though I'd be beyond thrilled if any of these scenarios were true...

Must be nice to be a MODERATOR!!!

Well, unless it's a labor of love, I can't say I would recommend it.  

[retzev]

 

[arashi]

ROFL Retzev.

[Nancy]

Buzz, I believe you greatly misunderstood what Midnite meant.  She was saying that there is no reason to assume that the only email that writer received about his article was ONLY from this board.  Obviously the article can be found in many other places in a great many ways.  Afterall, Charles found it.  I saw the article (and many more like it all month) before seeing it mentioned here.  I did not post the link here because there was not a specific reference to DS.  Many people I know utilize the Google "alert" feature to advise as to when topics of interest turn up in blogs or the news.  That's how I first saw the piece.   My post reacting to the emails you posted was not just directed to people here who overreacted to the exclusion of DS being mentioned but how I feel about such overreaction by fans anywhere.  I am very glad you posted the emails.

Nancy

Also, VERY interesting that you didn't feel the need to blast Nancy, Claude and Mark.  Only me!!  I guess you and I are longer COOL!!

[Charles_Ellis]

Hmmm- I seem to have opened up a can of worms here, but do I regret my actions?  No.  I see nothing wrong with defending DS' good name if there is a slight by the media.  However, in my e-mail to the writer, I certainly didn't resort to name calling as some other fans did, and if they did after reading my original post here, I WILL apologize to that.  I certainly do not want people to resort to violence of any kind.

On the other hand, what's wrong with being a DS 'activist' as ClaudeNorth put it?  As the saying goes, 'you've got to stand for something or you'll fall for anything'.  I've been in DS fandom for 25 years now, and can still remember the days when there wrere no episodes on home video, no DS festivals, and only 260 episodes in syndication from 1967/68 out there.  The DS fans as a whole had to join forces to make things happen, and keep DS alive in the eyes of the public.  We were the ones who brought many memberships to PBS stations when DS began showing there , and picketed NBC (I was at Rockefeller Center) when the primetime series was being cancelled.  We have come so far, and must not forget what we went through to get where we are with the DVD releases, the Festivals, and God willing  the restored NODS on DVD next year.  We cannot become complacent.  So when I saw that article with nary a mention of DS, the DS activist in me got out .  BTW Buzz, I received the EXACT same e-mail #1 from the writer, which makes me suspect whether or not to believe his sincerity.  And Mr. Rainey, I WAS one of those fans who bemoaned the absence of Julia from your novel.  At least I got to tell you in person at a Festival.

One thing cannot be questioned: my love for DS, and I alerted my fellow fans to the situation as I felt they had a right to know.
By the way, someone just put out a list of the top 70 vampire films of all time (in their opinion), and HODS wasn't there!  Considering that some real turkeys were listed in that group ("Vampire In Brooklyn" ,"Andy Warhol's Dracula"), the exclusion of HODS didn't make much sense, and yes, I posted a comment blasting the omission.  Some of you may bemoan my decision while others cheer, but see the list for yourself:


http://snarkerati.com/movie-news/top-70-vampire-movies-of-all-time/

[Mark Rainey]

Charles -- from my recollection, you were not at all rude about DREAMS. Some folks got downright nasty about the way things went in the book they didn't agree with. All fans have their own unique perspectives, and some of them feel theirs is the -only- correct one. Someone who respectfully presents his or her point of view to a writer is likely to be taken seriously; someone who gets unduly emotional is less likely to (particularly since the subject involved here is fiction, as opposed to some life-altering issue in the world). The writer in question here appears to have had his own points to make and made them the way he chose to. One doesn't have to like it. Nor should one get particularly hot and bothered over it.

Your efforts to help preserve DS are indeed appreciated. I, along with many others here, I'm sure, thank you for doing it with real passion.