From Films in Review: Shocker of a Story About Sam & Grayson

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Later on I'll try my best to find out which volume Sam Hall's interview is in. I have them all packed away...

[Gothick]

I only ever saw the one DS files book by Gross.  I never knew there was more than one.

The books were really cheaply produced.  I would never pay more than fifteen bucks for one.

G.

[ProfStokes]

For me, the most interesting thing about this article was learning that there had once been a plan to make a documentary about DS fans!  DS fan culture is vibrant, varied and fun, and doesn't get the attention it deserves, IMO.  I've long wished for a serious (e.g., non-condescending) article or book about fandom, but an anniversary-themed video special would have been even better!  Although the fans Del Valle described having interviewed don't sound typical of the people that I've met at Festivals, I still think it's a shame this idea didn't come to fruition.  I wonder what the chances are of this project being revived for the 50th Anniversary?

ProfStokes

[Gothick]

Perhaps... the description del Valle offered of plans for it sounded an awful lot like the ill-fated "DS Sciography" project or whatever it was called... find DS fans who really think they're Barnabas or Josette or Angelique... a thinly disguised freaks' gallery at best.

The Sci Fi channel thing was rejected by the network--and given some of the stuff they've aired over the years--you know it must have been bad. I recall reading that there was a screening at a Festival Banquet one year but I did not see it.

G.

[David]

But there are fans who fit Del Valle's description.
By the same token, there are fans who've been inspired by the show to pursue careers in writing, filmmaking, acting, art, design--some of these fans are extraordinarily talented and brilliant.
There are fans who are sexually/emotionally repressed, as well as happily married couples with rich, wonderful relationships who met through their mutual love of DS.
All of the above, the good and the bad, the happy and the sad, can be found in abundance in DS and other fandoms. All serve to paint an accurate portrait of the fan base.

[Midnite]

Unfortunately, I don't have the one with Sam Hall's interview. Does anyone know which edition has the interview?

A friend passed along that the Files Magazine interview is in The Dark Shadows Special: Return To Collinwood with Barnabas and Roxanne on the cover.

[Nancy]

Ed Gross had a DS-related blog for awhile not that long ago. Unfortunately, I do not remember the URL.

I remember the attempt to make a documentary about DS fandom but it fell through, mainly because the producer of the document wanted it to be sensationalist in nature and wanted to dig up whatever he could to make it so.  That's not unlike this article we are talking about as it also engages in matter there isn't proof, just gossip that's more like tabloid journalism.  That's a big market. 

Prof. Stokes - I agree it would be fantastic to do a documentary on DS fandom for the reasons you mentioned.  I have been around it since 1984 attending almost all of the DS conventions on the East coast and the smaller conventions.  I've seen very quiet, even uninspired individuals latch into fanfiction and other creative outlets and discover latent talents and that's just one example.  I've also heard many times from others who are involved in other fandoms how tame DS fandom is in comparison to others.  I remember Jonathan Frid saying to me and some others once that the worst.  By and large the fans are pretty cool folks. 

[David]

I've seen very creative types in DS fandom as well, some of them do brilliant work, and some have forged professional careers in the arts.
I've also seen fans go on vindictive rampages against each other, holding thirty year grudges over who's the "better fan" or who's this actor's or that actor's "best friend".
In the past month alone, five DS fans have posted on Facebook that they want nothing more to do with fandom because of abusive attacks from other fans--two of them stated that the attacks were so virulent, it was hampering their enjoyment of the show.
Does it serve DS fandom well to pretend that things like this don't happen?
Is this how cool folks behave?
Does it serve fandom well to tell people who express such feelings that they don't deserve to be heard?
DS fans have been told that it's a mortal sin to discuss the sexuality of any gay cast members. Would we tell a straight cast member to pretend that they're not straight?

Any community, any group, that can't criticize itself or do self-reflection, any group that can't tell the truth about itself, is not a healthy group.

[David]

I love Dark Shadows passionately. I've made three lifelong friends through DS and I love writing about DS in the press.
But DS fandom needs to self-reflect and stop pretending that we're one big happy family when half of the fans feel unwelcome, and when a small group of self-appointed leaders dictate who's cool, who's not, and what everyone may or may not say.

[MagnusTrask]

We are all flawed.  I don't mean fans, I mean everybody.  A lot of us whose flaws differ from those of the majority find a sanctuary in fandoms, DS, Trek, others.  Our flaws often take the form of socialization problems, so you find easily hurt people thrown together with the pit bulls who go after others to compensate for inner deficits.  And there are all sorts of other kinds of fans, too.  It's a wide spectrum, and you have to find some safe niche like this site, where there's a sort of buffer against the pit bulls.

I also think that while fans often adapt poorly to mainstream society, another way of looking at that is that non-fans tend to adapt to mainstream society far too well.  We require something better than standard consumer culture, we need a life of the imagination.  I'll take fandom flaws over other kinds of human flaws.

Anyway, you can't make the pit bulls change.  We can hit them on the nose with a great big rolled up newspaper and say, shut the hell up, bad dog, bad dog.... so to speak, though.

I'd like to see a fandom documentary done with the above attitude, showing the whole spectrum in a mature, respectful way.  What and who "we"are, as opposed to what and who "they" (non-fans, "mundanes") are, and why, and what it all means, is an issue waiting to be tackled well.

[David]

Thank you for being that voice of maturity, Magnus.
I will add this: in the second decade of the 21st century, there's no excuse for acting like it's a crime to say that a gay person is gay.
To do so insinuates that there's something wrong with being gay.
Being honest and truthful breaks down the old prejudices.

[MagnusTrask]

If we're talking about outing the deceased (actors) in the name of society progressing, and tolerance increasing, there's a lot to be said for that, but I don't know about revealing anything the person wouldn't have chosen to himself, when he's not around to choose, not even his third grade spelling scores...  It's an old debate.  It's complicated.  Like most ongoing issues, I can see both sides.  Keeping these secrets does contribute to shaming those living now, on some level.

[David]

When I wrote about Jonathan Frid being gay in Fangoria, many gay fans thanked me because it meant a lot to them to read that their idol was gay--many told me that they already knew, and that he was someone they could look up to in their formative years.
I certainly didn't out him: Huffington Post and The Village Voice, among many other publications which aren't tabloids, scooped me on that one by years.
I don't think Frid would want anyone talking about his relationships, and neither I nor anyone else talked about that.
We need to stop lying about people's lives.
For a show with a sizable known gay fan base, it's appalling that LGBT issues remain a taboo in DS-land, but again, it's a small group of self-appointed emperors telling the rest of us what to do, what to say, etc.
And we really need to address fan-on-abuse. Too many good people have been driven away by such conduct.
The DS franchise is but a "shadow" of its former self because of this.
We need to welcome all, not just the "cool" people.

[BangsnFangs]

Articles like this always have to be taken with a grain of salt.  I'm not doubting the reliability of the author, but judging a man's character based on a single isolated encounter is a little unfair.

I thought the dig at Sam Hall's writing was unnecessary, though.  I think SH did some excellent work on the series.  I know in some circles his writing's accused of being uninspired and workmanlike, but I think he had a real knack for sharp, witty dialogue, and I can generally tell a SH script from the others based on that.

[BangsnFangs]

With regard to the issues occurring within the fandom community, I can't comment on DS specifically as I'm so isolated from it except for Facebook fan groups and these boards (both of which I've found welcoming and accepting). 

All I can really say is the unfortunate reality is that there are always going to be jerks out there, even within the fandom community.  Their behaviour is something that will never be eradicated completely -- incidents will occur and feelings will get tread upon.  This is something I learnt the hard way when I attended my first fan expo at the age of 10 and a grown man publicly criticised the Starfleet Next-Gen uniform my mother had sewn for me. 

What is important, though, is that issues within fandoms be addressed openly and not swept under the rug as is often the case.  Insulting and improper behaviour should always have consequences.