Observations & Reflections on Texas Folklore Page: 86
viii, 151 p. : ill., ports. ; 24 cm.View a full description of this book.
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Sarah Greene
movie magazines chronicle the doings, real and imagined, of their
famous and would-be famous subjects. They cater to the same idol-
hunger of the teen-age girl, and they offer her, for 50 cents plus
tax, the same blend of behind-the-scenes gossip, question and
answer columns, and pin-up pictures that have long been staple
fare in the movie journals. They also provide tips on how to spot
your favorite soap actor on the late, late show, list recent cast
changes, and faithfully report on a folk custom within the industry:
anniversary parties for the casts.
Many Faithful Viewers would not be caught under the hair dryer
with one of these magazines, because to them the actor really is
the person he portrays, just as, to many, Vivien Leigh really was
Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler never could have lived and
breathed if there hadn't been a Clark Gable.
A Kingston, N. Y., viewer succinctly summed up how this comes
about in a complaining letter she wrote to TV Guide magazine:
"I watch One Life to Live every day," she explained. "When Joe
Riley was killed I was so upset I cried. My husband sat there and
laughed at me. He kept saying Joe was only a character on a show.
When one watches a show long enough, one tends to forget that."
The worst sin a beloved soap opera personality can commit is to
moonlight by doing commercials. What could be more disconcert-
ing than to see noble, self-sacrificing Dr. Bob Hughes living it up
in a poker game and touting Schlitz beer? Or to see Penny Wade,
who's had so much hard luck already, rummaging around in a sta-
tion wagon and having to admit, "I forgot the Phillips?"
Resented, too, by Faithful Viewer is the dizzying succession of
actors who may fill a given role. If an act-of-God emergency arises,
such as a blizzard in suburban New York, an announcement is made
just before the scene is played that a temporary substitute will
appear that day. But if a key character leaves the cast and a new
performer picks up the role, no explanation is given. Carried to
ludicrous extremes, this has given rise to such situations as a woman
marrying a man one day and exchanging tender words with another
actor the next. But, as Roy Winsor, producer of As the World
Turns, explains, "Our faithful viewers are a breed apart. They
accept the ludicrous with the good because they believe." In what?
"In the story. Everybody loves a good story."86
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Observations & Reflections on Texas Folklore (Book)
Collection of popular folklore of Texas, including stories about hunting, warfare, religion, Texas traditions, and other miscellaneous folk tales. The index begins on page 149.
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Abernethy, Francis Edward. Observations & Reflections on Texas Folklore, book, 1972; Austin, Texas. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc77208/m1/96/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Press.