THIS WEEK IN XENA NEWS... TWXN 103 08/29/97 Friday The advance sheet of XENA MEDIA REVIEW (XMR): http://xenafan.com/xmr Excerpts from the following cites will appear in future issues of XMR. From the editor: 1. IN HONOR OF JACQRAT'S BIRTHDAY TODAY, I have the pleasure of annoucing YET another exciting organization for XENA Fans! Yes, the '39er Club. The '39er Club is open to fans of XWP who turned or will turn 40 between the dates of September 1995 to May 2001. Just write me at ktaborn@lightspeed.net with the subject '39er Club and you too can be a part of this exciting organization. 2. I KID YOU NOT. Yes, it is Jacqrat's birthday today so send those cards, letters, fan mail, and virtual flowers to Jacqrat@aol.com 3. It has come to my attention that TWXN #102 was rejected by someone's server because it contained "banned or potentially offensive text". It was the issue with the Ngila Dickson article and my announcement of "The Men of XWP" issue of WHOOSH. This is most peculiar. Someone suggested that is was because Ngila Dickson is such a racey gal that the server could not handle it. Another suggested that my use of the word "thang", as in "men thangs", was interpreted as being a euphemism for a precious male body part. That is just a vicious rumor, by the way. And yet another felt that the use of the words "leather" and "lingerie" in one e-mail was too intense. Whatever the reason, it is a ****ens of a conundrum. 4. After Ngila Dickson, today's TWXN pales somewhat (I anticipate no rejections for content today!). Sorry Jacqrat, but that's life. The solitary article for today is about how Hollywood is milking mythology and the classics for new blood. Our heroes, Xena and Herc, not surprisingly, are on the crest of the wave. 4. And what does the future hold for us in TWXN land? Lots of what I call cultural references. It is where a reference about XWP pops up out of the blue and the writer assumes his audience will understand exactly what he or she means. We are on the road to becoming mainstream and on the road to becoming a part of popular culture and our urban legends. Also, in TWXN #104, we will read about how Israel is taking to "butch Xena and her girly sidekick Gabrielle", learn about Ms. Lawless' obsession with the Detroit Red Wings hockey team (uh-oh), and briefly hear about Mindy Clarke (aka Velasca and the Preying Mantis science teacher on BUFFY). Does that get you into a frenzy of aniticipation or what? And here's the story: [ ] 04-13-97 THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER. Sunday. Page F08. 2013 words. "Classic Rocks Trends: With 'The Odyssey,' 'Xena' and two takes on 'Hercules,' the ancient classics are on Hollywood's cutting edge" By Valerie Takahama (The Orange County Register) EXCERPT: Memo to Hollywood: Homer has heat! Mythology is hip! Forget space travel and cloned dinosaurs. Story lines about long sea voyages, heroic men and capricious gods are the next hot thing. Like the Greek gods themselves, this revival of the classics can assume many shapes and attitudes from playful and irreverent to poetic and highly respectful and it's all for a mainstream '90s audience... ...This resurgence of the classics cuts across the cultural landscape. Surprise successes are the campy syndicated television series "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys" and its spinoff, "Xena: Warrior Princess," the top-rated, syndicated hour-long shows. And a new translation of "The Odyssey" by Princeton classics Professor Robert Fagles,acclaimed for its crisp modern language and sensitivity to women's issues, is selling briskly. What's going on here? It's as if the Sirens are singing and everybody's rushing out to buy the CD. "It's not that the classics tell stories that are easy or lightweight. In fact, they tell stories typically of a lot of struggle," says Fagles, whose book has sold 64,500 copies and is in its seventh printing. "But in the classics, struggle is often ennobling. And struggle at times, as in 'The Odyssey,' results in success. That's very encouraging. You can earn your way in the classical world at times. " This renaissance of Greek mythology comes as interest in modern classics has reached near-Olympian heights. In recent years, Hollywood has discovered Shakespeare, Jane Austen, E.M. Forster, the Brontes, Edith Wharton and a legion of other revered writers. "People are now not looking for new genius writers but are looking at their bookshelves and discovering things that are wonderful," says Robert Halmi, executive producer of "The Odyssey. " "Why? Simply, it's better. Nothing exciting or extravagant about that," continues Halmi, whose miniseries of 18th-century satirist Jonathan Swift's "Gulliver's Travels" was an Emmy and ratings winner last year. "It's literature that is worth reading. " So why this sudden interest in stories that are literally thousands of years old? "I don't have the foggiest idea. We could chalk it up to the end of the millennium," says Robert Tapert, executive producer of "Hercules" and "Xena. " "It strikes us as peculiar as well," admits Alice Dewey, producer of Disney's "Hercules. " "I think these stories have an archetypal appeal and have had a resonance throughout the eons, for whatever reason. "Why this particular resurgence right now, I don't know, but it certainly is intriguing. " WHEN IN ROME How's this for a theory: A funny thing happened to the classics on the way to Hollywood. Through the centuries, the popularity of all things Greek and Roman has periodically waned and been revived anew. As any art-history student can attest, the Renaissance, the age of Enlightenment in the 18th century and the Romantic era in the 19th century each had their own classical movements, and each ageremade the classics to suit its own time. The most recent resurgence hit in the 1950s. The film industry, the modern-day taste-purveyor, cast body-builder Steve Reeves in "Hercules," "Hercules Unchained" and other low-budget movies based on ancient myths. Stars such as Kirk Douglas and Charlton Heston appeared in a string of big-budget spectaculars set in ancient Rome, such as "Spartacus" and "Ben Hur. " There's even a name for the genre: sword-and-sandal flicks. Tacky and dated as they seem now, the movies made a big impression in their day and they reflected their times, says William G. Thalmann, classics professor at the University of Southern California. "My first exposure to the classics were the Hollywood films of the 1950s," Thalmann says. "As I look back on it, a lot of it was connected with American culture in the '50s, fairly conservative, expansionist economically. There was a lot of interest in Rome." Given that parallel, it's tempting also to trace the roots of the current classical revival to the social and political conservatism of these times. It was conservative politicians, after all, who started to push for a "core curriculum," a renewed focus on educational basics, including the central texts of Western civilization. Meanwhile, though, classical studies in the academic world has been rocked by a new wave of thinkers. In the '70s, feminist and gay- and black-studies scholars began to focus on the classics and ancient civilizations. In a somewhat staid field, they've sparked lively debate on issues such as the African roots of ancient Greece and the motivations of female characters such as Helen of Troy and Penelope. So the current revival may reflect two moods one conservative and traditionalist, the other liberal and multicultural. "It's a matter of who succeeds in imposing his interpretation on these things. These models are sort of up for grabs, and political debates get turned into debates over how you interpret them," Thalmann says. Whatever its roots, classics scholars are happy about the resurgence. "I can assure you, classicists didn't plan this, but we certainly welcome the advertisement," says Maria Pantelia, associate professor of classics atthe University of California, Irvine. Nor are they likely to grumble if Disney skips some of the labors of Hercules or if the miniseries' star, Armand Assante, isn't their ideal Odysseus. "There are so many different versions of the myths. Depending on which author you read, you get a different version," Pantelia explains. "So actually, we welcome different interpretations of myths, because they show how timeless they are. " UPDATING FOR THE TIMES That openness to contemporary slants seems to have had a liberating effect on the creative talents who put together the new projects.... ...Tapert, with partner Sam Raimi, felt compelled to take liberties with the Hercules myth for the TV show, which premiered in January 1995. "We said we can't put on the myths right on the screen; they're too horrible. Hercules takes an ax and chops up his family. You can't put that on," he says. "Herc can't go out and kill the Nemean lion or kill a bunch of wild pigs. It doesn't play in modern day. So we had to find a way to make it have the same mythological feel and be applicable to a modern audience. " He says they took notes on other elements to avoid from the old Hercules movies. "We decided that our hero was not going to wear a toga," he says. "That we were going to make the dialogue much more contemporary. And that we weren't going to exist in a desert world filled with ruins. " (The show is shot in lush New Zealand.)... ...SIDEBAR ...HOW THE MODERNSHOWS CAST THE CLASSICS Hercules: Strongest man on Earth. Son of Zeus and a mortal woman. Completed the 12 labors of Hercules, which included cleaning out the Augean stables and bringing back the girdle of Hippolyta, queen of the Amazons. In "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys," he is played by Kevin Sorbo and knows martial arts. In Disney's "Hercules," he is a celebrity-athlete who learns the true meaning of "hero. "... ...CHART: WHERE THE CLASSICS ARE... ..."Hercules: The Legendary Journeys" airs at 4 and 8 p.m. Saturday on KTLA/5. "Xena: Warrior Princess" airs at 5 and 9 p.m. Saturday on KTLA/5. GRAPHIC: ...'XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS'; The syndicated show, a spinoff of the 'Hercules' series, stars Lucy Lawless as the fiercely independent Xena.(F10); HERCULES; The nebulousness of the original Hercules tale leaves plenty of room for new animated or live-action interpretations. Kevin Sorbo, above right, and Michael Hurst star in 'Hercules; the Legendary Journeys.'; FUN WITH THE CLASSICS; Old myths have sneaked back into public consciousness like a Trojan horse, served straight, as in 'The Odyssey,' above, or with the campy touches of 'Xena; Warrior Princess,' the syndicated TV series.... Notices: All back issues of XMR and TWXN are available at (http://xenafan.com/xmr). We herein give praise and thanks to Tom Simpson for the space he has graciously donated from his spectacular, TOM'S XENA PAGE (http://xenafan.com). If you have never been there, you are **not** a xenafan! TWXN is the advance sheet for XMR, an annotated world press review of reports regarding the internationally syndicated television show XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS (1995 - 2000+?) and the castmembers, Lucy Lawless and Renee O'Connor. TWXN is not available for subscription, however it is posted Monday, Wednesday, and Friday on the XenaVerse, Hercules-Xena, and Chakram Mailing Lists (thank you Lucia! I am greatly indebt to you), the MCA NetForum, the Xenite Message Center, and alt.tv.xena. I also would like to thank sirvin@law.wfu.edu for assitance in collecting the newstories. For a free e-mail subscription to XMR subscribe by e-mail to ktaborn@lightspeed.net by stating somewhere in the subject or text "sub xmr". And HAPPY BIRTHDAY JACQUIE!!! HAVE A GOOD ONE.