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               LIES, DAMNED LIES, AND STATISTICS
                 Special to the e-mail WHOOSH!
                     By BRET RYAN RUDNICK 
                (brudnick@ivanova.harvard.edu)
                 Copyright 1997 held by author
                           902 words
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"A rumour will die itself if you will only give it
three days. Start any rumour, and if the public can go
with its curiosity unsatisfied for three days something
else will spring up which will make the public forget
all about the first one."  -- Mark Twain

The latest earthquake to shake the foundations of
fandom on an "eight plus" scale was a story printed in
the L.A. Daily/Hollywood Hotline on 27 May. For those 
who have been on another planet this past month, the
article read as follows:

"Look out!  More trouble is on the way for Xena:
Warrior Princess. They are casting a 10 year-old girl
to play the daughter of Gabrielle (Renee O' Connor),
who Xenaphiles will recall, was impregnated in a rape 
by a god. Don't tell anybody this, but here's the plot:
The little girl will look pretty and sweet, but make no
mistake, she's the ultimate bad seed, a soulless
half-human with god-like powers. Sounds like some 
celebrites we know."

It was the Blurb That Launched a Thousand Outrages.

The 'net was soon buzzing with speculation, innuendo,
claims of fair and foul, confirmation and denial by
anonymous sources, and, most of all, indignation and
resentment.

The "story" itself is obviously misleading, to say the
least.  No one who has seen all the episodes of XENA:
WARRIOR PRINCESS aired to date can recall that
Gabrielle was impregnated by the rape of a god, because
we have never seen it happen. In fact, we have not seen
a god rape anyone in the show. The closest thing to it
I can recall is when Callisto and Ares had consensual
sex, but Callisto was in Xena's body at the time. At
the risk of opening a debate as to ownership of body
and mind, depending on whose is where, one *could* view
that act as a rape. But the bottom line is, Gabrielle
is not involved in this sort of thing at all.

Los Angeles in general, and Hollywood in particular,
being what they are, can easily be confused when it
comes to names of characters from a television show
their columnists may not even watch in the first place. 

And yet, there is often a grain of truth to such
rumours that make it to the press. The only question
is, how much is truth and how much is fiction?

The bottom line is:  we do not know.

We are likely not to know unless and until we see the
episode(s) in question.

Yet many people were disturbed by one word more than
any other in the article: rape. I cannot blame them. It
is a horrid word for a horrid thing. As an ex-peace
officer, I have seen many victims of this crime, and I
think it is woefully underrated in its effects. For
some, it is worse than murder, because it forces the
victim to relive a violent, intrusive, and terrible
thing often at moments when they are supposed to be
intimate, loving, and gentle.

As time wore on and concerns were made known, word
began to come back from reliable sources that the story
which started it all was, to say the least, riddled
with innacuracies. Messages of disgust and threats of
boycott dwindled to a trickle, and now, traffic on the
topic is almost nil.

As I watched all this from afar, I was struck by how
quickly people responded to unsubstantiated rumour. It
seemed out of place for people who watch and love the
show.

After all, in two seasons of XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS, I
cannot think of any instance or storyline that was
tasteless, disgusting, or insipid. I may not have
always *liked* every episode equally, but if I look, I
can always find *something* redeeming, even moral, in
every episode.

Throughout the entire series, the lynchpin has always
been the relationship of Xena and Gabrielle. What
started as an uncertain, even unwilling, partnership,
has grown into a great friendship, and, subtextual
predilections aside, love. Xena and Gabrielle have
become a "modern" Damon and Pythias, two great friends
whose love for one another is so great each would die
for the other if necessary.

After such a road of progression, is it likely to think
those who make the show will forget about or sacrifice
that?  Do we have any real reason to suspect that any
coming crises or conflict will be handled in anything
but a tasteful and thoughtful manner?

I think not. You, of course, may disagree. But I will
keep an open mind, and watch with care the season
ahead.

We all know from hints that have been dropped we are in
for some pretty intense times. But I would also remind
people that the single largest bolt from the blue of
the second season, the "kiss" scene in THE QUEST #37),
was a complete and total surprise for everyone. 
Xenastaffers, some famous for dropping hints, clues,
tidbits and teasers, kept this 100% secret.

Like Gabrielle, who so often spends time by the lake,
I will sit and watch events unfold. If I see something
concrete and worth taking a staff to, I will wield it.
But until then, based on all that has gone before, I
shall have faith.