Regarding Phantom of the Opera

I have a conundrum, mine people.

I love Phantom of the Opera.  I’m a die-hard Phan, I love the book, the musical, the movie.  I love reading Phanfics, and I’ve drawn a Phanart:

Mah latest and bestest Phanpic

But…

Last night I watched the movie.  And throughout the whole thing, I was really, really uncomfortable.  There was a nagging something at the back of my mind.  Something was off about this. 

There are actually quite a few things I found wrong with PotO.  And it really bothers me. 

(If you love PotO, and you don’t find anything wrong with it, please don’t read this.  I don’t want to ruin anything for you.)

(Also, I'm mostly concentrating on the movie, because I haven't seen the whole play so I don't have authority to review it)

(Also.  Spoilers.)

Here goes nothing.

Phantom of the Opera is the longest running show on Broadway, and probably one of the most popular musicals ever.  So it must be great, right?  Right.  The music is phenomenal.  I’ll say that right there. 

I was raised with a love for the theatre.  My grandparents took me to shows and installed a love of musicals in me at a young age.  I acted in a few shows at my community theatre, and I just love musical theatre. 

So of course, being in the musical theatre environment, I couldn’t help but hear lots about the crowning gem of the musical theatre world, Phantom of the Opera. 

I listened to it, and I loved it.  I watched it, and I loved it.

Then I started actually understanding what it was about and actually listening to the lyrics. 


When I started doing that, somehow it wasn't as enjoyable anymore.

And, ladies and gentleman, this crowning gem of musical theatre is not as good and wonderful as I had thought.

HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT, you scream.  IT’S A BEAUTIFUL STORY OF LOVE.

Weeelllllllll........maybe.

First let’s talk about the main character and anti-hero/villain, Phantom. 

Okay.  I’ve heard a lot of people who ship Phantom and Christine, and who love Phantom, and all that, but I’m not one of those people.  Well, I used to be.  Then I started understanding Phantom better. 

Guys, this is a 30/40-something year old man who is probably more than a little insane.  And this 30/40-something year old insane man has been stalking this innocent young girl since she was like 10.  He has been singing to her while she sleeps.  Which means he has been watching her sleep.  (Talk about creepy)  He won’t let her see him, but he stalks her and teaches her to sing and it’s all very secretive and stuff.  Then when she is 20 years old, the Phantom finally abducts her and takes her to his secret underground lair because he is in love with her voice and...I think her, herself. 

Okay.  This is not love people.  This is creepy stalkishness and everything BUT love.  VERY CREEPY.  IF THIS HAPPENED IN REAL LIFE, WE WOULD PROBABLY NOT TURN THE GUY INTO A ROMANTICIZED GENIUS.  At least, I hope not.

All his songs are about possessing her and owning her and darkness and seduction and passion and more darkness and it’s all very WRONG. 

So then when Christine’s REAL lover, the Vicomte Raoul de Chagny, enters the scene, Phantom becomes mad with jealous rage and eventually takes Christine back to his lair under the opera house to force her to live there and be his wife.  When the gallant Raoul tracks him down and comes to rescue her, Phantom captures him and makes Christine choose: either she has to live with him or her lover will die. 

It ends up okay, (he lets Christine and Raoul go and then disappears off into the darkness of the burning theatre to never be seen again) but come on.  COME ON.  This is a madman; the most stalkerish Stalker of them all, and most definitely NOT a romantic lover.  He’s all about control and domination and lust and he threatens and kills people without a second thought.

HE’S A BAD GUY.

How do people love him over Raoul?  I don’t even know. 

Now for my second issue.  And this was the one that bothered me the most, I think. 

At the beginning of the movie, we see a portrait of Christine’s dead father, who looks very suspiciously like Phantom. 

This could just be me, but doesn't that look a lot like Phantom to you?  (The fact that that dude is Ramin Karimloo, who played Phantom in the Broadway PotO, doesn't help at all.)

Then she talks about how her father sent the Angel of Music to watch over her, and she thinks it’s Phantom (who happens to look like her father). 

Then later in the film, there is a scene where she steals away to the cemetery in the middle of the night.  She goes to her father’s grave, singing a song of how she wishes he was somehow here again, and the Angel of Music (Phantom) sings to her as if it’s coming from her father’s grave.  Then she sings as if she thinks it’s her father singing, saying "Angel or father, friend or phantom?" So....it's either her father or the Phantom?  Does she think that her Angel of Music is her father's spirit?? 


AND PHANTOM IS SINGING TO HER AS IF HE IS HER FATHER.  BUT...BUT...he is totally bringing in the "My angel of music, you try to resist me but your soul obeys" vibe so I'm so confused.  SO BEFUDDLED.  YOU HAVE NO IDEA.

what even...

This is a theme that comes up again and again, and it really bothers me.

This girl seems very confuzzled.  Like, a lot.  Does Christine think that the Angel of Music aka Phantom is her father?? 

In that case, take a moment to think about what that means.

Yeaaaahhhhh.  I’m really grossed out, too.

Phantom is a creep, but if he’s pretending to be the girl’s freakin’ father, than apparently she’s fine with incest and Phantom has absolutely no morals whatsoever. 

(Am I the only one who noticed this??  Is it just me??  Okay.)

I used to love Phantom.  He was so dashing and romantic and sad and Gerard Butler was extremely good looking as Phantom.  But…yeah, not anymore.

Now let’s move on to the songs.

The song “Past the Point of No Return” is so suggestive and sensual that I get very uncomfortable watching/listening to it, even by myself.  I won’t post a video of the song, because I don’t want to scar you, but take a look at some of the lyrics:

"You have come here

In pursuit of your deepest urge

In pursuit of that wish which till now has been silent

Silent

I have brought you

That our passions may fuse and merge

In your mind you've already succumbed to me

Dropped all defenses, completely succumbed to me

Now you are here with me, no second thoughts

You've decided, decided"

 

"No use resisting

Abandon thought and let the dream descend

What raging fire shall flood the soul?

What rich desire unlocks its door?

What sweet seduction lies before us”

"I have come here, hardly knowing the reason why

 In my mind I've already imagined

 Our bodies entwining defenseless and silent

 And now I am here with you

 No second thoughts, I've decided, decided

  Past the point of no return, no going back now

 Our passion play has now at last begun

 Past all thought of right or wrong, one final question

 How long should we to wait, before we're one?”

 

I am Bilbo.  This is me.

*coughs awkwardly*  Yeepp.  These are the actual lyrics.  There is so much wrong with this song….and the context…and…everything about it.  I'm not going to explain anything.  Just read them and figure it out yourself.

Moving on! 

“Music of the Night”.  What could be wrong with THAT song?  LOTS, my dear minions, LOTS. 

“Night time sharpens, heightens each sensation

 Darkness stirs and wakes imagination

 Silently the senses abandon their defenses"

 

"Close your eyes and surrender to your darkest dreams

 Purge your thoughts of the life you knew before”

"Floating, falling, sweet intoxication

 Touch me, trust me, savour each sensation

 Let the dream begin, let your darker side give in

 To the power of the music that I write

 The power of the music of the night”

This song is so beautiful….but so wrong and unhealthy if you actually look at the lyrics hard enough.  It’s all about how darkness is better and give in to your deepest, darkest passions and how she'll belong to him if she does that and…..ick. 

I had problems with the other characters, too. 

Madame Giry just stands by and watches while her practically adopted daughter is stalked/kidnapped/molested/practically sexually abused and SHE DOESN’T DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT.  She brought Phantom to the Opera House, so really it’s her fault.  She doesn’t even try to protect Christine from Phantom.  THE CHILD IS SCARED OF THE STALKER MAN.  YOU ARE A TERRIBLE MOTHER, MADAME. 

Christine...ah, Christine.  So pretty and charming with such a gorgeous voice...but kind of weak.  She goes along with Phantom’s devious schemes, and goes along with his advancements and there is lots of fondling and icky stuff.  When she woke up from her trance, she didn't seem in least concerned about being in a creepy underground lair with a guy who kidnapped her.


Granted, she was under a trance part of the time, but STILL.  If she could not see that this was a terrible situation, and she needed to get away from this situation, then there is something very wrong with her.  Also, since she had been visited by the Phantom since she was 10, she trusted him, but I AM 17 AND I WOULDN'T TRUST PHANTOM FOR A HEARTBEAT.  She was 20 and she trusted him blindly.  WHAT IS IT WITH THESE PEOPLE AND THEIR BLIND TRUST IN CREEPY STRANGERS.

But please don't think I dislike Christine entirely!  No, I really do like her.  She was willing to sacrifice her whole life by promising to stay and love Phantom so that Raoul could live.  Isn't that sweet?  There were a few brave parts, or at least I think they were brave...she could have been under a trance then....I'm not sure.

Now.  Raoul. 

Awwwwww Raoulllll

I have to say though, Vicomte Rauol de Chagny is marvelous.  He is a brave, handsome, wonderful little person who risks his own life and is willing to give his life for the girl he loves.  He’s the ideal man.  I think he’s the only character in the entire thing that I actually like. 


Was he a bit of a wimp?  Yes, he was.  A tiny bit.  Did he forget to keep his hand at the level of his eyes thus getting the Phantom's rope around his neck?  Yes, he did. 


Do I care?  Not in the slightest. 


His song, "All I Ask of You", is the sweetest thing ever.  Also, he is so freakin selfless and brave, it's adorable.  When he was tied to the portcullis, about to die, he asked Christine to forgive him, that he did it all for her, and to save herself and not worry about him, to not throw her life away.  HE ASKED HER TO FORGIVE HIM.  HE WAS ABOUT TO BE KILLED.  That was probably the most adorable Raoul moments of the whole movie. 

"I did it all for you"

Awwwww.  Is your heart melting?  It should be.


Anyway, Raoul.  Yes.  He was like the only character I really loved in PotO.  Did I have any problems with him?  Nah.  I'm biased.  I love Raoul.


So what was the point of this post?


The point was to dig up the iffy aspects of PotO and find out if the good outweighs the bad.

The Phantom of the Opera is highly appraised everywhere.  Everyone loves it. 

But is it really a good story? 

I have come to the opinion that it’s beautiful.  But beautiful is not always the same as good.  In this case, it's beautiful in both ways.  But mostly a dark, twisted beauty. This is not just a simple story of love, it’s more like a complicated web of lust and love and insanity mixed up in the lot. 


Then again, it has good aspects.  True love, for example, is proven wonderfully by Raoul and Christine.  The moral of the story is: Don't be a stalker.  Also, stranger danger. 

Is it a good musical?  Of course!  Is it gorgeous and sensual and heartbreaking?  Yes!  Is it clean and morally good and truthful?  Not really.  Even Raoul cannot quite make it okay. 

So I have a conundrum, people. 

Is Phantom of the Opera a good thing to be watching and listening to?  Or should it be avoided?

It’s really hard for me to love PotO after knowing all of this stuff about it now.  I want to keep loving it, but then I don't want to.

I don’t want to leave the Phandom….but I do want to leave the Phandom. 

“THIS IS THE CHOICE.  THIS IS THE POINT OF NO RETUUURRRNNNN.”

What do you think, minions?  Do you love PotO?  Do you have issues with anything in it?  Does your conscience scream at you that it's not a healthy thing to be watching/listening to?  Do you proceed to ignore your conscience and go on with your Phan-ish little life?

______________________________________________________________________________


So, here's my ranty post for the week.  Next week I'll probably be back to loving PotO with my whole heart and soul, so please don't take this too seriously.  I'm most probably just over-exaggerating and over-thinking this whole thing.  So don't be angry at me, all you PotO loving minions out there. :)