This is where I make the entire Internet disown me
So last night I finally saw a production of "Phantom of the Opera." I've never seen any version of it before, although a solo version of the titular song has been in my mix-tape collection for years, and also I was shocked to realize while watching that I'd heard literally like 2/3rds of the music at some point over the years, 'cause much of it was all quite familiar.
Here is my question: is the Phantom himself supposed to be a romantic figure? Because I am under the impression that half the world is in sexytimes love with him, and I don't get it.
I mean, I can totally get liking the actual MUSICAL, sort of. I didn't particularly like it, but I also didn't particularly dislike it; I honestly just spent much of it feeling sort of bored. (If it's any consolation to the Internet, this was probably in large part 'cause I was so damn tired.) I had expected so much more time to be spent on crashing chandeliers and dead bodies, and while the play has plenty of those things, the MAJORITY of time is spent with Christine and Raoul (and, to a lesser extent, the Phantom) whining via song. The Phantom whines about how he's in Christine's mind, Rauol whines first that Christine is being silly for believing in the Phantom and then whines that Christine is being silly for being scared of the Phantom even though it's clear to all that he's clearly real now, and Christine whines because both the men in her life kind of suck. (Christine's whines, I felt, were genuine complaints and I approved of them.) It was sort of like watching a Disney movie wherein the entire musical soundtrack consisted of reprises of That One Song The Hero Always Sings About How Much Their Life Sucks While Standing In A High Place.
But, okay, if that's your thing, fine.* And I can even see liking the Phantom, the same way that you can dig Dracula -- because, I mean, the Phantom IS Dracula. He's a vampire. His thing is music instead of blood, but he's a vampire; that's what he is. It's all good.
* [I mean, one of my favorite musicals is "Les Miserables" -- a musical that, if I am being fair, is about a bunch of characters systematically having the most terrible things imaginable happen to them until the vast majority of them are all dead. And I LIKE it. So, y'know: different strokes for different folks and all that. (IRONIC SIDEBAR: Yes, one of my favorite musicals: and yet I stopped reading the "Game of Thrones" saga after one book because I got tired of watching a bunch of characters systematically having the most terrible things imaginable happen to them until they died. Maybe it would have helped me if they'd sang about it.)]
But ... seeing him as ROMANTIC? Wondering how Christine could pick Raoul when she could have been with the Phantom? Is this the general Phantom-fan consensus? I was always under the impression that it was, but after seeing the show last night, all I could think on the drive home was, "... really??"
Because, I mean: the Phantom SUCKS. He brainwashes Christine (I believe the technical term is "Svengali") to the point of mind-rape; he murders a bunch of people. You feel really, really bad for him towards the end, when his past starts coming into light; and you can even argue that he changes in the end, when he allows Christine (AND Raoul) to go. So I can see LIKING the character. But seeing him as a deeply romantic, swoon-worthy character? Do people do that? And if they do, can someone explain to me why??
I mean, I felt TOTES bad for Jervis Tetch during "Mad as a Hatter" -- but when Batman snaps at him, "Then all you've waited for is a puppet. A soulless little doll!" I was nodding along in complete agreement. (This is a particularly good example because I spent much of POTO thinking of how much like Tetch the Phantom really was.) Just because you can see and even empathize with a character's motives doesn't mean you approve of his actions -- it just means the writers came up with a good villain, I think.
(Incidentally, I also spent much of POTO thinking how awesome it would be if Batman would just swoop in and drop-kick the Phantom during, say, the Masquerade scene, and just get said Phamps over with already. But that was probably just due to my faint boredom and also my core belief that having Batman swoop in during ANY story to drop-kick someone will vastly improve the overall entertainment value.)
So, if any Phantom fans are out there, and aren't just ready to drop-kick ME -- tell me about this fandom. Is the Phantom a character people crush on? And if so, why? I legitimately want to know!
SPEAKING OF BATMAN: Is it wrong of me to take SO MUCH cheering crowing awesome delight in Batman punching Mercy Graves in the face during Part 2 of "World's Finest"? The delight is because animated fare -- actually, entertainment fare in general -- is usually SO afraid to allow a man to hit a woman. And, I mean, generally I'm in favor of men not hitting women in normal settings, of course -- but what astonishes me is that people don't realize that taking this principle too far actually BECOMES SEXIST. "Now, boys: you need to understand that, even if a woman is about to do you truly grievous bodily harm, you can't hit her. Because women are SO SUB-HUMANLY INFERIOR to you -- because you have so much more power than they do -- that punching one EVEN IN THIS SITUATION is morally unacceptable." Mercy Graves is about to shoot Batman in the head, so he lays her out with a punch to the face?? BRING IT. Make her enough of a true human being that it's OKAY to punch her in the head to stop her from MURDERING YOU. I know men are stronger than women and blah blah blah, but honestly: THERE IS A LINE TO THIS LOGIC. Thank you, Batman. Thank you.
ALSO: Could someone who still watches "Doctor Who" tell me when it's revealed who River Song actually is to the Doctor, and what she's revealed AS?? I'm tired of checking episode synopses on the internet, and also I'm just too tired period to care THAT much about it anymore. So if someone wouldn't mind letting me know after it's revealed, just as an FYI, I'd really appreciate it. Thanks.
ETA: Y'know what? About the whole "Clue Me In On River Song's Full Identity Once The Show Reveals It" request? Forget it. Never mind. I've been going back and forth on this internal pondering for probably six months now, trying to decide Something, and this perfectly reasonable link from chocolatepot's latest entry clinched it for me:
"Doctor Who" is no longer my "Doctor Who." I'm not saying it's not still quintessentially "Doctor Who," and I'm not even saying that it's not conceivably still a good show. (I'm not saying it is still good, either: I'd have to watch it to determine that.) I'm glad it's still running and doing well for the people out there who are watching it and loving it and wanting it to do well.
But it's not My "Doctor Who" anymore. It's not. My "Doctor Who" ended and came full circle in "The End of Time," and that's all there is to it. That's how it is, and that's okay. So it's time for me to let stuff go and fuhgettaboutit already. (Not forget about the Doctor, mind -- just forget about the stuff that may or may not be irking me and, y'know, SHUT UP about it already and turn my focuses elsewhere.)
... is this going to come off as a flounce?? I hope it doesn't come off as a flounce. :D I'm not "leaving" fandom (I would have had to be a part of fandom to begin with to do that), and I'm not going to toss all my "Doctor Who" DVDs and books and stuff or anything. I still very much love the Doctor and My "Doctor Who" and plan on enjoying it for many years to come. I'm just saying it's time for me to let, for instance, the River!Hate go and move on, instead of whinging on and on and ON about how Moffat's doing it wrong. He IS doing it wrong, for me. So what? It ain't MY show. My show ended, and it ended PERFECTLY, and I can't even ask for more than that. But it's time to stop yammering on about it -- if not for the sake of my flist, and fellow RL nerdy pals, than for my own sake (because have I learned ANYTHING from "Buffy" Season Six, or not?!).
So, yes. Peace to all the River Song fans, and God bless Matt Smith. Now, allons-y!
Here is my question: is the Phantom himself supposed to be a romantic figure? Because I am under the impression that half the world is in sexytimes love with him, and I don't get it.
I mean, I can totally get liking the actual MUSICAL, sort of. I didn't particularly like it, but I also didn't particularly dislike it; I honestly just spent much of it feeling sort of bored. (If it's any consolation to the Internet, this was probably in large part 'cause I was so damn tired.) I had expected so much more time to be spent on crashing chandeliers and dead bodies, and while the play has plenty of those things, the MAJORITY of time is spent with Christine and Raoul (and, to a lesser extent, the Phantom) whining via song. The Phantom whines about how he's in Christine's mind, Rauol whines first that Christine is being silly for believing in the Phantom and then whines that Christine is being silly for being scared of the Phantom even though it's clear to all that he's clearly real now, and Christine whines because both the men in her life kind of suck. (Christine's whines, I felt, were genuine complaints and I approved of them.) It was sort of like watching a Disney movie wherein the entire musical soundtrack consisted of reprises of That One Song The Hero Always Sings About How Much Their Life Sucks While Standing In A High Place.
But, okay, if that's your thing, fine.* And I can even see liking the Phantom, the same way that you can dig Dracula -- because, I mean, the Phantom IS Dracula. He's a vampire. His thing is music instead of blood, but he's a vampire; that's what he is. It's all good.
* [I mean, one of my favorite musicals is "Les Miserables" -- a musical that, if I am being fair, is about a bunch of characters systematically having the most terrible things imaginable happen to them until the vast majority of them are all dead. And I LIKE it. So, y'know: different strokes for different folks and all that. (IRONIC SIDEBAR: Yes, one of my favorite musicals: and yet I stopped reading the "Game of Thrones" saga after one book because I got tired of watching a bunch of characters systematically having the most terrible things imaginable happen to them until they died. Maybe it would have helped me if they'd sang about it.)]
But ... seeing him as ROMANTIC? Wondering how Christine could pick Raoul when she could have been with the Phantom? Is this the general Phantom-fan consensus? I was always under the impression that it was, but after seeing the show last night, all I could think on the drive home was, "... really??"
Because, I mean: the Phantom SUCKS. He brainwashes Christine (I believe the technical term is "Svengali") to the point of mind-rape; he murders a bunch of people. You feel really, really bad for him towards the end, when his past starts coming into light; and you can even argue that he changes in the end, when he allows Christine (AND Raoul) to go. So I can see LIKING the character. But seeing him as a deeply romantic, swoon-worthy character? Do people do that? And if they do, can someone explain to me why??
I mean, I felt TOTES bad for Jervis Tetch during "Mad as a Hatter" -- but when Batman snaps at him, "Then all you've waited for is a puppet. A soulless little doll!" I was nodding along in complete agreement. (This is a particularly good example because I spent much of POTO thinking of how much like Tetch the Phantom really was.) Just because you can see and even empathize with a character's motives doesn't mean you approve of his actions -- it just means the writers came up with a good villain, I think.
(Incidentally, I also spent much of POTO thinking how awesome it would be if Batman would just swoop in and drop-kick the Phantom during, say, the Masquerade scene, and just get said Phamps over with already. But that was probably just due to my faint boredom and also my core belief that having Batman swoop in during ANY story to drop-kick someone will vastly improve the overall entertainment value.)
So, if any Phantom fans are out there, and aren't just ready to drop-kick ME -- tell me about this fandom. Is the Phantom a character people crush on? And if so, why? I legitimately want to know!
SPEAKING OF BATMAN: Is it wrong of me to take SO MUCH cheering crowing awesome delight in Batman punching Mercy Graves in the face during Part 2 of "World's Finest"? The delight is because animated fare -- actually, entertainment fare in general -- is usually SO afraid to allow a man to hit a woman. And, I mean, generally I'm in favor of men not hitting women in normal settings, of course -- but what astonishes me is that people don't realize that taking this principle too far actually BECOMES SEXIST. "Now, boys: you need to understand that, even if a woman is about to do you truly grievous bodily harm, you can't hit her. Because women are SO SUB-HUMANLY INFERIOR to you -- because you have so much more power than they do -- that punching one EVEN IN THIS SITUATION is morally unacceptable." Mercy Graves is about to shoot Batman in the head, so he lays her out with a punch to the face?? BRING IT. Make her enough of a true human being that it's OKAY to punch her in the head to stop her from MURDERING YOU. I know men are stronger than women and blah blah blah, but honestly: THERE IS A LINE TO THIS LOGIC. Thank you, Batman. Thank you.
ALSO: Could someone who still watches "Doctor Who" tell me when it's revealed who River Song actually is to the Doctor, and what she's revealed AS?? I'm tired of checking episode synopses on the internet, and also I'm just too tired period to care THAT much about it anymore. So if someone wouldn't mind letting me know after it's revealed, just as an FYI, I'd really appreciate it. Thanks.
ETA: Y'know what? About the whole "Clue Me In On River Song's Full Identity Once The Show Reveals It" request? Forget it. Never mind. I've been going back and forth on this internal pondering for probably six months now, trying to decide Something, and this perfectly reasonable link from chocolatepot's latest entry clinched it for me:
"Doctor Who" is no longer my "Doctor Who." I'm not saying it's not still quintessentially "Doctor Who," and I'm not even saying that it's not conceivably still a good show. (I'm not saying it is still good, either: I'd have to watch it to determine that.) I'm glad it's still running and doing well for the people out there who are watching it and loving it and wanting it to do well.
But it's not My "Doctor Who" anymore. It's not. My "Doctor Who" ended and came full circle in "The End of Time," and that's all there is to it. That's how it is, and that's okay. So it's time for me to let stuff go and fuhgettaboutit already. (Not forget about the Doctor, mind -- just forget about the stuff that may or may not be irking me and, y'know, SHUT UP about it already and turn my focuses elsewhere.)
... is this going to come off as a flounce?? I hope it doesn't come off as a flounce. :D I'm not "leaving" fandom (I would have had to be a part of fandom to begin with to do that), and I'm not going to toss all my "Doctor Who" DVDs and books and stuff or anything. I still very much love the Doctor and My "Doctor Who" and plan on enjoying it for many years to come. I'm just saying it's time for me to let, for instance, the River!Hate go and move on, instead of whinging on and on and ON about how Moffat's doing it wrong. He IS doing it wrong, for me. So what? It ain't MY show. My show ended, and it ended PERFECTLY, and I can't even ask for more than that. But it's time to stop yammering on about it -- if not for the sake of my flist, and fellow RL nerdy pals, than for my own sake (because have I learned ANYTHING from "Buffy" Season Six, or not?!).
So, yes. Peace to all the River Song fans, and God bless Matt Smith. Now, allons-y!