Movie thoughts III: Phantom of the Opera
*Note: I have not seen the stage musical, the silent film, nor read the book it’s based on. I’m just going by the 2004 movie. So, this does contain spoilers. For some reason I’ve been hooked on Phantom of the Opera and now I’ve found myself thinking on things like motivation and mentality of the characters, esp. the Phantom himself; he’s a psychological goldmine! XD Oh, and I switch tense a bit since I’m tired and not proofing this and my mind is wandering.*
Honestly, in all seriousness, Christine was a fucking idiot for leaving the Phantom (Erik) for Raoul. What a joke. They hadn’t seen or heard from each other in years (Christine was 16 at the time of the movie according to the date shown on her headstone at the end and the date on screen), they only knew possible puppy love that children experience, and Raoul didn’t even recognize her until her debut after she’d recognized him. The first words out of Meg’s mouth when Christine told her about their past as children were “He’s so handsome!” Ehem. Physical attractiveness means shit when it comes to love. Sure, it doesn’t hurt, but it’s no reason to base a relationship on. At least the ballet girls when they were introduced to the new managers were honest enough to think only about their money instead of any naïve notions of love based on appearance. Only after Christine impressed the full house with her voice (which I honestly don’t think is all that great; she uses vibrato far too much and just kinda grates on my nerves after a while) did Raoul show any interest in her and remember her.
Anyway, Christine may have loved Raoul and vice-versa, but really. Erik was the one who had been with her for 9 years, teaching her to sing, improving her voice until she became a star. It’s unclear how old Erik is during the movie, but if Meg is the same age as Christine (16), then Mdm. Giry may be 35-40, with Erik being slightly younger than her; I’d say 5 years maximum, making him in his late 20s at the youngest and early 30s at the oldest. In the late 1800s it wasn’t uncommon for a young girl of 16 to marry a man twice her age or more; love generally had very little to do with it. It was more of security for the girl should her parents die or otherwise leave her to her own devices, as well as for the husband so he would be sure to produce as many children as possible while the bride is still young and he can focus on earning money to support the family.
I’m getting off-track. Yes, Erik is definitely older than her, but that is the same with Raoul; he may be only 20~22, but that’s still a good age difference. The thing that gets me the most, however, is that this man (Erik) was willing to love her unconditionally, willing to share everything he was and everything he had created with her; we can assume that he’d never shared a lot of his creations and thoughts even with Mdm. Giry, the one who rescued him as a child. He saw her as his second half; he would create the music and she would sing it, bringing the words to life for all to hear and admire. Is it a selfish reason to love someone? Most definitely. Is it wrong? I don’t think so. It’d be wrong if he only wanted to marry her because of some sexual perversion he harbored. But then listen to him sing when he kidnaps her and brings her to his home under the opera house. She basically asks if he is going to rape her. What does he say? “Absolutely not. Because I’ve killed so many people, I am not worthy of enjoying any kind of physical contact. Because I know I’m hideous to look upon, I wouldn’t dream of subjecting you to touching me if you did not wish to yourself.” That’s a pretty noble outlook, albeit still a bit deranged since he does indeed want to keep her for himself even though she’d expressed the desire to leave.
Actually, when you look at the whole movie, you see that every time she is in the presence of Erik, singing or not, she almost looks like she’s swooning. She obviously doesn’t hate him as she claims towards the end. She hates what he has done, but not him as a person. Even after he returns her to the house without her saying a word (after removing his mask), she becomes no better than he. At least he had the decency to tell people directly what he wanted and what would happen if he was disobeyed. During the performance of Don Juan Triumphant, again she swoons, and it is really quite plain that it’s not an act for the show. She looks truly overwhelmed by emotion for him, or at the very least his voice. The during the show she unmasks him in front of everyone; no one except her and possibly Mdm. Giry had ever seen his face unmasked since he was rescued from the gypsy sideshow. Now everyone has seen it, the thing that he himself is so ashamed of and hides even from the shadows themselves. This is a truly humiliating ordeal for anyone, to have something you’ve tried to keep hidden for so many years to be so suddenly exposed to the public. Think about how that would affect someone psychologically and emotionally; he may never learn to trust anyone ever again, never risk going out amongst people even in the opera house for fear of being exposed once again. It may have been done as a last-ditch effort to get him to leave Christine and Raoul alone, but what she did to him was just plain cruel and, in my opinion, undeserved.
“B-b-but J!” you’re screaming at me (you metaphorical people :P), “he was evil! He kidnapped her even when she rejected him! He’s been stalking her! He’s killed people because he thought they were trying to separate them, or even for no good reason!” Exactly. Think about his past, what little is shown in the film. When he was a child he was abused and put on display for entertainment. No one showed any kind of pity or compassion for him until Mdm. Giry came to the sideshow. He was finally able to exact revenge on the man who beat him by strangling him to death. Do you really think he would have gotten far if Mdm. Giry had not been there? It’s kind of hard to not notice a small boy with a) a burlap sack on his head, or b) a horribly grotesque disfiguration on one side of his face. He would have been turned in to the police and spent the rest of his life in a jail cell or asylum, or he would have been returned to the gypsies where the abuse would continue or he would be killed. One act of kindness and willingness to help another human being in pain from Mdm. Giry was enough to ensure that he would be safe, away from the judgmental eyes of the world outside the opera house.
I state all this for a reason. He was more than likely at an age where children are just learning the difference between right and wrong, good people and bad people. All he had known (we can assume) is torment from his keepers and the people they showed him off to. Mdm. Giry was little more than a child herself when she rescued him, so she may not have been able to be a proper mother figure for him (hence her submission to his requests and deeds throughout the film rather than talking with him about his actions). Not being able to interact with other people for the majority of his life would leave definite scars on his psyche and heart. When all you’ve known is hatred and fear and shame, it’s rather hard to learn to trust and be accepted by others. In his mind, the entire world was probably out to get him, and if he didn’t stop others before they hurt him again. Also, having never had anything of his until his rescue, he is very protective of what he considers to be his, including people. This is why he is so demanding when it comes to how the managers run the opera house; it is his home, therefore the managers and casts are only guests there in his eyes. Would you want your guests telling you what to do in your own home? Exactly. And he doesn’t like it either.
Without human interaction, Erik is not able to connect with people like we normally would. He is in essence still a child when it comes to basic concepts like property and love that we learn to deal with by way of experience and advice. He has had none of that; it’s exceedingly difficult to get someone to learn those basic things when they’re already well into adulthood. Not to mention the way he feels betrayed by Christine’s rejection of his love for her when she plots to leave with Raoul; he made her into a star, made her able to sing as well as she did, basically helped her become everything she is. And how is he repaid for his generosity and attention? With public humiliation and desertion. I’d feel a bit bitter and vengeful, too, to be entirely honest.
-sigh- I can totally see where Erik is coming from with a lot of his actions. For someone like him, to be thought of as an angel for nearly a decade by the one person he grew to love must have been a wonderful feeling. He knew he was ugly to look at, but he compensated by having a phenomenal voice and genius and intellect. His emotional maturity may have been stunted, but he was indeed a good man, not a monster. All he really wanted, all he truly desired in life was to have a companion. Someone to accept him as he was, someone to acknowledge his mastery of the arts, someone to make the darkness just a little less dark. I believe that Christine knew this (her last words to him were “you are not alone”) at some point during the film, yet she still left him to wallow in his misery and personal hell. In my opinion, all she had to do was say “look, I don’t love you. I love someone else. But I am willing to be your friend. If that is not enough for you, then I’m sorry; it’s all I can offer.” It may not have been exactly what Erik wanted, but it was a compromise, something every person needs to learn in order to survive without going insane; there was no compromise in Erik’s world. There was only his way or no way. The kiss (well, kisses actually) Christine gave him I think were mainly just a selfish move on her part. Again, she was clearly enthralled with the Phantom throughout her childhood and the movie, but never once did she kiss him. While it did allow Erik to see the mistakes he was making in regards to winning her, it also allowed her to exert a power over him that may prove to be more long-lasting than she realizes. It is another burn on his heart and soul that may never go away. Your first kiss is generally something you don’t forget, and in his case, it was probably the only one he ever received, so he will definitely remember it. And given how obsessive he was with Christine while she was there, he would hold more tightly onto the kiss when she left as the only reminder of her pity for him.
-sigh again- Anyway, I still think she was fucking stupid to leave him like that for another man (jealousy is a very nasty, powerful emotion, and so is possession). At least leave him with something less stinging than a kiss like that. I believe in the book she kissed him chastely on the forehead. That would have been much better. Not for modern movie audiences or the fangirls (-points at self-), but in terms of the story. A passionate kiss implies even a slight possibility of love (romantic), which would only cause more agony on the part of the Phantom in the time to come. A chaste kiss would have shown she was indeed not afraid of him or his appearance, in addition to implying only friendship or familial love, not romantic.
Would I have done the same thing? Fuck no! I do my best to NOT embarrass or humiliate people, even when no one else is looking. It literally hurts my heart to do something so awful to someone. How Christine wasn’t affected in a similar manner while she’s claimed to be so perfect is beyond me. Not that I’m saying I’m perfect; dear God, farthest thing from it. But I know enough to know that basing your opinion or a relationship on someone because of how they look is in its own level of stupid. I’m not saying try to change the man or turn him from ugly duckling into handsome prince( in fact, I quite hate the fanfics written where Erik’s face is miraculously healed and finds love and goes galloping into the sunset on a beautiful unicorn with glitter trailing behind them; it’s unreal, it’s self-indulging, and does nothing to even try to comprehend the man beneath the mask). Just accept him for what and who he is. Yes, his murders of other people were wrong and will be a burden on him for years to come, but they were justified in his mind; a lot of dumb things happen and are said when one is so consumed by love for another person. He knows this, anyone who has ever experienced any kind of love knows this. He is still willing to do anything to keep Christine at his side.
Anyway, time to end this already XD Christine was a fucking moron, the Phantom is not the monster he’s made out to be, and Raoul is just dead weight with a funny haircut. Back to writing this story where I attempt to resolve these infuriating issues! -zooms away in her rocketship-
Honestly, in all seriousness, Christine was a fucking idiot for leaving the Phantom (Erik) for Raoul. What a joke. They hadn’t seen or heard from each other in years (Christine was 16 at the time of the movie according to the date shown on her headstone at the end and the date on screen), they only knew possible puppy love that children experience, and Raoul didn’t even recognize her until her debut after she’d recognized him. The first words out of Meg’s mouth when Christine told her about their past as children were “He’s so handsome!” Ehem. Physical attractiveness means shit when it comes to love. Sure, it doesn’t hurt, but it’s no reason to base a relationship on. At least the ballet girls when they were introduced to the new managers were honest enough to think only about their money instead of any naïve notions of love based on appearance. Only after Christine impressed the full house with her voice (which I honestly don’t think is all that great; she uses vibrato far too much and just kinda grates on my nerves after a while) did Raoul show any interest in her and remember her.
Anyway, Christine may have loved Raoul and vice-versa, but really. Erik was the one who had been with her for 9 years, teaching her to sing, improving her voice until she became a star. It’s unclear how old Erik is during the movie, but if Meg is the same age as Christine (16), then Mdm. Giry may be 35-40, with Erik being slightly younger than her; I’d say 5 years maximum, making him in his late 20s at the youngest and early 30s at the oldest. In the late 1800s it wasn’t uncommon for a young girl of 16 to marry a man twice her age or more; love generally had very little to do with it. It was more of security for the girl should her parents die or otherwise leave her to her own devices, as well as for the husband so he would be sure to produce as many children as possible while the bride is still young and he can focus on earning money to support the family.
I’m getting off-track. Yes, Erik is definitely older than her, but that is the same with Raoul; he may be only 20~22, but that’s still a good age difference. The thing that gets me the most, however, is that this man (Erik) was willing to love her unconditionally, willing to share everything he was and everything he had created with her; we can assume that he’d never shared a lot of his creations and thoughts even with Mdm. Giry, the one who rescued him as a child. He saw her as his second half; he would create the music and she would sing it, bringing the words to life for all to hear and admire. Is it a selfish reason to love someone? Most definitely. Is it wrong? I don’t think so. It’d be wrong if he only wanted to marry her because of some sexual perversion he harbored. But then listen to him sing when he kidnaps her and brings her to his home under the opera house. She basically asks if he is going to rape her. What does he say? “Absolutely not. Because I’ve killed so many people, I am not worthy of enjoying any kind of physical contact. Because I know I’m hideous to look upon, I wouldn’t dream of subjecting you to touching me if you did not wish to yourself.” That’s a pretty noble outlook, albeit still a bit deranged since he does indeed want to keep her for himself even though she’d expressed the desire to leave.
Actually, when you look at the whole movie, you see that every time she is in the presence of Erik, singing or not, she almost looks like she’s swooning. She obviously doesn’t hate him as she claims towards the end. She hates what he has done, but not him as a person. Even after he returns her to the house without her saying a word (after removing his mask), she becomes no better than he. At least he had the decency to tell people directly what he wanted and what would happen if he was disobeyed. During the performance of Don Juan Triumphant, again she swoons, and it is really quite plain that it’s not an act for the show. She looks truly overwhelmed by emotion for him, or at the very least his voice. The during the show she unmasks him in front of everyone; no one except her and possibly Mdm. Giry had ever seen his face unmasked since he was rescued from the gypsy sideshow. Now everyone has seen it, the thing that he himself is so ashamed of and hides even from the shadows themselves. This is a truly humiliating ordeal for anyone, to have something you’ve tried to keep hidden for so many years to be so suddenly exposed to the public. Think about how that would affect someone psychologically and emotionally; he may never learn to trust anyone ever again, never risk going out amongst people even in the opera house for fear of being exposed once again. It may have been done as a last-ditch effort to get him to leave Christine and Raoul alone, but what she did to him was just plain cruel and, in my opinion, undeserved.
“B-b-but J!” you’re screaming at me (you metaphorical people :P), “he was evil! He kidnapped her even when she rejected him! He’s been stalking her! He’s killed people because he thought they were trying to separate them, or even for no good reason!” Exactly. Think about his past, what little is shown in the film. When he was a child he was abused and put on display for entertainment. No one showed any kind of pity or compassion for him until Mdm. Giry came to the sideshow. He was finally able to exact revenge on the man who beat him by strangling him to death. Do you really think he would have gotten far if Mdm. Giry had not been there? It’s kind of hard to not notice a small boy with a) a burlap sack on his head, or b) a horribly grotesque disfiguration on one side of his face. He would have been turned in to the police and spent the rest of his life in a jail cell or asylum, or he would have been returned to the gypsies where the abuse would continue or he would be killed. One act of kindness and willingness to help another human being in pain from Mdm. Giry was enough to ensure that he would be safe, away from the judgmental eyes of the world outside the opera house.
I state all this for a reason. He was more than likely at an age where children are just learning the difference between right and wrong, good people and bad people. All he had known (we can assume) is torment from his keepers and the people they showed him off to. Mdm. Giry was little more than a child herself when she rescued him, so she may not have been able to be a proper mother figure for him (hence her submission to his requests and deeds throughout the film rather than talking with him about his actions). Not being able to interact with other people for the majority of his life would leave definite scars on his psyche and heart. When all you’ve known is hatred and fear and shame, it’s rather hard to learn to trust and be accepted by others. In his mind, the entire world was probably out to get him, and if he didn’t stop others before they hurt him again. Also, having never had anything of his until his rescue, he is very protective of what he considers to be his, including people. This is why he is so demanding when it comes to how the managers run the opera house; it is his home, therefore the managers and casts are only guests there in his eyes. Would you want your guests telling you what to do in your own home? Exactly. And he doesn’t like it either.
Without human interaction, Erik is not able to connect with people like we normally would. He is in essence still a child when it comes to basic concepts like property and love that we learn to deal with by way of experience and advice. He has had none of that; it’s exceedingly difficult to get someone to learn those basic things when they’re already well into adulthood. Not to mention the way he feels betrayed by Christine’s rejection of his love for her when she plots to leave with Raoul; he made her into a star, made her able to sing as well as she did, basically helped her become everything she is. And how is he repaid for his generosity and attention? With public humiliation and desertion. I’d feel a bit bitter and vengeful, too, to be entirely honest.
-sigh- I can totally see where Erik is coming from with a lot of his actions. For someone like him, to be thought of as an angel for nearly a decade by the one person he grew to love must have been a wonderful feeling. He knew he was ugly to look at, but he compensated by having a phenomenal voice and genius and intellect. His emotional maturity may have been stunted, but he was indeed a good man, not a monster. All he really wanted, all he truly desired in life was to have a companion. Someone to accept him as he was, someone to acknowledge his mastery of the arts, someone to make the darkness just a little less dark. I believe that Christine knew this (her last words to him were “you are not alone”) at some point during the film, yet she still left him to wallow in his misery and personal hell. In my opinion, all she had to do was say “look, I don’t love you. I love someone else. But I am willing to be your friend. If that is not enough for you, then I’m sorry; it’s all I can offer.” It may not have been exactly what Erik wanted, but it was a compromise, something every person needs to learn in order to survive without going insane; there was no compromise in Erik’s world. There was only his way or no way. The kiss (well, kisses actually) Christine gave him I think were mainly just a selfish move on her part. Again, she was clearly enthralled with the Phantom throughout her childhood and the movie, but never once did she kiss him. While it did allow Erik to see the mistakes he was making in regards to winning her, it also allowed her to exert a power over him that may prove to be more long-lasting than she realizes. It is another burn on his heart and soul that may never go away. Your first kiss is generally something you don’t forget, and in his case, it was probably the only one he ever received, so he will definitely remember it. And given how obsessive he was with Christine while she was there, he would hold more tightly onto the kiss when she left as the only reminder of her pity for him.
-sigh again- Anyway, I still think she was fucking stupid to leave him like that for another man (jealousy is a very nasty, powerful emotion, and so is possession). At least leave him with something less stinging than a kiss like that. I believe in the book she kissed him chastely on the forehead. That would have been much better. Not for modern movie audiences or the fangirls (-points at self-), but in terms of the story. A passionate kiss implies even a slight possibility of love (romantic), which would only cause more agony on the part of the Phantom in the time to come. A chaste kiss would have shown she was indeed not afraid of him or his appearance, in addition to implying only friendship or familial love, not romantic.
Would I have done the same thing? Fuck no! I do my best to NOT embarrass or humiliate people, even when no one else is looking. It literally hurts my heart to do something so awful to someone. How Christine wasn’t affected in a similar manner while she’s claimed to be so perfect is beyond me. Not that I’m saying I’m perfect; dear God, farthest thing from it. But I know enough to know that basing your opinion or a relationship on someone because of how they look is in its own level of stupid. I’m not saying try to change the man or turn him from ugly duckling into handsome prince( in fact, I quite hate the fanfics written where Erik’s face is miraculously healed and finds love and goes galloping into the sunset on a beautiful unicorn with glitter trailing behind them; it’s unreal, it’s self-indulging, and does nothing to even try to comprehend the man beneath the mask). Just accept him for what and who he is. Yes, his murders of other people were wrong and will be a burden on him for years to come, but they were justified in his mind; a lot of dumb things happen and are said when one is so consumed by love for another person. He knows this, anyone who has ever experienced any kind of love knows this. He is still willing to do anything to keep Christine at his side.
Anyway, time to end this already XD Christine was a fucking moron, the Phantom is not the monster he’s made out to be, and Raoul is just dead weight with a funny haircut. Back to writing this story where I attempt to resolve these infuriating issues! -zooms away in her rocketship-