"Strange angel" is right, f'realz

Oct 17, 2011 13:14

I might be a bit Phantom obsessed lately.

And I keep making the mistake of forgetting that fan boards are really not the best places on the internet, barring the rare diamonds. I miss the days when LJ was a lot busier than it is now, there always seemed to be a lot more quality people around. I mean, just a few months ago, I went looking at Ghostbusters stuff only to see that there were tons of people arguing "girls can't dress up as Ghostbusters because there weren't any in the movie" and "girls have to wear the full jumpsuit just like everyone else if they want to be screen accurate", and, even though I agree, because a short skirt is just not functional, STILL. And then the whole fucking thread that was "post sexy ghostbuster girls!" which I think was just started to get girls posting more but then that whole thing is a fucking disaster. People started arguing about "real" costumes versus the "sexy" version you get at the store and shit, and just, FUCKING SHUT UP. Look, I hate store-bought costumes pretty much as much as any "average" costumer (not your average person, they buy Halloween cheapo shit and like it... not that it can't be done right, it's just often an excuse to dress sexy or whatever, I DON'T GET IT). Anyway. Moving on from that fail.

So I started poking around Phantom stuff since I haven't done that in a while and the actor playing Raoul was on Doctor Who. Found lots of fabulously hilarious gifs on tumblr, but there weren't a whole lot of posts, so I went and found a Phantom of the Opera fan site. JESUS CHRIST GET IN THE CAR.

(I suppose I should say, here, spoiler warning if you don't know details, but then again, I've always found the story pretty straightforward, so I wouldn't consider spoilers very "spoilery", as it were.)

I mean, props for having a pretty much all-encompassing site that covers all the books, all the movies, all the musicals, pretty much ever version, ever. So I found the thread for Andrew Lloyd Weber's 25th anniversary showing and HOOO-LEEEE-SHIIIIIIT. I mean, the discussion was pretty rational, but as in any case where a few people have unpopular opinions, there are some bullies. And the fact that the story is so... fucked up... really sort of enforces it.

I mean, let's look at the story. Phantom of the Opera is being billed as the greatest love story of all time or something like that, and, yes, I can understand. The Phantom is a richly developed character, played very cat-like, poised, he's a frigging genius, legitimately. Architect, engineer, inventor, vocalist, organist, composer. He is LITERALLY a symbol for how much people relate emotionally to music-- he's a god damn "angel". And as I said before, I've never liked Raoul. He doesn't get much "screen time" (as it were), and his character doesn't get to develop a whole lot, because it's done sort of off-screen. The Intermission is six months of him and Christine living away from the Phantom and presumably trying to get her over such a shock. They also lived and played together as children, and, presumably, were pretty close considering he risked getting soaked to the bone to save her scarf. And if it's scarf-wearing weather it's not exactly warm. A.k.a. not pleasurable to jump into the sea.

Meanwhile the Phantom is all up in here like "I'm a fucking Angel, worship me, all I want is your music" when it turns out he wants to marry her (the wedding doll) and enjoys fucking with (AND MURDERING) the people who run "his opera". So he also has some sort of control complex, obviously. He calls himself an angel and controls Christine's music. He calls himself a ghost and controls the opera via fear. He calls himself the Phantom and rules the mysteriousness of the darkness. (I mean I guess he thinks all artistry derives from sexual desire, I guess. That's not a damaging attitude or anything.)

And I mean, I do feel for him. He was born with huge deformations/mutations, and in, what, the 1860s? (I'm guessing is when he was born) you're not exactly going to go out and be able to get plastic surgery. And you're much more likely to get used in a freak show than be able to live a full life. Whiiiiiiich is what happens, although presumably he traveled to the Punjabi region, and maybe afterward was captured for a freak show? Anyway. His mother didn't love him, she made him wear a mask.

When you get treated like that-- and Raoul is played so flatly in the story-- it's really no surprise everyone comes out feeling for the Phantom. However, HE ALSO FUCKING KILLED TWO PEOPLE AND ATTEMPTED ANOTHER. (And he's supposedly been terrorizing the Opera for three years previously, so.) Not to mention he dropped the fucking chandelier on the stage/audience. That shit would kill you.

So... then Andrew Lloyd Weber goes and writes Love Never Dies, a "sequel that's not a sequel" (because there's an official novelization sequel for Leroux's novel? I guess?), which, from the beginning, most of the fans have been afraid of, and currently most people don't like it. Originally I think most people thought he was losing his touch (Woman in White is fairly inaccessible musically, I admit), and his notes on the story sounded a little questionable. I remember the cheers in like 2003 or something when his cat accidentally walked across his computer keyboard and deleted the whole thing. (LOL GO KITTY)

So... Love Never Dies. In Phantom, the important distinction at the end is that Christine chooses to save Raoul rather than herself, and the Phantom chooses to recognize his manipulation and lets her go. They both have to realize that the Phantom is a manipulative asshole human (even if he is to be pitied for his upbringing). So then Christine ends up with Raoul, who truly loves her, as he was willing to sacrifice himself for her, and honestly, there's no hint in Phantom that he has wronged her or would wrong her in any way. His most violent moment is that he arranges a trap to kill the Phantom, which, let's be honest, at that point has killed two people, and is a bit more justifiable.

HOWEVER, in Love Never Dies, (OKAY, BIG SPOILERS) apparently Christine is still truly in love with the Phantom and he with her, and her son is secretly the Phantom's because Raoul is apparently impotent AND DRUNK AND ABUSIVE? So that means retroactively that the Phantom and Christine and had sex. Which was... when? I mean, presumably the first time she meets him is the title song/Music of the Night, which I always assumed was one evening and that she returned the next day. HOWEVER she also PASSES OUT OF SHOCK because he has A FUCKING WEDDING DRESS ON A LIFE-SIZE DOLL OF HER. And then they had sex.

And even after six months away with Raoul (in which they fucking GET ENGAGED) and all the training for the Phantom's new opera, she doesn't show at all? In a fucking Victorian gown? I don't fucking think so.

So maybe it was when he takes her down after his opera goes awry, but that always seemed pretty straightforward. They go down to his lair. Everyone is banding out to catch this murderer. Madame Giry IMMEDIATELY takes Raoul down there. (And let's not even mention the fact that she knew roughly who he was and where he was THE WHOLE TIME.) There's enough time for the Phantom to redress Christine in the wedding gown, but before he can put the veil on her, Raoul shows up, and then the whole closing scene occurs. So... unless he also raped her while changing her clothes, I don't even know. And she's clearly pretty resistant at that point. The ONLY reason she kisses him AT THAT POINT IN HER STORY is that she realizes he needs to know there is some goodness in the world AND THAT she is WILLING TO GIVE HER LIFE FOR RAOUL'S.

And so in Love Never Dies, Madame and Meg Giry have apparently secreted the Phantom away to the United States. What the fuck? A (at least) two-time murderer? (So Madame Giry is pretty fucked up as a character, too.) I mean, after all that shit, if it turns out Christine secretly got raped (that's really the only way I can read it) and is STILL FUCKING IN LOVE WITH HIM, despite all her character development in Phantom about not being able to escape him-- it seems he really has fucked her up mentally, messing with her, so much that it's still there maybe ten years later-- I really do not blame Raoul for drinking. Abusive, I see no reason for writing other than giving Christine's character a reason to not like him.

But here's the thing. When your choices are 1) a guy who apparently raped you, had a creepy fetish for you, tried to force you to marry him, and killed at least two people, plus has some complex control issues of his own, and 2) an abusive drunk who you used to love/loved you, YOU DON'T PICK ONE OR THE OTHER, you get the hell out of there.

And that's why Love Never Dies is atrocious.

So, rightly so, a lot of the fans dislike it. However, they also dislike the portrayal of Raoul that was used in the 25th Anniversary celebration, because everyone is pretty sure Weber is just trying to drum up retroactive support for Love Never Dies. Which, yes, some of their points I can agree with. Taking leads from Love Never Dies and some completely unfamiliar with performing Phantom is a bit strange for a 25th anniversary performance when you would ideally want the Best People Who Ever Performed Those Roles And Still Can. But then they were also pissed that Michael Crawford didn't sing. He fucking came out and said he had previous engagements and he felt it would be in poor taste to drop them for Phantom. So why the fuck can't they grasp that it would be so rude to expect that? Jesus. And then they also hated on the poor guy who is apparently the next London Phantom, saying they didn't like his voice, it wasn't trained.

Well, first, let me state that I don't have pretty much any vocal training. However, I thought his tone sounded rather... alien? I mean, it was sort of nasal, strange? But I actually liked that, it reminded me of the Phantom. I remember when the movie came out, I liked that they wanted Gerard Butler to sound gruff because he didn't have training-- except, oh wait, he was a fucking genius. AND HE HAD TO BE ABLE TO TRAIN CHRISTINE. However, giving him a bit of a strange edge -- which to me, sounded like Crawford, who I admit is my favorite-- I think makes him more of a foreign force, which I think is beneficial.

Also, allow me to just state for the record, that I don't really like how operatic the characters sound when they are not "performing the operas". It's a musical... WAY too much vibrato in my opinion. But that could be Weber's preference, I don't know.

But I also don't know this guy's previous work, he's apparently done some pop albums, so people don't like his voice for musicals. And to be fair, apparently one of the Jonas brothers was cast in Les Mis, and I wouldn't want to see that, and Bieber might also be getting cast in something, and I wouldn't fucking want to see that either.

Anyway, so they don't like Raoul because they think it is just Weber leading up to him being abusive in Love Never Dies (that title is rather ironic...). Which I would understandably be upset about as well, if it weren't for the fact that this was the first rendition of Weber's Phantom that actually made me like for Raoul and cheer for him. He CARED about Christine. They were childhood friends, and he's seeing her manipulated by this madman, and tortured (and secretly raped? I don't even.). AND THEN AFTER SIX MONTHS OF TRYING TO HELP HER RECOVER FROM SUCH A TRAUMATIC BETRAYAL, IN WHICH THEY GET ENGAGED, the Phantom returns. With spite on his mind. How could you not be angry at the Phantom? He's killed at least one person by that point! Raoul is upset that Christine is upset over the Phantom's return, and swears to get her a final complete escape from him, and he's angry that the Phantom has the gall to keep thinking himself such a great person.

I think he has the right to be angry. And I mean, considering it's the most passion I've seen out of his character ever... yeah. And everyone is also like "well he's angry all the time and Hadley Fraser can't act", oh, you know, except for those few scenes he's given where they're in love/happy. So All I Ask Of You and Masquerade. And other than that he's frustrated that a) the Opera he is now a benefactor of is being haunted by some madman, and b) in the second act, that this huge douche won't leave Christine alone. TOTALLY WARRANTED. Oh, and then, you know, in the last scene, he's pissed because ONE, HE'S FUCKING ON THE VERGE OF DYING and TWO, THE PHANTOM IS MENTALLY TORTURING CHRISTINE. So fuck that noise.

And then of course, they say he's pretentious in the opening auction. I'm sorry? He was a fucking fop before in every other rendition, and, uh, HE IS RICH ENOUGH TO BE THE MAIN PATRON OF THE OPERA. So yes, maybe he is a little used to ordering people around. Which then brings the complaint "but he just stares off into the distance, not reacting!" Uh, one, he's an old goddamn man. Two, he's probably recalling Christine's mental torture and all her stories and staring off into space.

I mean, let's talk about the most minor of complaints, for real.

I have to admit that I am not always the quickest person to pick up on "plot holes" and idiosyncrasies in stories, which I think makes my suspension of disbelief much more enjoyable (although, at the same time, I can watch them very meta-ly.) It seems, though, that I tend to pick up on subtle characterizations much better. So that is an interesting note. I suppose it has to do with the fact that I have always been the sort of person who is less likely to get mad at someone or call them weird rather than come up with a reason they do what they did.

(Oh my god, let's not start on my dad's comments on tattoos and such the other week. Christ, that was bad.)

Oh! I also forgot the part where they said he was always "shouting" at Christine and everyone else. I mean, he wasn't literally shouting, so I think he was just being emphatic, especially when he's trying to get Christine to snap out of... whatever is going on there. And while I admit it would be nice to see him maybe break down a bit more and be more kind in one of those moments, I don't remember anyone's tone particularly bothering me when I actually watched it. Which could just be that I'm listening to it rather than being able to watch it as well now, but it could be that when you can see their mouths move you can also tell that perhaps the mics are adding some weird echo and shit. Which I also tend to be more perceptive to, so... I don't know.

Anyway, Raoul haters can fuck right off.

SO THEN. Legitimate complaint-- apparently the Love Never Dies Phantom is apparently played as being autistic (and this is the same guy pulled in for the 25th anniversary show). No one knows if it was his choice or a director's or something, but WHAT THE FUCK. That is just all sorts of wrong. I realize things like autistic savants and things exist, but WHAT. First of all, it cheapens the original story by making him not a genius who was tortured by society such that he became deranged enough to kill. It both over-explains why he is a creative mastermind as well as GIVING A REASON FOR HIS CHOICE TO LIVE APART FROM SOCIETY EVEN THOUGH THERE IS ALREADY ONE IN THE STORY. Secondly--and although maybe I am not exactly in a position to comment-- I think it's incredibly ableist. Someone should call that shit out, and I haven't seen ANYONE do it yet. It seems to me to hint that the only reason he couldn't function in society (despite being totally shunned)-- the reason he had to live under an opera, basically Stockholm-Syndrome a woman into loving him, and MURDER-- was not that he had his own issues, but that he was autistic.

I'm sorry, but what the fuck is that? That's some fierce bullshit-asshole-I-don't-even, right there.

Okay and then there's this contingent that was discussing the stage sets (which pretty much everyone liked! and for the most part I agree), and hated the movie version for being smaller versions/similar copies of an actual Paris opera house but still calling itself the Opera Populaire in the story? I'm sorry, what? What are we even complaining about? With a movie like that you can't exactly get all the world's biggest sound stages and build A. FUCKING. OPERA. HOUSE. Not to mention, some people seemed to be upset that they were copying this real place but making up a new name...?

I'm sorry, what. You do realize this isn't a real story, right? This is not historical nonfiction reinterpreted as a musical? I mean, the original book is presented as a detective doing research, but COME THE FUCK ON. I don't even know how to address that "complaint" because it is just completely absurd.

Oh and also, I am apparently not paying well enough attention, the stage lights I guess sort of washed some things out, apparently Raoul/Hadley Fraser's hair really was brown, which upon reflection I think that might be the first brunette Raoul I've seen? But still. No foppish ponytail, so I'm happy.

whatisthisidonteven, critiques, ableism, phantom of the opera, hadley fraser, musicals

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