The Phantom of the Opera

I haven't watched the film nor listened to the whole musical (I only like Jesus Christ Superstar; the bits from Phantom bored me), but my ex-girlfriend bloody adored this film. I'm merely mentioning this because I think that

a) this film was targeted at females, who usually love a dashing dickpurse (congrats on the expression, I like it), especially if he's handsome and if he does something "heroic" or "noble" at the end of the film;

b) I'll never understand girls, and anyway Rocky Horror is better. It's got men in suspenders, dammit.

I did read part of the book, and I know I empathised with Raoul. I didn't form an idea of the Phantom (I only got to read around half the book), but if he killed all those people... well... it's not too though a judgement, I think.

PS: Anybody who liked Phantom could do worse than read Maskerade by Terry Pratchett, which is in part a parody of Phantom. AND it's more fun.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by Arkhangelsk

Okay, so men empathize with Raoul? How odd.

Originally Posted by BurningRanger

Men empathize with Raoul because we know how it is to treat a girl well, and then have her fuck the guy who treats her like shit instead of you.

QFT (and personal experience, so I must be right ). OK, she didn't do anything with the Phantom, but I suppose most guys still would like to kick the Phantom's backside to kingdom come if in the same situation. Christine still chose the Phantom over Raoul, no?

Originally Posted by Arkhangelsk

The movie was the first incarnation of the story that made me even sort of like Raoul; I've always found the Phantom to be more attractive in personality. He has this tragically romantic aura that I just find to be very... intriguing.

As I said before, the character is practically built to be adored by females ^^;.

Originally Posted by Arkhangelsk

I love Rocky Horror also, but I fail to see how the two could possibly be connected .

No connection, apart from both being musicals. ^^;

Originally Posted by Arkhangelsk

And yeah, I've read Maskerade . I love Pterry and his Discworld, and Maskerade isn't my favorite of the series, but it was amusing enough.

Yep, Maskerade isn't the best of the bunch, but still good when compared to books by lesser mortals. And the "!!!!!" joke was fun!!!!!

Originally Posted by Arkhangelsk

The Phantom idolizes Christine, he doesn't treat her like shit. He's just a tad obsessive >___>...in any case, her attraction to him is his genius, which I think is a good reason to like anyone. I dislike Raoul because he's your pretty-boy-rich-guy that just happened to grow up with the girl. Maybe the reason I dislike Raoul is because I inheritly dislike those types of men, but whatever.

Seen in that light I can see your argument, yes. Maybe what rubs us in the wrong way is the fact that the Phantom is so egoistical, in a way... he wants to pass on his musical talent at all costs, even if it means breaking up a relationship (and killing people). We automatically dislike him for taking somebody else's girl and for being a villain, and we can't easily identify with Christine because we find her decisions to be somewhat inexplicable (being female and all that, I mean). Raoul is the only normal person, and though he might be a spoilt brat, he still does what he can to get her back. And remember, the book is written in the first person, so its bias is in favour of Raoul, probably. It's been years since I've started reading the book, so details are hazy at best.

There's nowhere I can't reach.