Phantom of the Opera
Jan. 11th, 2005 01:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
maderrFinally got to see the movie and it was verra pretty. The music was of course amazing - the opening always sends chills down my spine. And the Phantom has the two sexiest songs in the whole thing. And the guy playing the phantom was dead on. Raoul was a perfectly useless pansy, and the woman playing Christine did very well, even if I hate Christine.
I think it's fairly obvious that I'm a sap. I could probably hold my own in a contest to determin the Queen of Fluff. I know this, I enjoy it, I will probably never change. I love romantic stories.
But romance is my favorite because that, to me, is where you (should) see the greatest character-driven stories. It's the characters I love, seeing them change and develop and clash etc. Fantasy is another good genre for this, though it also gets heavy on other stuff but that's a rant for another day.
Anyway, the whole point of this comes back to the Phantom. Sarah got to hear me rant about this already, which I'm sure she didn't much like.
But seriously. Subtract the romance and what's left of Raoul? Nothing. He has zero personality, zero importance. His sole reason for existence is to play Christine's "good" love interest. He's a ken doll. This annoys me for several reasons. Mostly - why do I care he gets the girl? What makes him so intersting that I would want to see hm triumph? To be honest? I don't. I care about him not at all. Why? Because he's made of freakin' cardboard. If you *really* want to get into his "character" (and this is movie-verse only, not the book), he didn't bother to notice his childhood sweetheart until she was being loved and adored by the audience. I think the phantom said it best: "He was bound to love you when he heard you sing" And yeah, yeah, they were childhood sweethearts. Some sweetheart who doesn't bother to look for a girl after her father (only one she has) dies. But that's the closest he gets to having any sort of character and that's only if you're obsessive and given to pointless rants >_>
Christine is almost textbook OSC. (For those somehow familiar with my ranting, OSC stands for Obligatory Stupid Chick and is a phrase coined by my brother and myself to refer primarily to the idiotic heroines in the video games we play, though the term is obviously applicable to other places.) She's weak, likes attention, is OMFG! Talented and has a not-so-secret fetish for the "dark" but in the end wusses out and opts for the "light" and gets to be the one who Saves the Day! with her sparkly love and kindess. Never mind that she's fickle as hell, can't think for herself, and hurts all manner of people with her selfish behavior. And there's probably plenty I'm not thinking of. So, again, why should I care about her? If I knew her in real life, I'd find her annoying. She essentially plays with the phantom, taking what she needs and then calls him a monster when Sweetheart! Raoul reappears in her life. Not to mention her not-so-secret father complex (though I could almost understand that, really. Can't hold that one against her).
Anyway. I don't like her. She's less cardboard than Raoul, but not by much. And what of her there is, I don't find commendable. So, I guess in the end they can have each other. My second favorite was always the phantom (duh), but only b/c I'm prone to liking the villians and anti-heroes and stuff. He's one of the few that has any depth, and he's as good as he is bad, imho. The coolest character, I can't even remember her damn name right now (rather, I don't recall the spelling and don't want to embarass myself by trying). She's cool as damn hell, in part b/c there's so much to her that's only alluded to or hinted at. She's got a past and a history with the Phantom, and you can see her emotions are seriously conflicted. Phantom should've just hooked up with her, when they were both still young.
Heh, you guys are lucky. I have to get back to work. ^_~
I think it's fairly obvious that I'm a sap. I could probably hold my own in a contest to determin the Queen of Fluff. I know this, I enjoy it, I will probably never change. I love romantic stories.
But romance is my favorite because that, to me, is where you (should) see the greatest character-driven stories. It's the characters I love, seeing them change and develop and clash etc. Fantasy is another good genre for this, though it also gets heavy on other stuff but that's a rant for another day.
Anyway, the whole point of this comes back to the Phantom. Sarah got to hear me rant about this already, which I'm sure she didn't much like.
But seriously. Subtract the romance and what's left of Raoul? Nothing. He has zero personality, zero importance. His sole reason for existence is to play Christine's "good" love interest. He's a ken doll. This annoys me for several reasons. Mostly - why do I care he gets the girl? What makes him so intersting that I would want to see hm triumph? To be honest? I don't. I care about him not at all. Why? Because he's made of freakin' cardboard. If you *really* want to get into his "character" (and this is movie-verse only, not the book), he didn't bother to notice his childhood sweetheart until she was being loved and adored by the audience. I think the phantom said it best: "He was bound to love you when he heard you sing" And yeah, yeah, they were childhood sweethearts. Some sweetheart who doesn't bother to look for a girl after her father (only one she has) dies. But that's the closest he gets to having any sort of character and that's only if you're obsessive and given to pointless rants >_>
Christine is almost textbook OSC. (For those somehow familiar with my ranting, OSC stands for Obligatory Stupid Chick and is a phrase coined by my brother and myself to refer primarily to the idiotic heroines in the video games we play, though the term is obviously applicable to other places.) She's weak, likes attention, is OMFG! Talented and has a not-so-secret fetish for the "dark" but in the end wusses out and opts for the "light" and gets to be the one who Saves the Day! with her sparkly love and kindess. Never mind that she's fickle as hell, can't think for herself, and hurts all manner of people with her selfish behavior. And there's probably plenty I'm not thinking of. So, again, why should I care about her? If I knew her in real life, I'd find her annoying. She essentially plays with the phantom, taking what she needs and then calls him a monster when Sweetheart! Raoul reappears in her life. Not to mention her not-so-secret father complex (though I could almost understand that, really. Can't hold that one against her).
Anyway. I don't like her. She's less cardboard than Raoul, but not by much. And what of her there is, I don't find commendable. So, I guess in the end they can have each other. My second favorite was always the phantom (duh), but only b/c I'm prone to liking the villians and anti-heroes and stuff. He's one of the few that has any depth, and he's as good as he is bad, imho. The coolest character, I can't even remember her damn name right now (rather, I don't recall the spelling and don't want to embarass myself by trying). She's cool as damn hell, in part b/c there's so much to her that's only alluded to or hinted at. She's got a past and a history with the Phantom, and you can see her emotions are seriously conflicted. Phantom should've just hooked up with her, when they were both still young.
Heh, you guys are lucky. I have to get back to work. ^_~
