Phantom of the Opera

[rmwilliamsjr]

i thought i'd post my review of Phantom of the Opera here.

The usual acclaim.
Absolutely beautiful, inspiring, uplifting music. I had tears in my eyes within the first 15 minutes. I've appreciated A.L.Webber's music since JC-SuperStar, this along with Evita are showcases for his technique. But i'm not really interested in music, i dwell on ideas.

From the top it is the battle of Good and Evil, Light and Darkness, Heaven and Hell. big deal, lots of movies and great amounts of literature are about this theme.
What is fascinating about PotO is how it leads into what we find persuasive and compelling.
Good has no character development, it seems almost absurd to think that Christine would choose the calvary officer. He is just a pretty boy from her pre-opera days.
It is only the character of evil that is developed, and he grows as he teaches and shapes his progeny, the beautiful young virginal white untouched untested unknown singer.

Evil is talented, busy (just lighting all those candles, to say nothing of moving the huge pipe organ into the catacombs and teaching himself how to play and write music for it) a genius with just a little baggage. Evil is seductive, Christine is forgiven for loving him since he goes to her at night, in her dreams. Evil is in control, dictating conditions to the owners of the opera house, demanding a weekly salary, possibly the real author of all the great pieces performed there. Evil is of course, defective, but it is not his fault, he was born that way and mistreated until he snapped. His outrage at mistreatment, his hatred of the world above is understandable and forgivable. Not a critical character fault, but a birth defect. His ugliness, his face is repulsive but people's response to it explains and excuses the stain of evil on his soul. His genius, his musical talent, his moody and provocative music is the good result of his brooding on evil and his alienation from the rest of mankind. It is not that evil chooses to wallow in sin, but that sin is unjustifiably forced on a young boy who just responses as we all would. He is excused.

As modern people we find this persuasive, we find it beautiful as the female voice intertwines and weaves just above the deeper male voice. The music's point and counterpoint dance just as
Evil wanted their bodies to dance and intertwine on his swan bed. But he wanted to seduce her, a willing mate, not to rape her. With his voice, with his talent, with his music he wanted to substitute for the face that repelled her, to attract her soul, her beautiful heavenly voice to his underground grotto leaving the naturally lighted world and her potential good lover on the roof. Neat stuff, things we identify with, things we see internally and would dearly love to be seduced by ourselves.

This is what i personally find so interesting, the compellingness of the vision, that evil is beautiful, that inspiring music is gorgous despite or even best of it's origin in pain. That talent, that genius no matter how twisted, no matter how murderous is a value to be sought after. It is not really a battle of Good and Evil, for good is simply palid and uninteresting compared to evil, is is a battle to yield to evil, be be allow to submit without loosing innocence. How to be that beautiful virgin in white after spending the night below, the morning after untouched by evil itself just wrapped up in the beauty of it's genius, and that is excusible. She pities evil, she overcomes her repulsion of his mask off, she recognizes not just the beauty of his music, the debt that her gifts owe to him, but most of all she knows that even though she outwardly chooses good (raises a family with him) evil will always return to her in her dreams. and in her music. for no one recognized or tried to develop her gifts but evil did, she owes him all her voice and her success.

nice, literary, complex, beautiful. the best of art.
it is a window into our souls and what we find persuasive as evil and the battles it plays in our lives

i really encourage people to write reviews of movies and books and post them to amazon, i get mail everyweek about my reviews.