Warning: Spoiler alert!
The musical The Phantom of the Opera is a box office success. It has already been performed for over 160 million people in 195 cities worldwide. The work has also made it to the cinema screens.
It tells the story of Christine, an orphan soprano who finds herself between the love of the gentleman Raoul, her childhood friend, and the obsession of the Phantom of the Opera. The later is her secret music teacher—a mysterious being living in the theatre’s underworld.
For many classical music lovers, these West End and Broadway musicals would be a kind of poor and vulgar cousin of opera. They would be perfect to please the masses of ignorant tourists.
Well, the tourist here saw this musical twice when she was about twenty years old—the first time in New York and then in London.
I’m sorry to disappoint scholars. I loved The Phantom of the Opera! And I’m sad to disappoint film experts, too, but I loved the film.
I bought the CD at the London theatre and used to listen to it compulsively then. I remember having “philosophical discussions” about this story with friends. In these conversations, the Phantom would be romanticised by some as a flâneur.1
A few decades later, I realise today, of course, many things that young Ana may have overlooked.
If art imitates life, art also influences life. What lessons are we learning from literature and cinema that teach us harmful ways of relating and loving?
The first of these, and the reader has no doubt where I’m going with this, is the extremely abusive nature of the relationship between Christine and the Phantom. He is a dangerous predator, not a mere flâneur.
Starting with the fact that the Phantom had been tutoring Christine since she was a child. And that she mistook him for her deceased father. Well, that’s more than Oedipal. It’s consensus that it’s pretty shady— to be euphemistic here.
The second aspect is that the dynamic between the Phantom and Christine fits almost the entire Narc Thesaurus: trauma bond, intermittent reinforcement, gaslighting, possessiveness, obsession, control, power, etc. Many of these terms weren’t even part of my vocabulary then.
In contrast, Raoul sings to Christine that he doesn’t want darkness, tears or fear anymore. And he speaks words of love and trust, such as shelter, truth, life, freedom, daylight, and summer.
The Phantom represents the opposite of all this – the winter of the heart, the cold and the darkness. He sings lines like:
My power over you goes stronger yet.
And in that labyrinth, where night is blind, the Phantom of the Opera is there inside your mind.
Open up your mind, let your fantasies unwind. In this darkness witch you know you cannot fight.
Let the dream begin, let your darker side give in to the power of the music that I write.
I have needed you with me to serve me, to sing all my music.
The games we’ve played till now are at the end. Past all thought of “if” or “when” – no use resisting: abandon thought, and let the dream descend.
For the trap is set and waits for its prey.
You will curse the day you did not do all that the Phantom asked of you!
In the Phantom’s mind, Christine’s success is merely a consequence and a reflection of his genius. She exists to serve him and to repeat what he composes. He would be the true star, the author of the lines of her destiny. But when Christine shows that she has her own desires, that she has a life and a talent of her own, the Phantom becomes enraged.
This doesn’t seem healthy at all.
I looked online to see if anyone else thought the same thing. I found a video2 that does a cinematic analysis of the film and the relationship between the characters.
I’m unfamiliar with the Cinema Therapy channel, but the video was very funny. Several points they raised fit my perceptions of the musical and the film. An interesting reflection is the contrast between “lust versus love”:
Lust can have a place in love. I mean, lust is just intense physical attraction. But in and of itself, it isn’t love. It’s not something you can build a relationship on. And especially if that relationship is controlling or consuming or obsessive.2
I believe Christine’s relationship with the Phantom was driven by an infatuation based on trauma bond and nostalgia for her father figure, transferred to the “angel of music”.
The infatuation also came from a place of gratitude for what she learned from her master, as well as curiosity for his exotic and mysterious world. And, of course, the attraction to danger and the charm of evil are romanticised in the figure of a brilliant, genius, sophisticated, and interesting ghost.
However, the fact is that Raoul also embodies some of the same qualities and some of the same flaws as the Phantom, such as dominant masculinity. But in Raoul’s case, there is no ferocity. The desire comes from a place where fear does not prevail but rather security, protection, companionship, and joy.
I think that desire is an important part of the equation between Christine and Raoul. Therefore, I would reinforce the contrast in the video by adding: “lust and obsession versus love and desire”.
In terms of didactic reflections, I also find it sensational and noticeable, especially in the film, the change in Christine’s attitude towards the Phantom in two moments.
In the first, his cruelty towards her and towards other people undoes the spell. And Christine goes from a state of enchantment to one where there is still gratitude and compassion but not naivety. She knows very well who she is dealing with. She just seems confused about how to process this information and act from then on.
In the second moment, when Christine unmasks the Phantom. There, I see more than curiosity to know what was behind the mask. Christine was bringing the truth to light. And she clearly says that her terror towards the Phantom is not due to his appearance or his humanity. But to the night that dominates his soul.
However, every fictional love story reflects a little of our hidden desires and dreams or tries to retell some real-life metaphor. In this case, it seems to me that The Phantom of the Opera leaves us with a dark anti-lesson, with which I conclude this post.
In my opinion, the Phantom is a narcissistic psychopath. And it is hazardous to let yourself be carried away by empathy and expect people like that to change. Or even worse, to believe that a kiss, gratitude or compassion would move the Phantom.
Let me clarify for those who haven’t watched it and don’t know what I’m talking about. In a sword duel with the Phantom, Raoul wins but doesn’t finish it and lets him live. Later in the story, he kidnaps Christine and almost kills Raoul. However, in a flash of kindness, the Phantom lets them escape alive together.
In the real world, at the end of this story, a narcissistic psychopath would have murdered Raoul without any mercy. Then, enslaved Christine for the days he allowed her to live. This Phantom is a narc, people! He doesn’t love anyone.
I’m not in favour of the death penalty. In a civilised world, the Phantom would be arrested and receive psychological and psychiatric support. But we’re talking about fantasy here. So, let’s allow ourselves some poetic and metaphorical license…
Raoul should have killed the Phantom without even blinking when he had the chance. He should have directed his kindness and empathy not to the villain but to save and protect Christine.
The result is that the Phantom haunted the girl for her entire life, as we can see from the rose and the ring on Christine’s grave at the end of the film. A macabre posthumous hoovering, perhaps?
Raoul put himself and his beloved at eternal risk by allowing the Phantom to escape free and unpunished.
This is a critical consideration. At the first opportunity, plunge the sword into the narcissist’s chest without thinking twice. How? Going No Contact.
Notes
1 – Flâneur means, in French, “wanderer”, “vagrant”, “observer”. The term populated 19th-century Parisian literature. Walter Benjamin, referring to the dark poetry of Charles Baudelaire, consecrated this erudite euphemism for an “urban rogue”.
2 – Video Movie Couples Therapy: The Phantom of the Opera, Cinema Therapy Channel, published on October 25, 2022 – YouTube.
I added the song The Phantom of the Opera to my playlist about Narcissism on my public profile on Apple Music. And I included my favourite version of All I Ask of You in the Passion Rose playlist.
The Phantom of the Opera was based on a novel by the same name, written by Frenchman Gastou Leroux in 1910. It premiered in London’s West End in 1986 and on Broadway in 1988.
The show’s music was composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, with lyrics by Charles Hart and Richard Stilgoe. The film, a 2005 production, was directed by Joel Schumacher and produced by Andrew Lloyd Webber. It was nominated for three Oscars.
The Phantom of The Opera – Britannica
References: Click here for books, documentaries, videos and other references for this text.
Acknowledgements: Thanks to Alberto Nogueira Veiga and all who gave me their precious feedback. I would also like to thank the authors, researchers and content producers on narcissism, psychopathy, and toxic behaviours in work management for opening my eyes to this crucial issue.
Images: The Phantom of The Opera film, Chess King (Pixabay).
Please help me improve my English by sending me your suggestions through this contact form. Thanks!
