And due to lack of better place to start, we will start with the mask. She is entirely convinced there is so much to be analyzed in there. I don't think so though, and mind that I've been brought up according to "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" standards, so I can analyze a grain of sand if needed. There is nothing to analyze about the mask of the Phantom, nothing is hiding behind it but a broken man. The Phantom did not wear the mask to avoid being seen, he wore it to remain hidden, and while they do seem alike, these are two entirely different things.
"Masquerade, paper faces on parade, hide your face so the world will never find you."
I have to say that probably the one time I was genuinely on verge of tears during that movie was in that scene when he was sitting by himself, saying those words, crying, just before Christine gave him back the ring and left with Raul. Don't get me wrong, before it began and throughout the entire movie, my sympathies and feelings were with the Phantom, not for one second was it Raul, although some will definitely argue and say he was the tragic character on more than one occasion. Yes, the Phantom was a murderer, he was dark and some may say insane. The ugliness of his face poisoned his soul and eventually cost him the woman he loved. And in spite of it all, all I can ask is - why not? Since childhood, the world hated him, feared him, laughed at him and abused him; even his own mother turned away from him, the mask was all he's ever known. The only life he's ever known was one of darkness, solitude and boiling anger. It was only a matter of time until that anger boiled up to the surface and exploded. Only unfortunately, as I said, the price was too high. But one would ask, how could someone who was claimed to be evil to the core, invest himself in the beauty of arts, create something as wondrous as his music, be the genius he was? And he was a gentleman, always polite, but also proud and arrogant, and why not? His enormous talent went to waste because of his face; he was unable to share it with the world because the world couldn't stand the sight of him.
And yet, it almost seemed that everything he went through didn't prevail in the end, that he survived it all, and ironically enough he had. Except that all the pain, the frustration and anger for years of abuse and solitude erupted eventually and caused him to lose the one thing he loved the most, the one thing that was the most important.
No one ever taught him how to be a man because the world treated him like a monster. But he tried his hardest. He worshipped her and loved her, even though his love may have appeared obsessive and wrong to the unknowing eye (because the knowing one would see through the darkness and find love in its purest form, the love that let her go). But he didn't know any other way. He didn't know how to turn to her in any other way than his usual way, it never occurred to him that she would love him in spite of his distorted face. He gave himself completely to her, his heart and soul and everything he could offer her, but the first time he gave someone his heart was also the first time it was broken. And while he did try for a while to mend the pieces together, everything worked against him and all defenses dropped instead revealing what was in the end hiding behind the mask - a broken man, a shattered soul, a distorted face"¦ "Yet in his eyes, all the sadness of the world."
And what's to say about Christine? She was a woman who made a choice. Be it out of fear or weakness or whatever other reason, but she made it. She had two choices before her. There was the safe fairytale with Raul, her childhood sweetheart; the man she was infatuated with since she was a little girl. And on the other hand, she was offered the love that was dark and dangerous and passionate and tragic and"¦ real. And she chose the first option.
"Say you'll share with me, one love, one lifetime."
Well she did. She shared her lifetime with Raul alright, but her love remained with the man she rejected to be with him. Raul knew she would never be free from the Phantom, as well as he knew she didn't love him when she chose him, but he clearly didn't care enough because he loved her. He was her childhood love but the woman he met in the opera house was not the little girl he had once known anymore. That fact alone should have meant everything for both of them and who knows, maybe it did. Childhood was over and they were both adults, and she was offered to be loved as a woman by a man who could logically offer her nothing more. But she chose Raul, simply because childhood was safer. Was she stupid, did she make the wrong choice? I think so. Most will probably disagree.
And what's there to say about Raul? He wasn't an idiot, not at all. One of the things that are beautiful about "The Phantom of the Opera" is that there is no black and white, everything (and I do mean everything) is gray. Raul wasn't stupid. He saw Christine and the Phantom perform on stage, and their words were not only reflecting in their body language, but they held the entire audience in awe. He had to be blind to miss the undertones of what was going on and he certainly wasn't. Nor did he miss the fact that by removing the Phantom's mask in front of everyone present in the hall, Christine actually saved his life and doomed their carefully planned trap. In the beginning of the movie, we see the old Raul buying the monkey music box that belonged to the Phantom at an auction in the old opera house. In the end of it, we see him visiting Christine's grave and putting the music box there. He brought her the one thing that remained from (and ironically was also his most personal possession) the one man she did love her entire life. When he saw the rose lying by her grave, the rose that was left by the Phantom who's clearly kept close watch on her even though he had let her go in the end, he was not surprised, nor was he angry. If anything, his look could be described as tired, defeated. "She often spoke of you, my friend," he says in the beginning. He's not the impulsive young man anymore, he's old now. I guess when one reaches old age there is no point fighting reality anymore, all you can do is accept it.
So what was the point in the end of it all? Was there anyone at all who benefited from Christine's choice? Hell, on my personal scale, this one is by far more tragic than the average Romeo and Juliet story. At least those two were dead, didn't live out their lives apart (one married to a third party) while still in love with each other. Maybe I'm wrong, maybe I'm stupid, but I just can't help thinking - what is the point?
