Being a Phantom of the Opera fanatic(I will not go into the extent to which I tag myself this, for it can be assured an epic essay will be the only result), I thought I would use my free time wisely and read what Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber has chosen to base the sequel of his musical on; Frederick Forsyth's The Phantom of Manhattan.
The preface was good and it was clear Forsyth had done his research however bias he appeared in delivering it. In other words, Leroux was practically crucified and Lloyd Webber idolised, which was by no means surprising considering Webber had given Forsyth his blessing on the eve of the novel's creation.
From here things went downhill awfully quickly- and believe me when I say I did have high hopes and wanted more than anything to like this book as it potentially could make my life just that little bit more complete. Fate nor favour was clearly not on my side. A mere ten pages into the novel, and I could not bring myself to continue reading.
'Comtesse Christine de Changey', 'Comtesse Christine de Changey', 'Comtesse Christine de Changey'. Every time I read that vile phrase my blood boiled.
If you know your Phantom, then you would know there is a distinct difference between EC and RC shippers. EC being a pairing between Erik(aka the Phantom) and Christine, and RC a Raoul(the fop) and Christine relationship.
To understand me and my strong feelings, you must know that I would rather cut off my left leg than become an RC shipper.
It was bad enough that the original musical ends with Christine running off with Raoul. The thought of actually seeing her married to him is completely unacceptable and ironically more unrealistic in my eyes.
As extreme as this may sound, if the Lloyd Webber musical does not end with an EC pairing in which Raoul and Christine annul their union, or worse than this, if the recycled plot line of the ego(Christine) and it's struggles against the id and the superego, with the superego winning is repeated, I will refuse to watch the musical.
Tragedy is obviously not 'my thing' and I am all too quick to sympathise with the underprivileged and downtrodden. To see the disadvantaged given a chance and then have fate smack him or her back in the face to only emotionally damage them even further is just damn infuriating!
Wuthering Heights was enough for me, give me Beauty and the Beast any day.
Roll your eyes, but I would rather live in my fantasy land where all is as it should be than watch such blasphemy.
Conclusion:
Lloyd Webber, be warned. RC, and this phan will have no more of your dalliances with my beloved Erik. I will have absolutely none of it. My ties and alliance shall be cut and buried deeper than the Paris Opera House dare reach.
May beloved fanfiction sooth the woes of EC shippers around the world until that day comes when EC shall rise from the ashes and rule the world.
mwahahahahaha!!!
Until then,
Your faithful servant,
OG ... I mean Maryann
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