The Phantom was a disfigured man. His face was ugly to behold. As a young boy, an older man physically abused the Phantom by putting him in a cage, hitting him with a stick and selling tickets to the public to come and see the boy with the bag over his head which covered his disfigured face, whom he advertised as “the devil’s child.” When the young boy kills his perpetrator and escapes his cage, he hides in the basement of the nearby opera house. There, in total isolation, shamed by his disfigurement, he lives alone in perpetual darkness and yet becomes a genius: an architect, inventor, magician, singer and composer.
One day, he hears the lovely singing voice of Christine in the opera house above. He begins to obsess for her. When he learns that Christine’s beloved father is about to die, the Phantom takes advantage of Christine’s emotional vulnerability and pretends to be her father’s voice talking to her as she sits in the candle-lit room with stained glass window of an angel overhead. Christine believes that she hears the voice of her dying father telling her that after he is dead, he will send her an Angel of Music.
When her father passes, the Phantom pretends to be the Angel of Music promised to her by her father. In her dreams as well as her waking hours, the Phantom never leaves Christine; he helps to develop her voice into a sound of matchless beauty. The Phantom believes that Christine owes him a commitment to marriage since he was the one who enhanced her gift of song as her unknown but real mentor of success.
Enchanted by the Phantom’s musical abilities, she follows him one night into the depths of his world under the opera house. She discovers, however, that the Phantom’s love is one that is self-serving, possessive and even violent: He will destroy anyone and anything that will get in the way of him possessing Christine’s voice and form as his very own. He will have her – even against her own will!
Raul, a childhood sweet heart of Christine’s, enters her life and rekindles their long lost love. His love for Christine is pure, selfless and protecting of her from the destructive possessiveness of the Phantom. When Christine visits the grave of her dead father in order to seek his guidance about how he could have sent her such an Angel of Music that was so devilish and destructive, Raul cries out to her about the voice that she hears coming out of the red-lit tomb, “This is not the voice of your father!”
At the crescendo of the movie, which takes place in the Phantom’s caverns under the opera house, the Phantom gives Christine a choice: either marry him and sing for him forever, or else he will murder Raul who he is ready to hang at the end of a rope, as he has killed all of his other victims.
In a moment of insight into human nature and unconditional acceptance, Christine wades through the waters of the cavern toward the Phantom and sings to him,
“Beautiful creature of darkness; what life have you known; you are not alone!”
She then passionately embraces and kisses the Phantom as a woman who was deeply in love with him. By doing so, she shows him her unconditional acceptance of him as a man despite the shame of his facial disfigurement which she has personally witnessed several times. Christine’s love and acceptance break the Phantom’s heart, and he releases both Christine and Raul to leave his dwelling of darkness completely unscathed.
The Phantom then tells them that he will accept his life of complete loneliness. As a sign of future hope, however, Christine comes back to the Phantom’s room and graciously returns to him the wedding ring that he had given to her (so that he might use it again someday for another woman after his transformation is complete?)
* * *
In my view, The Phantom of the Opera can be seen as a Christian allegory of the two kinds of love available in the world today: the “love” of Evil and the love of God. The Phantom’s passion can symbolize the self-centered, over-controlling, possessive and destructive paramours of the Evil One. As he was clothed in black and red throughout the film, using deceptive words to “help” Christine’s singing career, so the Evil One attempts to seduce innocent Christians (symbolized by the name “Christine”) into selling their souls out to his own control because of how he may have appeared to have helped them along their career path of success.
Are not all human beings “beautiful creatures of darkness,” i.e., sinners dearly loved by the heart of God? God’s “kiss” of unconditional love and acceptance through the cross of Jesus Christ, stands as a constant reminder of how he does not allow the ugly disfigurement of their souls to stop his divine passion toward them. Christ’s love melts the hardened heart and releases the sinner from the bondage of sin and darkness. As Raul went to any lengths – even to the point of self-sacrificing death – to save Christine, the woman he loved; so Jesus went to the cross to save the woman he loves, his beloved Church. Jesus causes the Evil One to flee from the lives of those who love him as they receive a Love that is not scared away by their soul’s imperfections but reaches out and meets them even at the point of their deepest and darkest shame.
Um, is it a slow news day for the blog? Attaching allegory to this seems a real stretch for me. I understand your point, but for me it’s just more evidence that the 80′s was a decade where selective memory is a blessing. I enjoyed the movie version, and as far as I’m concerned the Phantom was pitiable, but the bottom line is that his character just a creepy stalker who should have been charged with kidnapping and attempted murder. I know, I’m so romantic.
Pastor admits identity theft of church members.
http://www.pennlive.com/patriotnews/stories/index.ssf?/base/news/120641100692450.xml&coll=1
My question: Who gives their pastor enough personal info to get a fraudulent credit card? Seems at the very least you would need a SSN, although you could get bank account numbers from checks. Do churches collect SSN’s for tax reporting?
Thats absolutely unnecessary. I must admit that Christians can be the most gullible people. There are thieves and scam artists that target the Christian population because they tend to be more trusting.
I used to work in a bank & I can tell u that in order for a person to open a fradulent credit, they would need much more personal info. Banks use personal info to verify, because theoretically if its not the real person opening the acct, he wouldnt know the personal info. But if u give it to someone else, they can call and pretend to be you.
yes, its true that anyone can get acct # from a check but that’s not enough to open a fradulent credit card. A bank would ask information and if a person doesnt have enough they wont open a credit card.
The church members might have given more info to the pastor than they needed to. I say, unless its absolutely necessary DONT EVER give personal info to anyone, especially SSN.
Theres no need for a church to collect SSN’s from its members. I can understand why they’ll get addresses & phone numbers to send fliers for BBQ’s, events etc…
David,
I love your allegorical and other comments about Phantom of the Opera.
Honestly, I love Phantom of the Opera, but I had not previously seen the messages about the human heart, devil and Christ that you illuminated. So, thank you.
The devil lies to us. He tells us he can give us what we truly want, what will truly satisfy. He cannot, however, satisfy our hearts and souls. So, we believe his lies, and pay a hefty price, and then resent the disappointment. It’s a vicious cycle that only Jesus can deliver us from. Only Jesus can truly satisfy our souls and hearts, with HIMSELF.
At any rate, I now see what you see in the Phantom of the Opera. Thanks again.
My Little Pony, thank you for your kind words; i appreciate them;
i am now reading the abridged version of the original work by Gaston Leroux and marking down all of the “Christian-type” references and phrases. e.g. “I’m a believing Christian” p. 74, “the invocation of Jesus lifted us from the earth,” p. 75; and “it was Satan himself”, p. 76, etc.
I love to see when Christian authors write books that have a Christian message in them; oh, i admit that we can read too much into such works, but I still enjoy seeing redemptive themes in the marketplace because so much literature is dark and depressing.
We just watched the DVD version of the book, The Last Sin-Eater, and it was excellent indeed. Thanks again.
Definitely with you David. I’m an English major and I have read and studied so many depressing works and literature. It could be that creative people (generally speaking) have tendencies or a greater vulnerability to depression, or other mood disorders. I hate labels but using them due to a lack of better terms. Some of the well-known or distinguished writers were not mentally stable.
During freshman year, I remember gritting my teeth at Sylvia Plath’s poems. Then, I realized that a lot of these writers dont know hope, redemption and grace that comes through Christ. The reason they write depressing works is because that is their worldview. And would be to anyone who doesnt know Christ.
Forrest Gump has redemptive themes that didnt occur to me till now. I just thought it was a good movie as a teen. I also saw Men with Guns that could have a few.
I studied Gaston LeRoux’s Phantom of the Opera in a European novel class. I enjoyed it more than the movie. David, I’m glad that you liked the novel. Let me know what u think when you finish it.
I hope someday I get inspired to write a good novel, rich in Christian theme, symbolism and allegories.
Lady Almond said: David, I’m glad that you liked the novel. Let me know what u think when you finish it.
LA, I will try to remember; I am now half way through it.
LA, thanks for your remarks about the effect of worldview and mental state upon creative enterprise. I agree. I think that most, if not all, literature can be termed as “philosophy cloaked in narrative.” to me, even when an author does not consciously try to communicate a certain worldview to his/her readership, a certain set of values always comes through…
LA said: I hope someday I get inspired to write a good novel, rich in Christian theme, symbolism and allegories.
LA, I’m sure you will; if you don’t mind me asking, (1) do you presently have some system of recording lots of notes for your future characters, plots, ideas, observations, relational conflicts and feelings? (2) have you begun your writing career with writing short stories at first? they can help you prime the pump for the larger work : )
David,
1 – yes, i keep it all in a 3 ring binder. It helps put all my ideas together. Later, I always revisit and make changes. It helps make sure my characters are well developed, plot is strong. I have lots of journals
2, thats the easiest way for newbies to start & what i should do. I havent been very motivated to pursue publishing. Its hard to break into publishing, if have never had anything published like me. I’m a full time college student and work, so its hard to find time.
For now, I see my writing more as an art, craft and way to express and speak to God. I want to develop my skill by taking more classes. When things in my life as less hectic I’ll start writing more…
Hope that answers your questions
LA, I understand about timing. I’m 55 and am still working on my first book.
If you are ever interested in self-publishing, even in small quantities to be distributed to family and friends, here is the bible on the subject: The Self-Publishing Manual by Dan Poynter. Happy writing!