One of my good friends recently mentioned reading Phantom of the Opera by Leroux. I was astonished and yet somewhat embarrassed to learn that there was a book, for my only knowledge and original love of the story had been obtained from Broadway's musical.
Never had it occurred to me that this love story did, indeed, occur in the realm of our universe instead of some extent of one's mind.
While reading, I was astonished to see how much of the story had been left out and/or changed in the musical. Frankly, it left me a little dissapointed. I consider myself one of those "originalies", believing that the original of any story is an original for a reason, especially when it comes from nonfiction.
So for the first half of the book I was loving the viewpoint of Raoul- the whole love-type story now making a bit more sense. I felt like the musical (and I am aware there are numerous versions of this renounced story) focused mainly on Christine, who played an important role but not necessarily the only important role. In my opinion, the main viewpoint should have been split almost evenly between Christine, Raoul, and Eric (the Phantom).
And don't get me wrong, I still am a huge fan of the musical, but even in the book I crave more information about Eric. And though Leroux gathered as much information as humanely possible, my favorite parts of the book were the excerpts from the Persian's journal about the Phantom's history (yet another thing not included in the musical- which I realize would have been awkwardly placed if it had).
My reasons for writing about this is that 1) I am still amazed at the lack of knowledge that the book even exists (I am including myself in this), and 2) I was planning an animated film of the Phantom of the Opera, and am overly excited to have found the "real" version.
I feel as if the play does not focus as much on Eric's humanity as it does on his "sexy" existence, the essence of a mysterious and powerful being who possesses the power of musical genius. Reading about him in the book, my mind has imagined him some type of psychopath, having no empathy for the human race. Dealing with several people of this unfortunate position in my personal life, I know that he truly is not one due to his undying love for Christine and his innate need to be loved, repeatedly shown throughout the story.
As I begin writing this animated film, I find myself drawing more of my focus on Eric and Raoul. However, I am realizing that this story may be too dark for the younger audience, those who generally watch animated movies these days, and I am finding myself having to censor it down a bit without taking away from the reality of the situation.
What do you think? Do I stick to my "originalee" nature or do I censor down a story that reveals the truth of desire within humanity? And do you think I should split the main viewpoints between Christine, Raoul, and Eric? Or just focus on one or two? Please leave your comments below!
