Phantom of the Opera
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[edit] Introduction
This section needs more information.
[edit] The Canon
Gaston Leroux wrote the original novel, The Phantom of the Opera. Though largely ignored at the time in favor of Leroux's more popular crime novels, the book went on to spawn several major motion pictures, at least three popular musicals, and countless books, making it Leroux's most enduring legacy. The best-known form of the story is the 1986 musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber, which brought the book to the attention of many new fans. The subsequent film adaptation in 2004 was another boost to the fandom, although many fans of both the Leroux novel and the stage show were disappointed with the influx of fans who were not familiar with the original canon and consider this development a blow.
Gaston Leroux's novel tells the story of the Phantom of the Opera and his doomed relationship with singer Christine Daae. Taking place in the early 1880's (1881 is the commonly held date of action) at the Opera Garnier in Paris, Leroux's novel mixes the fantastic with the real by using the language of investigative journalism, peppered with factual information about the location itself, with a fictional story. The basic plot is as follows: Swedish soprano Christine Daae triumphs at a gala performance as new managers take control of the Opera. Childhood sweetheart Raoul, Vicomte de Changy, falls in love with her, but is rebuffed, after which he hears the suspicious sound of a man speaking to her in her dressing room. Christine's dramatic improvement is due to lessons she has been receiving from the "Angel of Music," an invisible spirit promised to her by her dying father. Meanwhile, the Opera personnel are in an uproar over rumors of a "phantom," who is demanding a "salary" from the management and has supposedly killed chief stagehand Joseph Buquet. Christine soon learns that her credulous mind has been taken advantage of when the "Angel" absconds with her to his lair deep in the cellars of the Opera.
The Phantom and the Angel, of course, are one and the same: hideously deformed genius and madman Erik. Christine relents to Raoul's persistent courting of her and eventually tells him the entire story of her abduction on the roof of the opera house. Christine removes Erik's mask while he is singing to her and learns the true horror of her situation: Erik's face is described as that of a corpse, and he is, by his own description, made up of Death from head to foot. His behavior is mercurial, ranging from violent to tender, from savage to bourgeois in seconds.
Raoul and Christine plan to run away after her next performance, though Erik overhears them. He kidnaps Christine from the stage during a performance of Faust and gives her an ultimatum: either she marries him or he blows up the Opera House. A mysterious figure called simply "The Persian," who seems to know the Opera almost as well as Erik does, assists Raoul in getting into Erik's house, where they find themselves in a torture chamber which mimics the experience of being lost in a tropical forest and then a desert. Nearly dead, they are saved when Christine chooses Erik. However, Christine's compassion--she cries with Erik and kisses him on the forehead--has awakened some human feeling in him and he lets all three of them go. Several weeks later, he shows up at the Persian's doorstep and announces that he is dying of love. The novel ends with the narrator's assertion that we must pity Erik, for he could have been the most sublime of geniuses had he had a face like other men.
[edit] Terminology
Below is a list of terms and their definitions that are used in this fan fiction community. Phantom fans generally replace "f"s with "ph", showing their obsession with the story.
Wikipedia's Official Definition of a "Phantom Phan":
"A cult following has evolved around the story, with members calling themselves Phantom Phans. The most obsessive are those enthralled with Erik, but members can be fans of any of the characters. The most common way to spot one of these people is the way they manage to relate their everyday behavior to the story in some way, comparing their current life situation to some aspect of the story, or weaving their favorite character into the topic. Phans have been known to attend film showings in full costume -- though they hardly need that reason to don their capes and masks in public. And they often stop in their tracks at sight of masks, elaborate chandeliers, a new cover to the book, or even pipe organs. They may sing along if a Phantom-related song comes on over the speakers in a store or elevator. At least one Phan became so infatuated with the story that she legally changed her name to Christine Daaé. One website held a year-long competition as to who was the "Official Phantom Phan". The winner has kept that title as of 2006. Websites contain long lists of favored traits of the Phans themselves, Psychological/Medical breakdowns of the characters, comparisons of the book, play, and films, and news about the actors, along with copious fan fiction ("phan-phictions") Some "phictions" are alternate versions of the same story, and some simply use the setting and characters from The Phantom of the Opera as a launching station for their own storylines. Online Phantom forums have also blossomed over the internet connecting generations of "Phans." The growing number of Phans of The Phantom suggests that these are people who already were inclined to devote themselves to the arts, and many express great interest in other works focusing Gothic romanticism, the forgotten genius, or the damsel in macabre distress."
Phandom: The Phantom of the Opera fandom
Phanphic, phic: Phantom of the Opera fanfiction
PotO: Phantom of the Opera, abbreviated
Gerik: Erik, the Phantom, as portrayed by Gerard Butler in the 2004 film
[edit] Timeline
Below is a partial timeline of events that took place in this fan community.
[edit] 1988
- From October 1988 to September 1992, 12 issues of Phantom Notes were published to create dialogue between Phantom of the Opera fans. While a letter zine, there were a number of poetry submissions and pieces of fan art. (Carrie Hernández [1])
[edit] 1991
- The Phantom-APA was started in 1991 by Heather Nachman.[2]
[edit] 1993
- The Phantom Appreciation Society was started by Christine Daae, publishing a quarterly fanzine, Beneath the Mask
[edit] 1995
- The Stanford Mailing List became the first Phantom fan discussion community on the internet.
[edit] 1999
- On February 15, 1999, the Phantom of the Opera mailing list Phantomphanfic was created. [3]
[edit] 2001
- On June 18, 2001, the Phantom of the Opera mailing list PhantomoftheOpera-Erik_and_Christine was created. [4]
[edit] 2002
- On November 14, 2002, the Phantom of the Opera mailing list phaninteractive was created. [5]
- On November 20, 2002, the Phantom of the Opera mailing list phantomphanfiction was created. [6]
[edit] 2003
- On September 13, 2003, the LiveJournal community poto_phreaks was created. [7]
[edit] 2004
- On April 7, 2004, the LiveJournal community phantom_icons was created. [8]
- On May 3, 2004, the Phantom of the Opera mailing list Labyrinth_Library was created. [9]
- On August 1, 2004, the Phantom of the Opera MySpace group Phantom was created. [10] As of September 7, 2007, it had 11,522 members.
- On October 14, 2004, the LiveJournal community phantomfans was created. [11]
- On December 1, 2004, the LiveJournal community phantom_movie04 was created. [12]
- On December 21, 2004, the LiveJournal community good_potoicons was created. [13]
- On December 26, 2004, the LiveJournal community phantom_movie was created. [14]
[edit] 2005
- In 2005, LaFemmeDarla, PhantomFans.Net, Phantom Movie Discussion Forum (IMDB), Official ALW Phantom movie Message Board, PhantomoftheOpera.com, The Official ALW Theatrical Phantom Message Board and Le Phorum were some of the major discussion boards for the Phantom of the Opera fan fiction community. [15]
- On January 3, 2005, the LiveJournal community lake_averne was created. [16]
- On January 5, 2005, the LiveJournal community poto_costuming was created. [17]
- On January 9, 2005, the Phantom of the Opera LiveJournal community poto_stillness was created. [18]
- On January 17, 2005, the LiveJournal community the_paradise_ was created. [19]
- On January 25, 2005, the LiveJournal community do_me_phantom was created. [20]
- On March 4, 2005, the LiveJournal community the_fallen_rose was created. [21]
- On April 26, 2005, the Phantom of the Opera mailing list phanphicawards was created. [22]
- On May 23, 2005, the Phantom of the Opera LiveJournal icon community poto_icons was created. [23]
- On May 25, 2005, the LiveJournal community phanwank was created. [24]
- On June 2, 2005, the LiveJournal community ___myxphantom was created. [25]
- On June 6, 2005, the LiveJournal community opera_antidrug was created. [26]
- On July 24, 2005, the Phantom of the Opera mailing list ThePhantomoftheOperaGroup was created. [27]
[edit] 2006
- On August 14, 2006, the LiveJournal community potc_lims was created. [28]
[edit] 2007
- On March 4, 2007, the Phantom of the Opera mailing list Phantom_world was created. [29]
- On October 26, 2007, multi-canon Phantom fanfiction archive The Fifth Cellar was launched. [30]
[edit] Kerfluffles
The release of the 2004 movie based on the stage musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber caused a kerfluffle that continues to this day. The movie brought many new fans to the fandom, but many of those were fascinated with the title character because of the sexiness of Gerard Butler's version. Many fans of the book and stage version (as well as the other movie versions made over the years) were largely irritated by what they saw as a complete misunderstanding of the severely deformed, psychotic genius title character of the book (and a few earlier movie versions), while the movie fans (who are stereotypically unaware of other versions) are unhappy when they are told that they shouldn't find "Gerik" (as Gerard's version of Erik, the Phantom, has come to be known) attractive.
As of 2008, this kerfluffle shows no sign of abating.
In 1997, Frederick Forsyth wrote a sequel to the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, in novel form. This book, titled 'The Phantom of Manhattan', went against many tenets of Phandom, and causes tempers to flare at its mere mention, even ten years after it was published.
Over the course of the years, it was mostly considered a harmless (if annoying) footnote to phandom, until 2007, when Andrew Lloyd Webber announced that he was making the book into a musical. This led to many complaints, petitions, and general unrest. Phans were overjoyed at the news that Lloyd Webber's kitten, Otto, had somehow deleted the score from his digital piano, but this was shortlived, as Lloyd Webber continues work unabated. (Also, Otto was struck and killed by a car not long after deleting the music).
'Phantom of Manhattan' the musical is planned to start sometimes in 2009, while phans continue to hope Andrew Lloyd Webber changes his mind.
This section needs more information.
[edit] Influential fanworks
This section needs more information.
[edit] Fandom members
See Phantom of the Opera fans for a directory of members of the fandom.
[edit] Fandom size
See also Phantom of the Opera fan fiction community size.
[edit] External Links
[edit] See also
[edit] Sources
Below is a partial list of articles and academic sources to help you continue to learn about this community.
- Young, Cathy. "The Fan Fiction Phenomena, What Faust, Hamlet, and Xena the Warrior Princess Have in Common." Reason Magazine Feb. 2007. 13 Dec. 2007 <http://reason.com/news/show/118379.html>.
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