![]() When it became harder to deny that certain parts of the Phantom story might possibly be not-that-great, I became frustrated with particular things, like movie Raoul’s hairdo. Even within the most liberal interpretation of the death of the author, these theories ignored too much, prioritizing the discovery of pennies over the act of sifting through cow dung to find them. ‘This is basically a live-action Spirited Away,” I thought. That’s when I put my blinders on, and not even Gerard Butler’s tortured singing could knock them off.Īt the peak of this phase, I postulated that Phantom was a whole lot of things: a lowbrow portrait of highbrow entertainment (see above), a racial passing narrative (The Phantom might be Persian?), an obscure birthing-horror allegory (The Phantom might be a fetus?). The sequence works, and it reminds me so much of how it feels to work in a restaurant. It’s all ballerinas drinking booze straight from the bottle, pointe shoes grinding into chalk dust, craftspeople in a prop workshop, just a bunch of artists working like imperfect gears in some slapdash machine. On a whim one day, I started watching the 2004 film adaptation of Phantom on Netflix, and the opening sequence, the overture set to a montage of the day-to-day workings of the Op éra Populaire, was electrifying. Here’s how it went down:ĭENIAL, or “It’s more sophisticated than you think, OK?” Of course I rationalized it, passionately defended it to friends, and parroted a line found in every think piece: “But it’s actually really smart!” I’m standing in the cold, unfeeling light of Acceptance now, but it’s been a struggle. I had so few fucks to spare after standing in a 120˚F kitchen for 10 hours, and that’s how I ended up watching The Phantom of the Opera productions every night for three months. Before I started working full-time, I had the mental fortitude to read plot summaries and cast lists to seek out media that passed the Bechdel Test at the very least, but the pacifying ease of shitty media slowly brought me over to the Dark Bland Side. Don’t get me wrong: I’m still all about Racebending and #WeNeedDiverseBooks, but American popular culture sure doesn’t make the struggle easy. I used to be one of those ideological pseudo-purists that only engaged with media that jived with my politics-a totally sustainable way of life if you want to think about !!Important Issues!! 24/7.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |