RIP to the tragic figure who has signed away their life on this day. You have been lost to a tragic cause, worthy only of this blog full of salt and rage, you shall be missed š¢š
Hello yes I literally cannot sleep right now because Iām upset as hell, why am I upset? Because Erik fucking deserved better.
āAh but heās a serial killer that lied to and manipulated a young girlā yes, this is technically true, but sit the fuck down, buckle up, and let me rant.
Now, of course all of this varies from movie to play to book but for the sake of my argument weāre gonna go with my unpopular opinion fave i.e. the 2004 adaptation of the movie (which will likely be where a lot of people will have seen it so SHUSH).
Now, the movie boops around in time a lot but for arguments sake weāre gonna follow Erikās life chronologically.
Letās start off with we little bb Erik, shall we? Now, a lot of his history is only hinted at, and Iām going to try to keep my own headcanons out of this as much as I can manage, but how about how his own mother couldnāt bear to look at him.Ā
āA face which earned a motherās fear and loathing, a Mask, my first unfeeling scrap of clothingā
Would it be wrong to assume that that means that even before momma Destler changes her infant sonās diaper she has to cover his face because sheās too disgusted to look at him. Or how about the fact itās likely he came from an impoverished family (letās be real those werenāt the best of times okay itās a safe assumption he wasnāt a one percenter), and he likely didnāt have any real clothes (ahem, his burlap sack pants in the Gypsy scene?) but his mother hated his face so much she was willing to buy him a mask just to cover it? And how did he wind up with the gypsies in the first place, hmmmmm???
The movie really doesnāt say that so weāre gonna leave you to figure that out, NO HEADCANONS FROM ME TODAY FRIEND (I have so many. About this whole movie. Please come talk to me Iām very lonely.)
Now, onto the gypsyās themselves. Can we just. Erik was what, seven? Eight? In that scene? Maybe younger? And they were brutally beating him while hundreds (Thousands, itās not like this is the only show heās been used as an attraction at) of people laughed at his pain. I mean. Is it hard to see why he has such a fucked up sense of morality when he spent his childhood seeing all those people laugh at his agony. And the MONKEY TOY I WANNA DIE. Okay okay. Anyway. They appear to be using a long tail bull whip which HURT okay? Those are not for people (or anything but this isnāt the post for that). Those will rip you to shreds. Now, Iām not a whip expert so I DONāT WANT ANYONE COMINā UP IN HERE LIKE NO ITS ___ WHIP AND ITS ____ BITCH THEYāRE W H I P P I N G A YOUNG C H I L D I DONāT CARE IF ITāS MADE OF COTTON CANDY AND RAINBOWS. Like honestly are we gonna blame him for murdering that piece of shit? For real I would have killed him for the creepy tongue thing alone and Erik suffered years of abuse at his hand, keep in mind, we only saw ONE part of ONE show, WHERE HE WASNāT EVEN STRUGGLING REALLY, we have no idea what they did to that poor boy at other shows, behind the scenes, etc. And again. That monkey toy. I wanna die.
Now, on to his living situation (hereās where weāre gonna boop around a little, weāre gonna ignore Christineās existence a little longer). He lived, by himself, in the sewers (call them catacombs if you want theyāre fucking sad gross places either way I donāt care). He was a kid, locked away from anyone else. So letās think about this. He learned that heās so terrible even his mother canāt love him just because of his face, he was beaten to shit and laughed at to make money because heās so terrible, just because of his face, he watched a shit load of people laugh at his pain without trying to help (until Giry and even she only helped after he did the hard part), and then heās locked away, alone, in a creepyass, wet, dongeon. I mean. Would you be holding it together? I sure as fuck wouldnāt. And yeah Iām sure Giry visited him and whatever but how often do you really think she went down there? She was studying to be a ballerina at a world famous opera house, she didnāt have free time, and still thatās only one person making face to face contact with him for what? 15 years? A long ass time regardless.
And now we boop to Christine. Again this part isnāt really shown, but with āwhenever Iād come down here alone, to light a candle for my fatherā, are you willing to agree that when young Erik saw her, by herself, having little to no experience of kindness out of other people, really reached out to be malicious? He was probably scared out of his fucking mind, but he saw this little girl grieving as heād grieved his own life, and he decided to try to comfort her. She was probably the one that came up with the Angel Of Music thing (I say probably because itās never explicitly said, but come on, thereās no way he would have randomly come up with that, you can also listen to Emmy talk about her ālatching onā because she wanted so desperately for it to be a Thing and that they really were good friends etc but Iām just gonna stick to stuff you can get directly from the movie) and he went with it. Now, there are a ton of reasons he could have gone with it (āLearn to see to find the man behind the monster this repulsive carcass who seems a beast but secretly yearns for heaven secretly, secretly dreams of beautyā..........) but none are directly stated so Iāll fuck off and let you decide.
Now, he taught her to sing. Ask any artist ever and theyāll tell you if theyāre sharing their work with you theyāre sharing a very intimate part of themselves with you. It doesnāt matter the style, art is personal, and he cared enough about this girl to not only show her his art but to teach it to her.* I cannot fathom that love okay and all of this from a creature who was born into a world of hate and darkness and here he is creating beauty and sharing his work I love him okay. And yes, he falls in love with her. Iām not gonna share my thoughts on that love (She was the first person to treat him like a human, to be his friend and never once did she judge him for his looks, just keep that in mind.) but he falls in love with her, more on that in a little bit.
* No One Would Listen isnāt technically in the movie so Iām not saying anything about it, but a lot of my opinions are solidified in it, so if you Havenāt heard it you need to itās a beautiful song sung to the tune of Learn to be Lonely which Minnie SLAYS jesus shit *aggressively heart eyes* but it directly says that he wanted to share his art and teach the wold but she was the only one who listened
As for torturing Carlottaā¦ā¦ā¦ā¦ā¦. I mean, me too, I canāt fault him for thatā¦ā¦
THEIR MEETING. TIME OUT. THE MIRROR SCENE. THE CHOREOGRAPHY. THE SMOKE. THE CHANGE FROM ANGEL TO PHANTOM. THIS SCENE IS ENTIRELY MY AESTHETIC. Okay Iām good sorry. So. They go down to his home. He takes this girl. Into his HOME. Heās been mistreated his whole life and he willingly leads this girl down into his sanctuary. Think about that for a minute.Ā
Okay. Anyway, yes the wedding dress is hella creepy but LISTEN. He wasnāt raised with people. Heās stuck in the opera house, he doesnāt see real relationships and even if he does he only sees bits and pieces of them out of the people WHILE THEYāRE THERE heās never seen or heard about or learned about a real proposal, heās only seen countless operas, and you know what the fuck happens in romantic plays/operas/movies/musicals/books/stories/literally anything? They move fast, they skip time, theyāre over the top. People donāt watch shit thatās real life, no one would want to see that, but thatāS ALL HE KNOWS. Iāll let you think of it what you will, but I think he was genuinely trying to woo her as best he knew how.
Mask off scene. Okay. Now. Aside from the fact Gerard grabs the wrong side of his face at one point, (seriously, go rewatch it) Erik does shove Christine, which is not okay buuuuut heās fucking terrified, and Iām not convinced he meant to shove her, more get her away from him before she saw his face. (we also get some insight on his view of himself and I. Want. To. Die.) but Iāll leave you to take what you will from that scene.
*sigh* killing Joseph is the next thing I want to touch on and this is the one where I want to boop his deformed little nose a little butā¦ I meanā¦ I have a couple points still.Ā
One: the dude was a creep
two: he went looking for him
three: ERIK WARNED THEM IN NO UNCERTAIN TERMS āA disaster beyond your imagination will occurā (can we talk about the dolls. Erik. Fucking nerd.)
Four: Joseph openly mocked and taunted Erik (you think he didnāt hear that no nose comment *sassy finger snap*)
Five: He grew up only knowing violence. People laughed at his pain. Again his only real knowledge is opera and again people kill in those to get what they want? Heās just a wee potato trying his best.
Now let me bash my son for a moment, he was getting what he wanted, Christine was gonna play the countess, but instead we got All I Ask of You and I died inside (There may be another rant on my utter hatred of Raoul to come but this is already 1.5k words and Iām only like halfway through the movie so MOVING ON)
Alright, so All I Ask of You Reprise is technically the next place where Erik says/does anything but letās talk about whatās happening right in front of him right now. Heās in love with this woman. He has tried his fucking hardest, heās made her famous, heās tried to woo her, heās been there for YEARS, then this rich boy with a pretty face comes in and sheās falling into his arms in no time? Like yes itās a bit fuckboi of him but also take into account what she said about him before the actual song. (āHis eyes will find us there those eyes that burnā āI canāt escape from him I never willā āhis world of unending night to the world where the daylight dissolves into darknessā āCan I ever escape from that face so distorted deformed it was hardly a faceā) I meanā¦ Iād be fucking hurt and pissedā¦ So yeah the āyou will curse the day you did not do all that the phantom asked of youā is a bit much butā¦ HEāS PISSED and hurt and heartbroken.
Why So Silent and the ring Iām going to leave at heās fucking hurt but yes I want to boop his nose for that one tooā¦ like Erik stop being a creep no oneās chains are yours.
As well as Journey to the Cemetery and Wandering Child like here heās wrong and I have no argument against him being wrong, my only comment is that he could have killed the taxi driver but he just knocked him out so likeā¦ Yay?
Don Juanā¦ Okay come on he knew it was a trap so he had to have just trusted she wouldnāt go through with it butā¦ *Sigh* SON STOP KILLING PEOPLE. AND NO KIDNAPPING TEENAGE GIRLS.
Okay but Down Once More we get to see a lot of the stuff Iāve already mentioned (his mom, how he feels about himself, etc) and heās furious and scared and hurt and embarrassed and heās a cornered animal at this point. His home is gone, he knows that, he has to leave and this is his last chance to get the only person whoās ever heard him, whoās ever been a friend to him and shared his love of music, to come with him. Point of No Return Reprise is another thing I want to boop him for, but he does let them go, and he does give up and let her choose what she wants to be happy with one last ditch effort of just being honest (āChristine I love youā) and then he watches them go. The only person he has in the world, leaving him back in his world of darkness.
So, in conclusion, ERIK IS A SMOL PRECIOUS BEAN WHO DESERVED SO MUCH BETTER AND YES HE MADE MISTAKES BUT HEāS DOING HIS BEST AND PEOPLE ARE FAR TOO MEAN TO HIMĀ I HOPE HE KNOWS HOW MUCH I LOVE HIM
Youāre the fucking worst and Sam and Dean (and Adam) deserved so much better. Youāre an abusive, manipulative, pathetic piece of shit who let his family fall to pieces and ruined the life of everyone you met AND ITāS YOUR FAULT YOUR WIFE IS DEAD YOU FUCK LIKE YOUāRE ACTUALLY THE WORST FUCK YOU
Youāre a piece of shit for not living closer to me? How fucking could you? Like honestly youāre the worst and I will fight you in lie 16 days you fucking jerk
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