That's so exciting that you're going to see Hamilton! I'm so happy for you! And yes, there's quite a few iterations of Phantom that you can really take your pick on what you prefer and that's one of the coolest things about it I think. It's just such a great story that you can tell in a lot of ways, and ofc the book is just brilliant. But anyways! What's your favorite setting, if you have one? Also how's your week been going? I hope you're doing well! :) -Your Secret Santa
Hope you’re having a nice December so far! So do you know what kind of present you’d like to receive yet? It doesn’t have to be anything specific, I just want to start getting some ideas for ya :) I can do some sort of art thing if you like, or something, I’m not sure! What kinds of presents have you received in the past, if you don’t mind my asking?
Hello, dear Secret Santa! Sorry it’s taken a little while to reply to your asks. This last week has been a bit busy.
I’m truly thrilled I’m going to see Hamilton this spring! I’ve bought tickets for days that both Lin and Javier should be there, so if all goes well, I’ll get to see them both. I’m really looking forward to seeing both of their takes on the character, since I’ve read that Javier has his own unique interpretation that’s different than Lin’s, and that’s also really powerful.
As for my favorite setting for Phantom, I’d honestly have to say that the original newspaper publication is my favorite. It was a fictional(ized) pseudorealistic journalistic reportage presented in a real newspaper as if it were authentic, and yet placed in the fiction section of that paper. This structure was rather avant-garde at the time, and on a meta level this format created yet another mask – the fictional narrative that hides under a mask of fact. While Le Fantôme de l’Opéra would have been read as fiction by its original readership due to its location in the newspaper, it appears that once it was published as a novel, and its original context was lost, Leroux capitalized on this ambiguity to lay claim to the veracity of his story. In 1925, only fifteen years after his novel’s publication, Leroux wrote a press release for the Lon Chaney movie in which he asserted the truth of his novel. This press release was unpublished, but it suggests that Leroux, ever the good showman, may have perceived some belief in his novel’s veracity and was willing to promote this. Certainly, in the following decades, as the true events that inspired Leroux receded into the past and became indistinguishable from fiction, many readers held that Leroux’s novel was based more on fact than it actually was. Indeed, it is only with modern online access to newspapers and other publications that we can easily see the ways in which Leroux used his technique of fictionalizing factual events, and understand which elements of his story were real and which were imagined.
As for your other question about the Secret Santa gift, I’d love any digital gift that you come up with. In the past, my Secret Santas have created phanart, which was really nice. Anything phanart-related is great, or anything else you’d enjoy making. I’ll like anything that you’d like to create. :)
