#leroux raoul

[selcouthself]

Reclaiming Leroux's Original Vision | part 1/?

Despite passionate pleas from dedicated Phans who have kept Leroux's original text alive through decades of discussion, fan works, etc., production companies continually choose marketable romance over authentic adaptation, perpetually ignoring the faithful rendition fans have been clamoring for. ***For the purpose of this discussion, I am excluding the 1925 silent film adaptation, which stands apart as perhaps the most faithful adaptation of Gaston Leroux's novel, and focusing on the grievances that Phans commonly express regarding other adaptations across various media.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​***

From the 1984 BANGER musical that prioritized spectacle over substance, to the 1990 miniseries that gave us a subdued, sympathetic Erik, to the 2004 film that turned Erik into a brooding, misunderstood hottie with convenient scarring, to various others, each attempt seems to misunderstand that fans don't want a dumbed down love triangle (Though it should be said that we do adore these adaptations for what they are-- Webber's music is undeniably beautiful, Dance's performance is genuinely moving, Chaney's makeup & dedication remains iconic, and not to mention the 2004 film is visually stunning)—we want the brilliant, morally complex, historically textured, genuinely disturbing masterpiece that Leroux wrote.

The recurring sins remain consistent:

The bastardization of Erik's character. Erik's horrific appearance isn't just physical description—it fundamentally shapes his entire psychology and justifies his isolation from humanity, making him simultaneously monstrous and tragic; when adaptations give us a handsome phantom with decorative/minimal scarring, they erase the lifetime of rejection and dehumanization that forged his broken psyche and twisted worldview. Erik is SYMPATHETIC.

The complete erasure of the Persian. Removing him not only gets rid of MAJOR PLOT DETAILS, but it also removes Erik's only genuine human connection and moral counterbalance, eliminating the character who humanizes Erik through their shared history while also serving as the crucial voice of reason who condemns his actions.

Christine's character being reduced to a silly little ingénue forced to choose between two love interests instead of a determined young woman making impossible choices while processing immense trauma and grief, despite the fact that she's a victim of severe emotional manipulation and abuse—which isn't romantic, it's horrific.

Raoul being flattened into a one-dimensional pretty boy when his character is much more complicated than that. He's driven by emotional insecurity, naivety, and a sense of duty. He's young, new into society, and wanting to prove himself. He wants to protect Christine. He's wants to understand the connection Christine shares with this Erik.

Completely abandoning Leroux's "this is a journalist investigating real events" framework that makes the original novel so unique and unsettling.

Philippe de Chagny mysteriously vanishing from adaptations despite his "mysterious" drowning being a major plot point.

The opera house itself losing its character as a place of history, secrets, and genuine architectural strangeness.

Should an accurate adaptation of Gaston Leroux's "The Phantom of the Opera" be considered, I believe it would seek to rectify these recurring issues. It should breathe new life into both dimensions of the original novel: the meticulous journalistic investigation and the heartbreaking tale buried beneath the Paris Opera House. Leroux himself should take center stage at times—chasing leads through dusty archives, interviewing reluctant witnesses, and piecing together fragments of evidence about a masked man who once terrorized the opera. These investigative sequences would illuminate how Leroux blended documented facts (the underground lake, the mysterious accidents, the architectural oddities of the Opera Garnier) with his novelist's imagination, creating a compelling framework that constantly questions where reality ends and fiction begins.

Parallel to this investigation runs Erik's devastating story—a tale of profound isolation, artistic genius, and doomed love that explores deeply human questions about appearance, acceptance, and redemption. By returning to Leroux's original character descriptions and historical inspirations—such as the real-life soprano Christine Nilsson who influenced the creation of Christine Daaé—this adaptation would strip away decades of reinterpretation to present these characters as they were originally conceived.

Through this dual narrative structure, viewers would gain unprecedented insight into what Leroux was trying to teach us about societal cruelty, the transcendent power of music, and the complex nature of love in its various forms—familial, protective, passionate, and obsessive. This dream project imagines bringing the authentic literary Phantom to life as Leroux intended, where the line between factual investigation and gothic romance becomes as murky as the waters of the underground lake itself.

I intend to explore what a truly faithful adaptation might look like by suggesting ideal casting choices, highlighting scenes from Leroux’s novel that deserve proper screen treatment, various references that I would love to see, and debating whether a tv series or film would serve the complex narrative and gothic atmosphere of the original work. My goal is to envision an adaptation that honors the psychological horror and the rich historical context that made Leroux’s novel a timeless classic.

[echrikri]

2025.01.26.

Raoul and Erik

[annachum]

Leroux! Raoul De Chagny Aesthetic

[afeix]

the Vicomte de Chagny - Hadley Fraser

The Phantom of the Opera, 25th Anniversary at the Royal Albert Hall. 

Please do not remove the caption, steal, or repost!

[symphony-in-a]

Raoul de Chagny will be like “I know a spot” and it’s your dressing room closet to spy on your music lessons with the weird guy in the basement

[overdramaticpoto]

So I’ve just found out that Blackpool Pleasure Beachs’ Ghost Train features The Phantom of the Opera during he unmasking scene in the novel and I’m freaking out!

[stanraouldechagny]

SO I WAS READING THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA NOVEL AND

RAOUL, WHAT ARE YOU DOING???

[faded-florals]

Raoul: Opera's haunted. Phillipe: what? Raoul: *cocks gun* Opera's haunted

Oh. my. god.

[fallenidolandfalsefriend]

I saw your opinions on Leroux Raoul. Are you in my head? I think I *heart* you.

.....i am the phantom of the opera?!?!? akskdjsksjsj omg thank you 🥺 i wish i could’ve articulated it better but alas character limit! maybe if you’re interested to affirm your 💓 for me, i would like to discuss it further with you! uwu i am also in the process of rereading it so maybe as the story progresses, my mind would change. but i remember not being so fond of him the last time i read it too. right now though.....leroux raoul ain’t it for me. BUT at least he’s interesting compared to the his bland ass in the musical. it’s also interesting to realize that erik and raoul are more similar than i thought, i mean aside from their love for christine.

me @ leroux raoul: you’re as bad as ‘im!

[bububalloon]

Dear Aaron Taylor-Johnson...

a.k.a. the guy who looks like Raoul in Anna Karenina 

a.k.a me trying not to add another actor to my raoul-related heartthrob list...

[shernoel]

They are Happy goddammit

[faded-florals]

Hi, idk if you're mad, screw the haters lmao. Hadley Fraser, Matt Leisy, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson are the live action! Raoul Trinity, agree or disagree?

Maybe ‘mad’ is the wrong descriptor, I’m just being salty. Anyone who follows me knows how much I love Raoul, especially Hadley’s Raoul, and the influx of casual viewers making comments in the POTO tags the past 2 days has made me a touch defensive. It’s not that serious, I’m mostly joking! (…mostly) I’ll also point out that the stress of the quarantine has been getting to me, and I just need to have a snack and calm down.

On the Hadley, Matt, & Aaron front… YEAH. For me, Hadley is my perfect ALW Raoul, Matt is a wonderful example of a ALW+Leroux in-between Raoul, and Aaron is one of my favorite face claims for Leroux Raoul.

[faded-florals]

I'm laughing because in POTO@RAH Raoul isn't shown to have heard the phantom luring Christine away from her dressing room, so when he comes back she's just not there and he doesn't know what happened.

So what does he do?

Just YELLS her name, which is actually completely canon and Leroux compliant with Raoul "Can’t Control the Volume Level of his Voice” de Chagny.

(A note: In the film he only yells her name once, but in the broadcast version you can hear him say “Christine?” as he’s walking down the stairs.)

[faded-florals]

I'm rereading Leroux and Raoul is such a brute sometimes, he's out here demanding information, having a harsh tone, but he's also prioritizing Christine's self interest at the same time? He reminds me of the friend that will tell you things you don't want to hear, but need to hear, he'll smack some sense into you when you've lost your confidence, it's all done with love and I'm here for it. He is Captain of the Team #DieforDaae 😩����

This is a great description of Leroux Raoul! I haven’t talked much about him because a.) I need to reread the book, it’s been a while since I have and I’d feel more comfortable talking about his character when my thoughts on the specifics of his actions are fresh in my mind, and b.) Leroux Raoul can absolutely come off as a prick without taking the time to read into why he behaves the way he does.

Of course everyone is open to interpret his character however they’d like, but I see him much in the same way you describe: a young man, inexperienced in the real world who is hopelessly in love with Christine, and will do damn near anything he can to try to help her. He can be brash and stick his nose where it isn’t welcome and probably also doesn’t belong, but if anything you can’t deny he is totally ride-or-die (ride-or-daae…? booooo my jokes are bad) for his girl.

We need to remember his upbringing among his female family members leads him to experience and show emotions much more freely compared to most men of the time, and hoo boy, being a fresh faced, volatile 21 year old caught in a dramatic reunion with a long lost lover and a subsequent fight for her attention and safety is a recipe for angst. Pepper in his privileged position, which makes him just a bit out of touch with how to be respectful to the plights of others, and he really has no chance to be the heroic, grounded, romantic lead whose shoes he is desperate to fill.

But… I kind of love him for it?? It’s one of the reasons I really enjoyed the book, being a Raoul fan in general. We spend so much time with him in the novel compared to the musical, get to see his shortcomings and failures almost if not more than we do the Phantom’s, as well as what makes him human and lovable. When it comes down to it he’s an interesting character, or at least the antics he manages to weasel his way into are, no matter how you end up interpreting his behavior.

[faded-florals]

[faded-florals]