What is your Phantom story?

My Phantom story is sort of strange, so that is why I ask other people if the movie affected them in an unusual way. I have always loved monsters and monster movies. I read Leroux’s Phantom of the Opera English translation when I was 8 and in French when I was 10. I have always been in love with Erik! Well, for 30 years at least! Once when I was a child I was watching a Phantom movie with my mom and told here that I was going to marry him when I grew up. She was teasing me about kissing his ugly face and I told her that I would kiss him with the lights off! LOL! I have since learned that people kiss with their eyes closed, negating the need to turn off the lights! LOL!

Anyway, I have every Phantom book, comic book and movie ever made but I did not want to see ALW’s Phantom because it was a musical. I don't like musicals! My daughter put it on my Netflix queue, I told her to take it off but she really wanted to see it, so I said OK. Well, she was nowhere around when it came in so I watched all alone! I was blown away! I stopped on my way to work the next morning and bought the DVD and soundtrack. I had to watch it every day for a while, I still listen to the CD every night in the bathtub and I changed almost everything in my life because of the impact it had on me.

A week or so after I bought the DVD my 4 year old granddaughter came over and turned on the DVD player and watched it almost to the end without making a sound. Then she came running to me screaming and crying! When I finally got her calmed down, she said, “OH, Nanny, they are being mean to him just because he has a booboo on his face!” I started to turn it off but she threw a fit so I let her finish and then she watched it again! After that she was all about the Phantom. It has been almost 2 years now and she is still in love with Erik and she says that she is going to marry him when she grows up! And she says that she is NOT going to turn the lights out when she kisses him! LOL!

I just think that it is so interesting that one story has such an affect on so many people. ALW’s version seems to have made people see things in a different way, it is amazing!
Gerry Butler really brought Erik to life like no one else could.

What is your Phantom story?