Tango
Okay, after watching the incredible old French movie, Cleo from 5 to 7, which traces 2 hours in the life of a young singer as she waits for confirmation of her cancer diagnosis - I have identified the main reason why I don't feel at home in the Phandom. 
Well, not so much identified it but crystallised for myself the vague uncomfortable feeling I have had for a long time. But first - the movie, which has just been catapulted to a spot in my Top 10 Films Ever. Basically its message is the rejection of negativity and "morbidity" as the ultimate artistic exprеssion, and instead the celebration of life in all its imperfections. At one point, the singer rejects a beautiful, tragic song because - "you want to revolutionise the music world with a hymn to despair? It'd be like a successful funeral!"
And you know what? This is exactly what I miss in the Phandom. This sense of physical joy at the mere fact of existence, coupled with a healthy dose of self-irony and the ability to laugh in the face of horrible ugly things. I miss the humour and light-heartedness of the Xenaverse that never denied the horrible things in life (war, death, betrayal) but also did not allow the characters or the viewer to sink into a pit of morbidity and wallow in it like a hippopotamus in the mudflats of the Nile. (With the exception of two story arcs which I, and a lot of other fans, detest). Angst is fun in small doses but wallowing in it is a denial of life. And an inability to poke fun at yourself and make tongue-in-cheek comments is simply boring.
So there it is: I'm a weird "phan". Because the way I see it - bugger morbidity! I love the humour in Leroux's novel, and the witty self-parody in the movie. I love the way it pokes fun at all that is Gothic and macabre. I thoroughly enjoy the "shock horror" silliness of the music and the fact that the humour does not take away from the passion and tragedy, but actually heightens it. In short, I love "Phantom" for all the same reasons I love "Xena": it's campy, silly, fun, larger-than-life, with an intelligent and moving heart to the story, and a passion and ambiguity that capture my imagination. To reshape it, as so many fans do, into the epitome of teen-goth angst is to rob the story of all its beauty and meaning.
A friend commented recently in a thread on the "Xena" board that the best advice she ever got was "Get over it", which, she said, applies to so many things. I agree. I only wish more phans felt comfortable abandoning the excessively morbid focus of the fandom and instead embraced the abundant fun in the source material. Not that there is anything wrong with tragedy, but tragedy without laughter is as boring and empty as comedy without tears.
...And that's tonight's rant.
Well, not so much identified it but crystallised for myself the vague uncomfortable feeling I have had for a long time. But first - the movie, which has just been catapulted to a spot in my Top 10 Films Ever. Basically its message is the rejection of negativity and "morbidity" as the ultimate artistic exprеssion, and instead the celebration of life in all its imperfections. At one point, the singer rejects a beautiful, tragic song because - "you want to revolutionise the music world with a hymn to despair? It'd be like a successful funeral!"And you know what? This is exactly what I miss in the Phandom. This sense of physical joy at the mere fact of existence, coupled with a healthy dose of self-irony and the ability to laugh in the face of horrible ugly things. I miss the humour and light-heartedness of the Xenaverse that never denied the horrible things in life (war, death, betrayal) but also did not allow the characters or the viewer to sink into a pit of morbidity and wallow in it like a hippopotamus in the mudflats of the Nile. (With the exception of two story arcs which I, and a lot of other fans, detest). Angst is fun in small doses but wallowing in it is a denial of life. And an inability to poke fun at yourself and make tongue-in-cheek comments is simply boring.
So there it is: I'm a weird "phan". Because the way I see it - bugger morbidity! I love the humour in Leroux's novel, and the witty self-parody in the movie. I love the way it pokes fun at all that is Gothic and macabre. I thoroughly enjoy the "shock horror" silliness of the music and the fact that the humour does not take away from the passion and tragedy, but actually heightens it. In short, I love "Phantom" for all the same reasons I love "Xena": it's campy, silly, fun, larger-than-life, with an intelligent and moving heart to the story, and a passion and ambiguity that capture my imagination. To reshape it, as so many fans do, into the epitome of teen-goth angst is to rob the story of all its beauty and meaning.
A friend commented recently in a thread on the "Xena" board that the best advice she ever got was "Get over it", which, she said, applies to so many things.
I agree. I only wish more phans felt comfortable abandoning the excessively morbid focus of the fandom and instead embraced the abundant fun in the source material. Not that there is anything wrong with tragedy, but tragedy without laughter is as boring and empty as comedy without tears....And that's tonight's rant.