Things that bother me about the Phantom of the Opera...

Okay, we all know that I am a sponge and that things stay with me for a long time.
Here is a list of things that bothered me with the story line of Phantom of the Opera.

The Phantom's character for some reason does not ring true to me and I'm going to have to read the original text if I can find it. (God help me)

If the phantom of the Opera was abused as a child and basically treated as an outcast...how did he learn to read and to write?

How did he learn to compose music? To write an Opera? He would have had to have a tutor. Even musical genius needs to be molded and taught. Otherwise he would have made music using spoons and pots...

In my opinion...I would have built his character in this manner...this makes more sense to me. He carries himself as a nobleman...acts like a nobleman. It is in the arrogant manner in which he speaks, the way he holds himself. It is almost as if at one time he was beautiful but that something marred that beauty.

Making demands on the Opera Managers is not something I can see happening from the given background. It just doesn't ring true to me. I could see it being more that he was the child of a nobleman...hidden away because of his disfigurment but educated. Perhaps it was noticed that he had a gift for music?

In the play and in the movie he is shown as a child in a traveling circus--beaten, abused and tortured. Until one day he kills the man keeping him in the cage. A young ballet student takes him to the catacombs beneath the Opera and hides him. However she is a dancer and does not know music. So how did he learn?

Still thinking on all of this and trying to sort it out. I'm sure I haven't done a good job of explaining it here. Anyone with an opinion please jump in...

Oh and about Raoul and Christine...how unheard of is it that an Opera dancer would marry a viscount in the early 1800's? I have a hard time buying this lie and feel it would not have happened in that day in age. Classic Cinderella syndrome in my book.

It makes for a good story, but it is the characters backgrounds that bother me for some reason. The roles are reversed between Christine and Raoul...she says..."Keep our engagement a secret." would it not have made more sense that the Viscount would have said this? Perhaps they needed to change it to make the story work. Because we all know the reason that Christine wants to keep her betrayal a secret is because she is afraid of what the Erik will do when he finds out...

Still thinking on all of this...
Hugs,
Michelle