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So, I loved the new movie. It was awesome. But the thing that shocked me was, by the end I was sympathetic for Raoul's plight. Maybe it was because he was so well portryaed by Patrick Wilson; I don't know for sure.

Anybody second?

If anything, I hate him even more after seeing the movie. xp

I've always had this little soft spot for Raoul, but I don't think the movie made the little soft spot get any bigger. Patrick Wilson as Raoul was just...too girly for my tastes, I guess, to the point where he's practically as effeminate as Christine. razz I think I'm sticking to book-Raoul from now on. He's such a sweet little dim thing. ^_^

From the entire phandom's point of view, I think the general feeling towards Raoul was a good deal more lenient *before* the movie came out. I'm not really speaking for the entire phandom, now, though, but more what I've seen on Fanfiction.net, because that's the site I visit most. People were kind of getting used to seeing R/C fics there, and becoming more tolerant towards the pairing, if not supporting it. Once or twice I believe I saw an equal number of E/C and R/C on the site.

But then the movie came out. And I think that people are more inclined to *think* they hate Raoul rather than really hate him, because let's face it, Erik is "so much cooler" (and I agree with this). Raoul really doesn't do much except sit there and look pretty. And because he gets in the way of Erik and Christine, people don't like him. It's the natural phangirl instinct to dislike Raoul. And so *poof*, if you go to Ff.net now and look at the phiction there, the front page is ALL E/C and E/OW (this pairing sickens me, but whatever). So, yeah, the general attitude towards Raoul appears to be more hostile after the movie came out.

Rather long post, really. =^^= Just an attempt to dig deeper into the mind of a common phangirl.

I won't say that I've got a little soft spot for him. As far as the book goes I just feel kind of sorry for the poor little fop. Sometimes it feels like he's bursting into tears every other chapter. I remember when I was first introduced to the story I hated him for taking Christine away from Erik, but after growing a little older and reading the book I find I don't hate him. I think he needs to get a backbone, but I don't hate him (Personally, my least favorite character is Christine).

I've always been an Erik sympathizer, and the movie didn't really change my opinion of the characters. It gave me a slightly better opinion of Gerard Butler (whom I had been condemning as a horrible singer. He's decent, but he's going to destroy his voice with smoking).

The movie portrays Raoul a bit differently from the book version. ALW's Raoul is a bit more courageous, which is something that I think most of the phans dislike. He's portrayed a bit more as the knight in shining armor come to rescue the damsel in distress. In the book he really seems more like a love-sick puppy faithfully following Christine into the underground labyrinth than a hero come to save the day. I think the phans are more willing to forgive the book's Raoul because he's too pathetic to really hate.

I never really liked Raoul but in the movie I liked him a tiny bit better than I did in the book (on the other hand I liked Christine less in the movie than I did in the book). This is because in the book he was much more nasty to Erik simply because he was jealous. And then did he tell Christine that he would kill Erik when she was saying how she was brought through his passages? Nooo...he said that when he found out what Erik looked like. Isn't he such a nice man who looks so much deeper than one's apperances [/sarcasm] ? In the movie he wasn't such a crybaby when he didn't get his way and a slightly more sympathetic character overall, so I didn't want him to just go somewhere and die like I did in the book.

Coming from someone who just saw the movie, and never heard the original theatre version or read the book, I quite liked Raoul. Erik was cool in his own right, but I tended to like Raoul more. Perhaps it's because seem to be able to connect with the character, but I can't really back that up much. I also liked him more because his part is more in my vocal range sweatdrop

I don't like Raoul in the movie (which I've seen three times heart ) because I just don't.
And I don't like Raoul in the musical because, well, he's trying to take Christine away from Erik, and I'm a phangirl.
I don't like Raoul in the book, because the fop cried to much and acted like a love-sick pansy xp I mean, Christine is all like, "Yeah, he's ugly, but I don't hate him, I feel sorry for him. And his voice is sexy." and Raoul is like, "No! He's terrible, adn you hate him and I love you! I'll take you away!" stare Not that Erik didn't cry in the book, but he cries only twice, while Raoul cries every few pages.

Mostly, I don't like Raoul for taking Christine from Erik. Like every phan girl heart

^_^