La Belle Isolde
Christine was young, sixteen if I remember correctly. And she trusted a man who was different than what she thought he was, she built him up as this person who was only concerned with her best interests and she cared about him; only to find out that he was a real threat to her health, safety, and sanity.
Closer to 20 or so, actually. The teenage!Christine is a movie thing.
Just a general statement aimed at no one in particular...
It's one thing to feel ambivalent toward Raoul, or to like Erik better because Erik's the more interesting character... That's just simple preference. But when it gets into saying that Christine should have stayed with Erik because he was better, or because he needed Christine more, I start getting annoyed with Erik phans in general.
You may find Erik more interesting, but that does not make him
better in any way. 'Better' is entirely perspective.
And I hear a lot of arguments about what Erik needs or what Raoul wanted, but what about what Christine wanted? She wanted to be with Raoul. Doesn't that matter at all?
And while I'm ranting; it's all well and good to say 'I'd choose Erik' when you are seeing the story from the safety of reality, but in 99% of phangirls it's simple self-deluision. It's easy to say when you aren't actually there. The story exists only in your imagination, and in your imagination you are perfectly safe. Sit down and really, truly imagine being in Christine's position in
real life. Imagine Erik as a real person, and not a character in a book. He would be terrifying, and not just because he was ugly (although I think a lot of phangirls delude themselves about that too) but because he is completely unpredictable and uncontrollable.
Imagine, really, someone willing to murder your best friend because you're spending more time with them than with him. Imagine someone who would come after you and kill you if you ever tried to leave him, but who might hurt of kill you even if you stay. It's just not logical.
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