My aunt says that there are books that are dark and insidious, occultic and have a hold over your mind.

And, well,"The Phantom of the Opera is there, inside your mind..."

Is PotO one of of those? I know it's not occultic, but is it healthy?

Well, I am a pretty devout Catholic and I see absolutely no problem with it. The only thing "wrong" I can see in it is Erik's rejection of God and of Catholisim. It is addicting and if you read it alot, what makes that different from reading another book a lot, the best selling book of all time...the bible?

Ponder....

The only way the book would become dark and insidious is when people make it that way themselves. It's the same with any other book. It's just words meant to entertain. But when a person confuses those words for reality or truth is when it becomes dark. It's the person who makes it that way. All depends on how seriously people take it.

I've been a Christian my whole life, but I've always been into Phantom, I love Stephen King, my favorite movie (before POTO LOL) was The Silence of the Lambs. I don't feel dark and insidious. I'm not dark and insidious. Those are just where my entertaining interests lie.

I don't see any conflict in faith there. People who find deep conflicts with things like that are going to find deep conflicts with just about everything. It's all about how much you take literally.

My mother is Christian and she has no problem with POTO either. She loves it almost as much as me. She does have aproblem with my other musical tastes, such as Goth and rock...and my Stephen King collection as well. But she's pretty practical and realises that if you don't take it literally or make it something it isn't, then there's no problem.

I love Silence of the Lambs too!

I think people make a mistake in pushing away everything that is dark. Darkness is there, it is part of life's experience. It is better to deal with it than to be afraid of it. Fiction gives us a great way of examining and dealing with the darker sides of life.

I'm not Christian, but 10 years of Phantom discussion online, I've never heard of any Christian fans having a conflict over it.

I'm a Catholic and have absolutely no problem with POTO and other books considered dark. It's all about the person who reads them. Not to sound disrespectful or anything but has your aunt even read it? To me, that statement sounds like something adults would say to keep children and teens away from something.

Life has it's darkness, like ChristineDaae said. It's better to figure that out now than stumble blindly across it for the first time while in college or in your 20s.

Stephen King and Silence of the Lambs rock.

LOL.I'm just a year short of 20, actually, and my parents tend to say that a lot.What was bothering me was that my aunt rarely says things like that, much less keep me away from things - she tends to explain why, rather than just say 'don't', so I thought I see if I could seek godly advice - except that none of those I usually go to understand the bit of the Phantom being "...inside your mind", in a manner of speaking, so I posted it here. Glad I don't have to give PotO up!rotfl.That had me worried there for an instant!

Yeah, that would be weird in the fact that your aunt usually explains thing instead of saying just saying dont. I don't know, you could ask her, sounds like there'd be an interesting story behind it.

I love Anthony Hopkins - and Silence of the Lambs!

"A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans, and a nice chianti!" LOL

Couldn't resist. I love anything dark and alluring, you'll find that with all of my tastes. There is nothing wrong with being attracted to the darker things, either. Like Christine said, it's a natural part of life. POTO is a beautiful representation of life, death, beauty and romance. I shouldn't see why anyone would consider it insideous or threatening to one's religion.

I don't see why the story would be considered anti-Christian; in fact, I think the themes of sacrificial love and redemption come through pretty clearly.

One interesting thing I noticed in the movie (related to the Christianity theme) - did anyone else notice in the Phantom's "work area" of the Lair (where he had all the books, library tables, bookshelves, etc.) that on the top of one of the bookshelves is an old-fashioned monstrance? (It's the large gold object that looks like the sculpture of a sun on a stand. It's used in Eucharistic adoration in the Catholic Church, where the consecrated host is exposed for worship.) I always wonder what that monstrance is doing there.

Interestingly, the word "monster" and "monstrance" come from the same root, which means "wondrous sign" (i.e. from God.)

Stefanie

I'm a non-denominational Christian, and I don't see where POTO is a problem. I don't believe that it was intended to be Christian material, but I think in an obscure way, it does have a Christian-like theme in it; for example where Christine teaches Erik about unconditional love. *shrugs*

I'm Christian, and I read much creepier books all the time. 'Phantom' is a classic. Reading dark literature doesn't make you a bad Christian...I even WRITE dark literature. Oh and Edgar Allan Poe wrote some of the darkest literature ever and HE was a Christian.
What's wrong with reading for entertainment? REading it is far different from worshipping any of it's ideas.

P.S. My facorite music (besides POTO) is rock, and my favorite movie is "The Exorcist"...I'll be doomed far before you are!

Certainly not. I am a Catholic and I dont see any harm done to me by reading the book. Although there are some parts that touch the dark side of the human psyche, it is not evil at all. it is rather more on a psychological perspective. when people encounter difficulties, we tend to develope our own defense mechanism to adapt to our environment, and that's what Erik exactly did.
Although the original POTO by old Gaston is off the hook, Forsyth's Phantom of Manhattan tells the readers that Erik began to worship Mammon, the god of greed and gold.

it must not be too insidious because it is not on Parents agianst Bad Books's list!! http://www.pabbis.com/ tehehe, i find it funny that all my required reading for this year is on this list.....