The Story So Far

I thought I'd take a moment to summarise what I've covered so far in this very young blog.

I've mostly - but not exclusively - been glancing at the portrayal of evil in films, literature, musicals and the theatre. (The Many Faces of Faust and Portraits of the Beast)

I've been exploring how evil is personified and noted that many portrayals of the Devil or figures of evil do not seem to be of the horned goat, pitchfork wielding, fire breathing type.

In fact, the Devil often wears an angelic mask or is portrayed as an ambiguous, seductive, or charming figure. (Portraits of the Beast)

I've also briefly explored how we try to "exorcise" our flaws by projecting them onto external hate figures or scapegoats in The Curse of the Divided Self and Beauty and the Beast.

One underlying motif that has crept into the posts almost unconsciously is the use of mirrors.

I've briefly touched on how mirrors are allegedly used by mind control experts for sinister purposes in order to induce their victims to dissociate so that they can be better programmed to perform sinister misdeeds.

Marilyn Monroe's love of mirrors and how she filled her house with mirrors from ceiling-to-floor (Mirror Mirror) is shared by Erik, the Phantom in the novel The Phantom of the Opera as his torture chamber is also filled with ceiling to floor mirrors.

(There is a belief among some conspiracy theorists that Monroe was the victim of mind control but I don't want to go there - at least not today)

In the Lloyd Webber version, the Phantom also uses the dressing room mirror to connect with Christine and lure her away.

The theme of mind control also connects with Svengali's hypnotic and fatal power over his victim Trilby.

I'll be looking more at Svengali and related topics shortly.