My Biology prof. in college gave this story to us in class. It's a true story, and while it may seem funny and may appear to have nothing to do with the Phantom movie, I'm using it as an analogy/symbolic situation of what would happen to the Phantom movie if you cast Antonio Banderas as the Phantom:

"The Farside comes to life in Oregon. I am absolutely not making this incident up; in fact, I have it all on videotape. The tape is from a local TV news show in Oregon, which sent a reporter out to cover the removal of a 45-foot, 8-ton dead whale that washed up on the beach. The responsibility for getting rid of the carcass was placed on the Oregon State Highway Division, apparently on the theory that highways and whales are very similar in the sense of being large objects. So the highway engineers hit upon a plan- remember, I am not making this up- of blowing up the whale with dynamite. The thinking is that the whale would be blown into small pieces, which would be eaten by seagulls, and that would be that. A textbook whale removal. So they moved the spectators back up the beach, put a half ton of dynamite next to the whale and set it off. I am probably not guilty of understatement when I say that what follows, on the videotape, is the most wonderful event in the history of the universe. First you see the whale carcass disappear in a huge blast of smoke and flame. Then you hear the happy spectators shouting 'Yay!' and 'Whee!' Then, suddenly, the crowd's tone changes. You hear a new sound like 'splud.' You hear a woman's voice shouting 'Here come pieces of....MY GOD!' Something smears the camera lens. Later, the reporter explains: 'The humor of the entire situation suddenly gave way to a run for survival as huge chunks of whale blubber fell everywhere.' One piece caved in the roof of a car parked more than a quarter of a mile away. Remaining on the beach were several rotting whale sectors the size of condominium units. There was no sign of the seagulls who had no doubt permanently relocated to Brazil."

Now, here's my version of this story as it relates to the Phantom movie:

"The Farside comes to life in Hollywood. I am absolutely not making this incident up; in fact it's on film. It's the film version of Andrew Lloyd Webber's largely successful, hugely popular musical, The Phantom of the Opera. The responsibility for making this movie musical was placed on Warner Bros. studios and Lloyd Webber, apparently on the theory that Webber and a Hollywood studio would be the right team to make this musical into a successful movie. So Webber and Warner Bros. hit upon a plan- remember, I am not making this up- of casting Antonio Banderas as the Phantom. The thinking is that Banderas, as a Hollywood name, would be a big box office draw in the film, which would be accepted by the general public (especially Michael Crawford/Phantom fans), and that would be that. A textbook casting decision. So they altered the musical to suit a Hollywood actor in a Hollywood movie, put Banderas in the role of the Phantom, and released the movie into theaters. I am probably not guilty of understatement when I say that the film is the most horrible, disgraceful movie musical in the history of the universe. First, you see Banderas's lame attempt to portray the Phantom on screen. Then you hear the happy Webber, Banderas, Warner Bros., and Hollywood shouting 'Yay!' and 'Whee!' Then, suddenly, their tone changes. You hear a new sound like 'splud.' You hear the audiences' shouting 'Here come pieces of....MY GOD!' Later, a movie critic explains: 'The humor of the entire situation suddenly gave way to a mad dash out of the theaters as the movie bombed and huge chunks of it fell everywhere.' Remaining in Hollywood were several huge rotting pieces of the movie. There was no sign of the audiences who had no doubt permanently boycotted Webber's musicals, Banderas's films, and Warner Bros. films."

Are you getting the symbolism here? Are you making the connection? The blown-up whale incident was, as my prof. said, "A perfectly organized piece of stupidity." Well, if you don't cast Michael Crawford as the Phantom in this movie, and insist on ruining it by casting Banderas as the Phantom, the film will end up being a perfectly organized piece of stupidity, not to mention a huge bomb, and the rotting chunks of the movie will fall down on top of you! You're ignoring us Phantom and Michael Crawford fans just like the highway engineers ignored the force of gravity when they blew up the whale. You think we'll accept an altered Phantom movie with Banderas as the Phantom just like the engineers thought the seagulls would accept and eat the chunks of whale. If this analogy isn't clear enough for you, then you're as brainless as those highway engineers! Please, have the brains to cast Michael Crawford as the Phantom in this film! Think about it!