They should never have put that scene in...it was pointless. The scene was very important to me. When we first see Christine enter the hallway with the Phantom - it looks very clean, beautiful, and ornate. Christine is in a sort of *trance*, and I felt as if we were seeing the illusion of what she believes she's experiencing. When Meg enters, we see the reality -- it's a dirty old hallway. I always felt that scene was there to convey that.
I also felt that it explained why the Phantom doesn't look as "deformed" when Christine is with him as he does when she unmasks him at the end. We are seeing what *she* is seeing when she looks at him. At the end, she is realizing who he really is rather than adoring the image she's been obsessed with all these years - and we are finally seeing her reality. I'm probably over thinking it - but that's how I interpreted it!
Also, Meg does go back into the lair at the very end.
Updated On: 2/24/05 at 05:56 PM