bit of a repetitive fandom rant, here...

[rivendellrose]

One of my very old plotbunnies got a bit of a second wind tonight, and while chasing down a few details for it (yes, I fell victim to my research illness again), I ran across a collection of JKR's quotes about Snape. Most of my HP friends will already know that I have a deep love for Snape, and a great distaste for the way Rowling talks about him in her interviews, but I feel the need to explain myself somewhat, as we near the end of the series.


To be fair, I will begin all of this by admitting that were it not for Alan Rickman being cast in the role, I may not have been so initially taken with Snape as I was after seeing the movie. Due to a fair degree of intellectual snobbery on the part of my teenaged self, I for the most part avoided HP until I found out that Alan had been cast. And then promptly felt the intense embarassment of having to admit to friends "er... so, that was really dumb of me." What can I say - I was an idiot when I was younger.

And that, interestingly, leads into my first point. While Alan Rickman's lovely voice and delightful acting have definitely overshadowed my impressions of the Evil Teacher, it's not just that view of the man that fascinates me. In fact, I can easily admit that Snape, in the books, is a horrible person. He's cruel and unpleasant, and believe me when I say that, identifying as much with Hermione as I do for the first few books, I really do often hate him in the books. So why don't I just accept Rowling's stated opinions about him? Is it just fanon and Alan Rickman that makes me care so much about the grumpy old bastard?

Three words: "Snape's Worst Memory."

I don't know exactly who and what Rowling was in school (she's said that Hermione is basically a caricature of herself at that age, which kind of makes me wonder if she might unconsciously understand more about this than she'd choose to admit), but if I had to point out two people in Hogwarts who summed up my existence in middle school (as being roughly equivalent to the age Snape was at in that memory and Harry and Co. were in that book), I'd be pointing to Hermione, and to Snape. I was painfully lacking in social skills at that point in time, and while I was hardly treated so badly as all that, it struck more than a few chords. I can understand the wounded pride that made him turn on Lily, and in myself now I can recognize the same impulses that I think are what make Snape so vicious toward Harry. How would any of us like to be faced with a child who seems to be the carbon copy of the boy who tormented us when we were young? I know that I wouldn't respond well in a situation like that. I know that my temper, and my desire to snipe when people ask what I see as stupid questions in class and such are exactly why I shouldn't ever be a teacher - I'd be more Snape than Lupin or McGonagall, and I know it. I may not like it, but I understand Snape. I can understand the bitterness, the nasty temper, the desperate desire to prove himself... every bit of it. It's a part of me that I like to think is becoming more controlled and mellowed by the year... but then, I haven't been through the sorts of things he has.

And it leaves me wondering... where does Rowling get off, saying things like "Who on earth would want Snape in love with them?" That sounds so wanky of me, doesn't it? He's her character, isn't he? And she knows things about him that we don't, doesn't she? But honestly - I hear that, and I just cringe. I'm not normally the fuzzy sort to fall into lectures of "anybody can change, everybody deserves love," and all that. My favorite professor once explained the difference between pagan and Christian mentalities about personality by saying that while Christians believe in miracles of change, that a bad man can be turned good by the grace of god, and pagans believe that what a person is remains what they are until they die, with changes of degree rather than essence. And I am definitely on the pagan end of that spectrum. I very much believe in changes of degree, but a full 180? Not bloody likely. And yet... I may not like that bitter, nasty boy who hung by his ankles and screamed obscenities and curses, but I know him. And I feel like I have to believe that there's more to him than Rowling wants us to see, more to him than she's willing to write. Maybe it's the lover of the anti-hero in me, maybe it's a few too many Rex Harrison movies growing up, hell if I know, or maybe it's just that I want to believe that there has to be good in a person I recognize as the worst part of myself, writ larger-than-life and even more vicious.

So I get a bit ticked off when Rowling starts going on about being "stunned" by references to a redemptive pattern about Snape, and annoyed when she comments that we'll all understand why she says all of this by the end of book 7. I have a funny feeling that no matter what evils Severus Snape commits in the final book, I'll sit back at the end and think of a pathetic, irascible and unloved young man, and understand exactly why he did what he did. I'm normally not the sort to cry for good morals and turnarounds at the end of a book, but I will say that I'll be sorely disappointed if she takes the easy route and says that Harry was right, Snape was evil all along. Much as I liked the pathetic little boy who grew up in a cupboard under his aunt and uncle's staircase, I have to admit that there are times, lately, when I find him a lot less sympathetic than the nasty fellow who determined at some point to be respected at any cost, made a fuck of a lot of really dreadful mistakes, and seems to have clawed his way back to something approaching respectability, with all his hurts and insecurities all too intact.

I'm both dreading and looking forward to seeing what the last book will hold. I want to find out the answers to all these damned secrets, and I want to know for good and for all if I've been right about a few things. But I will say one thing - the 'someone' who once loved Snape? She'll never convince me it wasn't Remus Lupin. Never in a million years. But I admit, that one is just me. ;)

Added: Rowling quote links are all here. Sorry I didn't link directly per quote, but I've probably spent entirely enough time on this, as it is.

I thought I was done for the night, but it seems I'm on a roll - here's two more quotes from a specific interview for folks to ponder, even as I chew them over in my head.

MA: [...] Has Snape ever been loved by anyone?
JKR: Yes, he has, which in some ways makes him more culpable even than Voldemort, who never has.

and

MA: Was there anyone else present in Godric’s Hollow the night Harry’s parents were killed?
JKR: No comment.

Call it a hunch, but I think the latter will turn out to have been Snape. As for the former... I just wanted to point out the "culpability" bit. I'm not sure why, but that does make me a bit... hmm. Unpleasant in the tummy, for some reason. I understand what she means, but there's something about that quote that bugs me. And please, gods, let it not be Lily, nor that he and/or Lupin were in love with her. I'm not sure why, but that thought just makes me feel tired.

Comments

[maho-kiwi.livejournal.com]

Mm, I feel a little annoyed at Rowling sometimes too, only I get that way about her treatment of Draco. Now, I haven't read the latest book, and I've heard Draco gets special something-or-other in it, but in the previous books he just didn't seem to grow at all. I could completely understand his attitude towards harry in the first book -- he was eleven, thought he was cool, and was shunned by the other "popular" boy -- of course he's going to be a pain in the ass. But then in the rest of the books he showed up, said a few obnoxious things, and went away. Like she replaced the character of Draco with a cardboard cut-out with a pull string. Pull it and it says "hey mugblood" "Potty" "Weasel" and that's it. It's frustrating and confusing, ther stubborn denial of their potential and three-dimentionality (word).

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

Completely agreed - Rowling has a horrible habit of making characters that seem, at first, to be multi-layered... and then turn into cardboard cut-outs. As miss_arel pointed out last night, it's probably largely because she's writing on the level of children's books, while so many of her readers are expecting/hoping her to fuction on the level of 'real' adult literature, with more depth than it seems she can handle. We get hints sometimes, though... that makes me feel like there's more going on, and it's just her sucky writing or lack of editing getting in the way.

If you're into Draco, though, you should definitely read the most recent book. You can borrow my copy when you get back here, if you like - it's been all lonely for the last few months, anyway, with nobody reading it. ;) But I will say that there are some major developments on the Draco-having-layers front, and I'd be interested to see whether you like and agree with them or not.

[maho-kiwi.livejournal.com]

Yeah, there is that -- I've often wondered if she's intentionally dumbing down, or if she is, in fact, just not as good a writer as she seemed. Like, she wrote the first one and it was a smash, so everything else she did, said, or wrote was gold for a while, but after a few years you can be like "...wait, that's not really...".

hee, we do actually own it -- bought it the day it came out and everything -- I just haven't found the motivation to sit down and read it. But thank you ^^ zomg 13 days

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

It's hard to tell. I definitely think that she has good ideas, but on the actual writing I am more than a little iffy. And gods know she could use editors who do more than just shove her books through as fast as possible, because... umm... wow. Need some prose-tightening much? And a continuity editor for the math stuff at the very least? o_O

Ahh, good. I know how you feel - if I hadn't been so hell-bound to just get through the damned thing and find out what happened, I might've done the same thing. Let's just say that there is much Draco goodness, and I will be looking forward to hearing your opinion when you get to it. And, until then, struggling to remember that you haven't read it so I don't accidentally spoil you!

[narsilion.livejournal.com]

JKR will never get me to believe that Snape is not a good person deep down inside. Yes, he's snarky, and mean, but because of all he's been through, who would blame him. And I just hope that she gives him the chance to prove himself in the end. I will be so mad if she doesn't.

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't go that far - poor old Snape may very well not be a "good" person - he's horrible to his students, for one thing. A complete bastard to most of them, in fact. But I don't think he's nearly as much a bad person as she wants us to think. That much, I agree that she'll never get me to believe.

[narsilion.livejournal.com]

I know that he's snarky and mean, he really is an asshole, but that doesn't mean that deep down he's not a good person. Like you've said, the things that happen to you in your life affect how you interact with certain people, or certain groups of people, but I still think that Snape is a good soul and will come through in the end. I'm counting on JKR to see things the same way. I may end up sorely disappointed, but even if that's true, I'll always believe Snape is good. I guess at that point I'll just think that JKR is bad. :P

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

I hope you're right. The sort of commentary Rowling makes on him does certainly make me wonder, but I think I'm at the point where, in the end, it's not going to matter what she says. She's taken long enough with the books that I feel like, for a lot of the fans, the characters have taken on a life of their own outside of what she'll eventually do with them.

[narsilion.livejournal.com]

Exactly!

[seachanges.livejournal.com]

As a friend of mine used to say, there is a world of difference between being good and being nice. I have always believed that Snape was a good man at heart. He is not, however, a particularly nice one.

[narsilion.livejournal.com]

very well said.

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

That's it, really - I have issues with the whole good and bad thing in terms of how they're meant by different people, but that's it exactly. He's not nice, but I'll always believe he's good, deep down. Even when he doesn't really want to be, in many ways. ;)

[coralia13.livejournal.com]

I want to read this, because I LOVE talking/thinking/reading about Harry Potter. I will get back to this someday, I promise! That day might be a week from now. So much work!

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

Hey, whenever you get to it. I hope you find it at least somewhat worth the wait, it's really just me randomly blathering. ;)