On the topic of heroes

[alisanne]

For a long time I've wondered what it is about Snape that has us so fascinated. There are times I feel as though we (fandom) are somehow on the outskirts of the general public for seriously loving this character. Casual readers of the HP books buy JK's vision of things, "Harry is the boy hero, Snape is an evil bastard, etc.", but the rest of us simply don't believe her, and why is that?

Well, this post by lysa1 clarified it quite well. And as Lysa indicates in her summary, I wonder if JK has really thought about the message she's passing on?

Comments

[witchdragon.insanejournal.com]

Very cool! Thanks

[alisanne.insanejournal.com]

YW, hon! And I thought it was nice to see it laid out clearly like that. :)

[roman.insanejournal.com]

Might I just add that I think Salman Rushdie approached the Snapeness of fandom quite interestingly in a pre-DH statement/interview?

On the matter of Snape being a hugely flawed character, who nevertheless seemed to be on his way to redemption until he offed Dumbledore, and paraphrasing Mr. Rushdie: "At the end of the day, if someone who went wrong so many times as Snape can still redeem himself, if there's hope for him, then there's hope for us, poor suckers, too."

The swearing is entirely mine, but this was the jist of it - I hadn't seen this particular argument anywhere, and it stuck with me, because it's not just us slashers who like Snape. There was/is a community of not-necessarily-fans ready to defend the ultimate goodness of the most ambiguous character in HP, in a way that didn't happen with any other character - and I find it interesting that maybe (some) people sought his redemption simply because it gave them some hope that they, too, could have another shot.

[alisanne.insanejournal.com]

Yes! So very true. The "perfect" Weasleys and their little "poor but good" ethic is not that interesting, you know? Not everyone grew up in the perfectly loving family, and it's nice to think that even those born on the wrong side can redeem themselves.

The characters who had actual hard choices to make, like Snape, like the Malfoys, like (to a lesser but by no means less difficult extent) Neville, THEY are the ones I want to talk about, to explore more about.

I like Harry because he's malleable, if that makes sense, and we prolly (after Snape) know the most about him, so he's relatively easy to write. And because there is so much passion between them and the smex is hot. *g*

[roman.insanejournal.com]

Grr. Gist, not jist.

I find the Weasley family rather interesting, to an extent. Percy, for instance, drowned in the "prodigal son" cliché in DH, but throughout the books he is an interesting counterpoint to his family. Most of us love them, not Percy, yet it's clear that he's not an "actual" bad guy - he clearly loves and misses his family, but he finds them utterly mediocre, and he more for himself. Just like Charlie, I'd wager, who decided to forgo a career within his parents' reach to become a dragon caretaker in Romania. Percy's great shortcoming, I'd say, is that, unlike Bill and Charlie, he was incapable of understanding that whereas his parents were happy with their own lifestyle, they never imposed it on their children. It's an interesting interaction.

Personally, the Malfoys bore me to tears, apart from HBP/DH's occasional show of filial/parental love. And it pains me to say it, but had we known earlier that unrequited love was Snape's sole reason for redemption, I'd have found him very lacking, too. To each his own, of course. :)

I like Harry. I do think that, at one point, he suffers from the "hero in auto pilot" syndrome, where the author begins to think having a charming hero is enough and gives him predictable, uninteresting subplots without recalling that the readers don't like BOREDOM, no matter how cool the hero is. He has his interesting moments, though (JMO!), and they balance out the predictability of most of what he does a bit.

[arielhime.insanejournal.com]

thank you for posting this, darling.... *hugs*

[alisanne.insanejournal.com]

YW, sweetie! *muah*

[whatthefuckbenj.insanejournal.com]

From what I've seen/heard/talked to people I'd say the big difference is that non-fandom people tend to see the books quite 'shallow' whereas we take a second look, read between the lines (sometimes way too much ^^) and refuse to believe that everything's black and white. Guess Snape being mysterious contributed a lot to people think about and eventually get to like him. Alan 'The Voice' Rickman and Snape's wonderful sarcasm might have to do a lil bit with it as well =)

[alisanne.insanejournal.com]

Yes, that could have quite a bit to do with it. Another actor playing the part might have made the character less appealing, although I still think enough of us are fans of the Snape in our heads that a non-sexy actor wouldn't have made a difference.

[darkladyvamp.insanejournal.com]

I love your icon. I'm totally getting that shirt someday.

*wanders off to read the link*

[alisanne.insanejournal.com]

LOL. It'll get you noticed! *g*

[jaddziadax.insanejournal.com]

In DH i was really hoping for a turn around for Harry, that he would get off his ass and actually go out and learn something for himself, instead of continuing to be the "i donno i cant do it" sort of kid..