Snape Opinions

[hunao01 at yahoo.com]

--- In HPFGU-Movie at y..., Zarleycat at a... wrote:
>  
>  
> On the whole, my Muggle friend liked the movie, also.  She believed 
> that Snape was trying to harm Harry, not protect him.  "That poor 
> kid - he gets away from his awful family and has to deal with an 
> awful teacher!"   
> My main problem with the film is with Snape.  There is no 
indication 
> of the bad blood between James and Snape.  Granted, Harry finds 
this 
> out late in PS/SS but it plays a part in why Snape is frequently 
> nasty to Harry.  My non-Potter reading friend wanted to know if 
Snape 
> took a dislike to Harry simply because he was writing something 
> during the beginning of their first Potions class.  I had to tell 
her 
> that that was made up and in the book, Snape uses the "our newest 
> celebrity" line when he's calling the roll.  In the book Snape 
> initiates the hostility between them.  It's almost as if the film 
is 
> presenting a kinder, gentler Snape.  Not exactly warm and cuddly, 
but 
> decidedly not as nasty as the book version.
 
I have heard other HP fans complaining the same thing. So I guess I'm 
in the minority here. I have no problem about the screen time for 
Snape. I thought the few scenes left in the movie are efficient 
enough for misleading first-time viewers to think that it's Snape who 
tried to harm Harry. Considering the time constraint, I feel that's 
enough for the 1st movie. They have plenty of time to explain Snape's 
motive in 2nd or 3rd movies.
However, I have other complaints.
1) I hope the characters didn't cite Voldemort's name so often 
instead calling him "you-know-who". It totally destroyed the fear 
factor and didn't explain the background of the story well. I guess 
non-HP fans just don't understand what's the big deal for Harry 
facing Voldemort the second time when he shouldn't broke any more 
rules. For this reason, I wish they'd add the scene where Harry 
shouted to Ron and Hermione "When Voldemort comes back there won't be 
any Hogwarts to get expelled from! If I get caught I'll just to go 
back to the Dursleys and wait for Voldemort to find me there, it's 
only dying a bit later than I would have because I'm never going over 
to the dark side! Voldemort KILLED MY PARENTS, remember?" That would 
explain his motive so much better. I don't like people to think Harry 
going there just because he wants to play a hero. 
2)I hope they left the scene where Neville got bullied by Malfoy and 
Harry said to him "you worth twelve of him". Just a short scene, but 
it could make the final point giving so much more meaningful for 
Neville. It also shows more interaction between the trio and other 
classmates. Actually, some people in another HP forum wrote a scene 
where Harry got yelled "Thanks for losing us 150 points" and then 
Malfoy laughed at him. After this short confrontation, Malfoy left 
and pushed Neville down to floor. The trio then comforted Neville and 
encouraged him. That's a super idea, revealing so much about the 
relationships among the characters. I really wish there was a similar 
scene in the film.
3) The final scene. It did bother me that Harry killed Quirrell using 
his bare hands. They could just show Quirrell get burned and knocked 
out without turning into a pile of ashes and then show Voldemort's 
spirit leaving him and going through Harry's body. 
Overall, I loved this movie and watched it twice. The second time was 
even better than the 1st.
  
> I asked my friend how old she 
> thought Snape was supposed to be.  Her estimate was early 50s, but 
> trying to look late 40s.  I assume that the actors selected to play 
> Lupin and Black will also have to fall into this age bracket.

 
That's what I'm thinking about. For this reason I think Ralph Finnes 
(Lupin) and Day Lewis (Black) are perfect. They're in their 40s.