Snape -- Why so many fans?

[Allyse at my-deja.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 25644

Y'know, I've always been amused by the tendency of readers to condemn 
the traits of those characters they don't like while defending those 
selfsame traits in the characters they admire. We all do it. Even 
me. :)


Lilith Morgana*" <lilith_snape at h...> wrote: 

> So, why do I love Snape?
> 
> In my case it's because he's not like Lupin or Black! 

<snip>

> I don't 
> even need canon proof to know that James, Sirius, Remus and Peter 
> were allowed to make fun of others, and get credit for it- not out 
of 
> pure evilness, but because they could. Everybody would still love 
> them, they were the Golden Boys. If I were in school with this 
gang, 
> I wouldn't only have hated Black and Potter, I would also most 
likely 
> have been bullied by them.  
> 

<snip>

> Last, but not least, Severus is damn funny! Come on, admit that you 
> would have laughed as much as the Slytherins when he read the Harry-
> article aloud in front of the class in GoF if we weren't supposed 
to 
> feel sorry for Potter? I cannot have been the only one who found 
his 
> remark "dear, dear, Potter, what's ailing you now?" funny! If we 
> forget about his victims, Severus is actually entertaining in every 
> detail- even the "I see no difference" comment is a delight said to 
> another person. 

Lilith Morgana, do you realize how you've contradicted yourself here? 
You assert that MWPP were Golden Boys who could get away with 
atrocious behavior (with no actual proof, and an awful lot of 
assumptions), and this is why They Were Bad. And Snape can get away 
with atrocious behavior, and this is why He Is Good.

Personally, I am appalled that anyone can consider the "I see no 
difference" to be a delight, or find it funny to watch a teacher 
deliberately humiliating a student in front of others, as Snape does 
with Harry with the newspaper article. Snape is cruel, vindictive, 
and cowardly in attacking those with no way to defend themselves. 
*No* one, not even the most rabid Snape-hater, will deny that Snape 
is probably the most multi-facted character in the Potterverse. I 
agree that there's a lot of backstory there, and I am interested in 
discovering what Jo will do with him. But to like him? To admire him 
for his callousness and bullying? Nope, not me.

On a tangent, since many of you mentioned R.J. Anderson's fics, I 
will also add my recommendation for them. I know it sounds strange 
coming from a non-Snape fan, but they're great! If nothing else, she 
writes the *best* George Weasley I have ever seen. :)

Allyse