Why Readers Love Snape

[dicentra_spectabilis_alba]

No: HPFGUIDX 33519

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "pippin_999" <foxmoth at q...> wrote:
> If Alan Rickman was, as reported, JKR's choice to play Snape, 
> then she knows perfectly well that the character has an attractive 
> side. All her comments about how horrible Snape is are part of 
> the act. 

In one of her interviews, she said she didn't have a say in the
casting but that she was pleased with it.  Of course, Rickman is the
consummate villian, Colonel Brandon (Sense and Sensibility)
notwithstanding.  No one comes close to Rickman's smooth basso
profundo. I can't wait to hear him say to Sirius in the Shrieking
Shack, "Just give me a reason and I swear I'll do it" as he aims his
wand between Sirius's eyes.  Woohoo! 
> 
> One) They let us know that, no, in real life a teacher should not 
> act they way Snape does.
> 
> Two) They're misdirection: like the magician's flourish. "Nothing 
> up my sleeve," s/he says, so you don't look at the *other* sleeve. 
> Some of us like to watch the show and be amazed, others like to 
> see if we can spot the springwork. JKR has to keep us both 
> guessing, so she tosses out ambiguous comments like "Who'd 
> want Snape in love with them?" which don't answer the question 
> at all.
> 

So if Snape isn't as bad as he seems to be, why is he this bad at all?
 It would seem that he has already been "redeemed" once by abandoning
the Death Eaters, so there's no point in setting him up for a second
redemption. For a redeemed character, he's still pretty rotten.  Other
characters that seemed bad and weren't were mostly misunderstood.
Sirius Black is the best example of this: he is assumed to be bad
because of the way Rat Pettigrew framed him, and then when he escapes
Azkaban everyone assumes it was his involvement in the Dark Arts what
done it.  When we find out the truth, his actions look totally
different (such as the fact that in Azkaban he hadn't gone mad,
breaking into the Gryffindor dorms, etc.).  Knowing the truth puts
things in an entirely different light with Sirius.

With Snape, what can we find out to change how we see his bad
behavior?  His bad treatment of Harry is genuine, not misunderstood
good behavior. Even if it turns out that LOLLIPOPS is correct, mean is
still mean. 

No, Snape's bad side is genuinely bad. JKR might insist on this to
conceal something else, but I really can't see him being redeemed a
second time.

--Dicentra, who REALLY can't wait for PoA on film