Bipolar, Self-Absorbed Sirius? (was Some Thoughts On Some Stuff)

[marinafrants]

No: HPFGUIDX 45930

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "kiricat2001" <Zarleycat at a...> wrote:
> 1. Directed to those who have strong love him/hate him feelings 
re: 
> either Severus or Sirius.  Don't you think it interesting that 
these 
> people see Snape as either bitter, mean-spirited, spiteful, and an 
> awful teacher or as brave, misunderstood, put-upon, but with his 
> heart always in the right place.  And, as for Sirius, people with 
> strong feelings either think he's arrogant, violent, mentally 
> disturbed in one way or another, or he's a brave, good man who's 
got 
> a genuine affection for Harry and would willingly give his life to 
> protect Harry?  And why is it that it seems to be these two 
> characters that cause the most intense feelings?

I think it's because canon so strongly pits these two characters 
against each other.  Snape hated James, but James is dead.  He hates 
Remus, but Remus just stands there and smiles.  He hates Sirius, and 
Sirius is right there hating him back.  So it's very easy for 
readers to fall into taking sides and picking one of the the two to 
cast as the villain.  So one side you get people spinning elaborate 
theories on how the Prank was really all Snape's fault, and on the 
other side you get people positing that only a violent psycho could 
be that mean to Snape.


> 
> 2. Will we be disappointed to find out that we all read *way* too 
> much into all the HP characters' motivations, personalities, past 
> histories?  I mean, what if, what we read is what we get?  No Evil!
> Whoever.  No Dumbledore as the master manipulator.  And Snape was 
not 
> doing a clever acting job - he really was pissed off at the end of 
> PoA. Will we be disappointed if our pet theories get blown out of 
the 
> water?  

Not me! My PRESSURE COOKER and I will be thrilled. :-)  Besides, if 
all our theories are wrong, it will mean JKR has come up with 
something else, something totally new and unpredicable, to move her 
plot along, and how could we be disappointed with that?

Marina
rusalka at ix.netcom.com