OOP: JKR on Snape from Royal Albert Hall Interview (was: - Re: OOP: Royal Albe

[backstagemystic]

No: HPFGUIDX 65323

"Scott" <insanus_scottus at y...> wrote (In regard to recent Stephen Fry 
interview/Q&A with JKR at Royal Albert Hall):

>>There were two questions about Snape both of which I thought were 
noteworthy. One being that Fry mentioned Snape's ambiguity for good 
and evil and Jo hastened to add that (paraphrased) "I don't want 
people to like Severus too much...[because of things that happen 
later on]" << [EDIT]<<

You might be mixing up a comment she made in regard to Draco (JKR did 
express concern about fans liking Draco...and maybe that's what you 
recalled).  JKR said we shouldn't think Snape is "TOO nice"...not 
that we shouldn't like him too much.  

I recommend that folks actually listen to the interview, because much 
can be gained by hearing the pauses and inflections in the voice.

Nevertheless, I recorded the passage on my little microcassette 
recorder, and have listened to the darned thing more times than I can 
count; so, here's a mini transcript (about 40 seconds) of the 
relevant passage as close as I could get it to being verbatim 
(Stephen Fry sort of jumps and rambles a bit as he organizes his 
thoughts):
-----------------

SF:  Whereas most of the characters like Snape, for example, who are 
very hard to love, but there's a sort of - ambiguity I think is 
probably the best word - you can't quite decide...there's something 
rather sad about Snape as well, something very lonely...

JKR:  Yes

SF:  ...and you kind of... although he turns out of course to have 
had such a wicked past... and uh it's fascinating to watch how he's 
you know...in the first one we thought he was going to be the evil 
one, apart from Voldemort, the most evil...and in the second we 
thought that...and then slowly we just get this idea that maybe he's 
not so bad after all."
 
JKR:  Yes, but you shouldn't - you shouldn't think he's...TOO nice...

SF:  No

JKR:  ...let me just say that."

SF:  Right. I shall keep bear that in mind.  Worth watching Severus 
Snape. 

JKR:  He's worth keeping an eye on, old Severus, definitely.
--------------------


To hear the interview, here again is the URL Scott was so kind to 
provide for us:

http://www.msn.co.uk/liveevents/harrypotter/event/

The relevant Snape passages start at approximately these times in the 
clip:

24:00 for the first (i.e. "You shouldn't think he's...TOO nice" )

36:00 for the second (i.e Why Dumbledore doesn't let Snape teach DADA 
[because he fears it will bring out the worst in Snape].



BM