OOP - Greasy haired odd kids

[fuzzywuzzybird]

No: HPFGUIDX 65592

I have to comment on an earlier post by 'kelly' about Snape's hair 
(People's hair! It amuses and reminds me of an extensive post I read 
once on a Buffy the Vamp Slayer message board!)

I also think it's a self-image problem going on with Snape. This is 
because:

-It would be much too corny for him to be a Vampire.

-being pale complexioned with dark hair doesn't mean you have a 
disease.

-Not all wizards can be Animagi in Rowling's world, surely? (But I'd 
bet Snape would be a crow or raven if he was one - the long nose/ 
oily/ dark features and all the flitting and swooping about. Hmm - 
Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds anyone?)

-It's not difficult to wash your hair...

Snape's a bully. He probably wasn't when younger, but as an adult, 
terrorising defenceless kids suits him well. This sort of bully must 
have an underlying issue, or authority problem. You can see this when 
Harry's in his office and Snape gets fanatical about Harry calling 
him Sir. He may be scared of losing the formalities / ideology which 
signify 'power.' Dumbledore is not bothered when Harry gets rude, 
because DD is self assured/confident with who he is.

Snape loses control when he's reminded of the past. Snape will throw 
insults at people, or attack them before they attack him. This sounds 
habitual. Lashing out first is frustration, or a trait of a victim of 
life. Shoot them before they shoot you - it's a definite lack of 
trust. If he's always expecting an insult, this will make him more 
ill tempered and suspicious. You don't see DD throwing insults 
everywhere. Snape's had a rough life.

The grey pants. (Lovely image, J.K. Rowling!) Whether dirty or old - 
2 rich kids like Sirius (Noble family) and James (Where was all that 
gold from?) may be snobbish if the Snapes are poor. Ron in the books 
is always scared that his family's lack of wealth may attract snide 
comments. Grey pants CANT be good for self esteem. (Please don't let 
them make a HP OoTP movie -I don't want too see them!)

Okay, the guys got a hook nose and greasy hair - after 5 books it 
seems excessive to keep mentioning it. So is there a reason for this? 
(Probably to keep the reader's prejudices up) If you aint pretty, you 
aint pretty, and to mention it indicates a problem. The looking like 
your father one is interesting. I hope it just won't turn out to be 
the usual cliche.

I think that in school you either go through the storm or have calm 
seas. Snape obviously sank! Subjecting a fictional character to 
analysis is bound to go reflexive - I was so tormented at school (For 
my looks/hair - surprise. - my fault, I didn't wash it for 2 weeks at 
a time!) that in the end I honestly thought everyone was going to 
insult me, and I was the lonely weird kid because I was unable to 
trust or believe that anyone had good intentions. Maybe that's why 
I'm posting this!

I am only being fair. But as for liking/trusting Snape, it will only 
ever be as much as Harry, which considering Harry's unpredictability 
is not much! Their whole grudge thing is just idiocy. I can see Snape 
somehow trying to forcibly wipe that pensieve memory out of HP's 
head, to someone's harm.

Sorry if this has all been posted before - but I can see how Rowling 
is bending her readers to wonder about these things. It's so good to 
have these complex characters!

'If the critics disagree, the artist is in accord with himself' 
(Oscar Wilde)

(By the way - this sounds really cliche and daft, but rearrange Lily 
Evans and you get 'a snivelly.' Interesting? LOL! And Dolores 
Umbridge has 'Dumbledore in it. (Oh, I have far too much time on my 
hands!)

"Peter"